The arrival process in Entebbe was a breeze, paid my $50 visa fee at immigration, and a few minutes later was with my driver racing through the city to the small airstrip.
Driving through town was an adventure, cars coming head on passing eachother, people crammed on pedal bikes and motorbikes, goats roaming around and children smiling and waving. This is Africa , I love it!
It was great to finally meet the others in the group, my roomie, Marissa - a travel advisor from New York, along with Will and Andrew, also travel advisors in New York and Texas.
Boarding our Cesna 208 we were quickly up at 9,000 ft for a 1 hour flight to Kasese - the landscape changing from farmland to green mounainous terrain...we hit a storm on landing, a bit nerve wrecking but kind of fun to be pushing through the dark clouds being pelted with rain.
Kyambura Gorge Lodge is about an hour from Kasese, driving through the Rwenzori Mountains and down into Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Rift Valley. I love passing through the villages, the children melt my heart, and the goats....love the little goats! Haha.
For anyone who's watched the travel show, Departures, you may recall the episode where Scott and Justin visit Uganda - well, now I 'get it'...passing people on bikes carrying loads of bananas, up and down the hills and swerving every which way on the roads to avoid the potholes. Chaotic, but peaceful.
Our lodge sits just outside the village of Shambura, we've seen very few tourists here, in fact, we're the only guests at our lodge. There are only 8 bandas at Kyambura Gorge Lodge, however only 3 open right now as 5 are being redone.
It's so quiet, birds, birds, and more birds.
The food has been great so far, curries, fresh coffee, juices and fruits. The bananas are AMAZING.
Despite advisories of being an unsafe and dangerous country, I've felt more than comfortable and welcomed by everyone in Uganda so far.
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