Blog

April 17-22

Our morning at the Ishasha campsite in Queen Elizabeth National park was fantastic. The snorting and honking of hippos woke us in the morning and we enjoyed a lazy start to the day at this wonderful spot on the river. This is one of our favorite campsites.

The plan was to take another shortish game drive on our way out of the park and then make our way to the Buhoma sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see mountain gorillas the following day.

There was not too much pressure on today’s plan, the drive was reasonably short and the weather was beautiful. Our game drive had beautiful morning light and we saw lots of Ugandan kob, Defassa’s waterbuck, warthogs and a couple buffalos. 

In the small town of Kihihi we refueled and got the car washed. The sand and mud are terrible for the brakes, so even though we would be getting the Cruiser dirty again very soon we try to get at least the undercarriage and outside cleaned fairly often.

The road from QENP to Kihihi is mostly tar, more than indicated on the map. From Kihihi to Buhoma was about two and a half hours, mostly winding through scenic hilly farmland and towards the looming jungles of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. 

Gorilla Trekking

Gorilla trekking is possible from several places around the perimeter of Bwindi but Buhoma is where the first group of gorillas was habituated. They have the most developed trekking program and visitor center and offer the most permits per day for this tightly controlled activity.

The cost is formidable, $700 USD per person. Jenny went gorilla trekking here at Bwindi all the way back in 2006. After much waffling over the budget implications of going, Jenny’s mom couldn’t take our hand wringing any longer and subsidized this particular activity, thank you Peggy! 

I had booked our permits online about a month ago, directly from UWA. The process is somewhat opaque, but we did not need to go to Kampala in person as many people told us, I did it all online. To use a tour operator to book the permits costs an extra $150 on top of this already expensive endeavor. 

During Jenny’s 2006 family trip they also visited the Bwindi regional hospital on a tour. We just rocked up to the same hospital and with no appointment they kindly also offered to give us a walk around. Jenny said that the hospital has grown up a lot in the intervening years. The whole operation was very impressive. I suspect they benefit quite a bit from giving tours to the same people that can afford gorilla trekking and this translates into frequent small donations and occasional large ones, as indicated by various plaques on some of the buildings at the hospital. 

Where to camp in Buhoma was a bit of question mark. There are a few places that offer camping, but as far as we could tell it’s an afterthought and offerings were unremarkable. We settled on the Buhoma Community Rest Camp, which offers camping in their parking area. At least it’s community-run and our car park camping would go towards their continuing efforts. 

This campsite is also conveniently next to where we would depart for gorilla trekking the next day. We chatted with the rangers at the gate to make sure our permits were in order and we were prepared. They gave us all the info we needed and were very friendly. 

Jenny’s mother was very keen to hear all the details about our trip and we even asked about their guide and porters from all those years ago. We showed the guys at the gate a photo of the team that went on that trip in 2006 and they said, “Oh yeah, we know them.” They went through the photos and remarked that Jackson, one of the porters, was still around. 

The coconut wireless (or perhaps just regular wireless, cell coverage is very good here) did its work and a couple hours later Jackson appeared in our campsite to say hello. He was very happy to be remembered and we had a nice chat, and he finished by saying that he would be with us on our hike tomorrow. 

You might be wondering what the deal with porters is. The situation with gorilla trekking is that the park only has trails, no roads save a few minor service roads. All gorilla trekking enters from the forest edges on various trails. In the early morning trackers head out to find known groups of habituated gorillas. In the meantime the tourists gather at the visitor center at 0730, get a briefing and are broken up into groups, no more than eight tourists per group.

The gorillas are sometimes far away and they warn you that you can be out for up to ten hours, hiking up over 2000m of elevation. This means you need to bring lots of water and food. Porters are on offer to carry your bag, for $15 per porter, you can have none or as many as you like. 

The rangers stressed that they can get anyone to the gorillas, that people shouldn’t be intimidated by the strenuous hiking. If someone gets stuck partway up the mountain, or is even worried they won’t make it from the beginning, for $300 USD extra they will provide what he called the “African helicopter,” where a team of porters will carry you up or down the mountain in a litter. 

As much for nostalgia as anything we hired Jackson as our porter, as well as a second porter, Solomon, who was recommended for his birding knowledge. We would hang back at the back of the group and Solomon could point out birds as we hiked through the jungle. I will confess that it is nice to have someone carry your stuff while you’re trying to take in everything else that  is going on.

Jackson said that he used to get work as a porter two or three times a month, but now during covid it is more like once or twice every three months, so he was very enthusiastic about going and happy to have the work.

Usually the rangers at the gate will try to put people that can’t/don’t want to hike so far in the same group, to visit the closer groups of gorillas, and the people that want to do a big hike together to visit further gorillas. This doesn’t always work out, depending on where the gorillas are and what mix of ambitious or cautious people there are, but reports are that it usually works out well.

The evening before we went gorilla trekking became a soggy one. This is a rain forest after all, and it started raining. But we had nice hot showers and there was a pretty nice little thatched shelter we could use. The downside to camping in the parking area was that it didn’t have very good drainage and it was very muddy around the car. It wasn’t making us all that enthusiastic about staying a second night here after seeing the gorillas.

The morning of trekking we showed up to the visitor center and were checked in. Everyone was masked up for covid, hands were washed and our permits were inspected. There was a somewhat nonsensical safety video, big on prodution and flashy editing and light on content.

Then we were given an interminable series of dances and songs by a local women’s group. I know some people love this stuff. The music wasn’t bad, but I do not like attending this sort of thing involuntarily. I would have happily donated to their cause to show up 30 minutes later. *grumble grumble* 

Finally we did get a proper briefing on the the day, rules for how close we could approach gorillas, reminders that masks were required around the animals for covid-19 risk, and that sort of thing. Then they made up the groups, handed out hiking sticks and made sure everyone had enough water. After that we were off.

There is a trail right from the visitor center and our ranger lead us across a slippery wet bridge and we started to march single file in beautiful forest. Two armed rangers joined us, one ahead and one bringing up the rear, and we climbed. The climbing starts right off. The higher we rose the narrower the trail becomes, soggy switchbacks brought us up the side of the mountains. The pace was firm but pleasant and we made good time. 

Some way along at one of the rest stops Jenny related to the group what has become a famous family safari tale of her previous visit in 2006.

It was her sister, mother, aunt and Jenny. This terrain is very steep and the hiking strenuous and Jenny’s Mom and aunt were having a hard time of it, gratefully being helped along by many porters. They took a lot of breaks in which their guide Kent, a family friend, and her sister would smoke cigarettes and roll their eyes at the slow pokes in the back struggling valiantly onwards and upwards.

During one of these breaks while the sweat drenched guests were catching their breaths, Kent was rattling off some inane fact or other about the difference between the mountain gorillas (that they were now hiking towards) and the lowland gorillas. At this point Mom interrupted furiously, “What the fuck Kent!? There are lowland gorillas? You might have mentioned that before I hauled my ass 2000m up this mountain!”.

Note that there are multiple species of gorillas, and if I understand correctly the mountain gorillas are the most endangered, with some 1,000+ individulas remaining in the wild. Western, or lowland gorilla population estimates vary widely, but at the least in the tens of thousands, or up to 300,000. Note that in Spillover (David Quammen’s book I keep referenceing) he discusses the evidence that ebola and HIV have hit lowland gorilla populations very hard in recent years.

In the end Jenny’s Mom and aunt suffered quite a bit from the efforts of the hike, but when they saw the gorillas all the strain, struggle and subsequent soreness were forgotten. Well, maybe not forgotten, but at least considered worth the cost.

Our own hike was reaching higher into the mountains and the forest was changing. Huge trees with great column like trunks formed a canopy above us. Thick foliage lined the path, the impenetrable forest indeed. 

After an hour and forty minutes of hiking we had reached over 2000m of elevation, and the ranger announced that we were nearing the gorillas. He lead us on to ever smaller paths. Dense greenery tugged at our sleeves. While we disentangled ourselves from prickly vines the ranger started calling out into the forest to the trackers that had been up here long before us.

Here we stopped for a moment. The porters stayed behind and we left our back packs and hiking sticks and the rangers made sure everyone was masked up.

We doubled back and the rangers started bushwhacking into the brush, swiping at dense vines with sickle and panga. The group lurched into this impenetrable greenery and shortly thereafter we all froze for a moment, there was our first gorilla. A few heartbeats later and out came the cameras. Shutters were snicking away and we all jostled to get a good view.

The rules allow an hour with the gorillas, assuming the group tolerates you and doesn’t head off where they can’t be followed. We spent our hour snapping away at photos and marveling at these huge apes. It turned out that our group was one of the first (the first?) to be habituated and thus they were particularly uninterested in our presence. Again we lucked out on sightings, which ended up including two silverbacks, some very young gorillas, mating and general aping around. I found their hands to be particularly fascinating, so similar to ours. 

Our hour with them crescendoed when the alpha male decided to come right towards us and split our group of tourists in half. The rangers had us all back up as far as we could, but being in the impenetrable forest only gives one so much room for maneuver. We all backed up, froze, and let the big silverback move through us and into the foliage. 

The rangers lead the group in retreat, away from the gorillas to leave them in peace. At a nearby rest point we all excitedly discussed our encounter. It does the gorillas a disservice to say that this was merely a “spectacular wildlife sighting.” Something about undertaking the hike and being there, on foot, next to one of our genetic relatives is very special. 

Their human like movements and expressions are obvious, it doesn’t seem so far fetch that you might strike up a conversation about the weather. Speaking of weather, grey clouds loomed in the east and rained seemed certain; nobody was interested in long breaks. We headed back down the the mountain.

In total our hike was five hours. About two hours hiking up, an hour with gorillas, 30 minutes of breaks all told, and an hour and a half back down the mountain. The hike ended with us tromping into the visitor’s center just as the rain started coming down. 

Our ranger admitted after the hike that they are rarely out past two o’clock, so ~six hours total. In general it seems the all day hikes are outliers.

It was only one in the afternoon, raining, and we pondered what to do with ourselves. Originally we were going to go for a bird walk with Solomon, but he admitted that with the rain it would be fruitless. After some food and chatting with our gorilla trekking compatriots we decided to head out from Buhoma. Our muddy campsite from last night was not enticing and it looked like the rain was here for the duration.

Lake Bunyonyi & Mutanda

We set our sights ambitiously on Lake Bunyonyi. Theoretically this was a four hour drive of only 106km, but the road there was intimidatingly squiggly on the map, which always makes for slow going. There were a few closer campsites, if we got too delayed we could bail out and stop early.

Just as we were about to drive away Jackson, our porter for this trek and the family trek in 2006, came running up. He had a manilla envelope addressed to Jenny’s mother, a gift for remembering him from those years ago. The envelope has since been delivered to Peggy, who was very touched, a photograph of the gorilla family from the 2006 hike. 

Off we went. Tracks4Africa did not want us to take the short route, but it looked like it would very scenic, so against the protest of the GPS we turned off onto a narrow and winding dirt track. It wound around the flanks of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, clinging to the steep hill sides and brining us alternating through beautifully terraced farmland and stunning rainforest. The sections through the rainforest were the best. Thick green and towering trees with branches extending a protective canopy over all. 

We twisted and turned around tight corners, downshifted to go up and then down and then up again. The summit of the road was quite high, into the clouds at one point, and hardly a single hairpin turn did not have a spectacular vista out across the terrifically verdant countryside. Hill after endless hill covered in the patchwork of farms. Fields of maize, chilis, and tea, of bananas and beans, cassava and coffee. 

It kept raining, but it suited the rainforest and hills. In the final kilometers into Bunyonyi there is a road that leads through a steeply walled valley that is mostly hand hewn gravel quarries. We found it unsettling to see how young the people were working here, breaking off rocks to be hauled away. 

The younger were given the task of breaking big rocks into smaller ones, and neat piles of gravel, all matching in size, lined the road. These piles of rocks and gravel were all made by hand, smashed by hammer and then sized and graded, made ready for pickup. 

We arrived at the Bunyonyi Overland Resort and found a sprawling property with chalets, safari tents, a restaurant and a small campsite. It seemed very quiet here, but we checked in and set up camp. 

The campsite is quite far from the restaurant, but we were right on the lake, with hot showers and the place to ourselves. While we were taking showers the threatening clouds turning into actual rain and a heavy downpour began. As a sign of the seriousness and frequency of the rain recently we had dug out our rain pants a few days ago, but in the minute it takes to get from the showers to our campsite we were drenched.

In new clothes and now clad in our full rain kit we slogged over to the restaurant, having conceded that making our own dinner wouldn’t be all that fun. The restaurant was pleasant, but with only one other group there its cavernous capacity made it feel very empty. I ordered a pizza, which was not good, and Jenny more wisely ordered a curry that turned out to be great.

On the way to the restaurant is a sign warning of the dangers of drowning, swim at your own risk. The sign also says “Lake Bunyonyi is 6500 feet deep.” (1981m). This would make it the deepest lake in the world, which it isn’t. I found this fact so stunning I looked it up. The deepest Lake Bunyoni is ever cited in any mention is 2952 feet (900m). This would still remarkably deep, still among the deepest lakes in the world. I did more digging and it seems the deepest verified depth is…131 feet (40m). 

I found the 6500’ claim so outlandish that I couldn’t stop laughing about it. I hope nobody tells Vladimir Putin, he might take offense and put Uganda next on his todo list. Russia’s Lake Bikal is the actual deepest lake in the world at 5315 feet/1620 meters. Jenny wanted to bring the survey boat she operates back home here to Uganda, to do a proper survey of the lake.

The next day we put down as a logistics day, cleaning and tidying and trying to dry stuff out a bit. There are some shelters that we think are for the overland truck groups, but we moved the Cruiser up alongside one and had our own big shelter to sprawl our stuff out under. It had been a struggle to keep things dry in the daily rains, particularly the tent. It doesn’t leak, but the damp is pervasive and difficult to get out. It is not fun to sleep in a damp tent. 

We also finally committed to our next course of action. Until quite recently the land border to Rwanda was closed, but it had just opened. There were no particular activities we felt we had to do in Rwanda, but it’s right on our doorstep from here and it will make for a smoother route south, as well as of course being a whole new and interesting country to visit. 

It rained again that afternoon, though less furiously, and we agreed after two nights here it was time to get moving. The following morning we packed up and got going, stoping at the Arcadia Lodge for breakfast.

The Arcadia lodge is perched on top of a hill with a stunning view of the lake. We treated ourselves to a full english breakfast as we gazed out on the panorama of dozens of islands dotting Lake Bunyonyi. The terraced hillsides, finger-like contours of the lake edge, and many of little islands make for a uniquely attractive scene. It’s not hard to see why there are so many places to stay here.

First we stopped in the town of Kabale (not to be confused with the national park) and got PCR tested for the Rwandan border. From there we headed out for Lake Mutanda, another relatively close scenic lake. The drive to Mutanda isn’t far by kilometers, the roads are like long wet noodles thrown upon the hillsides, twists and turns all the way which made for slow progress. The whole way was scenic, the terraced farmland on steep hillsides never gets old.

Jenny had been working on where to stay.  She WhatsApp’d the Lake Mutanda Resort, which had camping on our GPS, but not on their website. They responded that they don’t have camping but could to recommend a place, or alternatively we could have one of their luxury cottages for a very steep discount. 

Sold. The countryside was beautiful here, but a break from the rain camping would be welcome. The road here is dirt, and the last stretch is muddy and on a very steep hillside. The mud was slippery in places and I was glad to have 4×4. It wasn’t hard to imagine sliding off the edge here.

The Lake Mutanda Resort was great. The driveway to get there was incredibly steep and I actually went into low range to engine brake down the hill. The LandCruiser’s brakes are undersized and not all that confidence inspiring. The lodge is a small place on a peninsula poking out into the lake with a dozen or so chalets and a restaurant, all tucked into a grove of tall old eucalyptus trees.

The resort, and our cottage, enjoys a stunning view of the volcanos. These are volcanos as a child would draw them, steep hillsides with a circular cone. There are eight in total, and in clear weather, five are visible from here. As the rain clouds ebbed and flowed the imposing peak of Muhavura came out of the clouds, its brothers in line behind it.

This string of volcanos straddles the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC. Two of them are active, and the rest are dormant. In 2019 Nyiragongo, which looms above the Congolese city of Goma, erupted and killed 30 people and forcing tens of thousands to flee the city.

In calmer times you can hike to the crater rim of one of these active volcanos and peerdown upon the lava lake. This is done from the DRC and right now they are not offering this tour. They didn’t tell us whether it is due to security or because of damage done in the recent eruption, but  there is fresh security crisis in the area of Goma.

Our luxury cottage was amazing and for two nights we spoiled ourselves at the Lake Mutanda Resort. We got laundry done, sipped coffee while hiding from the rain, went stand up paddle boarding on the lake and ate dinners in the restaurant. 

Stand up paddle boarding was particularly fun. We were quite the entertainment for people along the shoreline. Our welcome was so enthusiastic, “Hello! Hello! Hello!” or “Howareyou!? Howareyou!? Howareyou!?” Being shouted down from the hillsides. We figured the stand up paddle boards must not get used much. 

Jenny and I have been joking what a blow to the ego it’s going to be when we go home and nobody is relentlessly inquiring about our well being. “Howareyou?!” With enthusiastic waving and big smiles.

As we packed up from the cottage, the manager informed us that Rwanda had just dropped the requirement for PCR testing. This meant our two $60 tests were probably wasted, but at least we knew we didn’t have covid, and you never know if these rule changes are true until you are actually at the border. We would know soon enough.

On our way out of Uganda we stopped at a fuel station to fill up and spend the last of our Ugandan Shillings. Here there were two serious looking soldiers in fatigues, one armed with a rifle and the other with a grenade launcher. We see armed soldiers and police all the time, but the grenade launcher made me wonder if trouble was brewing. On the way into this town, Kisoro, we had seen a big refugee camp, refugees from the DRC. Maybe something else was going on?

I asked the attendant pumping our fuel and he laughed, he said, “No, they are just waiting for the oil change to be done on their vehicle.” I guess you don’t leave your grenade launcher in the car when it’s getting worked on.

With that we fueled up and drove the last few kilometers to the Cyanika border post. Rwanda here we come. 

The Nitty Gritty

Gorilla Trekking

As of May 2022 individuals can now no longer purchase permits on their own, they must use a tour operator. With the curious exception that foreign nationals that have Ugandan work permits can buy up to five trekking permits. When Ugandans can’t buy permits but foreign nationals on work permits can something doesn’t smell right to me. Maybe there will be a system for selling last minute permits to independent travelers at the gate, if they are available.

You can go gorilla trekking in Rwanda for $1500 dollars per person (!), or at times you can go in the DRC nearby. The DRC option is significantly cheaper, but the costs for visas and transport often negate the savings. One option is to go in the off season, where permits drop to $200 per person. The park can organize a visa, which is available without going to the embassy if you are going to the DRC just for this activity. They can also advise on the security situation and will not offer trips if the situation is too dire, lest you end up seeing guerrillas instead of gorillas (special thanks to Captain Ron). 

Seeing the mountain gorillas is extraordinarily expensive. If you have the means then I would certainly advise going, we had a great experience. That said, one of our fellow trekkers had  gone gorilla trekking in Buhoma once before and was assigned the smallest group that was only recently habituated, making for a much less intimate experience. He was much more enthusiastic about this second visit. I guess you never know how it is going to go. 

If you’re on a budget don’t beat yourself up too bad about passing on gorillas. Maybe consider seeing chimpanzees, which is much less expensive and offers the next closest thing, very different than seeing monkeys.

Gorilla photography. I took photos as close as 400mm and as wide as 105mm. I think a 70-200 or 70-300mm zoom would be ideal. Photography conditions were difficult. My telephoto lens fogged up shortly after being deployed. Ideally I think you’d pull out your lens earlier to let the temperature equalize. Use the highest ISO you can tolerate and be comfortable switching between manual and autofocus. 

Lake Bunyonyi 

The road around the east side of Bwindi was really scenic, highly recommended. It’s a good road, just slow because of all the twists and turns. 

Bunyonyi Overland Resort – It is a huge property and could accommodate a huge number of people. Because it’s right on the lakeshore it doesn’t have the same view as some of the lodges higher on the hill, but is otherwise a good spot. There is only space for a few cars to camp and if an overland truck was there I’m not sure where they would put you. If the weather was better we would have stayed longer. 

The Lake Mutanda Resort was a nice spot if you want to take a break and get a chalet. We lucked into a discount since it was low season and they had some modest construction going on. 

We hear a lot of stories and online reviews of overland travelers almost always asking for a discount at places and I find this totally annoying. Why exactly do you deserve a discount? Maybe for an extended stay I suppose. If you think a place is overpriced, then just don’t stay there and move on. It has to be the most commonly written sentence on iOverlander, “A bit expensive for what you get,” or the nonsensical, “They wouldn’t give us a discount even though no one was staying there.”.

I find this totally infuriating. If people are so outraged by having to pay $10 per person (or whatever) for a campsite then feel free to not stay there. Why so many travelers feel like all campsites should be perfectly clean, scenic, friendly, have hot showers 24/7 with blazing fast wifi for $5 night I don’t know. They should open their own dang campsite. /rantover