Roadtrip Uganda - Part 6
Queen Elisabeth National Park Just before the town of Kyamburi we get a flat tyre. Immediately everyone rushes to help. The Ugandans are nice boys. While changing it, a wheel nut unfortunately breaks off. That's a bummer! Driving in Uganda without all the wheel bolts seems unwise so we decide to take a hotel and have our car repaired the next day. At The Baboon Safari Resort, after some haggling, we find a beautiful accommodation with a fantastic view over the plains of Queen Elisabeth National Park.
The next day we drive to several garages but unfortunately they cannot fix our car. But perseverance wins out. In a neighbouring village, a more professional garage is able to fix the car.
The parts have to come all the way from Kasese so there is a price tag. Just the tyre patch costs 30,000 Shillings. We find this price a bit on the high side so enter into negotiations, as we know it actually costs about 6000 Shillings. The mechanic has to laugh and 6000 Shillings becomes the deal. The repair for the wheel bolt also requires some negotiation. The mechanic says he has to drive separately to Kasese, about 30 km one way. We make a deal at 50,000 Shillings all in, so including flat tyre repair. Later in the day, we can bring the car for repair.
To pass the time, we cautiously decide to visit some crater lakes in the area. We drive through authentic towns with very friendly locals and admire the lakes Lake Mugogo, Lake Chema and Lake Kamweru. All very beautiful.
At two o'clock, we got back to the garage. The mechanic was able to find the part. Three man worked hard on the car. We buy the mechanics a couple of packs of tasty biscuits, which go down like hotcakes. After 1.5 hours, the car is fixed and, as a service, everything under the bonnet is cleaned and checked. At the checkout, the mechanic tells me that the wheel nut was more expensive than he had estimated and that he was now unsure what to charge. When I asked how much more, it was indicated that the difference was 10,000 Shillings, 2.50 euros. Not something to be bothered about but for the Ugandan it is a very large amount. After tipping all three mechanics, three happy faces waved us goodbye.
After this brief maintenance, we decide to drive straight on to Queen Elisabeth National Park to ride another track. Truly a fantastic track, few animals and great views. We viewed respectively Lake Kitagata, Lake Murumuli and Lake Nyamunuka. Around 6.30pm we are back in the hotel and settled in for our dinner. Despite the car trudges, we had a fantastic day.
Before driving to Kibale Forest, we start by visiting two lakes Lake Kyamwiga and Lake Chibwera. There are supposed to be many flamingos here but the first lake has no flamingos to be seen and at the second lake flamingos at a great distance like specks on the horizon.
Katwe We then drive on to Katwe. Arriving at Katwe, we are stopped by Richardson. He informs us that Katwe is not part of the Queen Elisabeth National Park and that this place requires a $10 pp fee. We said we only want to look at the salt pans and go again because we have a long drive ahead of us. For $5 pp we come to an agreement.
We found the salt pans well worth seeing and our guide Richardson knew how to tell fascinating stories about the past and present of the salt pans. Katwe salt lake is fed by water from the Rwenzori River. This constant supply of fresh water, the mineral-rich subsoil, and the many hours of sunshine, make it possible to extract salt here. The hard work is done by women. Twice a week, women have to skim over this water to give the salt crystals time to form. The men extract sheets of salt from the bottom of the lake. The lake is too toxic and harmful to the intimate parts of the women and men. The men use condoms while working to protect their genitals to prevent infertility.
After this visit, we drove towards Kibale. On the way, we saw many elephants. A few cross the road about 50 metres away. As we drive on, an elephant, a colossus with a shoulder height of over 4.5 metres, thunders angrily out of the bushes straight towards our car. The trumpeting sound, the big flapping ears with its trunk high in the air makes our hearts pound in our throats. The accelerator pedal is pressed to the bottom and the car skims right past the enraged elephant. How lucky we were to avoid the elephant. It takes us a while to catch our breath and drive on quietly but alert for elephants.
Arriving at the paved road, a Land Rover passes us with a high speed. Less than three minutes later, we see a man waving violently on the road and signalling for us to stop. He is completely panicked and shouts that his wife is injured. To our horror, we see the Land Rover has gone off the road and is lying on its side about three metres deeper. The entire front end is completely off. We, along with a few more passers-by, administer first aid. There is no ambulance assistance so a local takes the injured passenger with his own transport to the hospital in Kasese. We drive on without saying anything for quite a while. It has impressed us. After more than three hours' drive, we arrive in Kibale and find accommodation at Kibale Forest Camp.
