STUCK AT BEAUTIFUL LAKE BANYONYI

5 July 2008

Day 126

MGNP - Lake Banyonyi (Overland Campsite S1 16.394 E29 56.305)

Km

BRUCE: Philip, the guy who runs the place was not around today and it took ages to get the showers on the go and we only ended up leaving at about 10am. We drove one of our most scenic roads yet as it followed the shore of Lake Banyonyi and clung to steep hills as it climbed over the spurs in the Lake. Lake Banyonyi is really beautiful and we have camped right on the lake shore at the Overland camp. There is another SA couple here, Kevin and Rachel, in a Landy. Se and I decided to treat ourselves and have dinner at the restaurant but that was a definite mistake as it took 2 hours for our food to arrive!

6 July 2008

Day 127

Lake Banyonyi (Overland Campsite)

0km

SARAH: It was baking hot in the morning so I took advantage of the sun and did piles of washing which took ages. Meanwhile Bruce replaced the front brake pads and found one f the rear brake pad retaining pins missing. No wonder we'd been hearing a rattle! Our SA neighbours came over to chat and as the heavens opened in the late afternoon we took refuge under their awning and ended up staying there all night as Kevin and Rachel cooked us a great chilli, coconut, tuna and rice dinner. It's always great to meet fellow SA overlanders!

7 July 2008

Day 128

Lake Banyonyi (Overland Campsite)

0km

BRUCE: We are getting stuck here!! It is so beautiful we decided to stay another day. We spent the morning reading our books and updated the blog in the afternoon. WE had an awesome One Bean Curry for dinner and I had one too many beers listening to country music as Kevin and Rachel had left and we had the place to ourselves. Hope the locals around the lake like Toby Keith!

MEATS-ON-STICKS

8 July 2008

Day 129

Lake Banyonyi - Masaka (Masaka Backpackers Campsite S0 21.876 E31 42.867)

Km

SARAH: It's time to leave this beautiful lake which one of the locals accurately described to me as the Switzerland of Uganda. We were back on the road again at 10am and the new brake pads worked - thank goodness! The drive to Masaka was on a badly potholed tar road so it took us 6 hours and the only highlight was stopping for a meat on a stick at a roadside stall. We were offered beef or goat, so chose beef and it was surprisingly tasty and salty. I also stocked up on fruit and veg from the stalls. The camspiste was quiet but neither of us wanted to drive any further so we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun and went to bed early.

9 July 2008

Day 130

Masaka - Jinja (NRE Campsite N0 29.065 E33 09.808)

Km

BRUCE: Today was restock day and we stopped off in Kampala to pick up some more food etc. Se also found 2 awesome stainless steel wine goblets, so no more drinking wine from plastic cups! The Land Rover dealer didn't have any brake pad retaining pins for the rear which I needed with the pads so I will have to wait until Nairobi. Back at the NRE campsite I met up with a guy called Jack who said that the best place for Yellow fish on the Nile is an island downstream called the Hairy Lemon! An overland truck arrived and Ubhejane was soon surrounded by little tents. They all seem quite cool though and we have decided to join them rafting the Nile tomorrow.

RISKING OUR LIVES RAFTING THE NILE!

10 July 2008

Day 131

Jinja (NRE camp)

31km White Water Rafting the Nile

SARAH: There were about 45 people rafting today and we were super excited but also a little nervous after seeing videos of the rapids last night. Bruce and I were in a 'hard core' raft with Knut and Eva from Norway, and Steve and Emily from Canada. Tim, a Kiwi, was our guide and after launching into the Nile Tim was quick to show us how the raft flipped over and what to do in all scenarios.

The Nile was warm and cleaner than in Sudan but the day was rainy and overcast. I can't remember how many rapids there were in total but I think there were about 12 with 5 of those being grade 5! It was the most awesome day ever and definitely worth the $125 which included all our meals and 2 free nights camping at NRE.

We got flipped out into the water at a rapid called 50:50 but our worst spill by far was in the grade 5 rapid called Silverback. It was huge with 4 waves of white water that we had to raft through. We were doing well until we hit the 4th wave which was a surge wave and literally broke on top of us. All I remember is looking up and seeing this white wall of water coming fro us. WE were all tossed out into the rapid but luckily all the rocks were deep. I think it was the wipe out of the day and the video footage confirmed this!

We had lunch on our raft - pineapples and biscuits - whilst floating along a still pool which we jumped into for a swim every now and again. There was much banter going on between the boats and really good fun. The sun came out in the afternoon and the final rapid was massive. Half of it was grade 6 and too big to raft so we carried our boat to a section that was grade 5 but still pretty rough. We made it through safely but I think that's thanks to our expert guide.

It was a brilliant day and finished off with a free braai at NRE and enough beer tokens to have free beer all evening. The rafting video was shown at 9pm in the bar which was awesome. We definitely getting it as a memento especially since the rapids aren't going to exist in 6 months as they are building a hydroelectric dam. It's been one of the best days of the trip and 100% fun!

THE HAIRY LEMON

11 July 2008

Day 132

Jinja - Hairy Lemon Island (Dorm - No camping N0 40.606 E33 03.314)

Km

BRUCE: WE were up late this morning nursing sore heads from too many beers last night! After some time we got ourselves together and headed for the Hairy Lemon. We had been told that it was $50 for both of us but when Jake called them all they had was a banda for $75. All meals are included though and with some fishing thrown in it sounded like a nice treat! It was only 40km down river and we made it down there for lunch at 1pm. We parked the car and loaded our stuff onto a little boat that they take you to the island in. The island is awesome and really well set out among beautiful lawns and trees. We had lunch and then I went fishing but again caught nothing and only got caught in a massive rainstorm! Our shock came when we went for a drink at the bar and the lady told us t was $75 per person! We quickly downgraded to a dormitory so as to limit the damage to $25 pp. The island is an absolutely beaut spot though and I'd love to come back for a week to explore around it. We can only stay tonight as tomorrow it is back to Kenya!!

12 July 2008

Day 133

Hairy Lemon - Eldoret (Naiberi Campsite N0 26.749 E35 25.402)

Km

SARAH: Bruce really hasn't had much luck fishing this trip. Partly because every coast and river has been fished dry and partly because it's difficult to get local information on where to fish. This was the first place where we knew there definitely were fish but he still had no luck catching them in the morning either. Still, it was a fitting way to say goodbye to the Nile which has been our lifeline from Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and now Uganda. I'm going to really miss this river.

We are both feeling that time, and money, is fast running out and with only 2 months to go we needed to get to Tanzania as quickly as possible so we left the Hairy Lemon after great breakfast chapattis and said farewell to the Nile. We totally loved Uganda and could easily come and live here with the laid back people. It's been one of our favourite countries to travel with so much fun stuff to do here. So we crossed back into Kenya feeling a bit sad. Luckily the border crossing was easy and the roads empty so we arrived back in Eldoret at 5pm just in time to cook dinner and shelter from more rain! It's a lot colder in Kenya!

SUMMARY OF UGANDA

Diesel: 2600 Ush/l

Exchange rate: 1650 Ush:1$ US

Beer: 2500 Ush at bars, 1500 Ush in Shoprite

Border crossing: 30 mins in/ 30 mins out

HIGHLIGHTS OF UGANDA

1. The people
2. White Water Rafting the Nile
3. Climbing Mt Gahinga
4. Chimpanzee and Golden Monkey Tracking
5. Meeting the Macs in Uganda
6. Awesome fruit
7. Lake Banyonyi
8. The Hairy Lemon
9. Everything about Uganda!

LOWLIGHTS OF UGANDA

NONE!