The night before i left JFK, my temperature had shot up to 102 degrees F. I had got the Flu. But i wasn't going to bail out on this trip. I hadn't traveled the whole year. Nothing was going to stop me, or at-least so i felt!
Fast forward 26 hours. NewYork > Frankfurt > Khartoum > AdisAbaba > Entebbe. As i walked out of the Ethiopian airlines flight, the fact that i had no hotel reservations, or that it was 2.30 am in the morning, was the least of my worries. Thermometer read 98.7 F. The medication was working, the fever was under control. As long as i kept popping the pills, i should be ok. Next up, a place to stay.
Normally, i would have stayed at the airport until the sun came up, and then try to find a cheap hotel or hostel. Not this time, i cant risk the fever shooting up again. There were quite a few taxis even at this ungodly hour. After stepping into one, i left it to the wise discretion of the driver to find a hotel, anywhere i could spend the reminder of the night. It was well past 4am, when i finally went to sleep in a room that cost me 45 dollars per night. Bugger!! :P
Day 1: Woke up at 10am, in considerably good spirits. Didn't take long to get used to the locality or the people. Well, if you are traveling alone, you better do!! Visited the Uganda wildlife center/ animal rehab. Here, they keep injured or otherwise incapacitated animals that are not able to survive in the wild. Interesting collection, and right on the shores of Lake Victoria. Came back to my room at 5pm. I was deliberately taking it easy.
Day 2: This was the main reason i had chosen Uganda over other countries for my first visit to Africa. To see Mountain Gorillas. It entailed a 500km drive from Entebbe to the south-western most part of the country. It would take about 11 hours. Started at 8am in the morning. The first leg of the journey was over well paved highway. Crossed the Equator on the way, and lunch at Mbarara.
After this, the scenery turned into beautiful hill country. Rolling hills, lush tea plantations and meandering rivers. The countryside was enchanting.
And then, on the other side of the mountains, yet another surprise. Typical African Savannah grassland jungle. A 2-hour drive through Queen Elizabeth national park lay ahead. This small country packs quite a punch with its varied landscape. The encounters with various wildlife, including elephants, baboons and many deer species, was an added bonus. Sadly, none of the carnivora made an appearance.
Deeper into the country, the roads became more and more treacherous. It was dark by now. Finally, at 7.30pm we arrived at Bwindi National Park. Stayed at Buhoma community center, which is a pretty basic accommodation space run by the local people. Right next to the national park, overlooking the montane cloud forests, it was quite a peaceful place. There is no electricity during night times, and i fell asleep inside a mosquito net, listening to sounds of nature. Bliss.
Day 3: The highlight of my trip. This was the day when i would hope to see the rare, elusive, and critically endangered wild Mountain Gorillas. And what a date for it to happen: 12/12/2012. After an early wake up and breakfast, a short walk to gather with the rest of my trekking group, which was eight people in total, and the rangers and guides in addition. A brief lecture on the conservation efforts, the distance to keep in the presence of the gorillas and how to behave if a gorilla approaches, let alone charges you. We started our trek at about 8am, and I am not even going to try and put into words the hour we got to spend with the Mountain Gorillas. It was absolutely magical. These magnificent animals share 98.6% of our genetic structure, are the largest living primates, and one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Watching them, one realizes how human-like they are, especially the babies. This easily ranks among the top wildlife experiences in the wild. And to top it all, in my enthusiasm i had probably strayed too close, and the SilverBack decides he would give me a quick jab to remind me of my limits. Touched by a wild mountain gorilla! It cant get any better than this. For some reason, I kept humming Madonna's "Like a virgin, touched for the very first time" for the rest of the day. This encounter shall remain in memory for a very long time indeed.
Day 4: The drive back. The same route we had taken to get here, except for the last leg. It was pretty much going through the motions of Day2. However, it would be unfair if i didn't give a shout out to Issac, the guy who manned the vehicle. More than 1000kms in 22 hours of drive time, often through roads that made me feel like my stomach was coming up to my mouth. Cheers fella!
Day 5&6: I was back in Entebbe. I had 2 more days to go, and decided that the best way to do so is to indulge in one of the simple pleasures that a solo traveler can afford: You can do whatever you want. Even if that means doing nothing. With no pressure of plans to stick to, i just walked around town, visited the local market scene, the botanical gardens, spoke to locals, rode around on "boda-boda"s, lazed on the shores of Lake Vitoria, and when i fell hungry, tried the local cuisine. The fresh fried Tilapia, were especially delicious.
And so, on the last day, as i sat at the airport watching the contents of the last bottle of Nile Special disappear, and wondering how many of these trips i have left in me, i cant help but seem to agree on Churchill's verdict when he pronounced on Uganda as the "Pearl of Africa". It is a country that encompasses in itself almost all of Africa's major essence. And i hadn't even scratched the surface.
Appendix: Photos of Mountain Gorilla
Although i had exposed more than a hundred shots on them, due to the dense vegetation, variable lighting and moisture, not many turned out to be keepers, Below are a few selects:
