Brian and Marisa Bargsten: Uganda

Uganda, ah Uganda...what a beautiful country and people.

First and foremost, we want to extend a big "Thank you!" to Erin for being our pseudo travel agent while we were in Uganda. She was very kind to let us stay at her place, get us in connection with Pasco and Alicia for Safari, and just in general, helped us out with logistics (taxis, accommodations, places to eat). So Erin, we thank you!

We arrived in Uganda at night, got our visas, collected our luggage and left the airport. We stayed at the Backpackers Hostel the first night. This is the first time we had actually stayed at an accommodation listed in Lonely Planet. Despite Kampala being a very large city, with lots of available hotels, Lonely Planet only lists two: Backpackers and Chili's. The front desk girl could have been described as inhospitable, but maybe she was just tired. Unfortunately, she had no record of our reservations for either the hotel or the whitewater rafting. No worries, they still had 4 bunk beds, so the three of us shared a room with some guy who snored alot, but wasn't bothered by our presence. The following morning we left Erin in Kampala to run errands and see a movie, while we headed off to Jinja to raft down the Nile (recommended by both Robyn and Erin).

The roads to Jinja weren't bad, and the countryside of Uganda is pretty outstanding. Whereas Tanzania tends to be a bit dryer and dusty, Uganda is lush and green everywhere with rolling hills. The countryside is covered with farms that grow a variety of crops: potatos, bananas (sweet and matoke), tomato, etc etc. When we finally reached the river, it looked lively (to say the least), and there was a large number of rafters (enough to fill 6 rafts full). Both Brian and I were late to join so we were scrambling to grab paddles, jackets, helmets, and sunscreen. We tiptoed down the river bank in our barefeet on the gravel to where the boats were waiting and climbed in. Our guide told the two of us to get in the front of the raft. Our raft had two other Americans and three Brits who were on a two week Kenya/Uganda tour. Our boat looked a bit hodge-podge and I wondered what would happen if we tipped, as one of the Brits looked like she would blow away if the wind gusted too hard, and another woman looked...well.......large.

Nonetheless, I was thankful to not be in the raft with the bunch of crazy Africans whose guide was yelling desparately at them to shut up and listen. That was definitely the party boat. Attempting to contain their wildness, their rafting guide began using a military approach halfway down the river and treated them like a bunch of soldiers, barking orders, "Paddle forward" "Stop!" "Get down!!!" "Paddle forward". It was hilarious. They could be on completely flat water and their drill sergeant/raft guide was still practicing drills on them while the other boats lazily floated by.

As for my doubts about our rafting crew....those were soon answered as we practiced all sorts of "scenarios". Brian and I have both done whitewater before, and I'm pretty sure that both of us have also been down Class 5 rapids, but never have we been as thoroughly trained on procedure. We practiced forward paddling, backward paddling, getting down into the boat for steep drops and where to hold our hands. We were told to jump out of the boat and float, climb back in the boat, and how to pull up each other onto the safety of the raft. Geoffrey, our guide, also insisted on flipping the raft upside down on top of us to practice getting trapped underneath. So while my confidence in my rafting group rose, I was also gaining a healthy concern for the severity of the rapids we would encounter. As we rolled through the different rapid lines and drops, we had a great time. We went from adrenaline rushes and slight panic as we hit drops (one of which was a 12 ft waterfall) which were often followed by long stretches of calm, flat lake-like areas. The scenery was pleasant, though we didn't see any animals other than birds, and we religiously applied sunscreen (our derm friends would be proud) as we watched the others in our boat turn lobster red.

There was really only one surprise during our rafting trip. At one point our guide took the wrong line on a Level 4 rapid. As we dropped, Brian and I were confronted head-on with a gigantic standing wave, and I thought "Oh shucks (not in those words)...we are not going to make this". Just as this thought entered my mind, the left side of the raft where Brian was sitting went up into the sky and I felt myself tumbling backward and the raft flipped over. I quickly surfaced and got my bearings, swam and grabbed a rope on the raft, saw that Brian was also hanging onto the raft and then saw one our our counterparts, trying to swim and struggling to get to us. Brian and I grabbed him, dragged him against the current to the side of the raft as we floated out of the rapids. We finally saw that everyone was fine, the raft was righted and a couple of our fellow boatmates told us how scary it was to be caught under the raft, as our guide repeatedly said "I'm so sorry!". Clearly, this was not an intentionally dumping as the other guides rolled by and teased about our guide's poor line into the rapids. Nonetheless, it certainly made the adventure all that more exciting. When we finally came to the last bout of rapids, our group rolled on through, while a different raft flipped, scattering its rafters. We reached shore safely and were the first to crack open our beers and change into dry clothes. Overall, the rapids were a very good time, though not as scary as we had anticipated, and we recommend that anyone coming to Uganda give them a try.

After getting back into Kampala, we went out for Indian food with Erin, which was pretty awesome. The only downside was that both Brian and I were beginning to fall asleep at the dinner table. So, after another night's rest we headed off to Mbarara, where Erin currently lives and works as a dermatologist for the hospital there. The drive went smoothly and we stopped at the equator where Erin paid 5,000 Shillings ($2.50) to have us happily entertained by watching water flow in opposite directions about 10 ft from one another. When we finally reached Mbarara it was late afternoon, we caught up with some of her friends, and headed down to the grocery store and Lord's bar for goat skewers, chips and beer. I give Erin credit because that girl gnawed her way through three skewers of tough goat meat, while I made it through about half of one skewer. The beer was definitely not cold (a luxury in Uganda), but the chips were good, and the company was friendly. Ugandans, in general, seem to be very friendly and laid back.

The following day, we again met up with Ben, our driver, who was to take us to Queen Elizabeth Park to meet up with Pasco and Alicia, two other expats that lived in Erin's compound. We tried stopping at 3 banks to either withdraw money from the ATM or exchange travelers checks...neither of which worked. So, our advice when traveling in Africa is always carry sufficient cash, and if your bills are earlier than the year 2000, they are basically worthless.

Upon reaching Queen Elizabeth Park, we had to bribe a park official to get to get into a hotel where Pasco and Alicia were staying, only to find out that we actually needed to purchase a park permit for that day. This meant we went back to the official and asked him to give us our bribe back and then please issue us a real permit. Shockingly, he did just that! We bid Ben goodbye and jumped into Pasco and Alicia's 4x4 to do safari. Within Queen Elizabeth Park we were able to go on a bird outing, look across a hippo pool into the Congo (an area that they don't let people camp near), and take pictures of tree climbing lions. Apparently, in this region the lions spend the majority of their days sleeping in huge fig trees...interestingly, the tree climbing 's a learned behavior.

The following day we ventured to the border of Bwindi National Park, where Uganda's gorillas reside. We took a route that isn't frequented quite as often. The road was winding and steep, and the views spectacular. I have been to few places that are as beautiful as that area. Our final stopping point was a 'town' called Ruhija, where you can stay in a 'guesthouse' that looks more like a ranger hut outfitted with bunkbeds and a fireplace. Because Ruhija is pretty far out there, we had to purchase food prior to arriving. Food options are slim, so our grocery purchases from an earlier town went like this: sweet bread, eggs, tuna, spaghetti noodles, tomatoes and coconut biscuits....we were unable to locate any other fruit/veg. In Ruhija, itself, about a 1-2 km walk, there is no place to buy groceries, no restaurants, and no places to hang out. There is a town that was little more than 3 huts just a few years ago and a research station for wildlife and agriculture. Our guest house manager, Godfrey, was kind enough to try to cook us a meal over open fire (though he stared confusedly at our ingredients) and we enjoyed a game of travel scrabble before closing out the night.

The following day we went for a walk to the swamp to look at birds, and as we turned to go back it started to rain. Our driver managed to meet us halfway, and we went back to the guest house to pack up and drive through to Nkeringo, where we would trek for gorillas. This is where the second big hitch in our trip plans occurred (the first being in Jordan)....

As Brian checked on our gorilla permits, he realized that ours were different than Pasco and Alicia's. This was bad news given that we were supposed to be going to the same location. Only 8 permits are issues for each group of gorillas, and our understanding was that there were 3 gorilla families. 2 which have been habituated in the north and the Nkeringo group which is to the west...both areas being at least a 3 hour drive from where we were. What we hadn't realized was that we were issued permits for a newly habituated group (beginning 2009), and that by sheer luck this group happened to leave from the Ruhija station. So, after making phone calls to our driver Ben back in Mbarara (4-5 hours away), he said he would come pick us up the following day. Pasco and Alicia bid us farewell and left with the truck. Brian and I were out in the middle of nowhere, with pretty much no food, no phone, and only a prayer that Ben would be able to find this tiny mountain village the following day.

We must have looked a bit pathetic because Godfrey offered to find food for us (cabbage and rice)- $2 total. We spent the night reading by lantern in front of a fire, thankful that we had just happened to be in Ruhija when we realized the permit mix-up.

The following morning we woke up early, went to the office to confirm we were ready to trek, and were told to be patient. By being patient, they meant wait 2 hours to depart on our trek because there had also been a mishap with other permits in the northern groups. The result was that a group of Italians were driving down to meet us and go on the trek. This was worrisome because trekking can take up to 5-6 hours just to get to the gorillas. You can then spend 1 hour with them, and afterwards you trek out. Dreading the thought of spending yet another night in Ruhija, we absolutely wanted to be back to the outpost by 2pm so we could meet Ben and head back to Mbarara before dark. The whole Italian debacle was threatening to ruin this plan. I asked the Ugandan park official again when we would leave for the trek, expressed our concerns to him, and he just chuckled with his friends..."just be patient" he said "you will be back by 2pm". Argh, I thought to myself and so I asked him whether we could stay at his house that night if we didn't get back by 2pm...he looked abit surprised and said "no worries, you'll be back by 2 or 2:30ish"... in Africa time, that really doesn't mean a whole lot.

But...it turns out he was right. The Italians rolled in at 10 am, we boarded their shuttle drove about 10 minutes, got out and started to go into the jungle when the trekking guides whispered to us. "Okay, they are right down here...." What?! Aren't we supposed to hike for hours?...in our case, the gorillas just happened to be hanging out near the road for the day, and so our "trekking was all of about 5 minutes before we were face to face with the awesome animals. It is really difficult to tell you what the experience was like...it seemed so surreal. We saw a number of male gorillas, at least 2 silverbacks, a couple of females and a baby. One of the blackbacks males was quite playful and liked to engage with our group. His name was Obia, and he was a 9 year old big fella. He would sit 8 feet from you and just stare. You could see that he was thinking and processing what to do next. They felt so human.

When you see the gorillas, you are supposed to have at least 7 meters between you and the animal. In our case, Obia was the one who kept coming closer to us. In fact, at one point, after a stare-down with the group, he when directly for Brian and side punched him, hit another woman, backed up about 5 feet, beat his chest, and sat back down. This was just an attempt to get people to play with him, and the punches weren't hurtful. But awfully surprising!!!!!! Who other than Brian gets punched by a mountain gorilla....what are the odds?

So, it's hard to top that experience, and I won't bore you with the details of our exit from Ruhija and our trip back to Kampala. Our trip to Uganda was a great experience and we appreciated everyone who made it fun....Erin (and her father and sister), Pasco, Alicia, and of course, *Obia*!