Yusuf and the wood business

Bujagali Falls

I just arrived in Uganda after travelling for nearly 7 weeks in Kenya. My first brief stop was in Jinja. Here, the most promoted highlight is the source of river Nile. Actually, there is not really much to see, as there is this really big Lake Victoria, and there is a big river flowing out of the lake. Well, this is one of the big sources of the white river Nile. Still, it was a nice feeling to be there, as I have been to the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia in 2003.
After one day in Jinja town, I went to Bujagali waterfalls outside of town. The waterfalls are just beautiful, as there are quite a few high cascades. Especially in the late afternoon, they are a spectacular sight. Lots of tourists come here for rafting opportunities. But there are a lot more locals at the falls. The falls are a beautiful sight, but just imagine having there quite a few colorful rafting boats full of shouting mzungus riding down the river and the falls – this is a major attraction for locals and draws local tourists, school classes and the occasional farmer with a lonely cow there in the late morning especially for this event.
From Jinja, I went to the capital of Uganda, Kampala. In downtown area, the city seems like a big mess, but once you are a bit further outside, it seems more like an enormous village.

Bujagali Falls

Just after I arrived, I got a phone call from my good old friend Yusuf, saying he is also in Kampala. He was supposed to meet someone here to bring him to the border of Uganda with Congo for some timber business. This person never showed up, so Yusuf was stranded here. Well, I went to the bus station and picked up my lost friend. As this Ugandan person did not pick the phone the whole day, we had to make a decision about what to do now. As locals here do not really like to travel alone and most  Africans are not very skilled in reading maps (in that case Yusuf is no exception), I decided to travel with him to Mpondwe.
So, the following day, we took a bus to Kasese. Locals said it would take us 5 hours…. Well, that was the African way of putting it, at the end it took us 8 hours to go there, but at least the scenery was very interesting, as it changed from very green into bush and then into more or less barren savannah.
The following day, we took a shared taxi to Mpondwe. (Shared means really shared with 8 people plus driver in a normal car). Never less, it took us more than an hour to reach the Mpondwe, as our driver failed to stop at a police check post and was therefore heavily fined at the next stop….

Bujagali Falls

The wood is stored at the border in between Uganda and Congo, so it is necessary to register with the police to leave Ugandan territory. There was plenty of wood, just not Timber, as this is apparently growing only in Sudan. As there are no suitable roads in between Sudan and Congo in this area, there is no obvious reason, why there should be Timber from Sudan sold at the border of Uganda with Congo. But also therefore, someone needs to know how to read a map. In that matter we are doing circles….
Anyway, it was not Timber, but it looked pretty nice and it was hard wood. So, Yusuf looked for someone to get into deep talks for this wood business. Finally, we even got permission to take some photos, which will be a good way to show, that there is plenty of this stuff already there.
After some hours here at the border we boarded another bus going back to Kampala. For going back, we took the northern route via Fort Portal. It is shorter, but there are many mountains…. So, the information with 5 hours was again different in reality…

I felt really sorry for poor Yusuf, who had to travel the following day all the way back to Mombasa, which is a grueling 20 hours trip.

Rift valley lakes and family life in Eldoret

Lake Baringo

From Gilgil, I took several matatus to Lake Baringo. I have been here 21 years ago and I loved the place. So, I was hoping to find the place as nice as before. It was even better this time. The camping place now is really developed with a restaurant, common toilets and showers and room accommodation for those without a tent. Even a tented camp is here.

Lake Baringo

At Lake Baringo, there are many big and small birds to see, but the biggest things are the hippos. There are plenty of them in the lake, and they come out at night for their meal. Well, they are big, but they do eat only grass. This takes quite a while (in fact the whole night). Their favorite place for food is the camping ground. Just imagine waking up at night because of very loud chewing noise…. Yes, it is the hippos! And they are close and they are big, and they have big teeth also…. One can be sure, when you see hippos eating grass about 5 meters from your tent, the first thing, which comes across you is the urgent need for a toilet….
One day, I did a day trip to Lake Borgoria with some friends. This is as well a rift valley lake and just about 35 kilometers from Baringo away. It feels and looks completely different, as this is a salt and soda lake. Most animals do not like this type of water, but flamingos love it, because their favorite food lives in there (some special crabs).

Lake Bogoria

Besides the flamingos, there are many other birds and antelopes close to the water. Also, they have hot springshere; some of them erupt as geysers and are up to 2 meters high.

Hassan, Munira adn Mustafa

From Baringo, I went to Eldoret, where I stayed with the brother of Yusuf from Mombasa. I stayed for 4 days with Hassan, his wife Munira, son Mohammed and nephew Mustafa. I had a beautiful time there. I felt very soon like at home in their house. Especially with Munira I had the feeling I met the sister, I never had, as we had so much in common. Like in Gilgil, it was again very interesting to see family life. One day, we went all together for a trip to a place where they rebuilt traditional houses of different tribes and a little zoo. For the children, there was a pool, so this was a very relaxing day.
After 4 days, it was not easy to leave, but there is still so much else to see.
From Eldoret, I went to Kakamega Forest. These are the last remains of tropical rainforest in Kenya and local people are very serious about protecting it now. I spent two nights in a lovely camp, which I had just to myself. First, I found that rather strange, sitting in a camp with nice little bandas (huts) and no one else around, but I loved the quietness there. Also, there was a ranger protecting me at night.
The first evening, I did not know about that, and I was quite astonished about a guy with a gun standing in front of the shower waiting for me to come out. What a relief, when I learned, it was not one of the bad guys, but a ranger to protect me from wild animals!

Kakamega

In the park, I did several guided walks, as most of the trails are very small and not a lot of signs around. I went to see a beautiful waterfall, a nature trail with huge trees, a bird and a butterfly walk. All of them very nice with lots of explanations.
After Kakamega, I went to Kisumu at Lake Victoria. I just arrived, when I got a call from a very nice lady named Lina. She told me she just got a call from here former boss in Mombasa, that there is a friend of him in town and she wants to show me her city…. Well, Yusuf likes to take care, even when he is not around.
We had a beautiful day exploring a huge market; we had a lot of fun looking for music CDs in a little shop and had some nice talks.

After nearly 7 weeks in Kenya, I left today for a new adventure – from today, I am in Uganda. the first City, I am in now, is Jinja. It is at Lake Victoria and claims to have the source of the river Nile. Therefore, I will have a closer look. Looks like a place for a couple of days, before heading towards Kampala.

Gilgil - a friendly, quiet place

Phylis

I left Nairobi (also called Nairobbery due to all the robberies and muggings in town) without any further problems.
Usually no one visits Gilgil in between Naivasha and Nakuru, but I did a brief stop here. When travelling to Kenya by plane, I met a German living in Gilgil with his wife, step daughter and granddaughter. He invited me to visit them on the way. I gave them a call from Nairobi and went there the next day. There is not so much to see in terms of tourist attractions. It is staying with a local family, getting to know their way of life. I was sharing a room with daughter and granddaughter, so it is 24 hours African life around.

Granddaughter

One day, we went by motorbike taxi to the farm of relatives. It was very nice to see the landscape. The area is very hilly and there are fields of maize and crops everywhere. They also grow potatoes. The house was very nice and had electricity because of solar panels on the roof.
Back to Gilgil we went by matatu, shared taxi. Usually, they hold 14 passengers on 14 seats, there were about 25 people. According to a passenger on another ride, children under the age of 12 are not counted, chicken and other animals for sure, also not. Also, big luggage like sacks of potatoes is not counted, but was on board….

Phylis mum

One day, we went to lake Elementeita, a salt lake, which has got many flamingos, who like this salty water. It was a surrealistic sight, white salt, blueish water and rose flamingos.
A beautiful day!