Monkey Business

(Authors Note: I am fully aware of the fact that none of the animals mentioned in the following post are actually monkeys, but the title has a better ring to it than ape business.)

After being diagnosed with typhoid I decided some animal-cuddling was on the papers, and headed to Entebbe Wildlife Centre together with an American guy called Preston. We stayed overnight inside the zoo and the following day got an early start volunteering. Over the next 12 hours we helped out, cleaning the cages and feeding all the different animals. It was unbelievable how much we were allowed to do and in one day I not only saw "The Big Five" but even managed to pet them. However the absolute highlight of the day was the time we spent we spent with the orphan chimpanzee babies, a long lived dream I've had since I was a very young child, and saying goodbye to the little cuties was very tough. Back in Kampala I reunited with Canadian Paul and after a couple more days in the capital we moved across to the southern hemisphere and the small town of Kabale. The town itself doesn't have much on offer apart from it's proximity to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which isn't slang for a nun's vagina but a National Park that houses half of the world's existing mountain gorilla population. The permit for the park is a hefty 500 U.S. Dollars (soon to be raised to $750) and the taxi back and forth from Kabale costs $100, but I knew I would regret not seeing them when I had the chance. So there are only around 700 remaining mountain gorilas on the planet and roughly 300 of them live in Bwindi while the others can be found in the rainforests between Rwanda and The Congo. Tracking them was a strenuous trek through dense jungle but after just one hour we found the gorgeous creatures having breakfast in a clearing. You are only allowed to stay with them for one hour as not to disturb them too much, but it was truly amazing to see our distant relatives at only a few metres stretch in their natural habitat. Back in Kabale we met Desiree from Colorado and the three of us took a long hike followed by a short canoe ride at Lake Bunyoni, after having seen the beautiful landscape here we decided to come and stay in the surroundings. The first night we stayed on the mainland and swam in the safe (crocodile-, hippo- and bilharzia-free) waters. The morning after we got in a hollowed out tree trunk and paddled to one of the small islands on the lake, we stayed there two nights and allthough the rainy season is just starting it was a really tranquil and relaxing place to be. We then caught a ride back to the mainland, this time opting for the pricier but less labouring option of motorboat. On shore Paul and I said farewell to Desiree and made for the border of Rwanda.

Up Shit Creek, But With A Paddle...

I got a bus from Kampala with a Canadian guy I met in at the hostel, confusingly also named Paul, and got to Bujagali-Falls ready to do some whitewater-rafting. The falls lie just outside the small town of Jinja, close to the source of the White-Nile. Rafting was exhilarating and at points, when the raft flips or the rapids throw you off, terrifying. Being tossed around under the strong waves for what feels like minutes only to then bob up and get stuck under the rubber-boat can be pretty scary. It wasn't quite as full on as I had expected though, when you're going down through some of the world's best rafting rapids it's all very exciting, but then between them it can be a long stretch of the Nile which you slowly paddle or just drift along. Paul and I stayed in Jinja two nights, going on the inaugural boda-boda (motorcycle) pubcrawl and relaxing at our hostel beautifully perched on a cliff overlooking the starting point of the river which has been following me for a few months, allthough this was probably the last time I see the murky waters for a long while. Then we headed back to Kampala and our crowded backpacker's hostel where once again Mitchell had caught up with me, and we could all enjoy the nightlife and general mayhem which is Kampala. Today I decided to go to the doctor as I haven't been feeling 100 percent for the past two months or so, and I finally caved in. It turns out I have typhoid fever, and I will be on medication for a fortnight, however I am determined to not let this bring me down and the quality of the blog will hopefully not suffer...     

Kampalone

Kisumu is the third largest city in Kenya, however this doesn't mean there is very much to do. It lies on the shores of lake Victoria, unfortunatly the shores are lined with garbage and it doesn't make for a very nice beach-promenade. We spent three nights in the city which was also the end of the road for Elias. He got a job offer back in Stockholm and as I travelled towards the Ugandan border he was heading back to Nairobi to catch his flight. It is very strange to be travelling alone after having my faithful companion by my side for the past five months, but I will do my best to stay safe on my own. The trip to Uganda took me back into the northern hemisphere and through your run of the mill frontiertown of Busia. It's strange crossing manmade borders where the nature seems to know it should change to give you an indication of being in a new country, and on this crossing the arid yellowish landscape transforms into lush green jungle almost imediatly. Once in Kampala I didn't have to worry about being solo as the Backpackers Hostel was like stepping into the South East Asian travel scene, with a huge number of youngsters sitting around playing drinking games. Seeing as I now know about half of Israel's population I inevitably bumped into four more which I had met in different Ethiopian locations, also Patrick, an American teacher working in this area of the world who I first met in Ethiopia randomly showed up at the hostel. I spent five days walking around the hilarious chaos of the city centre, seeing Gaddaffi's Mosque, savouring the slightly tastier cuisine and just generally lounging about. Tomorrow morning I head to Jinja where I will take on the Nile and do some whitewater rafting, but more about that when it's actually been done.

100th Blogpost, Kenya Believe It?

Mombasa is East Africa's busiest port and as I mentioned before Kenya's second largest city. It isn't the nicest place on the planet but the old town with winding alleyways and carved wooden doors does have a charm to it, with Fort Jesus being the main landmark. We met Mitchell (Australian guy who was part of the original Somaliland-Crew) here for what turned out to be a fun night out, even though it did make the long bus ride back to the capital slightly less fun the morning after. In Nairobi we were kindly offered shelter by Pete and Sarah who we had only just met in Diani a few days earlier. They spoilt us rotten with delicious home-cooked meals, a true blessing after the Kenyan food which is probably the blandest and most limited cuisine I have ever experienced, most of the time the only thing on offer is beans, which let's face gets pretty dull after a few spoonfuls let alone weeks. At the weekend Elias and I took a trip west to Lake Naivasha spending two days in the area. As soon as we got there we went to the small Lake Kongoni which from a distance looks like a normal lake with a pink beach, getting closer you realise this pink beach is actually hundreds of thousands of flamingos congregating along the shores which was a remarkable sight. On the walk back to our lodge we saw plenty of giraffes at just a few metres distance, zebras, gazelles and hippos. Our second day started bright and early with a biking safari in Hell's Gate National Park on the schedule. It is very rare to be allowed to go into the national parks without guides and motorised vehicles in Kenya so given the chance we had to take it. Our animal sightings were however very limited and our stroll on the previous day, which didn't have an entrance fee attached to it, saw the same if not more interesting wildlife. The savannah-scape was beautiful though, allegedly the inspiration for the animators of "The Lion King" cycling between jagged red cliffs and gorges it wasn't hard to believe this rumour. Biking in a reserve though is no walk in the park, and with the bashed up bicycles we were given it was pretty punishing going up steep inclines in sandy dirt tracks, to be honest it was probably good we didn't see any of the more dangerous animals that have been seen on the site as we would have been easy prey. After this weekend we went back to our generous hosts who just kept on treating us as kings with more amazing food, so on our last night with them we decided we wanted to give something back and took them to the restaurant aptly named Carnivore. This is not an ideal place for vegetarians as the waiters keep bringing you meat of all different kinds: the usual beef, chicken, turkey, lamb and pork with more unusual cuts of crocodile, ostrich and ox-testicle, until you put the flag on your table down and surrender. I can honestly say I have never been so full in my life, and the stomach cramps I had after this session were almost on par with what I experienced having appendicitis, but it was worth every bite. The following day we had the healthy option of frozen yoghurt for lunch and then caught a matatu going west to the city of Kisumu.