Christmas under Abyssinian Skies

As the plane took off I leant forward inquisitively and craned my neck to look out of the small porthole window at the back of the Ethiopian Airways turbo-prop.  During our trip around Ethiopia I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of the mountain fortress of Maqdala, home of the great and mad Emperor Tewodros.  This flight between Lalibela and Addis Ababa was my last chance on this trip but as the plane climbed up and over the towering flat topped mountains and incredibly deep canyons, there was very little possibility of being able to distinguish the correct plateau from all of the others.

We arrived in Addis on the 23^rd December and checking into our hotel after a short but comfortable journey on Addis Ababa’s new roads.  From the drive Addis appeared to have a developed but contradictory look with new high rise buildings and construction everywhere interspersed with the usual signs of abject poverty, donkeys and communist era Ladas being used as taxis.  Ethiopia in general seems to be a country of comparisons, but also and more distinctly a land of mystery and surprise.  This was further reinforced when we left the city for the countryside.  Addis is only 120 years old and so doesn’t really prepare you for the exterior of the country.  As we awoke alongside the shores of Lake Tana, the start of the Blue Nile, the sounds of donkeys yawing and cockerels crowing mingled with the sound of modern diesel engines of the ferries that ply their way across the golden waters of the lake.  Between these more recent contraptions brought overland from Djibouti paddle fishermen in millennia old papyrus canoes bringing fish and firewood to Bahir Dar’s markets.  Something you can imagine hasn’t changed in centuries despite the political and social upheaval of the last hundred years through the Italian occupation and the Communist Derg oppression.

Christmas morning on the lake was filled quite suitably with visits to the renowned island monasteries of Lake Tana and the Zeghie Peninsular.  In some instances the churches date back to the 14^th – 16^th Centuries with intricate paintings of popular scenes from the Bible on the walls and resident monks living on site.  Ethiopians are deeply Orthodox Christians and are a very proud people who believe the story that Emperor Haile Selassie was a direct decedent of the Kings of Israel.   It is understood that the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon in Jerusalem and gave birth to an infant son on her return to Africa.  This pairing spawned Christianity in Ethiopia along with the later legends of Prestor John and the discovery of the Ethiopian Jews.   Whether or not this story is true isn’t known, but while walking through the medieval monasteries it is easy to see how it could be.

After Lake Tana we headed North in a ubiquitous white Toyota mini-van to the old 16^th Century castle town of Gondar.  Not to be confused with Tolkien’s mythical Gondor, the city sprung up around King Fasilides’s original castle which itself had an air of mystery.  After exploring the magnificent ruins of the Royal Enclosure and nearby Church or Debre Birhan Selassie, we set off North once more to the Simien Mountains.  The drive twisted and turned as it climbed up into the heights of Africa and as is the case of Ethiopia you are literally struck dumb by the scenery that encompasses you.  The Simiens appear to sit as a plateau upon the highest point in Africa almost like a natural castles keep.  As we trekked along the edge of the deep and shear canyon cliffs and looked out it simply took our breath away, often literally due to the altitude at 3,200-4,500m.  We shared these rocky outcrops with what must be the trendiest of all mammals; the Gelada Baboon.  A type of monkey yet purely vegetarian these extremely cute animals survive at high altitude, in large groups, living off grass roots and constantly preening one another.  The males are particularly magnificent with 70’s rocker long blond hair and a red heart shaped patch on their chests.  We sat for hours just feet from these cheerful characters watching this behaviour and listening to their strangely childlike noises with them seemingly oblivious to our presence.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to stay in the mountains forever though and after a seriously cold night at Africa’s highest bar we set off on the road for Lalibela and its famous rock hewn churches.

To reach the churches however it was necessary to drive past Debre Tabor, the old one time capital of Ethiopia as used by Tewodros II in the 1860’s.  As I had read previously Tewodros, or Theodore as he was commonly known in Britain, had used the city as his launching point for raids around the country that started as his way of reunifying the kingdoms - in a slightly more violent way as Bismark had achieved in Germany.  However since the death of his wife he had slowly been going mad and Debre Tabor had been the starting point for his six month epic journey to his stronghold of Maqdala.  The move was a pre-emptive action after he had angered the British by taking some Europeans hostage and forcing them to construct large iron cannons.  After various attempts the British couldn’t take any more of his bad diplomacy and ordered General Napier to march from the coast into this mountainous land.  The road that Theodore built for the transport of these massive guns travelled the 160 miles between Debre Tabor and Maqdala and this was exactly the road we would be travelling. 

We wound up and through the mountain passes that were carved by the Kings caravan.  Although the road was now modern it was still possible in places to see the original grass track and the natural features described in various books making for a fairly colourful journey.  Soon enough however we turned off the main road and climbed up to Lalibela arriving as the sun started to drop below the distant mountains.  Lalibela is perched on an escarpment looking out across the valleys and dry riverbeds below, which I can only imagine is reminiscent of the Afghanistan landscape.  The town itself is fairly small but with the old cobbled streets heading down to the incredible subterranean churches it has a truly magical feel.  There is certainly a limit to the number of churches I can look around while on holiday but as the tally passed 15 over the next day with the individuality and iconic UNESCO monasteries that Lalibela boasts this limit seemed to extend.  There are eleven churches in all and moving between them through hand cut tunnels and passages made you contemplate the thousands of people that have passed this way daily.

After the excitement of the Simiens and the beauty of Lake Tana, Gondar and Lalibelan culture we arrived back in Addis to try and squeeze out the remainder of the sites that Ethiopia had to offer.  Finishing off with a fantastic Italian Christmas lunch at Castelli’s; a restaurant set up by an Italian soldier in 1948 and still run by his widow and her brother and attracting the likes of Brad Pitt and Bob Geldof.  The whole holiday had been simply amazing and although I hadn’t managed to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Maqgala I had an idea of exactly what the British troops had seen as Ethiopia feels like it has barely changed since they marched through the country on route to Tewodros.  But with foreign investment coming from China and Europe and the increase in tourism expected it may alter in the future, I hope it never loses any of its mystery or magic.

50 Years of Independence

The SS Robert Corydon (Before 1964 and After 2012) - with thanks to the original photographers

October marked the Golden Jubilee Anniversary of the separation of Uganda from the protection of the British Empire.  When Stanley, Speke, Burton and countless other Europeans explored the country in the 19^th Century and helped fill in the previously blank areas of the map, Uganda was a region of Kingdoms and chiefdoms.  With regions such as Bunyoro-Kitara and Ankole long established with a defined hierarchy and social structure with the King at the top, it was necessary for these early friendly visitors to pay homage to cross these territories with gifts and trade goods.

Kampala is situated in Buganda, one of the largest of these districts in modern day Uganda and was visited by Henry Stanley the Welsh-American journalist and Explorer in 1875 where he met with its Kabaka (King) Mutessa during his search for David Livingstone.  As he crossed through Buganda on his way to Lake Albert he was forced to march into the Kabaka’s camp situated at the end of a long and tree lined road.  The Kings seat of power, that he had recently chosen, survives to this day as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Kampala at The Kasubi Tombs in Rubaga, East Kampala.  It was during these early meetings that Stanley paved the way for Buganda to become one of the first Kingdoms to establish links with the British and be adopted into the protectorate shortly before the Berlin Conference of the early twentieth Century; where Africa was carved up between the European super powers with interests in the Dark Continent…and Belgium.   

Kampala is also the present day capital of Uganda and the location chosen on Independence Day this year for the Government to showcase the history and tradition of the nation in front of some of Worlds visiting press and important dignitaries.  Prince Edward the Duke of Kent was on hand as he was fifty years previously to watch the troops marching, the children singing and the jet fighters looping overhead.  We also made the short trip down through the traffic from our hill in Mutungo to witness this historic event, albeit in the background and as I watched the Independence Celebrations I couldn't help but consider the legacy that the UK left fifty years ago and how the State of the Nation is today. 

A lot of parallels can be and often are drawn between African nations and ‘the West.’  The foreign press and Aid Agencies more often than not focus on the negatives as this sells news or generates donations better than stories and images of hope and prosperity.  We know that the African middle class is expanding at an alarming rate with skyscrapers being thrown up with the help of Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern money.  However for all of those that are able to afford the new shiny cars and trips to the cities restaurants, the majority of the country is still below the poverty line.  I think it’s fairly safe to say that although Uganda may have high spec technology for sale and has skipped Bell’s land-line phenomenon with mobiles found from rich to poor they are in reality, to the eyes of a UK resident, with respect to religion and human rights, close to a hundred years behind their old colonial protectorate ‘masters.’ 

What I do find sad though is just how decrepit the old infrastructure has become in just half a century.  There was once a time when a traveller could cross over 1,000 km from Mombasa to Gulu by train on the ‘Lunatic Express’ and then jump onto the Steam Ship Robert Corydon for a trip down Lake Albert.  Unfortunately the passenger services now stop at Nairobi and as for the SS.R.C, well that has certainly seen better days and now spends its inflicted retirement rusting helpless on the lake shore close to the very point Ernest Hemingway’s light aircraft crashed twice on one of his numerous hunting expeditions.  I only hope that sometime in the next 50 years of self-rule the Ugandans realise how useful and important this type of legacy was and how it could help generate increased tourist and commercial interest in the more upcountry parts helping pave a way for an even more advanced, successful and broad-minded nation.

Back to Basics

September was frankly a rather quiet month.  The Olympics has passed, the summer holidays are over and Kampala has returned to normality.  Unfortunately this meant a long period of hard work interspaced with short weekends where Helen and I could catch our breaths.  When I returned to the UK I managed to bring back some much needed equipment for Stanley the Landie, and during the last week of the month he was treated to the Land Rover equivalent of a spar day, with bits and pieces removed and replaced.  After two full days up on a garage lift he has been preparing for our weekend trip back to Murchison Falls to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Red Chili Backpackers lodge.  It was also a good chance to ensure that the roof tent gets a good outing in preparation for our long journey around the South West of Uganda in the October half term.  Unfortunately however, the unsettled Nile River fishing score will not be settled this time around!  The weekend in Murchison itself was a fast and wet weekend.  Although the weather was perfect with very few clouds in the sky, the beer was cheap and readily available for the celebrations.  All of which made the long drive back to Kampala that little bit harder.

Role on two weeks and Helen and I found ourselves on the long and surprisingly smooth road to Lake Bunyoni in the hilly southern corner of Uganda.  After numerous hours on the road and the loss of the daylight, we finally rolled down the steep track into the first camping location and raised the roof tent into position ready for some cold Rwandan-German beer.  Early the next morning the sun rose and illuminated the beauty of the lake with the surrounding hills towering above us as we peered out of the tent flap.  Unfortunately our stay in Lake B this time around was short and sweet and armed with some local samosas and a full tank of fuel, we left the tarmac and heading into the mountain passes that surround Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.  The road twisted and turned through fir tree plantations and the park lived up to its name, restricting our view until we reached the summit of the pass.  Here we were able to eat our lunch with views out towards Lake Edward in the distance and prepare for some more muddy low-range driving.  A few hours and two hitch-hikers later we finally left the hills behind and sped across the relatively flat plains of Ishasha National Park in search of our home for the next two nights and fresh on the heels of the Top Gear cast and crew.  While they had been staying at the local 5* lodge within the park, we chose a more secluded bend in the river to make camp and cooled off with a dip in the swift moving waters.

Ishasha is renowned in East Africa for its tree climbing lions which enter the large fig trees in the heat of the day to cool off and snack on their favourite vegetarian option.  However after countless hours of searching we had used up our lion spotting energy reserves failing to spot the illusive felines and being so close to the Congo border with their currently troubles we thought it better to push on North to the larger Queen Elizabeth National Park.  So armed once again with a couple of hitch-hikers – this time a Dutch couple on their honeymoon – we packed up Stanley and set off.  Queen Elizabeth is the largest park in Uganda and actually stretches down as far as Ishasha and so on the drive from our last campsite we were treated to views of the animals, including a brace of elephant feeding on grasses some distance from the road.  For a change the drive turned out to be short and just before lunch we had dropped off our happy cargo and made camp at the Mweya Peninsular Campsite.  As the only ones in the camp ground we made the most of the site location in the heart of the park but ensured that we had cooked, eaten and washed up before scrambling upstairs into bed away from the night patrols of the local hippo and other dangerous nocturnal feeders that kept us awake throughout the night.

As seems to be the rule of Ugandan game parks, that sets it apart from its neighbours, Q.E was once again surprisingly low on visitors and we therefore made the most of our stay with a number of game drives spotting the local antelope, prides of lions and on one occasion a large herd of elephant crossing the road.  The older of whom paid us limited attention as they passed just meters from our bumper, but reverse gear needed to be selected rather quickly as the cheeky teenagers put out their ears and shock their heads in annoyance.  With four nights of camping under our belts a night of luxury concluded our trip as we checked into the Mweya Safari Lodge, complete with pool with a view and a superb breakfast looking out over the Lake Edward Channel, and then all too soon it was time to leave and face the 7 hour drive back to Kampala happy that Stanley had taken us safely around the 1,350km journey.

Olympic Fever

The Kingfisher Trophy 2012

With London 2012 in full swing, unfortunately I was missing out.  However the Olympic spirit was still stirring within me.  I returned to Kampala in late July, well before Helen, who was taking full advantage of her long school summer holiday.  As per usual however, the majority of the Kampalan expat community were also noticeably absent.  With the GB team tearing up the records in London, and Kiprotich winning Uganda’s second ever gold medal in the Marathon, if therefore fell upon me to hold my end up back in Uganda.  The following is an except from the Victoria Nyasa Sailing Club newsletter from the first two races, and successes, in August;

The monthly mug contenders arrived at the club seemingly before the wind, and after waiting in vain for Reint to arrive, they lined up at the start line. Dr Dick got away to a fast start up to the first mark and continued to eke out a slim lead from Bernard by performing a precarious looking Goose-wing, on the run and around mark 3. The two front boats appeared to be making the best of the light winds coming into the second and final square circuit.  However, during this section, the sails finally filled with the much anticipated breeze and the three back makers managed to reduce Dicks lead.

The second race was a much breezier affair, with everyone tight together at the first buoy. Bernard rounded first with Dick close on his heels. The route was changed this time to include a dog leg back through start line after mark 2, but Bernard did well with some good running to keep away from Dick. Behind the front pair, Ollie, with the larger sail, made the most of the stronger winds and pulled away from Harriet and Emma into third place. The second square was similar to the first with Bernard maintaining his lead and crossed first, while Harriet took advantage of Ollie’s 'capsizing drill' at the second mark to catch up, and piped him by tenths of a second across the line.

For the third and final race the wind remained strong at the start and all crossed without incident. Tacking up to the first mark was once again a tight affair, with Bernard, followed by Dick, followed by Reint and partner in hot pursuit. Once again in the same way as the second race, but raced over the first course, Bernard increased his lead coming in first once more.  In the back of the fleet however there was plenty of interchanging of places with Peter slipping from 4th to 6th after being caught on the run, and Ollie and Reints older friend switching places on numerous occasions. Dick crossed in second after nearly tacking through the started boat, followed closely by Reint.  So on the water Bernard picked up two 1st and a second, while on handicap Ollie claimed the monthly mug with a trio of firsts.

We finally had a reasonable number of boats on the water for week two.  Although the number of participants was perfect, the wind wasn’t.  Rene was the first at the windward mark, but generally the fleet was closely packed together. Margaret was struggling to round east in her smaller boat and was soon overtaken by Gordon in his Radial. Convinced that everyone still had to do the sausage, he headed for mark 1 again rather than mark 3. His stubbornness didn’t have any serious consequences though and he soon re-joined the others, closely followed by Jelmer and Oliver. Dick had pulled away from the rest and was certain of a victory.  Yet Behind him the tension and lack of concentration caused Annabel, John and Steve to sail backwards while Gordon, Jelmer, Rene and Bernard were using a wind shift to catch up. It was a close finish with Gordon coming second and Rene third.

Fortunately, a distant storm created some massive waves and strong winds for the second race. Rene took an early lead and for once didn’t make a major mistake at every mark. With clear winds he had no trouble staying in front of Dick in number 2 and John as number 3. In the last race Gordon surprised everyone by staying just behind Dick in his Radial. However his smaller sail soon had to give in to Rene, Tom and Jelmer. Dick managed to stay well in front of the others, while Rene who had a smooth race without too many mistakes last race actually managed to tack on the wind shifts in which he lost significant ground to the others. Dick came in first followed by Jelmer and Gordon.  Dick confidently came in first with 5 points in front of Gordon who was the number 2.  Oliver however, took his second consecutive trophy home winning on handicap.

So it doesn’t look to be all doom and gloom to the British Sailing Association with the news that Ben Ainslie has retired after his fourth gold, as there is a new kid on the block for Rio 2016 people!

As an addition to keep the sporting spirit alive, the end of August saw the 19^th outing of the Kampala Royal Ascot Goat Races.  Taking place down at the Speke Resort in Monyono, the good and great of Kampala flocked down to the lake in their best attire and we were there to match them.  This year, after the disaster that was last year, we had decided to buy a goat to improve our chances.  As proud owners we scanned the programme and found ‘Frankie Goat-ori’ would be running in race 4.  We made our way to the owner’s enclosure to inspect the course and prepare for the race.  Shortly after, the tape went up and the goats faltered on the start line.  However, with a hefty shove from the following mattress on wheels they were soon up and running for the three ‘furlongs’ of the track.  Much shouting ensued, and at the last bend our little goat reached his nose out and took the race on the line.  The subsequent celebrations were long and noisy. 

Although the local press got hold of their stories, including an interview with South Africa’s Super Sport, we never did find out the fate of our winning goat.  All we can hope is that she too has won the recognition of the Ugandan public and has taken her place at the high altitude training camp under construction in Mt Elgon.

Monkeying Around

Apparently there are four types…sorry five types of primates including you and I; Gorillas, Orang-utans, Bonobos (DRC) and of course Michael Jacksons favourite, Chimps.  Uganda is famous as being home to some of the last Gorillas on the planet and a fantastic place to see them, but it is also a great spot to watch our other hairy cousins; the Chimps, and the best place to see them is Kibale Forest National Park south of the lovely town of Fort Portal.

Fort Portal was at one time home to one of Stanley Baker’s many anti-slavery forts he established across Uganda and South Sudan to thwart the Omani slave traders scouring the interior from their ships and early trading centres along the Mombasa coast.  Nowadays it is a shaded market town nestled in the tea field clad foothills of the mighty Mountains of the Moon in the West of Uganda, and to the south lies the Kibale Forest.

The morning after our arrival, we were awoken once more by the alarm clock, but this time unlike a working week, we shot out of bed relishing the prospect of tracking our closest cousin.  I beat my chest Tarzan style on the timber balcony of the Chimps nest banda overlooking the forest, as my ‘Jane’ brushed her teeth and looked on in bewilderment, but I knew she was impressed.  That was until I heard the real thing!  Scrambling into Stanley the Landy, after a swift breakfast, we were soon at the start of the trail and broken into our small tracking groups.  The guide, armed with the obligatory AK47, explained the mornings hike and the do’s and don’ts (apparently impersonating them is a no no!) and quickly disappeared into the thick undergrowth leaving us trailing behind.

We punched our way through the low trailing vines and foliage hoping they weren’t tree snakes or Baloo’s tail hanging down, and after no more than 30mins were treated to the first Chimp call of the day not too far off in the distance.  Within no time we were upon them and stared in awe as they awoke, stretched and started to climb down in search of food.  At this point the tracking started with the guide up front striding across the forest floor, faster than her little legs should allow, in pursuit of an adolescent male.  Every now and then, he would kindly stop, squat, start to eat and allow us to catch up and watch from the relatively safety of the next tree, seemingly happy for us to do so.  Soon after however, he would jump up, race towards the closest tree screeching at the top of his lungs and bang on the tree in the same way, and volume, that we might bang a drum, before strolling off in the direction of his family.

The four hours of tracking was certainly special, and coming within 5-10m of natural free Chimps in their environment going about their daily business is one not to be missed, but we were happy too when we arrived at our lodge for the night.  Perched between a crater lake on one side and with the Rwenzori Mountains spread out in the distance on the other, Ndali Lodge has to be one of the most special in Uganda.  Run by an English-Ugandan couple the lovely old tea plantation house makes you feel welcome as soon as you enter the House and Gardens style living room, making the evening gin and tonic obligatory.  Well you need something to make the quinine interesting!

The Price of Corruption

Central Kampala as it is today

Living in Kampala, a hustling, bustling city of a million plus Ugandans, Kenyans, Rwandans, Congolese and expats from around the Globe sometimes makes me thing about how cities develop from towns.  It was only 50 years ago that Uganda gained independence and moved the capital from Entebbe on the lake up to the road to its present day location.  Peatfield & Bodgener architects were flown in from the UK to design the new parliament and the double decker buses ran people between home and their place of work.  Now, half a century down the line, the city is overcrowded and in danger of sprawling beyond the current city limits as more people from the countryside flock to the bright lights in search of ‘easy money.’ 

Kampala does have its charm in certain ways though.  True the architecture is not up to scratch and the taxi’s clog the streets causing horrendous traffic; where cars will race into a jam, switch off their engines and wait for it to detangle itself, but there are certain pockets where you can see potential if only there was some weight behind the concepts.  The cancer that is the industrial estate is being slowly moved to the outskirts of the city and there are rumours that other industries are being forced to relocate by the local city council.  My initial hope was that this might give rise to some public green spaces to act as new lungs to rid the city of the smog and noise.  Places where the emerging middle class and the everyman Uganda can all come to share the shade of big African trees together without the stigma of the developing class system.  Kids can play on the acres of grass and even Aussie NGO volunteers can barbeque in peace surrounded by nature in the heart of the city. 

A nice idea maybe, but as we arrived at the Kololo Airstrip/Independence Park last Sunday to take the dog for a run, our path was blocked by three military trucks and a ribbon of blue metal hoarding stretching around the park.  On consultation it turns out that the UPDF (military construction wing) has been drafted in to ‘re’develop the space into yet another business park in time for the Jubilee celebrations.  Now that Centenary Park is a shopping mall and Constitution Square off limits, this action condemns Kampala’s last public green-space to the history books and leaves the residents with nowhere to walk, play, run and relax, away from the boda bodas and other lethal traffic of the city streets.  Initially this left me with a bubbling anger at the short sighted and frankly greedy nature of this move, and made me contemplate the potential further loses that could befall the Kampala cricket oval or the Kyadondo Rugby Ground.  This then turned to thoughts of other cities around the World and what made them great. 

What Central Kampala could look like with a long green public space winding through the middle

When you think of New York, Central Park springs to mind.  London too is famous for its parks, with thousands of people using Green, Hyde and St James’s every day.  However when it comes to KLA there seems to be this insistence to throw up commercial structures in an attempt to improve the city though cash generation in shopping and hotel leisure centres rather than good old fashioned natural, open and above all; green public spaces.  So when I was sat in traffic in the other day staring down the rarely used train tracks I could imagine a forward thinking Major trying to leave a legacy in this city like in Brazils Curitiba, helping improve the quality of life for his populace…but then again, someone did once tell me ‘politicians aren’t in the job to remain poor.’

The Northern Badlands of Uganda

Uganda is a land of comparisons, for even though it straddles the Equator, in the South it has lush tropical rainforest while in the North it is harsh dry savannah that rules supreme.  The South is also generally considered to be more developed and certainly better off than the North, which is slowly recovering from the last 25 years of war and isolation.  Which is why, this Easter weekend, we decided to pack up Stanley the Landy with our camping gear, and with sunrise on Easter Friday we found ourselves heading north along the road to Murchison Falls.  Within four hours we had reached the first milestone on the trip; Karuma Falls.  This cataract of the White Nile is a stretch of highly aggressive and turbulent white water which would breed fear into the hardest Kiwi rafter, and marks the demarcation between the South and North of the country, so with excitement and some trepidation we crossed the short bridge and continued on.  For the next hour or so, the road continued as we had left it in the South; good tarmac, however as we approached Gulu, the change became apparent and gave us an indication of just how forgotten this portion of the country has been, for so long. 

Gulu, the unofficial capital of Northern Uganda, is described by most journalists in their individual books and articles, as a bit of a one horse town with dusty roads and just one bar restaurant; the Ancholi Inn, where a mix of NGO aid workers, hardy backpackers and Ugandan Generals can be found sipping on their favourite tipple.  However things seem to have moved on in the last few years, as when we arrived, I was surprised to see new hotels, cafes and even a chain supermarket had risen out of the dust which rests thickly on the potholed roads.  It appeared that change was in the air and things weren’t as grim up North as the scaremongers were indicating.  Gulu was however just a short stop on our drive, and within the hour we were back on the road, only this time the tar had once and for all given way to corrugated and rutted murram dirt, and to make matters worse the heavens had opened and were transforming the road into a full blooded river in front of our eyes.  After some twists and turns though, and a good three hours, we finally rolled into Kitgum just 50km from the South Sudanese border and faced with another 139km, on ever worsening roads, with fading daylight, in an area that had been just a decade ago the stronghold of Joseph Konys’ Lord’s Resistance Army and is now still very much the land of the infamous Karamojong tribe;

It is thought the Karamojong came down from Ethiopia and split in two to become the famous Maasai; found in the National Parks of Tanzania (and the beaches of Zanzibar!) and the Karamojong of North Uganda and Southern Sudan.  Like the Maasai, this warrior tribe to this day refuse to give up their old traditions under the pressures of modern global society and instead retain their heritage and traditions…especially cattle rusting.  As they consider all cattle to be theirs by divine grant, their neighbours have been for centuries on the receiving end of their raids and with the introduction of the AK-47 into the region these raids have become ever more violent, which is why, with very little discussion, we rolled into a small hotel, and for the equivalent of £5 per person, climbed under our mosquito nets for a good night’s rest.

Early the next day we set off on the last leg of the journey, and soon enough we were picking our way through the mountains and around the cattle herds that separated us from our destination.  The majority of the final section was on good dirt roads but the last 80km would challenge any 4x4, with large rocky sections, deep furrows and rain eroded sections, all slung magnificently beneath the high rocks that enclosed us from either side.  After checking the British Foreign Office website we could be forgiven for keeping one eye on the road and one eye on the surrounding hills, however thankfully the drive was uneventful, mainly as it was dry, so within four hours we were through the worst of it and within touching distance of our goal.  For anyone that goes to Kidepo by plane – which is over 90% – I can safely say that they are missing out on one aspect the National Park has to offer, because as we passed through the final trading post before the Park, we were greeted with a view down onto, and across the whole valley out as far as the Kenyan and Sudanese borders, that caused a tingle to run down my spine and spread into a wide smile across my face, as realisation dawned that the long and treacherous drive was over, and had been more than worth it.

The National Park has 1450 sq.km of untouched savannah with zebra, ostrich, thousands of bird species and was once home to all of Africa’s big five.  However during the early 80’s, when Uganda was recovering from its latest and most infamous dictator, the black rhino and giraffe were hunted to extinction by bandits from North of the border and the local tribes.  There is good news however, because now, after a period of relative stability, giraffe are back up to 48 in number (not many but it’s a start) and there is a plan in place to reintroduce the rhino with the help and support of the Ziwa Rhino Centre near Kampala.  The animals that did survive this terrible cull however certainly make up for the temporary loss, and as we pitched camp and made some lunch, we were welcome to the sight of three buffalo and a lone male elephant; familiarly named Bull-Bull, roaming through the camp in search of pineapple apparently.  However this was to be just the start of our wildlife luck, for during the following morning as we drove around the park we spotted the majority of the ‘advertised’ animals including some endemic to this park, and herds of buffalo numbering thousands.  The cherry on the top however came towards the end of the first drive. After briefly spotting a female lion in some thick bush, we were whisked away to the main road and as we rolled to a stop and clambered onto the roof rack, we were amazed to sit and watch three fully grown male lions chomping their way through an unlucky buffalo they’d caught the previous evening.

The FCO, British High Commission and numerous NGO’s still list Kidepo as a dangerous location, and all prevent their staff from driving there, however from our trip and many people I’ve met I can certainly say that the road from Kitgum is open, if a little difficult, and the reward for making the journey outweighs any worries tenfold.  A caveat to the reader though, take a map, try to travel with two vehicles and don’t travel in the dark.  Otherwise get yourself to Kidepo before the Karamojong become as familiar with tourists as the Maasi in TZ, and before the park loses its Shangri-La feeling.

The New Kids on the Block

Before - Kampala in the 60's with the original double-decker 

This month heralded a new dawn in Uganda; the arrival of public buses and the reintroduction of the passenger train some 50 years since they both left Uganda.  Although it may seem strange to many of us living in Europe that the sight of a bus can cause front page news, but here in Kampala the local council, sick to the back teeth of the terrible Matato taxis that swarm around the city from dawn till dusk, have ‘purchased’ 500 bright orange buses from Africa’s new found friend; the Chinese.  What the story behind the price or politics of the purchase may be, at least the main aim of this introduction appears a noble one; undercut the cost charged by the Matato’s and their strangle hold on public transport, and ease the congestion in the city – certainly a good cause. 

With very little fan-fair, or in fact any advertising at all, the buses were launched at the start of March, and if you could track them down, you could ride all the way into the heart of the city for a whopping 25p.  As they were introduced slowly to begin with, all you might glimpse would be a brief orange flash between buildings or maybe the sight of the lesser spotted dazzling blue lights as they swept past you at night.  But now, four weeks on, the city appears to have warmed to them, and much like London buses, they’ve become as common as a rainless day in Kampala.  One difference to London, however, is working out exactly where they are heading; initially due to the lack of route numbers and now just because it appears impossible to find any information on them, but it’s early days yet, and London hadn’t sorted their route maps until a couple of decades ago, so who knows where this might end…the Kampalan Underground anyone?

After - 2012, the new Chinese made fleet

The introduction of them is a far and away a mark of progress in this congested city; one man I spoke to stated that “it’s like being on an aeroplane!”  However on the 120^th anniversary of construction starting on the Uganda-Kenya Railway, I can’t help but look back at all of the great innovations that were installed in Africa by the British and see some small parallels.  Aside from a fantastically well-kept bridge I spotted a few weeks ago on the way to Jinja, the majority have just been allowed to decay and crumble and disappear into obscurity as the weeds devour them.  So what’s to say that in a region with a history of poor infrastructure maintenance, these Chinese built buses, like their British predecessors, won’t find themselves on the same path within the year, broken, rusting and forgotten, rejected by the natives.

Up to my Neck in Kaazi

Although land locked, Uganda and the Great Lakes region strangely has a strong maritime history.  The lakes that run through the area may be home to the troublesome and widespread Bilharzia virus, but also huge numbers of game, and more recently that precious commodity…oil.  Although this latest discovery is making the headlines in East Africa, as industry leaders start to gather on the lake shores like flocks of pink flamingos, it is in history that the more interesting stories lie. 

For instance few people will be aware of a small WWI skirmish between the Austro-Hungarians and the English-Belgium Allies with the World’s longest and second deepest freshwater lake as its backdrop.  However during the start of the Great War, the Brits discovered that the Germans had a number of active craft on Lake Tanganyika and were getting ready to launch another, bristling with arms, to patrol and control its’ newly created African colonies.  To cut a long yet interesting story short, the British sent their ‘best’ man down to South Africa with two new gunships, and no doubt enlisting the help of a few friendly locals, transported the boats by train, ferry and oxen, overland for 2,000 miles to their launching point in the modern day DRC.  Here, in 1915-16 the ships hunted their enemy and she was eventually scuttled by the Germans, however in the 20’s she was once again raised from the lake bed, dusted down and began to operate as a ferry.  To this day the MV Liemba still travels the length of the lake, albeit with a slightly different cargo, nearly 100 years since her baptism by the Germans.

In Uganda on the other hand, there may not have been any military incursions, but the country is home to what was a highly strategic and important water source prior to and during the two World Wars.  Which is why John Hemming Speke’s discovery of Lake Victoria in 1858, allowed the Queen and her politicos to sleep soundly at night, safe in the knowledge that the source of the mighty Nile, which ran through British controlled Sudan and Egypt, was safe from any ‘dirty foreigners.’

The securing of the lake not only protected the British assets further downstream but also allowed them to establish a base for a truly British sport; sailing, and seventy-seven years on from the creation of the Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club in 1935 they can still be found at Kaazi, in Kampala.  As part of our active Uganda 2012, Helen and I decided that this was most certainly an opportunity to take, so we jumped into a couple of lasers and set sail…only to capsize instantly under the strong Southerly winds.  However buoyed (sorry) with frustration and competition, after two weekends of practice we were both on our way towards partial respectability within the Ugandan sailing fraternity, and who knows, maybe we’ll actually win one of their prestigious races someday, I’ll certainly be coming back during the next few years.

My first taste of Christmas Ugandan Game

Before any animal rights activists start tearing their matted, dreadlocked hair out, don’t worry, it’s not how it sounds.  The title might be slightly misleading, and the photo probably doesn’t help either – it’s not the size of the fish, it’s the rod you catch it with!  No I haven’t been following in Hemmingway’s footsteps on the hunt for elephant, lion and other heads to adorn my mantelpiece.  Well not with a rifle at least.  These two months have been my first foray into the Ugandan National Parks, so apologies for the lack of contact since then.

Although not as large, famous or even as full of game as the parks in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania, Uganda has started to rebound from the bad days of the 70’s when the number of animals hit a sharp decline, in greater part due to Idi Amin telling his loyal troops to “use the Ugandan Parks as their meat larders.”  Rhinos are being carefully reintroduced, antelope and hippos seem to be everywhere, and even lions are appearing mysteriously in parks where they haven’t been seen in over 20 years.  Plus the Lonely Planet guides have recently voted Uganda one of the top ten best places to visit in 2012, and I’d completely agree;

Last month we were happily trotting through the Lake Mburo National Park on horseback, so close to Impala and Zebra that we could practically snaffle one and take it back for the Mantana tented camp staff to spit-roast for dinner.  At Murchison we lay about peacefully sipping cocktails at the swim up bar and watched the game frolicking in the Nile just below.  Bwindi NP has the famous Gorillas, in Queen Elizabeth there are tree climbing lions, and Kidepo in the most Northern corner is now accessible once again after being declared ‘off-limits’ thanks to the LRA’s actions over the last 25 years.

Come Easter, it’s off to the South Sudan border to experience the hidden delights of Kidepo and for the rest of the year…well I’ve some unfinished business with the giant Nile Perch!