2nd June. Jinja Uganda

We weren’t able to post the earlier blog after we left the National Park. From there we went north to Lake Baringo where we spent 2 nights including my birthday. A fantastic place, no fences there for the hippos: you sit outside at night with a subdued light on, next thing you see these lumbering beasts appearing out of the water. We saw 4 of them on the land that night. Crocodiles are a regular feature of the lake with many lying on the edge of the water.
The birdlife up there was amazing. We hired a bird guide for a couple of hours who showed us over 40 different species in that short time. Our camp site was metres from the water.
From there we headed down to the Kakamega Forest. The last remaining area if rain forest in Kenya. I spent am hour or so wandering through the forest trying to see some of the species of birds and monkeys that inhabit the area with minor success. Still, it was invigorating breathing in that oxygenated air. David, one of the guides there was telling us about the troubles earlier in the year and how their area was affected. He said there were many killed that he knew and none of those were included in the official statistics of the death toll. He said ‘Come 2012 when the next election is to be held, I will not be voting if this is a result of casting your vote.’ At the camp site there we were the 2nd visitor since Dec 2007 and the first foreign stayers since the killing.
And so into Uganda. The border crossing went smoothly; the road improved for a while then became diabolical for 40 or so kms. I had the first inkling of trouble with the van today. The clutch pedal wasn’t always returning. That seemed to fix itself then began having trouble getting it into gear on the rough road. It seemed to improve ones the road surface became better. I will have it looked at in Kampala.
Tonight we are camped on the edge of the White Nile with the roar of the Bujagali Falls to lull us to sleep. They are an impressive sight. More a series of massive rapids than a waterfall. A pair of fish eagles have a nest in a tree on an island in the river while hundreds of bats skimmed threw the air as the sun set. This is a mecca for white water rafters though I can’t see ourselves risking such a venture. We just hope it doesn’t rain tonight as the track down to this site is red clay and quite steep. The rainy season has started.
3rd June Kampala
Well, after endeavouring to hear the sound of rain over the roar of the falls most of the night, come 4am I was wide awake and thought it best to leave. The sky was heavy cloud from horizon to horizon and lightning flashed in the distance. I had another look at the track out by torchlight and thought again that if it was to get any water on it we could be stuck. The night watchman assured me it wouldn’t rain (we were the only ones in the camp site) but after a couple more hours I pulled the plug and got out of there. As it turned out the cloud and lightning came to nothing, by the time we were 50kms down the road the sun was shining. You never can tell.
The mechanic felt the clutch was quite ok. That’s the trouble when you have an intermittent fault. It never occurs when it is being seen to.
We will rest in Kampala for a couple of nights and get some important jobs done like getting Joan’s hair seen to. Actually she saw to that this morning, very pleased with the result and not bad for $8. There are a couple of big shopping complexes here in Kampala catering for expats and the more affluent locals. Expensive but nice to be able to get things like muesli, smoked fish and nice cheeses.