October 2011 - Uganda Lake Bunyoni

Our final stop in Uganda was Lake Bunyoni, it is right in the south at the border to Rwanda. It is a very pretty lake surrounded by thousands of steep hills and it has many little islands on it. Everything like everywhere in this country is so green.
Every morning the lake was covered in mist that was rolling down the hills, a quite surreal setting. It was also much colder than the rest of the country and we needed to get our woollen pullovers back out of the boxes, we had not used them since back in South Africa.
We rented canoes one day and cruised around the islands. It really feels as if you are paddling through a fairy tale and if the Monster of Loch Ness would come up from underneath you would not be too surprised.
The local-style canoes and rows are made of heavy wood; making you really appreciate the invention of polyester.
After paddling some time in zigzag we got the hang of it. Despite the locals asking us why we had taken the long way round we were quite proud of us that we managed to get from one place to the other in what had seemed to us a fairly straight line.
We also got the opportunity to try the local brews. One thing that people no matter from which continent or of which skin colour have in common is that they like to booze! The first was a brew made of wheat similar to bulgur. It is served in cups of about a litre, it looks like milk mixed up with dirt and ashes and it tastes like rotten milk with dirt and ashes, even by trying hard to be polite and maintain a sort of neutral face it was difficult when forcing it down... The second one was much better and actually enjoyable, they call it banana gin and yes it is distilled out of bananas, it smells like tequila and tastes similar, we are bringing a bottle back home for you to taste.
The natural beauty of the place, as on many occasions on this trip, is in sharp contrast to the tough reality of people’s life. Each family here has on average 9 children. People are very poor and can hardly afford to have any child but this does not seem to stop them. Contraception as we read on a toilet is apparently ‘for prostitutes and white people’ (!) fortunately this belief is slowly changing as there are more and more initiatives to educate people on “family planning”. HIV is also a big problem and most of the children have been left without parents, as a result there is one orphanage next to the other. It is good to see that most of them are being build up by locals. Most of them have foreign support but the actual initiative is up to the local people which makes it seem much more sustainable. It is nice to see the sense of community people have in supporting all those children.
At least the use, as per the sign at this school, of ‘anal cleansing materials’ is more readily promoted than condoms!
Now we are at the border with Rwanda. Luisa due to her German passport does not need a visa to enter the country but Fred does and this is not available at the border. We sort of feared this but kind of ignored it (we have not figured that one out)... Thankfully we are able to order it online and do not have to head back to Kampala but this can take up to 3 days... So we are at this small border town, below the famous Parc des Volcans where the ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ was shot, not the worst setting to be stranded for a couple of days.