Tuesday May 31st: Well Ugandan time bit us again. Today we traveled to Bwindi. Bwindi is in the southwest corner of Uganda on the border of Rwanda and the Congo and about 10 hours from the capital city of Kampala. We can’t even joke that the road to Bwindi is paved with good intentions since much of the road is not paved.
Picho, who has the unenviable task of driving the whole way originally stated that he wanted to leave at 6:00 am. Paul and I just laughed. Given the time difference and probability of jet lag, the idea of getting up at 5:00 am and then waiting 2 or 3 hours until the actual departure time was not very appealing. After some discussion we agreed on 7:00 but also discussed the importance of really leaving at that time. We figured this would get us going at about 8:00. Now this is where the irony begins. Even though we knew it would be later, my cultural compulsiveness for being on time forced me to set the alarm for 6:00 am just in case they really did arrive at 7:00.
At 6:30, Paul and I went down for breakfast only to find that they were late opening the restaurant by about 25 minutes. We ate our breakfast and started bringing down our suitcases by 7:15. At 8:00, we called Collins and Picho and they “confirmed” they would be there within minutes. This of course meant at least a half an hour more. So we waited in the hotel lobby – Paul. Alec, and I caught up on CNN world news. Around 8:30 we loaded into the van and then headed over to an unknown location Picho and Collins would only refer to as the house of the president. It turned out that the drill was back at Collins’ house so we now know that Collins is going incognito as the president of Uganda. Collins has another major point of distinction. During last year’s trip, we discovered that we are actually identical twin brothers who were separated at birth. We enjoy telling people that we are identical twins and then watching their faces as they try to figure out if we are serious, and then how they can tactfully express doubt. Following is a picture of Collins (AKA president – AKA twin brother – AKA chief engineer). I label the picture in case you would confuse him with me.
See the video clip here: A great stretch of road to Bwindi
We are currently on the road to Bwindi. I must admit that I am writing on paper for later transcription – mostly because the bumps and violent swerving make typing on a computer a virtual impossibility. Given my poor handwriting, this page only looks a little worse than normal. In the van is Picho (who is driving), Paul in the second row with luggage next to him, Alan and Alec in the back, and I in the passenger seat (left side of vehicle since they follow the British rules for driving). We are fortunate in that there are clouds protecting us from the full burning intentions of the sun. The music is periodically interrupted by news, and the music is mostly rap infused rock.
We stopped for lunch at a town about half way to our final destination. We then stopped for gas during which time Paul decided to create a little levity. (See the video clip here).
The view has changed dramatically. When had to pass through the city of Kampala to get to the one and only road to Bwindi. The city, as already mentioned in previous blogs is quite chaotic, dirty, and congested with shanty style shops and housing. Presently we are driving past verdant tea fields on the left and banana plantations reaching up the hill slopes on the right. The tea plants are densely planted, with dark walkway subdivisions giving the rolling fields grid-like patterns. (See the video clip here) We are now about 5 hours into the drive and are starting to climb in elevation. The towns are much farther apart and the roads actually a little less bumpy, although much more serpentine. Every once in a while we see people in a small group on the side of the road separating and selling plantains, usually with clusters of small goats nearby. We just passed a woman and a young girl of about twelve. They were carrying plantains on their heads (I would guess about 10 to 14 kilograms – 22 to 20 pounds for my non metric friends). Right behind trots a small boy likely 10 or so, dressed in shorts and a very ragged shirt waving a switch to force his cows to the side, safe from Picho.
Between the city and our current local we encountered small towns about every 5 km. To me, these towns all appear the same – dusty red dirt roads that lead away from the main dirt road that transects the town. Brightly painted shops line both sides of the main street. The wares appear to be the same in every shop. (Momentary interruption, we are getting a rain shower somehow escaping the still sunny skies. We are descending a small mountain yielding a spectacular view of a valley, a very large plain, and larger mountains with a lake at the base. This is incredible!) (See the video clip here) Back to the shops as we will be descending for quite some time. The wares of the shops generally consist of plantains, chicken, wood, charcoal, brightly colored plastic jerry cans, oil, household goods, and bicycle and motorcycle tires and parts. I am even more astounded when in the city as to how these people can survive from the sales they generate. Hardly seems possible that that a single store could make enough for an individual let alone a family with this many stores offering the same goods.
