October 2011 - Uganda Fort Portal Lake Region

For the drive from the North of the country to the central and southern part of Uganda we decided to take the most direct route, which was over although national, unpaved (no asphalt), roads. The drives were stunning, so many green hills, patches of millions of banana plantations and sometimes dense jungle.
Unfortunately we have reached Uganda in the rainy season and although we have been lucky until now, there is a heavy shower almost every two days. When it rains here it’s not rain like we know it, buckets can fill within minutes. Fortunately, hotels are very cheap here, most of the times cheaper than camping, so we get comfortable inside. Luckily almost every tiny village will also have a ‘hotel’, if you are not too fussy about the standard you can get a perfectly acceptable double bed to sleep in for less than 5 US Dollars.
Some stretches of road get really bad with the rain. On the first stretch we were told after 3 hours of driving/bumping that we could not reach Fort Portal, the city we were aiming to, via this road as a river had flooded because of too much rain and the road was blocked. We needed to take a detour and so reached Fort Portal a day later than expected. Every detour is worth it though because we can see and stay in places we would not have gone to otherwise.
The central part of Uganda (area around Fort Portal) must have been a mine-field in prehistoric times, with one volcano next to the other. Now the volcano craters are filled with water and there is one pretty crater lake after the other. We spend a couple of days in this region camping on the craters above the lakes and hiking from the one to the other through little villages and banana fields.
When one gets used to the children asking for money, pens, books and whatever else you might be carrying with you (radios seem to be highly appreciated, the equivalent of a play-station it seems) the walks through the villages are just wonderful, and the scenery is incredible.
No, the kids are not hungry or in urgent need of anything else, this is simply what they are used to do when they see white people.
This is what they have learned from the nonprofit organizations and the few luxury resorts here and there, white people come and bring things, loads of things, all for free! So, they try their luck with every Mzungu they are going to see. And from time to time seriously challenge our patience levels...
Just when we thought that we would not be able to visit any park in Uganda because of the crazy fees that it costs to drive with your own car, we actually found a public road that leads through the whole length of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the biggest game parks here! It does not really make sense but we did not complain...
The road is not very frequented and again, because of the rain in a fairly poor condition. We came across a queue of trucks and cars which were all waiting for this one truck to get unstuck from the mud. They had been digging, pushing and waiting for the last 3 days! Because Cruisi is a Beast we were able to squeeze in-between and cross a made-up bridge of stones and branches over the meter deep mud.
We were rewarded again by taking this detour because we got to see the first elephants of the trip, fully unexpected just at the side of the road!
Because of all this driving on dirt roads, we find loose screws in Cruisi here and there, so every two days or so a proper check up of all screws is required to make sure we don’t lose a wheel or suspension. Fred is even starting to enjoy getting dirty!

The final aim, if one can say that, was to get to see the famous Bwindi Rain Forest and get as close to the gorillas as possible. It was great walking around and imagining that the gorillas are just an hour’s walk away. The malaria tablets we are taking help in visualising things!
Although this is the most touristic part of Uganda the roads are plain mud tracks leading through the steep hills. Getting there and away took us again 2 days longer than expected. But it is just great fun to assess each mud-pool and try to come up with the best way to drive through without getting stuck. Cruisi is just amazing, no-matter how deep the mud is (and despite a girl driving) she is always getting out again!
After leaving the lake region we officially turned towards driving South again and with that we started the Way Back! So, for the last time we crossed the Equator and we said Bye-Bye to the Northern Hemisphere. Although it will still take some time, Cape Town, we are on the way back!