Uganda
Thursday, August 25, 2016
- Three Continents
The Immigration Officer at the boarder had no visa sticker left. She didn’t wanted to send me back to the next boarder. A solution was quickly found. She put a entry stamp in my passport, wrote 3 months on top of it, I payed 100.-$ and I was already entered in Uganda. That’s how I love african bureaucracy!
I thought that the Kenyan Road construction arts are not to exceed. The roads here in Uganda are definitely similar to them or even worse. They always start at the lowest point of the area and go straight up to the highest and immediately down again. In addition, the vehicles swirl enormous amount of dust when they overtake me.
After two days I arrived completely tired and dirty in Sipi.
Sipi Falls is a series of three waterfalls in Eastern Uganda. The waterfalls lie on the edge of Mount Elgon National Park near the Kenyan border. The Sipi River is named after the ‘Sep’, a plant indigenous to the banks of the River. Resembling a type of wild banana, Sep is a medicinal plant, the translucent green frond with a bolt of crimson rib is used for treating measles and fever.
The view from the campsite over the valley was very stunning. However, there was merely a squat toilet. After one day of rest I continued my journey. In Uganda you’re never alone. People are sitting behind every single bush. Everywhere there are houses with fields. Somehow the hole country looks like a big village for me. It wasn’t easy to find a place for my tent at night. Mostly I could set it up in a village. The people are super friendly here and very interested.I actually really love it. But it’s getting boring, if they ask you the same questions a thousand times a day. Of course, in each case the entire village gathered around my tent and even when I was lying in my sleeping bag still at least 200 people stared on me. At least they speak English very well!
Quite exhausted I arrived in Jinja after a few days. First I went to the Nile River Explorers Campsite. The company is also organizing river rafting tours on the Withe Nile. The bar turned at night the music at full volume. I couldn’t sleep and left this terrible place the next morning. On the other side of the river I found the paradise.
Rainer, the owner, travelled some few years ago from Germany with his motorbike through Africa and found this place. It is located exactly at the first rapid of the White Nile. With the help of the locals, he built this wonderful place. He allowed me to stay in one of the houses for some few days. Definitely the best accommodation on my hole trip so far! Thank you so much Rainer and your team for the nice hospitality!
The term White Nile refers to the rivers draining from Lake Victoria into the White Nile proper (Victoria Nile, Kyoga Nile, Albert Nile, Bahr-al-Jabal). It may also, depending on the speaker, refer also to the headwaters of Lake Victoria (about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 mi) from the most remote sources down to Khartoum).The White Nile’s true source was not discovered until 1937, when the German explorer Burkhart Waldecker traced it to a stream in Rutovu at the base of Mount Kikizi.
Originally I wanted to take the ferry from Kampal (Port Bell) to the Sesse Islands. After two days I arrived at the harbor. The lady at the gate told me, that this ferry is not working anymore. Thus, I had only the option left to try again in Entebbe. It took me an another exhausting day on the bicycle to get there. Luckily, then went from here a ferry to Kalangala.
The Ssese Islands are an archipelago of eighty-four (84) islands in the northwestern part of Lake Victoria in Uganda.The largest island in the archipelago is called Bugala Island.The Sesse Islands are inhabited by the Bantu speaking Bassese tribe, closely related to the Baganda and the Basoga, and speaking a similar, though distinct language.
The campsite was once again very nice situated. Unfortunately, the manager turned in the evening the music at full volume. It’s almost impossible to sleep quiet in East Africa! Tyred I started the next morning to cross the island. Previously, the island was once covered with beautiful rainforest. This, however, had to give way to palm oil plantations. Everything looks very monotonically now.
Rwanda was the next country that I wanted to visit. Therefore I elected the shortest way to the next boarder post. The infrastructure here in Uganda is surprisingly good. Almost in every bigger town you can find good supermarkets and many other stuff. On the paved roads the steering drive usually pretty ruthless. As soon as you dodging to the side roads it is getting much better. There are also a lot of Locals with their bikes on the road. Nearly everything is transported on bicycles here. However, with the times the eternal „Muzungu, how are you?“ cries from the children went me quite on the nerves.
Until the last night here in Uganda I never find a place completely for my own. The people here were very friendly and were very interested in me. Furthermore, they cared a lot about my safety. Unfortunately, they also called often the police. The african Police is absolutely not my friend. Meanwhile, I could write a book about the experiences with them. To get each clear with the situation I invent permanently Jokes. Such as: „What happens when you set up 10 african police officers one ear to ear next to each other? – A wind air duct!“
Less people and more nature could make this country a dream destination. Individual Tourism is definitely still plugged in its infancy here. It would be nice if when it develops in the future. It could be a fantastic place for cyclists.