Suam Border Post
February 27th – March 10th, 2022
The C45 towards the Suam border post laid easy going for us, fresh new tar all the way to the border. There is a one stop border post planned, but it has yet to come to fruition. After weaving around a little construction equipment we parked near the Kenyan customs and immigration buildings.
Crossing the border here turned out to be a bit of a hassle. The Kenyan immigration official was fishing for a bribe to stamp us out and took his time doing it. The Ugandan health official also asked for a handout, and there was a problem with our East African tourist visa so Ugandan immigration made us buy a whole new visa. As always though, patience and courteousness got us through in the end. The play by play is in the Nitty Gritty section.
After finally getting across the Suam border we were into Uganda. The road is not finished here, but the roadworks are underway and no doubt this soon will be tar. As we have found frequently in Africa, anywhere there is construction happening and not much traffic there is no direction of traffic around the huge trucks, backhoes and bulldozers. One is left to their own devices, to duck and weave around these massive machines when a gap presents itself, sometimes utilizing our 4×4 to get over unfinished humps of dirt to avoid being bulldozed ourselves. Amusingly there was a health and safety sign warning to “Look out for slips, trips and falls”, to say nothing of being flattened by a massive loaded dump truck barreling down the upon you at break neck speed.
After 42 kilometers of road works (I know because Richard Barnley wanted us to report back how much was still unfinished) we were plopped onto perfect tar. Ukraine had just been invaded by Russia and we spent the drive listening to a news podcast about the invasion while simultaneously trying to soak in this new country.
In the town of Kapchorwa we stopped to see if we could get SIM cards for our phones, visit the bank and most importantly try out the Ugandan street food specialty of the rolex.
A rolex is a chapati (a proper chapati is a pan fried flat bread that tears off in stretchy flakey layers of heaven) with a flat omelet stacked on top of it, then rolled up and eaten like a wrap.
While I was in the phone store trying to sort out SIM cards Jenny was on the much more important rolex mission. She came into the store bearing the goods and I was excited. I asked how much it’d cost and she responded that it was 80,000 Ugandan shillings (UGX). Entering any country, one early step is getting accustomed to the new exchange rate, and Uganda’s is an unfortunately inconvenient number to calculate in your head, 3600:1 USD. I figured our rolexes to about $23 USD. “I think you just paid over $20 bucks for two rolexes.” Jenny had a look of horror/bemusement on her face and she dashed back to the shop, realizing that it was supposed to have been 8,000 UGX, (we also bought extra chapati, typical price is 500 UGX per chapati or egg, i.e. a two egg one chapati rolex is 1500).
This exchange was overheard by all in the mobile phone shop and they thought this was hilarious. I explained we had only been in Uganda a couple hours and this made it even funnier. When Jenny went back to the rolex stand the guy handed over the balance without hesitation, apparently happy to let her overpay, but also happy to refund the difference if we noticed. Fair enough.
With that lesson learned we went on our way. We took the Suam border post because we wanted to drive this road, well known for it’s scenery, instead of the busy highway. It was delivering. The road wraps around Mount Elgon’s Ugandan side, and steep slopes were cultivated in patchworks of bananas, coffee, cassava and other crops.
After Kapchorwa we drove by Sipi Falls, but we didn’t stop. The plan was to head to The Haven to relax a bit, get laundry done, provision properly, and importantly, do our taxes. Then we’d make a counter clockwise loop of northern Uganda, Sipi Falls, Kidepo National Park, Murchison Falls and so on. The Haven was so well regarded by other overlanders that we thought we should rest up a bit, to be in an adventurous frame of mind before heading to the remote stretches in the north.
Holed up at The Haven
The Haven is well named. We arrived at the end of a pretty epic rainstorm, so the staff invited us to enjoy the covered dining patio while the rain tapered off. The view is simply stunning, overlooking a cataract of the powerful Victoria Nile. For an homage to our view, I ordered a Nile beer, one of Uganda’s well known lagers, to commemorate the occasion of our arrival at the Nile.
Arriving here immediately lowered any stress we had. The grounds are wonderful, the staff friendly, all was excellent. There is a restaurant, wifi, a swimming pool, great ablutions with hot showers, and the campsite is perched high on the bank with a view of the river. Firewood is provided for free and there is a washing up area near the campsite. All fantastic. And international overlanders like ourselves are given a half price rate of $10 USD pppn, a bargain for what is here.
Gravity at The Haven kept its grip on us for over a week. In a way we did nothing, but each day seemed to slip by without enough hours in it. Various activities kept us busy and engaged here. We went canoeing on the nile, paddling hard up stream and birding along the way. Once we took a quick swim in the Nile. Amusingly there is a sign directing you to either high risk or low risk parts of the river for bilharzia, but nothing is said about the raging waterfall just downstream that would mean your near certain doom.
We broke inertia and restarted our occasional exercise routines of squats and pushups and the like, trying to stave off the effects of so many hours in the Land Cruiser. Jenny got back into her routine of jogging. Her route from camp was through the local village. By the time we left, the village kids would either jog along with her until exhausted, or line up to watch her pass by, chanting, “MU! ZUN! GU!, MU! ZUN! GU!, MU! ZUN! GU!” and she’d give them high fives as she went by, to their delight.
I did a lot of blogging and we both took advantage of the wifi to call home and take care of some digital chores, including our taxes, which Jenny did most of. As taxes are everywhere, it was frustrating, but it’s amazing that it’s possible at all from a campsite in Uganda. We were remarking at how the rural villagers in much of Africa are at least spared this annual exercise, there being no practical way for African governments to levy income taxes on the poorest of the population. Jenny paraphrased the old maxim, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes. Unless you’re African, then it’s just death.”
One day we saw what looked like Santa Claus rafting down the river. Whitewater rafting being a popular activity in Jinja, but visits from Santa being rare, we figured it must be someone else. This turned out to be Kingsley Holgate, of the Kingsley Holgate Foundation, a well known promotor of overland travel, charity and that sort of thing. We actually had coffee with one of his party, who explained their current Cape to Norway expedition.
The normal route to North Africa is via Ethiopia, and is currently barred by the war in Tigray, borders are closed [note: this has recently changed and a few travelers are trickling through] Interestingly, to get to north Sudan they planned to drive through South Sudan. If they succeed in crossing South Sudan, they’ll be the first tourists to do it for quite some time. Mind you, there is a very good reason that people don’t do this. The security situation in South Sudan, particularly north of Juba, is fraught with real danger.
Part of the Kingsley Holgate foundation’s mission is to fight malaria in Africa. After we met them, four of their party all came down with malaria, which I found very curious.
Another couple was camped here, a Swiss expat married to a Kenyan. They were in Uganda to visit their daughter and we had a really nice evening with them. Jenny got a chapati-making lesson from Tabuu, who produced delicious non-greasy chapatis.
Just as we were about to tear ourselves away from The Haven a German overlanding couple we’d met all the way back in Zambia rolled in the gate, Miriam and Omar. This was a happy reunion and they convinced us to stay another day so we could have a big barbecue the next night. Two other overlanding teams showed up and the barbecue evening turned into quite a shindig. Omar grilled an enormous 8 kilo nile perch, whole, over the coals and we all brought various dishes to share for a big dinner.
Finally we said our goodbyes, feeling invigorated and refreshed from our time here. We were realizing exercise and social interaction is really the missing link for us on our travels.
To Sipi Falls
The goal was Kidepo National Park, but that is too far to drive in a day. Instead we backtracked the direction we’d entered Uganda from and made our way to Sipi Falls. First we stopped in Jinja and topped up supplies at the labyrinthine local market.
The drive to Sipi is all tar, and after getting off the Malaba-Kampala road it was pretty pleasant. As we closed in on Sipi we climbed up the steep foothills of Mt. Elgon. There are a lot of campsite choices in Sipi but there is no consensus on “the best” one. Sisyi Falls Campsite is very well regarded, but is some distance away from the actual falls. In the interest of simplicity we went to the Sipi Falls Guesthouse, which also offers camping.
The campsite here is on a lawn perched right on the very edge of a cliff. Beware sleepwalkers and small children! If you stand right on the edge you can see Sipi Falls right from the campsite, and looking west there was a wonderful view out over the plains below. The staff here were two young very friendly guys.
We planned to spend only one night here. Even though we had just arrived we signed up for the guided walk to the base of the falls. The hike was about an hour and a half and the base of the falls was nice, but not all that impressive. I think the view from the campsite is better. What was great was chatting with our guide for an hour and a half, and walking the winding narrow path through steep cultivated hillside.
He explained how marriage works here, what kinds of crops they grow, the different kinds of bananas, when coffee is harvested, where to buy the best street food, all kinds of great stuff. The hike was overpriced, $20 each, but we felt the experience was really good. At the end we walked out to a spectacular lookout with a view of Sipi Falls and two more falls above it, as well as an amazing panorama over the plains below. It was hazy and the clouds set in, but if they hadn’t it would have been an unbelievable sunset spot.
Our guide said that the sunsets are the best in the rainy season, when the rain clears out the haze. He explained that now people are burning the grass in the fields, to spur new grass growth when the rains start. The smoke from burning is a big part of the persistent haze we see.
Jenny made us a dinner of tex-mex style tacos with tortillas we’d been hoarding since we last found them in Kenya, and I knocked together some passable pico de gallo. It was great. We’ve been missing Mexican food, and I think ours was a pretty decent substitute given the conditions/ingredients available. Then it was early to bed, it’d be a long drive to Kidepo the following day.
Our waterfall guide had pointed out where to get a morning rolex to fortify ourselves for our drive. And importantly, he told us the correct price, 1500 UGX for a two egg one chapati rolex. You can ask for any number of eggs or chapatis and the price will be adjusted accordingly.
To Kidepo through Karamoja
The rolex maker, whom always seem to be men, made his first rolexes of the day for us and off we went. There isn’t a direct road to Kidepo, and of the few ways you can skin this cat, we took what we had heard was the most scenic.
This eastern route to Kidepo quickly brought us into Karamoja, territory of the Karamajong people. The Karamajong live in the arid northeast of the country and, unlike most Ugandans, their life is about cattle. Whereas many other Ugandans are accomplished agriculturalists, the Karamojong prefer cattle. This comes with a long history of complex disputes, with the Turkana of northwest Kenya, the Pokot of western Kenya, and with other Ugandan tribes.
In the past they have not hesitated to arm themselves. The are famed warriors, skilled at violence and for many years Karamoja was a no-go area for tourists and most Ugandans. In the last ten years that has changed. The government has successfully disarmed the Karamojong, mostly, and barring the occasional flare up, peace has returned.
When I worked in West Pokot, Kenya, my logistics assistant, Jacob Lodong, was a Karamojong from Uganda. He had been born just on the Ugandan side of the border, and his mother simply walked through the bush to Kenya and registered him on both sides of the border, to provide more flexibility for her son. He told us this was common.
Lodong, as he preferred to be called, told us about the disarmament efforts from the government. He explained there were certainly families with weapons, but not everyone. However the government at times used brutal methods and insisted that each family surrender a firearm whether they actually owned one or not. This lead to a somewhat counterproductive trade in firearms, where families would purchase a firearm on the black market so they could in turn give it to the government to prove their disarmament. On top of this he said there were families that insisted on keeping weapons, simply burying theirs in the ground for any future need and producing an old derelict piece to give to the government to prove compliance. This is of course anecdotal, but at least serves to show that these things are not as simple as they are usually presented.
All that aside, it’s now perfectly fine for tourists and we were looking forward to our drive through this less visited part of the country. It becomes remote very quickly, with the signs advertising for coca-cola and mobile networks rapidly disappearing. Instead it becomes dusty villages on rolling plains of scrubland against a backdrop of steep mountains.
[Note: there are periodic flare ups still in Karamoja. We saw army security at various checkpoints, one armed with a serious .50 caliber machine gun. Since our visit another such flare up has happened.]
We pushed on and passed the Pian Upe Game Reserve. This game reserve has seasonal hunting, mostly of antelope I believe. The scenery is stunning, with tall mountainous granite rocks rising up out of the plains. There must be some marvelous camping here somewhere. In the off hunting season the rest of us can visit here, but roads are limited and thus access is wanting. However, there are rumors that Pian Upe may soon be upgraded in status to a national park. This would presumably come with improved access and in time more animals.
The Karamojong men sometimes wear hats, a fairly unusual trait in Africa. Who knows why, but in spite of the relentless sun the simple hat is not widely adopted among Africans, with the exception of the occasional wool beanie.The Turkana and Karamojong have adopted hats to a degree, and some other parts of Uganda you’ll sometimes see older men wearing dapper looking full brim hats.
Here we saw our first Karamojong hats pretty quickly. They are usually knitted, but sometimes canvas of some sort, a little circular hat with a narrow full brim, like a knitted leprechaun hat. To denote rank or standing, usually in the older men, there is the feather of a bird tucked into the brim. The more feathers or more elaborate, the higher the position.
The hats were fantastic. Serious old men standing around chatting about the business of the day in their tiny hats with a big ostrich feather stretching up above them. I couldn’t get enough of it, but I was also too shy to take a photo. Our experience is most here do not appreciate being photographed unless you already have some sort of connection, so I didn’t push it.
Deeper into Karamoja territory we saw herders armed with bows and arrows. What they shoot with these I am not sure, but it was striking to see. Traditional dress has mostly given way to western wear, but in the stretches deeper in the bush we saw the typical hybrid, a cloth wrap similar to the Maasai, but worn with shorts too. A couple times we saw men in full traditional garb, a wrap of cloth worn something like a very high toga, leaving little to the imagination below the waist.
On we went. More wonderful hats on old men, more dusty roads charging through arid bush country. We stopped for fuel in the town of Kaabong, which was more developed than we had estimated. There was a small market here, a bank, and what looked to be a reasonably stocked supermarket.
Kidepo National Park
Our approach to Kidepo National Park was from the east, to the Nataba gate. The gate was not quite in the location it is noted on the map, but we found it and were simply directed to Apoka, the park headquarters in the middle of the park. On the road in we saw large numbers of oribi, a diminutive little antelope, a little bigger than a dik dik, that we had only seen in ones and twos in the past.
The drive into Apoka was a pleasant introduction to the park, though we approached from the southeast which is not the prime game viewing area. Apoka is a sizable bundle of buildings, antennas and broken down equipment being slowing retaken by the grass.
Apoka contains the staff quarters, some bandas that you can stay in, a watering hole to attract wildlife, and all the logistical support needed by the staff. The tourist office was open and we checked in.
Here we were given the surprise that the vehicle fees for Ugandan parks are no longer charged per entry, as they used to be, but per day. This was effectively a massive price hike, as we understood foreign 4x4s are charged $150. When it was per entry this high fee was at least spread out over the days of your stay, but a $150 per day was very steep.
The ranger checking us in classified us as a ‘pickup’, and this meant the vehicle fee was instead $50 USD, much more palatable. After much wrangling, including us pointing out his own rate sheet that said ‘valid until June 2022,’ he relented and charged us per entry, but told us that it wasn’t his problem if they gave us a hard time upon checkout when we left the park.
Subsequently every Ugandan park we went to charged us $50 per day for the vehicle, all attempts at pointing out the rate sheet were summarily dismissed.
Any concerns about this quickly evaporated when we made it to the Kakine. This is a public campsite in the park, and unlike the high vehicle fees it is only $6 pppn, an total deal. We had a 360 degree view of the Narus valley, herds of buffalo and elephant were all over the place on the hills below, and there was a pile of firewood nearly the size of the Land Cruiser (enough even for Jenny). The campsite is unfenced. There are some modest ablutions and a little tukul shelter for shade or protection from the rain.
Kakine campsite also has, ominously, a lightning rod. This was installed because of an unfortunate event, a lodge manager from another part of the Uganda was visiting here and was struck and killed by lighting in this campsite. We heard this from the couple that was interviewing to take his place at the lodge.
This camp made us very happy. I built a big fire and we enjoyed watching the herds disperse, grazing slowly away from the Narus river in the fading light of day. Around 8 PM a ranger vehicle arrived and dropped off a park ranger.
It is normal in the Ugandan parks that a ranger camps with you to provide protection. Whether this is from animals or people I am unsure. However a tourist was kidnapped, along with her driver, a year or two ago in Queen Elizabeth National Park, so I think it may be the latter that is the greater concern. When we checked in we told them that, “We were comfortable without a ranger,” but they told us this was the policy. Fair enough.
It felt fantastic to be back in the bush, in an unfenced wild campsite, and as we listened to the sounds of the wild we fell asleep, excited about exploring the park tomorrow.
The Nitty Gritty
Suam Border Crossing
The Kenyan immigration officer insisted on getting a copy of our receipt from when we paid for our visas. We’ve never had to produce this on exit before, and I had given mine to the officials on entry. After a long discussion and going round and round for a while he relented, though he asked for a handout several times.
At customs our carnet was processed so quickly I wasn’t even convinced he was actually done, but he was. No procedures were required, no inspection of the vehicle requested. If it hadn’t been for the delay at immigration we would have been through the Kenyan side in 10 minutes.
On to the Ugandan side, a few hundred meters through more road construction. Here a small tent was set up to inspect covid tests.
While we were getting our tests reviewed two guys walked through and handed the health official some money, and then passed onto customs. It is not clear what was happening here, but it didn’t look particularly above board.
He entered us into his ledger along with our test results, and then asked if we could buy him lunch. What is it with the Suam border officials? We declined, pointing out that it looked like he already had lunch money, gesturing at the money the two guys had handed him. He laughed and waved us up to immigrations.
Our immigration struggles were not over. Here the Ugandan official was not at all satisfied with our East African Tourist Visa, theoretically a single visa for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. When we had entered Kenya they had given us a regular ink entry stamp, but no full page visa sticker. On the entry stamp they wrote out our pre-approved visa number, but that was it. Here our Ugandan friend wouldn’t accept this. Again he said that without the proper sticker he couldn’t verify its validity. We showed him our printed approval letters, our receipts, all of it. He sympathized, but said that he simply couldn’t let us in without the sticker, admonishing us for allowing the Kenyan officials to omit this. He even called his supervisor in Kampala and let us speak to him.
The only option was to buy a new tourist visa. We forked out $50 USD each, and after the paperwork was done were granted entry. Jenny was totally incensed, feeling this whole thing unjust, since we felt the mistake was on the Kenyan entry officials, who were probably just innocently out of stickers or something. Unfortunately in Africa justice is often not available, and in the grand scheme of things solving our problem with $100 dollars wasn’t the end of the world, just expensive.
Mercifully Ugandan customs was uneventful. A road tax had to be paid, preferably in Ugandan shillings. To our surprise this was the only border post we’ve ever been to without money changers present, so we had to pay in USD at an unfavorable exchange rate. That done we received our road tax and were off. The cost was 210,000 UGX ($59 USD) for two months.
The Haven – I think I have detailed the Haven enough in the blog post, but in case there is any doubt, it is a fantastic campsite, one of the best in all of East Africa. The breakfast here is a feast. Lunch and dinner are a prix fixe menu, but we asked a couple times to order ala carte and they were fine with that.
Laundry is available here, power to plug in if you are parked at one of the two sites near the plug. If not you can charge electronics either in the lodge or at the washing station.
You can store your vehicle here under cover for $1 USD/day.
The Jinja Central market is enormous and has fantastic selection at fantastic prices for vegetables, spices, fruit, beans, rice, etc. For other goods you have to go to one of the “supermarkets” in Jinja, which are modest. We did find frozen chicken, sausages and meat, though only the chicken was any good.
You can buy beer from a wholesaler in Jinja, location on iOvelander (not T4A, who’s waypoint is out of date). Unlike some places they would sell us the bottles. We went here twice and the price was cheaper the second time, I have no explanation for that.
We had lunch at the Jinja Sailing Club, who’s website is much better than reality.
Jinja to Sipi Falls Guesthouse, 229km, 6h 30m
We stayed at the Sipi Guesthouse. There is camping for a few vehicles here, perched right on the cliff. It was, I think, 20,000 UGX pppn. There are new but basic ablutions with a cold water shower. There is a bar onsite with basic food, order ahead. There are other bars in the village and we heard the music late into the night. Not a bad spot, but not the best either.
Pian Upe
There is a sign that says you can camp here, and I have read one trip report of people doing so. I’d bet that the camping at this point is just near the rangers quarters somewhere, but in the future there is potential for some spectacular camping in the Pian Upe mountains, if UWA will allow it.
Matheniko Game Reserve
I know nothing about this reserve, save I saw a sign that said “campsite” as we drove by. I forgot to mark it on the GPS, but there was a UWA sign offering a campsite on our route somewhere around this reserve. This would make a well placed stop to break the journey to/from Kidepo in two.
Sipi Falls to Kidepo National Park
There are two UWA campsites within the park, Kakine and Nakosopiri. Both have excellent views, unlimited firewood, basic ablutions with tanked water and two tukul style shelters. The cost can’t be beat, at 20,000 UGX, about $6 USD pppn. The Bradt guide says that you can also camp somewhere at Apoka, but considering the wilderness feel, the views and the amenities on offer I really struggle to think of any reason why you’d pick that over the UWA sights.
More on Kidepo National Park in the next post.
