Ssese Islands, Jan 09

Girls' trip to the Ssese Islands - situated on the northwest of Lake Victoria. The Ssese archipelago consists of 84 islands; each one rustic and lushly forested ('cos it rains all the time!), with little clusters of beach huts and prolific birdlife. We spent a weekend on Buggala, one of the largest of these islands & had a merry time exploring, cooking bread over the campfire with some Danes, swatting insects out of the buffet & trying to avoid bilharizia. We also discovered a shipwreck!

007

James Bond party. Even Ursula Andress came.

Safari'tastic

Following the monkey business in Bwindi, the intrepid explorers continued in search of more Ugandan National Parks - & they were not disappointed... Lake Mburo provided warthogs, baby crocodiles, Ugandan Cob & some humungous hippos; Queen Elizabeth National Park was home to the tree-dwelling lions (though the ones we saw were quite determinedly staying on the ground). A terrific time was had with the chimps in Kyambura Gorge - quite a different experience from the gorillas in that they all went a bit bonkers, brandishing sticks at us & then hot-footing it up into the trees. Exciting stuff! Finally, we were hippo chicks once again, cruising down the Nile to the foot of Murchison Falls & floating with the crocodiles. Good times. (That was for you, Al).

Gorilla Groupie

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (sounds like something from 'Harry Potter', doesn't it?) is on the edge of the western rift valley, in the south west of Uganda & is home to the rare mountain gorilla. (Currently, they can only be found in s. w. Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo). We had an exhilarating trek through the forested slopes of the mountain, scrabbling up vines & cutting through the bush, until we reached the Mubare Gorilla group's habitat in the shady, bamboo forest.

The silverback was grabbing a bite to eat in one of the trees; whilst the rest of the group (including two babies) larked about on the ground - one of the young males even approached us & took a curious delight in my camera bag, but not before stopping to examine Jan's hair. The gorillas completely accepted our presence, although one little chap did beat his chest King-Kong style at us, which was quite amusing!

In 2004, I was charged by a hippo in Kenya's Masai Mara National Park. I would say that meeting the gorillas was as memorable a wildlife experience as that was, though a far more poignant one.

Ugandan/Italian nuptials

I had the pleasure of being invited to a swish wedding reception in Mukono district a few weeks ago - quite a grand affair with lots of pomp & performance. Among the guests was the actress Emma Thompson who sang a lovely little song to the happy couple, about fruit (the orange wanted to get to know the apple 'right to the very core...'). The groom was Italian, the bride from Uganda, which made for an interesting juxtaposition of traditons! In Italy, for example, it is customary for the groom's tie to be cut up into little pieces & then distributed to guests as a reminder of the day! Feasting & fireworks & dancing under the moon-light chased the dawn...

New Year, Rwanda

Hopped over the border to see in 2009, starting in the capital, Kigali & then heading to another lake (Kivu) to see how the VSO Rwanda gang do it... I thought Rwanda was absolutely stunning. Kigali is sophisticated, safe & clean; boda-boda drivers (they call them 'moto') actually own & wear their helmets, food is good & people are cool. The scenery & the countryside live up to the description 'Le Pays des Mille Collines' - land of a thousand hills & I can see why it's known as the Switzerland of Africa. There's still lots of talk about what went on, but I guess that's not too surprising - & there are memorials everywhere. I had a drink in the original 'Hotel Rwanda' which was actually a bit spooky... Great place to practice your French as well - though they're trying to phase that out of course!

Christmas 2008; Lake Bunyonyi

Fellow VSOs & I packed up our jingle bells for a few days at Lake Bunyonyi - 'place of little birds'. The area is dotted with approx 20 islands & is surrounded by steep, terraced hills; the absence of crocs, hippos & bilharzia (nasty water snail bug) make it one of the few places in Uganda where you can take a dip... Christmas day was spent on a small island called Bushara, where we indulged in a turkey & goat buffet, washed down with Nile beer. This was followed by lots of tinsel-tastic singing & dancing with a group of little Ugandans who delighted in our home-made holly hats & then a boozy Secret Santa game. Oh, & it was really HOT & sunny!!