The 3 R's: Rest, Relaxation, & Road Travel: Fort Portal & Lake Nyabikere, Uganda

(Preliminary Note: The initial photos do not follow the text - try not to get lost!)

After doing all of our laundry, walking around, and generally loitering around Kampala for a couple of days we resolved to try our luck at getting hold of chimpanzee tracking permits and head east to Fort Portal, the staging post for trips to crater lakes and Kibale National Park. That morning we split up - me packing the bags, the tent, and getting ready for departure, and Jessica headed out for an adventure of her own. She took a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) to the other end of town to snag two recently canceled chimpanzee tracking permits at the Uganda Wildlife Authority office.

She told the driver where she needed to go and hung on for what soon came to be a ride she will never forget. They got downtown and started weaving through the traffic and winding streets when the driver asked her where the UWA office was. Apparently he did not know their destination, but of course was not going to say so and pass up a passenger. Jess had not taken the map with her, and Kampala being such a sprawled out city over numerous hills simply could not remember where exactly it was either. Well, eventually they reached the UWA office and she returned on the same boda-boda with an expression I will not soon forget. She was tired but had a great time.


So, we ate an early lunch and then headed down to the madhouse that is the new taxi park and bus station at the bottom (see previous blog for photo) of the hill from where we were staying. The bus that we wanted to take had not arrived yet and the ticket counter was not issuing tickets in advance. So, when the bus finally showed up the front of the ticket window was a chaotic orgy of elbows and people all wanting tickets at the same time. I stayed back and "guarded the bags" while Jess joined the fray, inching slowly towards the small window but still being crowded out by so many other people. Another muzungu (Anya, a woman from Slovenia who also was traveling with a guy "guarding" their bags) eventually pushed her way with Jessica to the front and got tickets for all of us. Having hauled out packs onto the bus and negotiated getting seats (which is not an easy task) we headed out of Kampala towards Fort Portal.

For Portal is a small town in Western Uganda that serves as the main commercial post for the Toro Kingdom and the Kabarole District. For tourists, it serves as the main launching point to the surrounding crater lakes and national parks. We arrived after dusk and made our way to the Continental Hotel. We settled in, had a descent and inexpensive meal and a couple beers with Anya and Domen and talked about their trip to Ethiopia and their home country of Slovenia.

The next day the four of us decided to go together to Lake Nyabikere, one of the area's many crater lakes, to spend a couple of days relaxing and exploring. We made our way to the small shared taxi park a few hundred meters away down the main road and chose the only matatu (14 passenger minivan) going where we wanted. We spent the next half an hour circling town looking for passengers as these vehicles do not leave on their route until the inside of the vehicle can give stiff competition with clown cars at a circus as to how many people they can cram in at one time. We had (no lie) 27 people in the vehicle at one point - with all of their stuff like chickens, bags of sweet potatoes, and hand bags. Comfy!

It took less than an hour to reach Lake Nyabikere 20km south of Fort Portal . We settled into the nice, friendly run CVK Resort, and hung out for the day, relaxing around the lake and spotting red-tailed monkeys and doing some light bird watching. The next day we took a walk around the lake, disturbed only for a short time by intermittent showers. This was an adventure in and of itself.

The lake is so small that you really can't get lost in the surrounding area. However, there are so many paths and winding roads with no signs that negotiating a circuitous route became a fun afternoon. Half way through the walk we came upon a small hamlet at the top of a hill and were greeted by a young girl who was more than eager to help us find our way. So, we let her take us around and through gardens and lightly forested areas, stopping on occasion to look at birds. A couple of her friends tagged along and where mostly curious in the muzungu. It was a pleasant walk, but (of course) when it came to an end at the main road they all demanded money for guiding us around. So, a little peeved, but understanding, we parted with some small change and continued on our way.

On the third day at the Lake the four of us took a long walk down the road south towards Kibale National Park (only 12km away) on information that a couple of chimpanzees were spotted on consecutive days in the top of a fruiting fig tree 10m off the road about an hour and a half walk away. The walk was beautiful. We went by large tea plantations, saw elephant foot prints along the road, took way too many photos of butterflies gathered in groups at the roads edge, and saw a couple new bird species - including a crested hornbill. We soon found ourselves walking in a more forested area and it was obvious that we were approaching Kibale National Park. Off in the distance on our right we heard a troop of chimpanzees on the hunt. It was amazing yet eerie to think that so intelligent and powerful animals were alive and well and on the hunt not too far from where we stood. It did, however, unsettle some red-tailed monkeys that were gathered in the trees above us, and they soon began acrobatic leaps across the road to avoid any change of clashing with the chimps. We never did get to see chimps that day, but we certainly were aware of their presence.
As the day wound on and the light began fading we hopped in the back of a maize truck headed back up to the CVK and the lake for one more night of good sleep, hot showers, and some cold beer. The next day, the four of us packed up, ate breakfast, and then headed south again along the same stretch of road in the back of a truck. We said goodbye to Anya and Domen at the gate to Kibale National Park where we were to spend a couple of days and do some chimp tracking. I think Jess and I will try to meet up with them again, and they have done some campaigning to get us to come check out Slovakia (I mean Slovenia).