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Read Next Episode Muchison National Park
Uganda -
Elections and Lake Bunyoni
Kabale
Uganda
16-21 Feb 2011
Loud
voices, music and cheering brought us out of Edirisa Hostel in Kabale to watch a
big parade promoting the re-election of Yoweri Museveni, the incumbent President
of Uganda. The Presidential elections were two days away and interest was high
all over the country. People sporting yellow T-shirts with Museveni’s picture
walked through town waving to the crowd of onlookers while pickups and big
trucks full of supporters followed behind.
We had been warned that the
Ugandan elections to be held on Friday, February 18 could involve large,
potentially violent demonstrations pitting the incumbent Museveni against his
closest rival Besigye Kifefe. On Election Day we saw crowds of people lining up
to vote at the various stations. Most businesses were closed for the day and
schools that were to be used as voting stations had been closed the day before
as well to allow the officials to get ready for Friday’s vote. There were
vehicles transporting International Official Election Observers in town and
extra police and military personnel. Luckily the mood was peaceful everywhere.
We had arrived from Rwanda, having taken a bus to the border and two taxis
to get to Kabale. Our Lonely Planet warned that the road on the Ugandan side was
in terrible repair. It wasn’t perfect since half of it was under reconstruction
but it was no worse than many of the other roads we have travelled in East
Africa. The ride was through scenic mountains and a large forested National
Park. We passed one section of Lake Bunyoni that we would be visiting in a few
days and made our way into Kabale, a typical town with dusty streets set in a
valley between cultivated hills.
We were lucky to get the lone double
room with an attached toilet in the House of Edirisa, a combination museum,
hangout and hostel. Jon Lee, who we had met in Giseny had arrived that morning.
He has stayed at Edirisa several times over the past four years so he was able
to recommend the best places to eat and visit.
The next morning Jon took
us on a walking tour to the former colonial enclave on the top of a hill behind
the main street. He told us if we ever wanted to pamper ourselves in Kabale the
former colonial hotel, the White Horse, was the place to go. For $60 US we could
have a view of the lovely gardens surrounding the hotel, play a game of tennis,
visit the spa or even enjoy a game of golf on their course that didn’t appear to
be in high use at the time. The grass was green but there were no flags on
greens or markers for tee-off spots. A colony of fruit bats hang out all day in
tall pines at the edge of the golf course. You could hear their squeaks and
smell them before you saw them. The bats are quite large and furry. They cluster
together on the limbs of the trees, fifty or more per cluster. There were so
many they are killing the trees. Once one tree has been denuded to the point the
bats don’t like it they move to another tree. I can only hope the tree
regenerates once the bats have decamped. Chepi Hotel, just down the hill from
the bats, is another higher end spot to stay in Kabale. The rates are not
extreme and there was a nice pool and sauna in the complex. The difference
between it and White Horse was that Chepi was a new hotel, not the more
atmospheric colonial style.
We
returned to see the bats later in the afternoon with our camera and binoculars,
hoping to see the bats fly off at sunset for their evening feed. After waiting a
long time for the sun to set, we gave up and returned to town. Jon met us at
Edirisa and pointed up in the sky where hundreds of bats were streaming out for
the night. Oh, well, we got to see them up close.
We had intended to stay
another night at Edirisa because we had not been able to get a room at Byoonga
Amagara on Lake Bonyoni until Saturday night. Someone had reserved our double
room at Edirisa, so we changed our plans and went to Lake Bunyoni a day early.
There are no minibuses operating from town to the lake. Transport is by taxi.
The 9 km road to Lake Bunyoni was just like the road from the border to Kabale,
only much shorter. We had a hard time finding a vacant room at Lake Bunyoni in
our price range. We ended up at Crater Lake Lodge. They have very nice cabins
with thatched roofs but they were all full. All that was left were very simple
rooms with outdoor facilities.
We stayed and enjoyed the gardens by the
lake and their restaurant. I had a refreshing swim in the lake and we went for a
walk. There was an impressive looking new hotel at the head of the lake. We went
to have a look. Birdnest @ Bunyoni Resort is a work in progress. One floor of
rooms is now open and some of the common rooms are available for use. We talked
to the owners, a Belgian couple who have big plans for the future. We wish them
well.
Saturday morning we were down at the dock shortly after 9 AM. Noah, age
17 was waiting to paddle us in his dugout canoe to Byoona Amagara, a backpacker
resort on an island. We loaded our luggage in the bow, Ray took a seat on a pile
of rushes in front of Noah and I was on a small wooden seat near the bow and we
were off. It was a pleasant 50 minute trip out to the island. The sky was mostly
blue and the water was calm. The lake, at 1900 m elevation, is the remains of a
collapsed crater, surrounded by hills. At a maximum depth of 900 m it is the
second deepest lake in Africa. The shoreline is an irregular series of
peninsulas forming peaceful bays circling multiple hilly islands. Transportation
is mainly by dugout canoes with just a few low power motor boats to transport
heavier goods.
We reached Byoona Amagara and were shown to our room. We
went all out this time and booked their best room, the deluxe dome room. All the
dome rooms were spread far apart to preserve privacy. Ours had the added
protection of a high bamboo fence. It was so private you could wander around
naked if you wanted. The dome was constructed of split bamboo with a thatched
roof. The bedroom, furnished with a double bed and a single bed, an easy chair
and a love seat, was spacious. The front is open leading to a large balcony with
a table and three chairs. The half of the balcony attached to the dome is roofed
so rain doesn’t come into the bedroom. The balcony had an excellent view of the
lake. The toilet and shower were outside down a set of stairs. All the toilets
at Byoona Amagara are compost types, with a separate urinal for the guys next to
the toilet. Our shower was in a separate structure across from the toilet with
hot water, heated by solar power. There was a sign in the shower advising
occupants to wait until late morning through late afternoon to have a shower
when the water system has had a chance to warm up after the cool night. All
power at the resort was solar, including lights and an internet system. It was
very comfortable and friendly.
The rainy season seems to have started a
little early. The first afternoon it poured rain for a half hour and continued
to spit off and on. We decided it was a day for relaxing. I found the library
and got a new book to read while we are here. Each book is numbered and labelled
with an admonition to not take the book with you. “Stealing books is not cool,”
the label said. I chose a smaller book that I figured I could finish in a day.
Two Moons by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston turned out to be excellent. My
biggest problem was reading after dark. The solar lights were dim in the common
sitting room and in our bedroom. The staff brought candles to put on the tables
after dark so that we could see our food and read.
Sunday morning we woke
up to rain, starting slowly and building up to a real downpour. We just stayed
in our warm bed until 9 AM, hoping the rain would stop. It didn’t. We finally
put on our raincoats and went to the dining-living room for breakfast. A young
man, Paul, who is in Uganda doing doctoral research on Gorillas in Bwindi
National Park was there with his father, visiting from Britain. They had been
camping and had to leave today. Their tent was spread out to dry and they were
waiting for the rain to stop before taking a boat back to the mainland. They
finally left after lunch.
Results came in from the Presidential
elections. The incumbent, Museveni, won by a landslide.
The rain lasted
all morning. It was another day to just read, play cards and chat. Finally about
noon a motorboat arrived with two passengers, who looked only slightly wet. They
said the rain was not as hard on the mainland. About 1 PM the rain stopped and
the sun came out for the rest of the day.
As soon as the skies cleared we
went for a walk following the paths to the end of the island. The island is like
a pair of broken eye glasses, with two knobs joined by a narrow section, bent
towards each other. We met up with a few local men and children on the path
close to Byoona Amagara. The man and a teenage boy accompanied us on our walk
and acted as our unofficial guides. We walked by a large, unfinished structure
that they said was another hostel, abandoned about 5 years ago. A short distance
further, half way up a hill was another small complex that the men told us was
another hostel-campground. It looked as if no one was staying there.
A
few small farmers’ cottages were scattered on the hillside. Farmers grow corn,
sorghum, Irish potatoes and greens in their small plots of land. The land didn’t
look very fertile and the people didn’t look prosperous. The boy walking with us
said he had finished grade 7 last year but wasn’t going to high school. There
was not enough money to send him. We stopped at one farm house where a man was
building a new house next to his brother. He had constructed a double frame of
saplings and was stuffing the frame with clay to form the outer walls. The house
would eventually have two rooms and would be finished with a smooth coating of
clay, left unpainted. There was no electricity or running water on this part of
the island. Water was collected in yellow plastic pails from the lake. It was a
subsistence existence.
The sky was still blue and the temperature had
risen by the time we finished the walk. It was time for a swim. I rushed back to
our room, changed and went to join a few other guests at the swimming dock. The
water was refreshing, as it was off Crater Lake resort. In my opinion, the
temperature was just right for those of us who like to swim a longer distance.
That evening we chatted to Mathieu, from Quebec, and his mother Lise.
They have 6 weeks together before flying home to Canada. They spent four weeks
in Ethiopia before flying to Uganda. We have had several reports from travellers
of the emerging tourist market in Ethiopia. They said it was hard travelling but
very different and interesting.
We returned to Kabale this morning,
giving me time to write this blog and get ready for the rest of our travels.
Stay tuned!
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