Buying a Rolex in Uganda

Friday, 29th of August, Imbabazi in Rwanda to Mgahinga NP in Uganda

After an early start (partly because it was a freezing night!) I stop over at the Volcanoes NP head office in Kinigi to enquire about hiking in the Virunga Mountains, but after I find out that fees are $75 for a hike opposed to $40 from the Ugandan side, I move on to have breakfast at the Muhabura Hotel in Ruhengeri where I bump into Dave and the American NGO crowd again. Content and definitely awake after having one of the strongest coffees I have had so far on my trip, I drive the 20 odd kilometers of tar to the border. Crossing back into Uganda at the Cyanika border control is a quiet and pleasant affair, dampened only by the fact that the tar road ends here! Back at driving on the left side of the road again, I enquire about the Mt. Sabinyo hike in Kisoro and then head to the Mgahinga NP and community campground at Ntebeko, giving Kevin, a backpacking Swiss fellow who also intends to climb Mt. Sabinyo, a lift.

On arrival Kevin and I still take a quick walk to a viewing platform from where we watch the sunset but also a huge thunderstorm brewing above us. We manage to get back before the rain sets in and have a huge dinner with avocado salad, rice, ground nuts, veggies and chapattis which we ordered in advance at the camp’s community run restaurant.

Saturday, 30th of August, Mgahinga NP

Kevin and I get joined by Amanda (Australian of origin), and together with our guide Sunday and two armed guards we head off to tackle Sabinyo, which translates into ‘old man’s teeth’ referring to the summit which consists of 4 individual peaks, the highest being 3669m. The hike leads through indigenous bamboo forest and then winds its way through a real mythical forest where light green moss (referred to by our guide as the ‘old man’s beard) hangs off contorted trees. Luckily many wooden ladders have been put into slippery and steep places, helping us a lot during the ascent. It’s a strenuous climb to the first and second peaks, revealing stunning views into Rwanda and the DRC. The third (and highest) peak is even more challenging as we reach its summit by scrambling (sometimes vertically) over a sheer never ending row of rickety ladders. It’s a peculiar feeling to stand in all three countries at the same time as this is where Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC meet – no visas required! While resting on the summit after the six hour climb we are pleased that, as if pre-arranged, the cloud cover lifts, exposing commanding views of the neighboring volcano peaks Mt. Gahinga and Mt. Muhabura as well as Lake Mutanda and Lake Bureya with Ruhengeri. I experience first signs of altitude sickness (headache and nausea), most definitely due to the fast ascent and am glad that the symptoms subside gradually as we descend. It takes us three hours walk in the rain to get back to the camp. A hot bucket shower, a good meal and a beer at the fireplace – Mt. Sabinyo was an awesome experience!

Sunday, 31st of August, Mgahinga NP to Lake Nkuruba south of Fort Portal

I leave at 7 am, fill up in Kisoro and then head north on some of the longest and windiest dirt roads of Uganda. The diversion from Ikumba to Kanungu, caused by a broken bridge takes longer than I think and is passable, but thank god there was no oncoming traffic! Going past another vehicle on that narrow road would have been impossible! Further on via Kambuga, Rukungiri, Ruhinda and Mitoma to Ishaka, where I finally hit the tar road. In retrospect, taking the tar road from Kabale, even though a lot longer in distance would have been the better option! Past Queen Elizabeth NP and Kasese I finally make it after a 12 hour drive to the small and idyllic Nkuruba Crater Lake south of Fort Portal where I pitch my tent at the community run campsite. After a wholesome meal made with the gooiest millet pap I’ve ever eaten (would make good window putty!), the manager Patrick introduces himself and tells me about all the local activities and I decide to book the bike ride to the ‘On top of the world’ viewpoint, other crater lakes and the waterfall in the area. Having parked Anse right on the densely forested rim of the small crater lake, the echoing croaking coming from what must be hundreds of frogs down at the lake, puts me asleep in a blink.

Monday, 1st of September, Lake Nkuruba

I wake up to the calls of black and white colobus monkeys and am amazed how close they get to the camp. There are also red tail and vervet monkeys as well as great blue turacos, the whole bunch of them hanging out in the same treetop like good old buddies!

After a huge breakfast and cleaning my dust-infected mountain bike, I go on a
3-hour guided ride with Patrick, exploring the surrounding crater lakes and a nearby waterfall. This area is really amazing mountain bike terrain and on dirt roads and narrow footpaths we zoom through banana plantations, navigate through the bustling market of Rwaihamba and pedal up a sweat climbing yet another hill which rewards us with amazing views all the way to the snow-capped peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains. Just before we get back to the campsite it starts pouring and within minutes we are totally drenched. Instead of heaving a shower I go for a swim in the crater lake in the pouring rain! Real fun!

Tuesday, 2nd of September, Lake Nkuruba

I spend the rainy day writing diary and eating banana pancakes under the porch, while watching great blue turacos and colobus monkeys hopping around in the trees.

Wednesday, 3rd of September, Lake Nkuruba

I combine exploring the area with updating my blog by riding 20 km to Fort Portal on my mountain bike to go online there. Even after hopping between different internet cafes, the best one is still so frustratingly slow that I end up buying a Mickey Mouse kiddy’s torch to pedal my way back to Lake Nkuruba in the dark!


Thursday, 4th of September Lake Nkuruba to Boomu Camp, outside Murchison Falls NP

It’s hard to leave the Lake Nkuruba Community Campsite, it’s a nice place! I clean my muddy bike in the lake and go for one last swim, when I notice a local fisherman initially wading through the water along the lake shore and then mounting his floating contraption. What a sight! I whish I’d had a camera there! He was sitting on not much more than a narrow bundle of bamboo canes, roughly tied together with strips of bark, keeping him merely afloat! As he was paddling, the bamboo bundle got totally submerged, merely a tiny wooden plank he was sitting on speared him from getting wet! As he paddled further away, I couldn’t really see the submerged canes anymore, so it sort of looked like he was hovering around the lake sitting just above the water like a supernatural mirage! I watch him pulling himself along the fishing net, plucking one small fish after the other off the net an putting them behind him into one of those woven plastic shopping bags, which keeps on quivering with the flapping fish inside!

The direct dirt road to Fort Portal via Hoima is a rough one, only about one third of it is graded and it takes me about six hours to get to Masindi. At the lively street market there I acquire my first genuine Rolex – at only 800 Ugandan Shillings (about $0.50) a real bargain!!! Well, for those thinking I bought the reputable timepiece, I must disappoint you! The model I got is edible and nothing more than an omelet, chopped onions, tomatoes, green peppers and cabbage rolled up (hence the name) into a freshly fried chapatti and wrapped into a snippet of yesterday’s newspaper! Definitely fills part of the gap in my hungry stomach!

To avoid entering the NP in the evening, I had planned to camp at Chimp Tracking Site ‘Kanyiyo Pabidi’ in the Budongo Forest, which according to my Bradt guide’s map seems to be a separate reserve just south of Murchison Falls NP, but when I arrive at the gate I learn that it is actually integrated into the NP and that I would have to pay park fees to enter it. Luckily there is a neat camp run by the Boomu Women’s Group just 200 m outside the NP gate, where I pull in to pitch my tent.


Friday, 5th of September, Boomu Camp to Murchison Falls NP

I enter Murchison Falls NP through the south gate and have a quick look at the Kanyiyo Pabidi Chimp Tracking Camp which, as it turns out, doesn’t offer camping anymore as it is promoting its rather nice, newly built cottages and bunk accommodation. I get back onto the dirt road when after a few minutes drive past the Tracking Camp I see a whole group of chimpanzees crossing the road right in front of me about 150 meters away! What an awesome sight!

I head to the beautifully situated ‘On top of the Falls’ camp and picnic site right on the rapidly flowing Victoria Nile and have a dip in one of the natural pool – only to put on my clothes in a hurry again after spotting a few resident hippos eying me out from the river!

A few hundred meters downstream, Murchison Falls are spectacular and wandering on the numerous paths along the Nile’s southern bank I can’t leave one viewpoint unexplored as each of them is revealing yet another awesome sight! To me they are somehow even more impressive than Vic Falls as one is able to get only meters from where the white water gets funneled, thundering down the narrow cleft.

I had planned to cross over to the northern section of the park where the game supposed to be more abundant and easier visible in the grassland, but the only link to the northern banks of the Nile River is the Paraa Ferry which has broken down! Apparently they were working on it last night, but when the generator switched off, the mechanics had to work in the dark and dropped one of the new spare parts into the water! Apparently someone has gone to Kampala to organize a new spare part and they are hoping to get the ferry going again tomorrow, so I head to the Red Chili Camp for a beer, where I bump into some German backpackers. While on an afternoon stroll with them to the river bank I learn to my surprise that the ferry is working again and quickly run back to Anse, taking advantage of the second last crossing for the day at 6 pm! Ensuring the officer that I know the area and don’t need a guide (thereby avoiding another $20 per day!), I only pay for two nights bush camp and speedily make my way to the delta where I find a suitable bush camping spot close to the water edge just before darkness setting in. This is sooo much better than spending a night at the rather bleak Red Chili Campsite!

Saturday, 6th of September, Murchison Falls NP

Apart from a long lunch break under the shade of a big tree, I spend most of the day game driving, spotting oribi, kob, buffalo, giraffe, warthog and have a great time being close to a herd of elephant (unfortunately interrupted at the approach of a helicopter). No sign of lion though L. There are also millions of dragon flies which sunbathe on some patches of the dirt roads and take off in swarms on the approach of Anse.

Bushcamping is stunning here with an awesome view onto Lake Albert and mountain ranges of the DRC merely a few kilometers away across the lake. I watch the Congolese fishermen during their work and fall asleep to the echoing thuds of their peculiar Tilapia fishing technique, which involves scaring the fish into their net by repeatedly throwing what the locals call a ‘bazooka’ (woven from strips of tree bark, it’s a soccer-ball-size contraption on a rope) into the water, pulling it in on the rope only to throw it out again, repeating this practice relentlessly until their long net has encircled the fish.

Sunday, 7th of September, Murchison Falls NP to just outside the NP


I am really keen to find the resident pride of lion today, even though I didn’t even hear a beep of them last night. After driving on every track there is in this northern section of the park it seems, though, that the lions of Murchison Falls NP will always remain a mystery for me! Later I hear from a park warden that for the last 4 days some rich dude has been holding a private bush camping gathering right in the reeds of the Nile delta and has hired two helicopters to fly his mates around, which have obviously disturbed and scared away the animals within the park (and have definitely dampened my game viewing experience as well!). According to the warden he’s seen giraffe in parts of the park, where he’s never ever seen them in eight years he’s been working there!

On my way back to the Paraa Ferry I experience a more enjoyable phenomena caused by human intrusion into natural habitat: As I drive along the grass-lined dirt road, many colorful Bee Eaters soar at the same speed very close (almost reaching distance!) to Anse, picking up the flying insects that get scared off.

I exit the NP through the Bugungu Gate and camp at the Nile River Lodge just outside the park, where sitting at the camp fire I have an interesting chat about Ugandan politics with the Lodge’s security guard.


Monday, 8th of September, Nile River Lodge to Kampala

After heavy rain last night which transformed the dirt track into a stretch of slippery sludge, I almost get bogged departing the campsite in the morning. Eventually I manage to drive away leaving a bunch of unhappy locals behind who where hoping to make a quick buck…

Having such an Adrenaline start, I am worried about the rest of the road to Hoima, but the Lodge’s manager said only the first 3 km are bad, so I give it a try and soon find myself on perfectly graded track to Biso and on to Homa! From there it’s pure bliss on the new tar road all the way to Kampala!

I decide to go past CMC Land Rover to ask for a quote to have an engine computer diagnostic done for peace of mind, but apparently there’s a burial of one of the important Ugandan tribes’ king and today was declared a public holiday, so there is no workshop staff around and I head straight to the nearby Red Chili Backpackers.


Tuesday, 9th of September, Kampala

I drive to CMC again to get a quote, but after talks with the Land Rover mechanic Dave in Jinja I decide not to have the electrics messed with while they are working well. Giving a Dutch guy Jerome a lift from Red Chili to the center of Kampala turns out to be quite a nerve wrecking experience and definitely not for the fainthearted! My god, I’ve never felt so claustrophobic in my life driving past Kampala City Center Taxi Rank!!! People everywhere, Taxis squeezing into every possible gap, trucks getting stuck, because nobody allows them an inch for maneuvering, buses pushing from behind and it is impossible moving Anse forward without having a boda-boda (mopeds with at least one, usually two or more passengers at the back) wedged in between her and the next vehicle. Among this total chaos I actually feel surprisingly safe. Ugandans leave you alone as everybody minds their own business here.

Then I do the Tour d’Embassies traveling Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt in one day! I apply for my Ethiopian Visa which I can apparently collect tomorrow afternoon. The Sudanese Embassy requires a visa of the destination country (Egypt in my case) before applying to theirs and according to the Egyptian Embassy their 30 day visa starts at the date of issue…so seems like I will have to get these in Addis (even though I checked on the official Egyptian Government website which allows tourists a 90 day visa…rather confusing!)

Wednesday , 10th of September, Kampala

After a late breakfast this morning, collecting my Ethiopia Visa (90 days, multiple entry, $30), putting up a note on the message board at Kampala Backpackers and having another Rolex while enjoying superb views over the city atop Namirembe Cathedral, I go for a major grocery shopping for my onward journey at Game and Shoprite.

Thursday, 11th of September, Kampala

Pretty much a chilling and diary writing day! I also make contact with Berry, Eric and a Swiss couple Coni and Andi, thanks to Rainer from ‘The Haven’ and Chris from Jungle Junction in Nairobi who both spread the word that I am looking for other overlanders going to Ethiopia.



Friday, 12th of September, Kampala to Jinja

I update my blog since I can make use of the free internet at the Red Chili Backpackers and then drive to Jinja where I have Anse checked by David, a UK mechanic recommended by Reiner who assesses that Anse’s front bushes need to be changed, which we agree to do tomorrow, together with the 70000km service. As I drive past Nile River Explorer Backpackers I meet a Swedish overlander and Defender owner Gustav who shows me his great electric water filtering system (General Ecology, Nature Pure) and a really cleverly mounted draw-out solar panel. He also gives me some negative feedback from the ‘Hairy Lemon’ (poor food, since owner doesn’t run the place anymore), a lodge situated on an island in the Nile River which I initially wanted to check out. Driving slowly through a torrential downpour I make my way to the familiar ‘Haven’ where I indulge once again in an amazing dinner and also meet Rainer’s girlfriend who just moved down from Germany. Both are excited to be reunited in Uganda and are planning to build their own home next to the lodge.

Saturday, 13th of September, Jinja

After an extensive breakfast, I drive back to the mechanic Dave where Anse gets serviced and her front bushes exchanged. Dave also changes my dual battery configuration since I sometimes still have starting problems in the morning and he tries to get a grip (unsuccessfully unfortunately) on a squeaking noise inside the driver compartment. Back at the Haven I meet a Dutch couple Tune and Marieke at we spend the evening sitting around the campfire chatting.