Travel Update #8: Cyangugu, Rwanda to Fort Portal, Uganda

My travels are continuing forward to their grandiose climax (or so I'd like to think) -- Uganda is my final African stop on my travels for the time being, and my time in Uganda is getting short. How did it come to this?

When I last wrote, I was in Rwanda, enjoying a wonderfully lush country. I had planned on visiting the Nyungwe National Park after I wrote; well, the next day, I did visit the park, and it provided Brian and I with yet another instance when our Lonely Planet guidebooks let us down in Rwanda. Thinking that LP knows it stuff, we went to Nyungwe with $20 for the entrance fee, as we had read in the guidebook, and were supremely disappointed when we arrived at the ORTPN office in the park and were told that it would cost us $50, not $20. Well, neither of us had $50 with us--we'd only brought enough money for the day. And so we were turned around and spent the next 90 minutes waiting on the side of the road for a ride back to Cyangugu.

That's not to say that our trip to Nyungwe was a waste, though. On the contrary, our early morning ride there was one of the most beautiful rides I've been on in Africa, leaving the terraced hillsides of the Cyangugu area and continuing on, up hills and around curves, through dense jungle, with imposingly large forested hills rising up around us. It was early, and all of the valleys and the spaces between the hills were covered with mist, rising up and giving everything an ethereal air. That drive alone was worth the hassle of the journey. Unfortunately the Onatracom bus that I was on was moving continuously; if it had stopped anywhere, I would have been able to take a fantastic photo.

The following day, Brian and I left at the crack of dawn and spent the next 6 hours on an incredibly crowded bus along a fantastic (and fantastically bumpy) dirt road from Kamembe to Kibuye. It had rained earlier, so the going was tough. Luckily Brian and I both had seats, unlike many others who were crammed into the aisle like New Yorkers on a rush-hour subway. Eventually we got to Kibuye, a small town with absolutely nothing to do. We were there for a few days, relaxing and napping and walking around and swimming in the cold waters of Lake Kivu. Even though the weather wasn't great while we were there, the scenery was still lovely. We also met a wonderful Canadian couple and spent hours chatting with them about everything from riots in Kenya to shopping malls in Dubai to poverty in Saskatchewan. Just talking to other backpackers was a welcome change---Rwanda is not a heavily touristed country, and Brian and I had not met any other backpackers for weeks. (and have barely met any since then, although that will soon change)

From Kibuye, it was another overcrowded bus to Gisenyi (on this one, I had the opportunity to sit in a window-seat where there was no window---just a lot of cold air blowing in my face). Gisenyi is on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, sharing a border with the Congolese town of Goma. Goma has a very interesting recent history, which I'm not going to go into now. I went to the Rwanda-Congo border post, but although Brian and I considered crossing into Goma to check it out, we decided against it.

It was in Gisenyi that it really hit us---we had set aside far too much time for Rwanda. Granted, we were waiting around because we had booked a trip to see the mountain gorillas on the 21st, and earlier dates had been booked. But, spending over 3 weeks backpacking around Rwanda can get really boring. For anyone who wants to visit Rwanda, I would recommend 2 weeks at most.

We spent 6 nights in Gisenyi. There was copious amounts of internet usage. There was the unfortunate night spent in a "dorm" consisting of Brian, myself, and 24 drunk Rwandese men. Needless to say, when the men started chatting at 4am and listening to music, the two "muzungus" were not amused. On a better note, we ate some of the best cheap African food I've had in all of my travels. I went to the beach and swam in Lake Kivu a few times---for as long as I could put up with the stares from locals and the blatant calls of "muzungu!" I also visited another wonderful market, but alas, I could not find any more "CU On The Ramps" t-shirts. At one point I was wandering aimlessly by myself through the market when two small children, probably around 3 or 4 years old, ran up to me and bear-hugged my legs. I smiled, but when I tried to walk, they clutched onto my pant-legs, following me. I was basically dragging these kids around the market, as they looked up at me smiling with goofy grins and women in the market laughed. It was all very amusing. In Gisenyi I also had the good fortune to spend time with locals--people around my age, with a working grasp of English (not always so common in a Francophone country). Spending hours with them, hanging out in their homes, eating meals with them---that's what I will remember about Gisenyi. Some have suffered and seen things I can't imagine. It hit me, looking through family photos and having people point out their murdered family members. And one guy in particular had both of his hands chopped off during the genocide but still managed to surf the internet with his stumps.

After Gisenyi, it was finally time for Brian and I to head up to Ruhengeri--our final stop in Rwanda. Ruhgengeri itself is an insignificant town, but when we were there, our eyes were drawn to the horizon, to the imposing Virunga volcanoes rising around us. We were only there for 2 nights; after our first night we woke up before dawn and were waiting outside of our guesthouse at 6am for our ride to take us to the Parc National Des Volcans. We drove out of town and soon were at the park, with the towering peaks of the volcanoes rising high in the background. This was where mountain gorillas had first been "discovered" and classified, and where Dian Fossey had worked until her murder.

We checked in and were assigned to our tracking group---Brian, myself, and 6 other tourists, along with our two guides and an armed soldier (for the protection of us? or for the gorillas?) set off to find the Hirwa group at the base of Sabinyo Volcano. Sabinyo, with its craggy peaks, lies at the junction of 3 countries: Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We started off, and after about 30 minutes walking through pyrethrum fields, we soon entered into the forest. It was an easy hike through tall bamboo, and after 20 minutes or so we found them: the Hirwa group of mountain gorillas--1 silverback male, 5 females, and 6 children. We were able to get to within a few meters of these majestic creatures, and we spent an hour with them. It was absolutely incredible, and although it cost $500 (about as much as I had spent during the entire previous 3 weeks in Rwanda), it was money well spent. It was one of the best experiences I've had during my travels (possibly the best) and will rank among the best experiences of my life. When our hour with the gorillas was up, it was difficult to leave. I spent the rest of that day, my last day in Rwanda, in an elated mood. We had truly ended Rwanda on a high note.

The next morning, Brian and I crossed the border into Uganda. We went from Ruhengeri to Cyanika, across the border, and then from Cyanika to Kisoro. Kisoro is a crappy little town, from what I saw of it, and after 2 hours spent waiting in a matatu (minibus) for it to leave, we were off to Kabale. The 3 hour ride from Kisoro to Kabale was crowded, and amusing in parts (like when the matatu broke down on a remote road and was miraculously fixed), and absolutely breathtaking in other parts. There was one point on the journey, when we were high up on a mountain-pass, looking down across lush, hilly, terraced fields rising and falling to the base of the Virungas in the distance, and then we rounded a turn and were treated to another panorama, with Lake Bunyoni and its clear blue water nestled inbetween green hills.

Eventually we arrived in Kabale and continued on to our final destination of the day, Lake Bunyoni. For our two nights in Bunyoni, Brian and I camped. Bunyoni and the areas around it are among the highest points in Uganda, and up in those highlands, alone in my tent, I shivered through the night. For the two nights we spent in Bunyoni, I was thankful that I'd brought thermal underwear and a fleece on my travels.

On the one full day that we spent in Bunyoni, Brian and I hiked to the top of the tall hills that surround the lake. From that high viewpoint, we were able to look out at the lake. Bunyoni is a breathtakingly beautiful lake, studded with wooded green islands. After soaking up the view for a while, we descended back down to the lake, and rented a canoe. We spent the next hour or so doing what is locally known as the "muzungu corkscrew"--where we would both start paddling and would end up going in circles. We spent a long time trying to get our canoe to go straight, to no avail. Eventually we realized that we could only go straight if one person was paddling, and from then on we were able to maneuver our canoe around.

The next morning we left Bunyoni; Brian went to Kabale and I continued on by myself in a crowded matatu to the small town of Ntungamo; from there, I squeezed into a "shared-taxi"--basically a private car that ferries people around, cramming as many in as possible. With 4 in the front and 4 in the back, we set off for the town of Rukungiri, where I was headed to meet a Peace Corps Uganda volunteer named Megan, who I'd been put in contact with. I was really excited to be at a PCV site in another African country, to compare our Peace Corps experiences, and to see what local Ugandan life is really like.

Whereas I was an "education" volunteer living in a village, Megan is a PEPFAR volunteer living in the town of Rukungiri. She is a "new" volunteer, having just sworn into service in October, the same week that I COS'd (ended my service) and left South Africa. I spent three nights at Megan's house in Rukungiri, living the Peace Corps life again and loving it. We purchased fresh produce at the local market and cooked (my first time cooking in a long time!). I did dishes, I bathed in a bucket. All very familiar. We walked to and from Megan's office in town, greeting people in the local language, Runyankori. Or, at least, she greeted and chatted in Runyankori while I smiled. (I was also amused to hear Megan speaking in her "African voice"---any Peace Corps volunteer in Africa would know what I'm talking about---the Ugandan equivalent to saying lots of "Is it?" and "Eish!!")

I spent two full working days with Megan at work; as much as I'd love to say that I was a witness to majestic heroic acts of service and community development, I can't. That wouldn't be Peace Corps. Peace Corps is lots of waiting, and making small progress in slow steps. Things change bit by bit; that's why they give us 2 years. I read a lot when I was with Megan at work; so did she. On the first day, we were at her office in Rukungiri; on the second, we went out into "the field" on a project that she is working with--training people in local villages about starting and running small businesses----growing coffee, or raising goats, for example. The villages we visited around Rukungiri are beautiful, hilly and green, surrounded by banana trees. Megan was supposed to speak to the aspiring entrepreneurs and teach them about leadership, but due to miscommunications (as always in Peace Corps), nobody brought her materials or gave her any time to speak. Megan is highly motivated, however, and she has a lot of great ideas about projects that she's planning; we spent a long time talking about them and I gave whatever small advice I could from my own personal experiences in South Africa (which aren't always applicable in an entirely different country, a different culture, a different experience---but maybe). I'm sure she's going to do great this next year-and-a-half.

It was wonderful and refreshing, spending three nights in Rukungiri; but soon it was time for me to leave, and on Wednesday, in the pre-dawn darkness, I let myself out of her house and walked to the bus station at 6:15am (sunrise is around 7am in Uganda). I got on a bus to Mbarara, and finally after waiting, we left at almost 8am. I arrived in Mbarara at 10 and switched to a matatu; after 2 1/2 more hours of waiting, we were off to Kasese, with the driver speeding and the engine smoking. Southern Uganda is lush and green, there are banana trees everywhere, and rolling hills---just wonderful and lovely and beautiful. But as we neared Kasese, all that went away, and we were driving through flat, dusty, brown savannah. After Rwanda and southern Uganda, being back in a savannah seemed like the height of desolation and infertility. We whizzed by a sign marking the Equator; I had started my travels south of the Tropic of Capricorn, and had now made it all the way into the Northern Hemisphere.

A few minutes later we pulled into Kasese--one of the crappier little towns I've encountered on my travels. It was about 3pm by this time, and I had to wait at the taxi rank in another matatu until 4:30, when we finally left for Fort Portal. Soon enough, after about 40 minutes or so, the land lost its barrenness and flatness, and became green again. With the Rwenzori Mountains to our left and green hills around us, I was happy again. The scenery was soon just as it had been in Rukungiri and other parts of southern Uganda. I arrived in Fort Portal, my final destination, at 6pm, almost 12 hours after I left Megan's house.

Brian was here, waiting for me. The next morning we booked some activities for our remaining time in Uganda (he's leaving Uganda on the same day as me, and flying to Istanbul to start the 2nd leg of his long journey), and then we left Fort Portal, on a shared-taxi to the crater lakes south of town. This is a lovely, green, hilly area, and we stayed at a place called the Lake Nkuruba Community Nature Reserve & Camp Site---a community-run place where proceeds go towards a local orphanage. It's extremely basic----latrines, an outdoor bucket-shower, no running water, and absolutely NO electricity. But the staff---community members----are extremely friendly and helpful, and I really enjoyed my time there.

On our first day at Nkuruba, we went for a short hike, walked to a neighboring village and walked around a busy market, ate at a local restaurant and chatted with some highly talkative individuals. It was all great. We also went swimming in the lake, which is surrounded by thick, steep forest. As we swam in the lake, monkeys could be heard and seen jumping through trees or coming down to the water to drink. The lake is thankfully bilharzia-free (according to staff), but it is FULL of tiny fish, each only slightly larger than a grain of rice, and when I would stand or sit in the water, they would swarm. Thousands of them surrounded every exposed inch of my body and started nibbling, eating dead skin that I couldn't see. They were cleaner fish---like the ones I'd seen nibbling at a manta ray's gills while diving off of Tofo. Having these swarms of fish nibbling on me was one of the strangest physical sensations I've ever had---not pleasant, but not unpleasant either. Just very, very strange.

The next morning, Brian and I were up early and rented "mountain-bikes" for the day. I put the word in quotes because the bikes we got had no gears, terrible brakes, and hard seats. Basically, they were terrible bikes, but we set off with them anyway. We wanted to bike to the famous Kibale Forest National Park. The journey there was through small dirt trails, up and down hills---we'd have to walk the bikes up the hills and ride down clutching the brakes as hard as we could. My hands still hurt from holding onto the brakes so hard.

Kibale is one of Uganda's most famous parks; it is estimated to have the highest density of primates in the world, including many chimpanzees. To get into the park and go walking costs money, but there is a dirt road that goes through the park that it is free to drive through or bike through. That's the road we took. Walking up and riding down hills, stopping to see monkeys jumping through trees, and enjoying the wonderful scenery of the huge, imposing forest. From Nkuruba, we'd ridden and walked for 17 kilometers to the main park tourist office, and then took that same route back. 34 kilometers on crappy bikes, having to walk with the bikes up steep hills, was exhausting work. I'd say that we rode about 35% of the time and walked the other 65%---that's a lot of kilometers to walk uphill on dirt roads, dragging a bicycle. Add in the hot equatorial sun and some downpours, and it was quite the workout. But it was a beautiful trip through the forest, and it was free!

Today we had planned to go on a walk around the campsite and neighboring areas, but we were sore from our ordeal yesterday, and it was raining, so we decided to return to Fort Portal and take care of some errands (like writing a blog entry). Tomorrow we have a long day of travel ahead of us, to Masindi in the North-west part of the country. We have a lot planned for the next week or so---a stark contrast to all of the lounging in Arusha and Rwanda. Knowing that my time is limited makes me appreciate it that much more.