Excitingly my next holiday begins and I’ve just poured myself a large chocolate milk ,to assist with the packing. Uganda/Rwanda/Congo here I come - Gorillas in the Mist, I'm coming to find you!
Kampala, Uganda Gallery
Flew to Entebbe, Uganda this morning. Arrived lunchtime to a warm, sunny day. 25C. Perfect. Then drove for an hour to stay at the Lake Victoria Serena Resort, between Entebbe and Kampala on the shores of Lake Victoria. Just a staging post. I dumped my stuff in my room and was raring to get straight out and explore. Too raring it seems for the Ugandan pace of life, which pulled me up short. The concierge, Alex, told me all the things it was possible to do. But not today! Helpful.
This is not the sort of country to just wander off and explore on your own and I didn't think it was a good idea to get a taxi to Kampala or Entebbe and start stumbling around like a lost tourist. So I sat on my balcony and enjoyed the view over the lake, whilst trying out how to use my new camera. Then walked round the grounds a bit and admired all the beautiful flowers. Quite why this place is designed to look like a Tuscan villa, I'm not sure. I acclimatised myself. We've had 3 power cuts and 2 rain showers so far and my four lister bed has mosquito netting! The Internet wouldn't work to begin with until I found out that they had misspelled my surname. The pianist has just begun tinkling and I shall go and have dinner and an early night. Nothing else to do. I'm bored and impatient…obviously. Tomorrow, I have to be up at 5.00 a.m. to go and catch a baby plane to take me to Kihihi and then to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest near the borders between Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. This primeval forest is one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth and is home to just over half of the world's remaining few thousand mountain gorillas. Can't wait
Whoop de doop!!! This was my last bucket list trip, arranged by Judy Fell of Africa Connection to see the Gorillas in the mist in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. What a special experience that was and I got a far closer encounter than I had been expecting; a silverback, who looked quite small sitting down, was only three yards (2.7m) away from me, but when he stood up and started coming towards me he suddenly looked ginormous and the guides had to grab me on either side to stop me beating a hasty retreat (which is apparently seen as provocative behaviour by the gorillas and is the worst thing you can do!).
Tonight, I’m off for another bucket list item, arranged by the fabulous Judy again on only a few days’ notice. I am going to the Okavango Swamp (now rebranded Delta instead of swamp to make it sound more appealing) where I have wanted to go for about the last 28 years since I first heard about it. One of the most pristine pieces of wildlife wilderness left on the planet. Can’t wait. Then on from Botswana to Zimbabwe to a lodge in the mist of the Victoria Falls (okay, maybe a bit of poetic licence there on my part, but nearby anyway), to do some more wildlife spotting, see the falls and then cross to the Zambian side of the falls to do some canoeing up the Zambezi river.
I shall be back, all being well and malaria/Ebola/yellow fever/snake venom-free, the day before I’m off on the trip to Kyrgyzstan. Minimal WIFI access in Africa, so I’ll probably update you at some time in the future. Byeeee…
Waiting for the boarding call. It's not often I can't wait to get on the plane home. Uganda was way beyond my expectations. Can't recommend my trip more highly. Rwanda-not so. 'Nuff said.
Aly, Sue, Christina and other interested friends, this trip seems to have stirred up a bit more interest than some of my others. For those of you who have asked me who arranged it, I am happy to tell you that it was put together at break-neck speed (one week's notice!) by the fabulous Judy Fell who runs Africa Connection. Her website address is www.africa.ae or email holidays@africa.ae. As well as being a close friend, Judy is an expert on Africa and is my go-to person for all trips African. She has successfully arranged marvellous trips for me to Zambia, Madagascar and Mozambique (the incredible BazarRuto Archipelago) in the past, usually at the drop of a hat given the spontaneous nature of most of my travel plans and heavens knows I am not the easiest customer to please! I am hoping she can soon organise the Okavango Delta for me, with Namibia next on the list after that.
Judy suggested and arranged my itinerary for Uganda and Rwanda, including flights, hotels, gorilla tracking, porters, my other excursions, airport transfers and private drivers and guides. It was Judy who told me, when I said I'd love to see the gorillas, that there was a sedan chair and porter service available and which perhaps I should consider using. Thank heavens! Otherwise I would have just have gone ahead and booked it without having the faintest idea of what was involved and I would have been hugely disappointed to realise that my knees couldn't carry me to where the gorillas hang out. Thanks Judy-you're a superstar!
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