Overlanding Uganda to Rwanda

A trip to Uganda and Rwanda tends to involve ALOT of driving. The roads can be brutal in some areas, so travel time is slow. There are options for charter flights, just like any other place in Africa if you want to maximize your time in each location. I however, think the landscapes in both countries is so amazing, driving offers a deeper perspective into the land and the people. 

To get from Kyambura in Uganda to the next destination, Volcanoes Virunga Lodge in Rwanda, the fastest driving route would take about 6 hours, however we wanted the chance to see the tree climbing lions (endemic to the region), found in Ashasha, part of Queen Elizabeth Park - by doing this, adds another 4 hours to the drive. The route also takes you through Bwindi (another area for gorilla trekking), which offers majestic scenery. 

I'm glad we did this route - the only thing I would do differently is to break it up and spend a couple nights in Bwindi, then carry on. There's a few routes to combine the regions so it depends what you want. 

Departing early in the morning we passed elephants, waterbuck, baboons, various species of monkeys...until we came up to an overloaded semi, tipped over  - a few cars waiting on both sides (there isn't much traffic), and about 30 men watching, helping and chattering about how to fix it. We got up on the roof to watch and wait when a drunk Ugandan comes up stumbling around with a bunch of clothing up his shirt pretending he was pregnant, muttering gibberish and laughing up a storm...harmless amusement. The guys had chains and finally got the semi to all fours and we were on our way. 

Driving through the park looking out for lions in the trees, I was starting to get doubtful...and then there they were! Four lions up in the tree! They look a bit silly, but beautiful, straddling the tree branches. The lions here climb the trees in the heat of the day, something adapted over the years. 

The scenery starts to change from open plains to green, lush scenery. The region around Bwindi is truly amazing - rounding a corner we come across another wiped out semi, this time slid sideways off the road, blocking access both ways. All the men were pushing as the driver kept trying to get out, it took about 40 minutes of attempts before they listened to Sam who suggested sliding more off the road so we could get by, and pull them out. They were hesitant because they thought we'd just drive on through. But it worked and we saved the day again. 

The rest of the drive is where it gets a bit long after being on the road for about 8 hours already, but as we neared the border crossing into Rwanda, we passed a refugee camp, which at times has housed as many as 50,000 refugees from neighboring Congo. The kids, through the fence, were still smiling and waving as we passed. 

Reaching the border with Rwanda, volcanoes come into view. It was a bit of process crossing - in a strange way I enjoyed entering by land - on the Ugandan side there are two points you have to go through, one for the police, and the other, for your exit stamp. The same goes once you get to the other side, check in with police, then to the immigration building for entry. There's lots of people, and its getting dark. My American friends get a free visa on arrival, but Canadians have to apply online prior to coming. This was easy, you submit your passport and point of entry, a few days later you receive an email back with a PDF of your approval. I thought it was $60 USD, however he gave me $20 back, so have to check again and see what the difference was, or if its changed. Then I had to wait...it took about 30 minutes and finally had my visa and passport back. 

We reached the Virunga lodge after 10 hours on the road - although it was dark we could see the silhouette of the hills and volcanoes around us. Virunga Lodge sits atop a hill overlooking the lake and islands to one side, and volcanoes to the other - I can honestly say, among the BEST view I've seen, pictures doesn't do it justice. 

Kyambura Coffee Co-op and Village Visit

The Volcanoes Partnership Trust is a division of Volcanoes, projects that give back to the local communities. 

The community project at Kyambura works to empower women through coffee making, from picking the beans in the fields through extracting, roasting and the final product. This cooperative project supplies all the Volcanoes Lodges (and some others) coffee, as well as giving guests the chance to come and see the organization for themselves, and bring home some Ugandan coffee, roasted on demand when you order it. 

Our group wanted to get out and explore the local culture, walking through the hills along a dirt road to the coffee plantation, learning about the project, was inspiring. Nicole, who has been leading the coop has been here from the US for 7 years, originally came to study the chimps, but fell in love with the country and stayed. She has some wonderful visions about how to expand, creating more jobs for the local women, building a stronger revenue source for years to come. 

Following the coffee tour, our guides Sam, and Adrian took us into one of the nearby villages - a bumpy, muddy, dirt road, small shacks (stores), clay-brick houses - the children chasing the vehicle with their hands reached out to touch ours. As soon as we got out of the car we were surrounded, children running to us in every direction, smiling, grabbing our hands, some standing back with a shy hesitation. This was like nothing I've ever seen, in some places the children come and begging for money, items, something for you to give them. All we had were our cameras and the kids went crazy for us to take their pictures and show them. The mothers, warm and friendly, smiling watching us all interact. 

Entering into some shops, we tried some banana beer, and banana gin - the beer, was alright, other than the thick texture, it wasn't that bad. The gin...not so much, it was like moonshine on steroids.  Went into a little super market and bought some little packs of curry powders, and a banana leaf hat for $5 from an elder. 

It's frowned upon to give out money, or items to the children, unless you have something for everyone    - overtime it gives them the idea they can just ask for it, end up not going to school to beg from tourists, and for us, ruins the authenticity of just interacting with the locals. There is a good website if you do want to help the communities you're visiting - Pack with a Purpose - here, you'll find items in need specific to the regions, arranging for them to be given to the appropriate people to be dispersed. 

It brought tears to my eyes when we left here, such an intense feeling to see the joy on their faces, to think about the life they live everyday, and everything we have that we take for granted sometimes. 

Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes National Park

The day to see the gorillas is here! After s 5am wake up call we set out for a 45 minute drive to the park headquarters. On arrival, there's a bit of a waiting game while all the groups are assigned. 

There are 10 gorilla families that tourists can visit in Volcanoes National Park,  ranging in size from about 8 to 40 gorillas in each group. The largest family, Susa, is one of the more difficult treks as they tend to be further in the park. Travelers can request specific groups, although not guaranteed - also, for those not as fit or wanting an easier hike, will be considered as well when assigning the family. 

We told our guide, Sam, that we wanted lots of babies - to our luck we were given the second largest family, with loads of babies! The Agashya group, with 22 gorillas in the family - Agashya is the silverback and known as the playboy of all the groups, a bit of a stud, with attitude.

After orientation with the park rangers, you drive to the starting point based on which group you're hiking to. 

Our hike started out in farmland moving up the volcano - we spotted another group of gorillas in the distance, adding to the excitement...moving slowly up into the mist, it was like a scene out of movie, breathtaking (physically and emotionally), the hike was moderate, and challenging at times. It's encouraged to hire a porter to carry your day pack, for $20 it supports the local community, and they help you every step of the way. Literally holding your hand helping up steep muddy areas, always watching out for your safety and embarrassment of sliding down the mountain. 

After 2 hours of trekking we could hear the them! Within meters, we take only our cameras and leave the porters. All of sudden we can see the gorillas in the bush, everyone is so excited. Our 1 hour with them starts now.

As we walk through a clearing, there is Agashya, the massive silverback sitting on what could dub as a throne. Eating away at the bamboo he quickly gets up, pounding his chest and charges at my roomie, Marisa, giving her a punch in the shoulder as he runs by. She was of course a little freaked out, not hurt, with a story to share for a lifetime. 

During the briefing we are told by the guides that the gorillas will sometimes come up and slap or touch you on the way by, and the best thing to do (if you can't back off in time) is to stay still. The guides constantly make moves and watch our proximity, telling us where to go if they are coming too close. 

After Agashya's welcome more gorillas start coming out, swinging in the trees, and through another clearing there are about 4 more sitting around, eating bamboo. At this time of year the gorillas feed off the bamboo, getting 'drunk', so to speak. Some of them really were, 'loaded', bobbing their heads around acting strange, playing with eachother, hugging eachother, and fighting.

A few of the juveniles were eating up a storm, starting to hit and kick at eachother, Agashya had enough and came storming out of the bush to break up the fight. As we're standing there watching the branches above start moving, another gorilla coming down right at us! We quickly moved out of the way just in time for him to reach the ground. 

Next we come across a little one year old baby, playing with his older brother. This was a highlight watching the baby rock back and forth on all fours, so similar to a human, the brother was cuddling with the young one, poking and playing, and farting up a storm. Our hour was coming to a close, we soaked up the last few minutes and said goodbye - everyone was in awe, it felt so surreal. 

Meeting back with the porters we could hear all the gorillas starting to fight again, screaming and shrieking we sat and listened before making the trek back down. 

The gorillas were truly a lifetime experience, I cannot recommend it highly enough. After speaking with other travelers at the lodge, seeing the terrain and learning about the different parks you can visit to see the gorillas, just about anyone can do this. I'll be adding another write up on the logistics of gorilla trekking, from the permit process and difference between parks. Stay tuned..

Chimps and Kyambura Gorge

One of the draws to come to Kyambura Gorge is to see the chimps - there is a group of 20 in the area, disruption to the land has prevented them from moving around to other communities, and they have started to inbreed - there are talks of planting fig trees to create a channel that they can travel through. 

I had read a bit about the tracking in Kyambura prior to coming, the chances are 50/50 that you'll see them, so I came with no expectations. A day earlier we met with a team from Departures magazine who raved about the experience with the chimps, that they saw them from the road and didn't even have to trek into the gorge to look for them. This got my hopes up, but should have known if they saw them the day before, what we could expect. 

An early morning start we drove to the starting point, registered and sorted the permits - must plan in advance as they can be hard to obtain on arrival.

Getting out the car at the side of the gorge, we start our decent, about 70 meters, STEEP steps...pretty crazy, I think I hugged the ground crawling on all fours getting down. 

Once you're at the bottom its like a scene out of fern gulley - absolutely magical, the trekking fairly flat and follows the channel, monkeys swinging from the canopy above...beautiful. We walked for about 2 hours in search of the chimps, our guide calling back to reception where they'e been hearing their calls, they are on the cliff near the highest point of the gorge, about 100 meters. Too hard to reach, it would be impossible, and dangerous to keep going. We're all super bummed, somber and pouting. 

This fueled another reason to return. I have to see them now. 

Tip - if you have a couple days planned here, book the permits for both days (only $50 each), that way if you don't see them the first day, you have another chance. 

For anyone wanting to experience the chimps, there is a rescue center in Kampala where you can have a hands on experience, Brian, in our group did this on arrival and said it was amazing. You can also go to Kibale (Uganda), and also into southern Rwanda...both areas well known for chimps. 

Aside from not seeing them, the hike was awesome, and the afternoon would soon make up for it.