Roadtrip Uganda - Part 2
Masaka Today our rental car, a Toyota Landcruiser 4x4 with a tent on the roof, is brought and our road trip actually starts. After a brief explanation, we leave. YESS together on an adventure through Uganda!!! We did come with another warning though. When we asked about traffic in Uganda, we got the answer: There is one rule, no rules!
We drive via the toll road (M13) that leads us around the hectic and always busy Kampala towards Masaka. The scenery is very green which one would not initially expect from an African country. But Uganda is different. On the way at Nkozi, we pass the equator. After a short stop, we continue our journey to Masaka.
Once we arrive at the Campsite "Masaka cottages and campsite", we have driven 180 km and are 3.5 hours away. Joseph receives us warmly and shows us the way and tells us to pretend we are at home (he will regret that hihihi). We put up our tent (this goes very quickly for the first time), in a beautiful spot under a tree full of purple flowers with a wonderful view and spend the rest of our evening enjoying the peace and quiet, the lovely ambiance and the surroundings.
After a delicious breakfast, we fold up our tent. This too goes very smoothly. In 10 minutes we have packed everything and leave for Lake Mburo, a trip of about 130 km. We drive past all kinds of authentic villages. Each village has its own merchandise, bananas, matokeh, charcoal, Talapia, fruit and vegetables, stools, reed mats, etc.
Lake Mburo After a nice drive, we arrive at the entrance to Lake Mburo National Park. Lake Mburo National Park is located in south-west Uganda, 30 kilometres east of Mbarara. The park is about 370 km2 in size. After paying the entrance fee, we drive to Camp 2, a spacious lakeside campsite with toilets and a small restaurant. We are the only campers on the site so there is plenty of room. We pitch the tent under a large fan tree at the edge of the lake.
We unfold our camping chairs, open a cold beer and enjoy our beautiful view. Soon we are joined by three hippos!!! Lots of hooting, roaring and growling and three curious looks. Fantastic, three hippos in front of us less than twenty metres away. So beautiful!!!!!!! We enjoy each other for a while longer. After some time the hippos disappear underwater and we are hungry and go for a bite to eat.
We wake up around seven o'clock to the rustling of monkeys in the tree our tent is under. We have breakfast in front of our tent and plan to take the eight o'clock boat up Lake Mburo. But like good African custom, there is no boat in sight at eight o'clock. According to the owner of the restaurant, a boat also leaves at 10. We decide to take this boat. We fold up the tent and have another cup of coffee in the restaurant. Around half past nine, the boatman comes and tells us that we are the only passengers for the moment and that the price will be $120 for both of us. If there are more than four passengers, the price will be $30 pp. We think this is rather steeply priced and decide to drive around and do our own game drive.
On the way to the toilet, a huge baboon, an Alpha male, comes running towards us. We don't want a confrontation with this and decide to fetch the car and drive to the toilet. When we arrive at the toilet, the baboon is nowhere to be seen. Is he in the toilet? We carefully investigate. Pretty exciting! But the baboon has disappeared and we can go to the toilet. And start our game drive.
Immediately, it is full on. Impalas, warthogs, zebras, baboons, buffaloes, giraffes, all kinds of birds, such as an African Fish Eagle, a Lanner Falcon with a freshly caught prey in its beak and many more beautiful things. Truly a great wildlife day. The realisation that we have already seen so many animals on our first game drive is just fantastic. Around four o'clock we are back at the campsite and pitch the tent again, take a shower and sit in front of the tent for a while enjoying the scenery and a nice cold Tusker.
As I prepare my photo-gear for a nice picture of the sunset, our provisions are hijacked from the car in seconds. A bunch of cheeky, horny monkeys make off with our breakfast for the next day. It makes us laugh immensely!!!
After our bread robbery, the morning is spent eating crackers. An emergency ration we always carry with us besides water and a few other things. In case of emergency, getting lost or bread robbery, it is always handy.
