UGANDA - July 2019

After 2 wonderful weeks in Kenya, we flew from Nairobi to Entebbe, Uganda, spent a night in an Airbnb near the airport, then flew early the next morning from Entebbe to Kasese.

We were picked up by our fabulous tour organizer and guide for the week, Wyclef of Gorillas and Beyond. We heading north to Kibale Guest Cottages for our food and shelter.

tea fields

Next up, chimp trekking in Kibale National Park. We chose an afternoon tour to improve our chances of encountering chimps at ground level. Amazing.

Blessed with yet another fantastic guide.

great blue turaco

We also participated in a late afternoon cultural Community Walk and an early morning Swamp Walk in nearby Bigodi.

volleyball

preparing kasava

making banana beer and banana gin

Making coffee

basket weavers

local healer

Bigodi Swamp

African gray parrot

black and white colobus monkey

 red colobus monkey

We headed south toward Queen Elizabeth National Park. Lessons learned: 1) brilliant move to hire Wyclef 2) lots of road construction going on in this part of Uganda 3) road delays = more time to enjoy the scenery.

Wyclef took us to a local restaurant for goat stew and all the fixings: yams, steamed plantains, peas, avocado, rice, passion fruit juice, and mango for dessert (he chased down a woman walking by with a basket of mangos balanced on her head and the restaurant cut it up for us).

We made it to Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge just in time for our afternoon boat trip on the Kazinga Channel.

Back on dry land, there was a critter blocking the path to our cabin.

Evening views from our porch.

The next morning we headed south through the Ishasha Sector.

water buck

4 bee eaters

vervet monkey

olive baboons

And the highlight: a tree climbing lion! Good spotting, Wyclef!

Wyclef helped me purchase beautiful fabric to take home.

best use of left overs

planters, most with kids in tow and/or babies strapped to their backs

The next 2 nights we stayed at Buhoma Community Rest Camp near the gate to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

The view from our deck and the site of the next day's gorilla trek.

awesome entertainment by a local school group before our orientation

Our guide Meddie has worked there since the early 90s and helped habituate the first 2 gorilla families in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. By creating a tourism industry around saving the gorillas, former poachers and other community members have become trackers, rangers, guards, guides, growers, and workers in the hospitality industry. This movement has saved the mountain gorilla from extinction.

We headed up the trail to where our gorilla family group, the Rushegura family, was encountered the day before. We spotted poop and knuckle prints and kept going as the trail narrowed and eventually disappeared altogether.

Here you see our wonderful porter, Samson, carrying our backpack and pulling me up the hill.

We stopped several times so Meddie could communicate by cell phone with the trackers.

Rugged terrain and our first glimpse of a gorilla, the #3 male, Kafuruka.

When Kafuruka decided to rejoin the rest of the family, Mike had to dart out of the way.

No darting for me, backed into the brush. They suggest you keep a distance of 7 meters away from the gorillas but the gorillas apparently didn't get the memo.

And the wonders continued: a mama nursing her baby, juveniles brawling on the ground and in the trees, showing off by thumping their chests.

A curious female named Ruterana pulled brush aside to look me in the eye. This was the single most amazing animal encounter of the trip for me.

Food everywhere! We enjoyed watching the adults lay back in the brush, choose a branch, and strip off the leaves while the wild juveniles entertained themselves.

The dominant silverback, Kabukojo, stayed back a bit at first, then planted himself 10 feet from our exit route.

Here's the whole gang: trackers, armed guards, porters, ranger, and visitors from Oregon, Boston, the UK, Hong Kong, and Germany.

When we got back to the ranger station, Meddie presented each of us with certificates and suggested we put them on our wall so others will be inspired to go gorilla trekking, too.

The whole experience took more than 6 hours. I had a few hours of daylight left to explore the town of Buhoma.

'Reformed Poachers and Batwa Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd.'

'Pop Inn for Local Food'

'The Great Pork Joint Bwindi'

And then it was time for the first leg of our journey home: Buhoma to the Kihihi Airstrip.

Such a beautiful, fascinating country! It was hard to say goodbye to Wyclef who started as our organizer and guide and will forever be our best friend in Uganda.

We slept our last night in the same Airbnb near the airport in Entebbe where we started our Uganda adventure - it used to be Jane Goodall's headquarters. The next morning we had a few hours to explore and then flew Entebbe > Nairobi > Amsterdam > London....

...and over the pole to Oregon. We arrived exhausted and happy to be home, our hearts full of gratitude for the living beings who collectively made our Africa adventure GOLDEN. 

If you'd like to see more photos of this trip you can find them near the bottom on my FLICKR PAGE. Happy trails!