Up, down and around Uganda – “How are you “Mzungu”

More mud, hills, some Elephants and the odd red wine....the adventure continues....

After our adventures on the Nile River, combined with finally getting all our mechanical issues sorted, it was time to hit the road again out of Kampala. Sadly, 5 became 4 as Hayley departed back to Australia and the female buffer between 4 men’s testosterone was lost. Slightly behind schedule after our delays, it was high time to make up some ground as we had 415km ahead before our next “tourist” stop in Queen Elizabeth National park in South Western Uganda, where we planned on seeing some wildlife and chilling out. First things first though, we had some serious cycling to do and some hills to climb. Getting out of Kampala was full of typical big city fun, diesel spewing all over us, chaotic traffic and people everywhere. Once we climbed out of the city though, the next few days provided some more pleasant riding as we rose and dropped through mountains flush with tea plantations, rolling hills and predictable afternoon showers and lightning storms. 

Rest Stop out of Kampala

Vegetarian friendly...

With no real destinations in mind for a few days, we basically cycled as far as we could each day before setting up camp wherever we could manage to find a clearing. Schools were our new favourite place to stay as they provided typically flat grassy grounds and some space, however they always involved curious schoolchildren passing by, asking a million questions and just staring at our tents and gear. This can typically be avoided if we rose early enough and hit the road at sunrise. However, when someone in the group (who shall not be named), decides to lose the key to the lock that ties all the bikes together, it certainly makes an early getaway difficult….we are now one padlock short! On the flip side, we know how long it takes to cut through a lock with a dodgy local man’s rusty hack saw! Having school kids hang around can also provide some entertainment, as Ben typically manages to swindle a few rides on motorcycles out of them. I must remember not to get on the back with him again though as he seems to like to slide around wet, grassy football fields until I fly off the back and land arse first on the turf – never spilling a drop of my beer though!

School camping

Ben and motorcycle buddy

Gareth "repairing" the lock

View from the tent when camping at schools

So after 3 days and 300km, we landed in a town called Fort Portal – our most westerly point of the trip and finally turned South towards Rwanda. With heavy legs we put in for one of our hardest days in the saddle, punching out 110km of hill climbing cycling towards Q.E National Park. The park is home to countless wild animals and attracts a lot of tourist traffic – typically overland groups who spend vast amounts of money to come and be driven out on safari to see Lions, Elephant’s, Leopards and the like. Suffice to say, when we arrived at the park gate on our bikes, we got some strange looks from the rangers and questions like “aren’t you worried about riding through the park with all the animals?” With typical blind naivety, we assured everyone that we would be fine, we’re tough boys etc etc….our boldness would be tested however as literally 100m into the park, we heard the distinct - and not too distant - roar of a lion….the next 10km or so to our campground was cycled considerably faster and in silence! (The ranger reported the following day that there was actually a pride of Lion’s at the park gate where we entered….hmmmm).

Arriving in the small village of Mweya in the park, we were faced with two lodging options, neither of which appealed to us – pay to camp on a crappy field (with the apparent safety of a guard should animals enter the camp), or pay approx $300 for a night in possibly the fanciest lodge in Uganda. True to form –we did neither! We decided instead to set up camp in front of an abandoned shop, out of view from locals and more importantly – free! Once again, we used our expert animal knowledge and defied local’s suggestions to light a fire “to discourage the hippos from coming to eat the grass near your tent”. We all felt nice and safe camping in the picturesque field, with no need for a fire, until about midnight when we were awoken by a panicked scream from Tim - who had set his tent up inside the abandoned shop “Hey – get in the fu%&ing shop”….jumping out of tents and flicking on our flashlights, we were excited to see a few rather large Elephants stomping within meters of our tents…..suffice to say that now we pay a little more attention to local advice regarding wild animals!

Mature Equator crossing

Cycling into QE Nat'l Park

Roadside snacks

Up at sunrise with everything in one piece, we were safe from grazing animals from the night and headed off with possibly the dodgiest tour guide of all time (however saving a LOT of money), who would take us through the park in his beat up van to find some elephant’s an Lions. Although it felt strangely odd to be in a vehicle for only the second time in a month, it was satisfying to be able to cover some ground across the national park in a few hours that would have taken us days on the bikes. We were rewarded too, as we got up close and personal with Hippo’s, Elephants and of course a few Lions. It was a real treat to see all these animals in the wild and we were all pleased with our decision to pay a few dollars and do the tour.

Simba and friend

Simba

Elephant in the room

Gareth after his morning glory

Returning to the lodge, where we had been spending the majority of our time, drinking their beer, eating pizza, using their facilities, helping with their animal tracking board and not paying to sleep in their rooms, we chilled out and prepared for our next few days of cycling. The first 20km of which, would be back through the park where we had just driven! Thankfully, we didn’t see Mr. Lion again, however we did get the very magical experience of cycling within 20m of Elephants, grazing about and waving their ears at us. There was something special about being so close to these animals without the relative safety net of a car or bus that words cannot really describe.

Helping the lodge with their tracking

cycling with Elephants - a highlight for us all

Up close

The cycling for the last 2 days of this stint was nothing short of fantastic. Rolling hills (getting bigger and bigger the further south we get), tea plantations, friendly (and annoying) locals, serene dirt roads and road side fruit stops all helped as we grinded through the last few km’s of this leg. The final climb up into the mountains surrounding Lake Bunyoni was utterly brutal as we climbed 500m in less than 5km, however it was all worth it as after 8 continuous days on the bike without a rest day and over 650km, we stopped at Lake Bunyoni, taking a few days to rest, read, write and generally do nothing.

Heading to the island

Wicked climbing in S.W Uganda

We are all looking forward to visiting Rwanda for a change of culture and people. The scenery in Uganda has been superb – the people, hit or miss. Cycling as a method of travelling provides unique experiences as you are constantly exposed to local communities, villages and people. Literally, from the moment you wake, until  you go to sleep, you are dealing with the local people and cultures. This provides unique and very rewarding experiences – and can be extremely frustrating at times. Even the simplest things like finding food in a town can be a frustrating series of questions involving no less than 20 people. If we all had a dollar for the amount of times we have been called Mzungus and had people from all directions shout “how are you”, “where you go”, “where you from”….we’d all be rich! After hours on end cycling hills, the constant attention can get tiring. We daily have up’s and down’s when dealing with all the people but it is always worth it in the end. We’ve had some memorable encounters with locals who are genuinely friendly, curious and helpful, often offering to let us stay and feed us etc. If only we could avoid the mid 20’s, males who are nothing but annoying and frustrating and stick to the smiling kids and helpful elders, all would be golden.

Alas - the island where we camped is one of the more beautiful places I have stayed (Lake Atitlan in Guatemala excepted) and we all recharged our batteries before tackling the hills in Rwanda.  Our island adventures were been just that – a chilled out canoe trip on the lake turned into  a fully blown adventure as we had to paddle through an afternoon storm and our short stay was cut a little short due to what will only be referred to as the “wine incident” and will never be spoken of again….

So here we are in Kigali, Rwanda now. We managed to make it here from Bunyoni in one day, despite a late start, afternoon storm and having to ride 30 or so km of our 110km day in darkness. We will stay in Kigali for a day or 2 before heading back East towards Tanzania. Apparently Rwanda means “Land of a thousand Hills”…..I hope there is something lost in translation!!!

Local kid helping us repair bikes

Road to Nowhere....

A short side note;

On the road we are constantly using and abusing our gear and we have suffered a few mechanical issues – some that can be avoided and some that cannot. Below is our current list of mechanical misadventures over the first 1,500km of our trip.

Broken spokes – Ben

Broken rim – Ben

Lost karabiner – Ben (presumed stolen)

Broken cutlery – Ben (broken by Craig)

Lost thermos flask – Gareth (presumed stolen)

Destroyed padlock – Gareth

Broken cutlery – Gareth (broke Craig’s and his own)

Lost rain coat – Gareth

Broken pump – Gareth (Tim’s pump – up for debate as to whether broken)

Broken rack – Gareth

Broken pannier clips - Gareth

Blown tube x 2 – Craig

Lost Occy strap - Craig

Lost water bottle – Craig (presumed stolen)

Lost headband – Tim