Lake Bunyoni, Uganda
Loading ...After my bus trials and tribulations I spent four days resting up in Kampala, doing errands (Western toiletries!), going to the movies with the friendly Canadian couple that I met in Arusha, and generally chilling out on the lovely grounds of the Red Chili Guest House (where I also ran into several overland tour groups that I had met multiple times in Southern and Eastern Africa). Finally I felt ready to head out and I took another somewhat harrowing bus ride down south to Kabale (for 7 ½ hours the driver sped along and wove at high speeds in and out of massive, Mini-Cooper-sized pot holes). This trip was taken with a young English couple, and we then shared an over-priced taxi to beautiful Lake Bunyoni (even after stern negotiations one cannot avoid the Mzungu prices in Africa).
Although I have heard the North of Uganda is pretty run down (neglected over many years of rebel conflict) the scenery on the trip from the Kenya border to Kampala and then South towards Kabale was by far the most gorgeous scenery I have viewed in Africa; the landscape in Central and Southern Uganda (across the equator) is simply lovely with lush, tropical, bright green meadows and rolling hills that are punctuated with elaborately terraced tropical crops (bananas, plantains, beans, corn, pineapple, etc.) that cover most of the hills, valleys, plains and mountainside. Uganda apparently produces the most crops in the region and as such they have been blessed and never hit by famine as have so many other African countries.
After my bus trials and tribulations I spent four days resting up in Kampala, doing errands (Western toiletries!), going to the movies with the friendly Canadian couple that I met in Arusha, and generally chilling out on the lovely grounds of the Red Chili Guest House (where I also ran into several overland tour groups that I had met multiple times in Southern and Eastern Africa). Finally I felt ready to head out and I took another somewhat harrowing bus ride down south to Kabale (for 7 ½ hours the driver sped along and wove at high speeds in and out of massive, Mini-Cooper-sized pot holes). This trip was taken with a young English couple, and we then shared an over-priced taxi to beautiful Lake Bunyoni (even after stern negotiations one cannot avoid the Mzungu prices in Africa).
Although I have heard the North of Uganda is pretty run down (neglected over many years of rebel conflict) the scenery on the trip from the Kenya border to Kampala and then South towards Kabale was by far the most gorgeous scenery I have viewed in Africa; the landscape in Central and Southern Uganda (across the equator) is simply lovely with lush, tropical, bright green meadows and rolling hills that are punctuated with elaborately terraced tropical crops (bananas, plantains, beans, corn, pineapple, etc.) that cover most of the hills, valleys, plains and mountainside. Uganda apparently produces the most crops in the region and as such they have been blessed and never hit by famine as have so many other African countries. As the taxi rolled over the hill the magnificent Lake Bunyoni came into view with steep, green terraced mountainside sloping sharply down to the magnificent waters. I had read in the Good Book (the Lonely Planet travel guide) that there were amazing guest houses both on the lakeshore and on some of the tiny islands throughout the mid sized lake. While I had initially planned to take a boat out to one of the islands I fell in love with the lakeside setting called the Bunyoni Overland Resort (they had changed their name from Overland Camp to Overland Resort apparently to justify their 50% increase in prices). The grounds actually did fit the concept of resort with lush grass fields in the middle of a forest of trees that are hiding tall wooded open platforms which held permanent tents that contained modern bedroom furnishings. While the cabanas were very nice they were set back a bit into the trees while these hovering tents were perched on the sharp slope high above and close to the waters edge. I spent the afternoon walking around the grounds and reading on the bed with the tent windows and door open to see the magnificent view of the lake and bask in the gentle breeze off the water. Lake Bunyoni is very near the Rwandan border and is among the highest elevations in Uganda (2500 m / 8000 ft), so while the days were pleasantly warm (75 F / 23 C) the nights were quite cold, especially in a canvas tents high above the water. Thankfully I had anticipated a night chill and with my sleeping bag draped over my arms and shoulders I was warm and toasty.
On my first night I ran into another young English couple who I had met briefly in the guest house in Kampala (Africa seems SO small as you run into the same people over and over because really there are very limited routes in between the main destinations). I arranged to join this couple the next day on a boat ride to a remote Pygmy village on the far side of the lake, in a location that was difficult and tedious to access by road. The next day I got up at 7:30 and just lounged around reading for a bit before joining them at the camp pier to board the boat. With little information about the day we boarded the boat for what turned out to be a 90 minute cruise from one end of the lake to the other, around the various coves, the beautiful shore and the picturesque islands. The ride was lovely but it turned out to be quite chilly in the morning with the clouds blocking the sunlight and all 3 of us were quite unprepared for the chill but managed to survive.
Once we reached the far Northern side of the lake the guide pulled the boat into the reeds and we disembarked on one of the hillside terraces, taking care not to step on the crops. This seemed quite odd because there was no village in sight, but he explained we needed to trek up the steep hillside and along a dirt track to the village on the other side of a ridge in the distance. As we began to ascend the steep dirt path through the crops various kids ran to greet and follow us (apparently there are very few tourists who visit here). Some of the young kids of 11 and 12 were carrying baby siblings wrapped in cloth around their backs. All were dressed in very tattered Western clothing, some with recognizable brand names barely visible beneath several weeks worth of dirt. We climbed the steep slope for a good 15 minutes (extra tough at that altitude) and then walked along the road and arrived at a tiny village of 2 or 3 huts. By the time we arrived we had amassed a collection of 15 or 20 followers but the guide told us had we come on the weekend we would have easily had 100 or more kids uncomfortably pressed in around us, but most of those left sadly could not afford the books and supplies necessary to attend. At the village we came into sight of 8 or 10 elders and adults, but there were easily 8 or 9 times that many kids. Initially most of the kids were too shy to have their picture taken but once I took and few and showed them their pictures on the screen many were asking to be photographed. As in most of Africa, some of the more aggressive kids immediately demanded money (which I always decline) but most were happy with seeing the photo on the seemingly magic digital camera screen. The English couple had a bag of candies that they distributed to a few of the kids but then the chief came out and took the bag (we originally thought he would redistribute it to the kids but then it appeared he was hoarding them for his own purposes). I had not anticipated a visit so I did not have any gifts for the kids.
Pygmy Village (Lake Bunyoni, Uganda):
Once seated on a low, narrow, rickety wood bench a small group started to sing and dance, led by a few elders and the chief. All the dances were highlighted by some very extreme bare foot stomping followed by high leaps straight up into the air. One of the men was quite invigorated and when jumping his feet easily cleared waist high (something any NBA scout would be envious of). All of the elders, adults and a few of the older kids stomped and jumped in synch and one of the young kids even joined in and even managed some impressive stomps and leaps to our delight. The entire song and dance session was only about 25 minutes but was quite entertaining and after it was over the women brought over some of their crafts (jars, bowls, platters and mats woven from reeds) to which we bought a few items. The guide also paid the chief for the entertainment, which he said is enough to help them survive.
As we were about to leave I remembered I had 2/3 of a bag of biscuit cookies and I offered to give them to the eight performing kids (a good 50 or so just sat by and watched us watching the dancers). When I pulled the bag out and handed out the first biscuit the entire clan of kids swarmed in and I quickly adapted by breaking the biscuits in two. Many of the older teenagers who had not participated in the dance were the most aggressive and I tried to thwart their advances and give preferential treatment to the performers and then to the smallest kids who were being pushed out by the older ones. Still the delight I was able to bring to each kid with a half of a biscuit was truly priceless and at least somewhat more politically correct than handing them candy.
As we trekked back to the boat a large group of the kids followed and I chatted with a few of the older ones while trying to coax a few of the shier kids into allowing me to snap a photo of them (I eventually succeeded in getting photos of all but one of the shier kids). Our guide asked us if we would be willing to allow a few of the adults to ride with us in the boat to the market area down the lake and we willingly agreed, so several of those that had done the dancing joined us, including the cute guy who did his tiny leaps and stomps. With the sun out the return journey was quite warm and pleasant and the beautiful scenery made an excellent end to the excursion.
After a long lunch I spent much of the afternoon lounging about the grounds, reading, napping and relaxing. While I could have easily spent another four or five nights there on lovely Lake Bunyoni I had to remind myself that I did not come to Africa to find a paradise beach or lakefront so I made peace with my decision to move on and prepared to travel across into Rwanda the next morning. That night I had dinner with two friendly young Canadian couples, who I had also met at the guest house in Kampala (did I mention Africa seems REALLY small at times?). It made for a lovely evening and that night I watched Gorillas in the Mist to get myself psyched to visit the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda before drifting off into a peaceful sleep in my lakeside tent perched among the treetops.