Fort Portal – Kigali

So many amazing things have happened in the last few days that it’s hard to know where to start..
On Wednesday we went on a hike in the lower ranges of the Rwenzori mountains with a local guide. We hiked through farmland and met a lot of local people. During one of our many breaks (the climb was steep) a 70+ year old woman easily surpassed us and ushered us to “come on, get going!” – way to feel incompetent. The views were amazing and we went all the way up until the sharp border between farmland and jungle where the protected national park area started (where you needed a permit to enter) and returned back downhill.
We returned early in the afternoon and went into the city to get some provisions for the next day. While on the hunt for bread, fruit and water we found some men playing checkers and decided to stay and watch. After talking for a while they asked us what our empaako was.. Empaako what now? Turns out an empaako is a ‘pet name’ that is a big part of the culture in certain regions of western Uganda and we are proud to tell you we now both have one. Steefka will now also be known as Akiiki and Sam’s new name is Araali.
The next morning we were picked up at the hotel at 5am, so we could be at the Queen Elisabeth National Park at 7am for a morning game drive. It was a completely different experience from Maasai Mara. There were less animals and less people, which made the animals look more wild in comparison with the zoo like feeling of Maasai Mara. We were also not allowed to go off-track, which made it harder to spot the animals, but just as much fun (or more, because it was a lot more rewarding if we saw an animal). At some point we met a ranger/guide from another vehicle that had just spotted a group of lions 400m away! And to our luck the rangers of the park opened up a new track, so we could get a little closer. After the game drive we went on a boat ride along the river between two big lakes, where lots of animals came to drink like elephants, buffalos, crocodiles and hippos. Our guide was very nice and provided us with lots of information about the animals. After all this he dropped us off at a guesthouse close to Kibale forest, where we would go for chimp tracking early next morning.
The guesthouse was part of a family home and provided the real Ugandan experience, with home cooked meals (both for dinner and breakfast) and very open, friendly and welcoming hosts.
The next morning it rained a little bit just before we started the tracking, which made the chimps very happy and active, because it had been dry for a long time. We were promised an hour with the chimps and we could maybe see 2 or 3, but they just kept on making noise and appearing out of nowhere (or that’s what it looked like, our guide probably knew exactly where they were and was guiding us through the dense forest). In the end we spent almost 3 hours with the chimps and saw about 30 of them, including babies. Our guide was amazing. He had been working as a ranger for 16 years and knew all about the forest, the chimps and their behavior and enjoyed sharing his knowledge with us. He could recognize their calls and knew what they meant… how cool is that! (apparently there are 52 different calls, of which around 30 are understood by the rangers).
After Kibale our hosts arranged a taxi (matatu) for us to go to Mbarara where we would stay the night, so we would have an easier journey to Kigali the next day. We had dinner consisting of fruits from the local market and tried to see the blood moon through the thick clouds. Fruits here are amazing and unbelievably cheap (for us western people). We bought a whole papaya for only 2000 Ugandan Shillings (about 50cents in Euro). But if you think about it, the average wages are apparently between 100.000 and 200.000 Ugandan Shillings per month (25-50 Euro). That means that papaya costs between 1 and 2 percent of someone’s monthly wages. In Europe you could say wages are between 1000 and 2000 Euro; Imagine paying 20 Euro for some fruit, or 10 Euro for a bottle of water in a place where drinking tab water can make you seriously ill…
Rwanda is a very different place form Uganda, it is much more regulated. For example, motor taxis/boda bodas are only allowed to carry one person and both the driver and the customer have to wear a helmet (in Uganda you could see as many as 3-4 people on a boda boda, all without helmets). The streets are a lot cleaner and better maintained as well, no dangerous holes in the pavements and such. There are no plastic bags, you get a brown paper bag with everything! Rwanda seems to be doing really well, but all these regulations make it harder to start a business and this makes the divide between rich and poor a lot bigger (in Uganda, lots of people start their own business to escape the low wages).
In the evening we went to see the genocide memorial and museum. All these stories and reading how such a massacre could occur was informative, but grueling at the same time. Especially since the radicalization and polarization that caused the genocide seem to be very similar to what is happening in Europe and America at the moment.
Sunday, our last day together, we had a lazy day.. Sleeping in, going for a long walk and having a very fancy brunch followed by a wonderful massage… Sam will fly back home tonight, while Steefka will stay in Africa for another week.
Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed it!