Lake Bunyonyi and Bwindi

Kylie’s post randomly deleted from her phone once again…

(Below: Andrew’s Post)

We woke up without one single mosquito bite this morning.  Let me recap the events that happened last evening.  We arrived in Kabale via bus from Kampala after many hours of traveling through jungle, rain, and darkness.  We arrived in Kabale at 2pm and the moment we stepped off the bus we were swarmed with “taxi” men wanting to take advantage of our small backpacking budget.  We have found this to be a common theme throughout our trip.  Luckily our friend, Kikonche was there to pick us up and take us to her home in a local village in Kabale.  I will be honest, I was a little nervous as we drove away from the few lights in the center of the small town center and into the darkness.  In Africa, nights are very dark because no one has electricity.  The only lights you see are the lights coming from the illumination of phone screens.  Everyone here has a small cellphone, and I have no idea how they charge them.

After nine hours on the bus I was in deep need of a restroom, or a squatter hole.  When we finally arrived at Kikonche’s home, she directed us to the small room where we would be sleeping.  There home was very small and it was completely made out of concrete.  In the villages the government of Uganda rents small homes to poor farmers who don’t have the resources to build or purchase their own home.  With no running water, electricity, doors, windows, insulation, internet, bathroom, kitchen, etc… rent runs at roughly 700,000 shillings a month or about $20 USD.  It is eye opening to see such humble people live such happy lives when they have nothing.  Diseases such as Malaria and AIDS affect nearly every family in this part of the world contributing to early deaths and family challenges.  The average life expectancy is only 47 years old and the average age is 15 years old.  Nearly 60% of the population does not have a formal job and instead works with subsistence farming (growing enough food to feed their family throughout the year.)  With a short growing season and refrigeration, this makes it hard for families to eat a healthy diet.  Corn, plantains, rice, and beans make up about 90% of their diets, with the other 10% being composed of eggs, goat meat, bananas, milk, and tomatoes.  Everyone here grows and eats the same thing.

When we woke up in the morning Kikonche and her family (mother, two children, two sisters, and three brothers who were living in the house with her) offered us breakfast.  We have discovered after staying with Charles and Kiconche that the local breakfasts here are usually comprised of white bread and tea.  We were very honored when Kiconche offered us each one of their prized eggs.  We find that the locals treat their visitors better than they treat themselves, giving up their own prized possessions to take care of strangers.  This is a lesson I will never forget.

We left Kiconche’s home with a local taxi driver named Patrick and headed into town to run some errands and prepare for our gorilla trek the following day.  After running some errands in the morning, we took a detour out to lake Bunyonyi, the most beautiful lake in Uganda.  The lake is filled with over 30 beautiful islands, each a unique shape.  We didn’t have time to go across the lake, which takes nearly three hours, but we did have time to explore the lake shores and talk with the local people in the village.

After about two hours at the lake Patrick came back to get us and dropped us off in town where we were picked by a man named Richard, owner of the Gorilla Midst Hotel in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home of some of the last mountain Gorillas in the world.  Right now I am writing from the balcony of our little jungle hut on one of the peaks of the forest, overlooking the entire forest below us.  I have ver seen such a sight before.  This place is absolutely beautiful!  Tomorrow we go Gorilla trekking and I am so excited.  Ask lonely planet, tripadvisor, or locals and you will be told that what we are about to experience is one of the top things to do in all  of Africa.  I will let you know now it goes tomorrow!