After the Gorillas, we spent two days at lake Bunyoni just chilling out and relaxing. From there, we headed off to Jinga, a city located at the source of the Nile river. The highlight of the place was whitewater rafting.
Those who signed up would be able to say that they rafted the source of the Nile river, and also lay claim to riding class 5 rapids. Chris was eager from the start, and after sleeping on it for the night, Justine decided that she would go along. It helped that the day looked spectacular and promised to be hot.
Unlike rafting the Tat in the Yukon, the Nile is a warm river (27 C) and therefore, no wet suit was required. 19 people from our tour decided that they would pay the price for the privalge and we loaded up two rafts.
The trip was four hours and included lunch and free drinks at the end.
The rapids were great, and it didn't take either of us long to remember how much fun rafting is! We ran a number of rapids and although we got very wet, we didn't flip once. Although there were long lulls between the waves, we ran rapids that ranged from class 1 to class 5 with names like The Bad Spot, The G Spot and 50/50. The last rapid of the day was the appropriately named, the Bad Place, where we held on tight and hoped for the best as giant walls of water threatened to tip our boat and throw us into the frothing white water, there was defintely some fear at times and a lot of fun was had.
The day definetly got our adrenaline pumping, and after hours and hours on the bus, it was very nice to have a day of activity.
We are now in our last weeks in Kenya. We are heading off to Lake Nakuru, where we will hopefully see some White Rhinos, and then we end our overland experience at Hells Gate National Park. Our plan is to try and do a mountain Bike tour of the park for a couple of days on our own as we wrap up the final days in East Africa
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Nairobi, Kenya - Uganda and the Congo: Gorillas Barefoot in the Bubble
So we are back in the bubble again, the bubble bus tour that is. We joined back up on a two week tour to visit the mountain gorillas of the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo - for the oldies, formerly known as Zaire) as well as to take in a few more parks and such.
We passed through northern Tanzania, flying on roads more pothole than road, underneath the shadow of Mnt. Killimanjero and into the bustling hub of Nairobi. Dusty and dirty it was, but metropolis, none the less and we enjoyed a few days of plentiful internet access and some real coffee before heading back out onto the backwoods of Kenya, Uganda and the Congo.
First stop was the Masai Mara game reserve, where we took in a rather crowded and uneventful game drive. We say uneventful, but we still saw quite a few lions and some cheetahs right by t he truck. But after the Sergengeti, we have to admit we were pretty spoiled, and it doesnt make for good game viewing when jammed into a tour with tons of other people.
From there it was onwards to Uganda where we passed by the shores of Lake Victoria before several long, dusty, and bumpy days to reach the border between the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda. The scenery in Uganda really is something to behold and stunningly beautiful with farm land and terracing climbing steep rolling mountains and hills, which occasionally dive into blue lakes below, farmed right up to the shore. The poverty is also equally stunning, and it is defintely some of the stereotypes that you see on the news, children barefoot, wearing clothing that can barely be called clothing, shredded and torn. And yet their zest for life takes your heart. Everywhere we go, children run yelling and smiling, waving to us from the side of the road. You can't help but smile when their faces light up to see you waving at them from the bus.
The mood was set for the gorilla trekking in the Congo, as we got up a t 4am with the full moon lighting the road in front of us. We drove to the border, waiting amongst teenage guards, complete with rocket launchers and AK47's . A few of them came with us, as we had to be escorted all the way into the jungle and back by the armed guards. We took a bumpy road through town, with the sounds of children yelling and laughing at us as we flew by. Then the long day began and we hiked for 4 hours through farmers fields of corn, potatoes and beans to reach the edge of the jungle. We had split into 3 groups, and ours finally reached the gorillas after a long, but never boring hike past coruses of peasant kids yelling "jambo."
Reaching the gorillas trully was one of the highlights that we thought it would be and at the same time it was nothing like we ever could have imagined. The jungle was hot and boggy and we were rained on along the way, and while t heir the sound of thunder echoed ahead, but then our first sitghting as a black body moved through the brush ahead. Then we were right beside one, napping in the bushes, not 2 feet from us. Mums and their babies swinging through the trees and snapping bamboo playfully around us. When they say these animals are habituated to human presence they aren't kidding, and a few of them playfully swatted at us. The park wardens as you not to touch the gorillas, but the gorillas themselves make it h ard not to. It can be part terrifying too, as a giant 350KG silverback walks 6 inches from you. And for the most part when not trying to push your buttons they are just doing what they do, munching on bamboo, breaking trees, sleeping and playing. We even saw the silverback charge another gorilla, beating his chest. The family we visited had 12 gorillas in all and only one silverback, its familiy name is Rigunda (spelling may be off). Being there in the middle of the jungle next to these beautiful and unique animals certainly is the treat of a life time. Each gorilla is unique in its facial expressions and face marking and the way they move, play and manipulate their surroundings is eery and human like at times. We paid 300usd each for 1hour with th e gorillas and both of us would not hesitate to do i t again in a second.
When our Dian Fossey, Gorillas in the Mist moment was over we faced a long walk back in the dark. We ended up having to wait until about 10pm for the last group to arrive and sadly t hey didn't even get to see their family of gorillas, which had been on the move all day. Luckily they were able to return the next day while the rest of us move don in Uganda. They were lucky, but it also showed that people underestimate how difficult it is to see the gorillas and how it is trully the gorillas and not us who are allowing the priviledge of a visit.
We passed through northern Tanzania, flying on roads more pothole than road, underneath the shadow of Mnt. Killimanjero and into the bustling hub of Nairobi. Dusty and dirty it was, but metropolis, none the less and we enjoyed a few days of plentiful internet access and some real coffee before heading back out onto the backwoods of Kenya, Uganda and the Congo.
First stop was the Masai Mara game reserve, where we took in a rather crowded and uneventful game drive. We say uneventful, but we still saw quite a few lions and some cheetahs right by t he truck. But after the Sergengeti, we have to admit we were pretty spoiled, and it doesnt make for good game viewing when jammed into a tour with tons of other people.
From there it was onwards to Uganda where we passed by the shores of Lake Victoria before several long, dusty, and bumpy days to reach the border between the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda. The scenery in Uganda really is something to behold and stunningly beautiful with farm land and terracing climbing steep rolling mountains and hills, which occasionally dive into blue lakes below, farmed right up to the shore. The poverty is also equally stunning, and it is defintely some of the stereotypes that you see on the news, children barefoot, wearing clothing that can barely be called clothing, shredded and torn. And yet their zest for life takes your heart. Everywhere we go, children run yelling and smiling, waving to us from the side of the road. You can't help but smile when their faces light up to see you waving at them from the bus.
The mood was set for the gorilla trekking in the Congo, as we got up a t 4am with the full moon lighting the road in front of us. We drove to the border, waiting amongst teenage guards, complete with rocket launchers and AK47's . A few of them came with us, as we had to be escorted all the way into the jungle and back by the armed guards. We took a bumpy road through town, with the sounds of children yelling and laughing at us as we flew by. Then the long day began and we hiked for 4 hours through farmers fields of corn, potatoes and beans to reach the edge of the jungle. We had split into 3 groups, and ours finally reached the gorillas after a long, but never boring hike past coruses of peasant kids yelling "jambo."
Reaching the gorillas trully was one of the highlights that we thought it would be and at the same time it was nothing like we ever could have imagined. The jungle was hot and boggy and we were rained on along the way, and while t heir the sound of thunder echoed ahead, but then our first sitghting as a black body moved through the brush ahead. Then we were right beside one, napping in the bushes, not 2 feet from us. Mums and their babies swinging through the trees and snapping bamboo playfully around us. When they say these animals are habituated to human presence they aren't kidding, and a few of them playfully swatted at us. The park wardens as you not to touch the gorillas, but the gorillas themselves make it h ard not to. It can be part terrifying too, as a giant 350KG silverback walks 6 inches from you. And for the most part when not trying to push your buttons they are just doing what they do, munching on bamboo, breaking trees, sleeping and playing. We even saw the silverback charge another gorilla, beating his chest. The family we visited had 12 gorillas in all and only one silverback, its familiy name is Rigunda (spelling may be off). Being there in the middle of the jungle next to these beautiful and unique animals certainly is the treat of a life time. Each gorilla is unique in its facial expressions and face marking and the way they move, play and manipulate their surroundings is eery and human like at times. We paid 300usd each for 1hour with th e gorillas and both of us would not hesitate to do i t again in a second.
When our Dian Fossey, Gorillas in the Mist moment was over we faced a long walk back in the dark. We ended up having to wait until about 10pm for the last group to arrive and sadly t hey didn't even get to see their family of gorillas, which had been on the move all day. Luckily they were able to return the next day while the rest of us move don in Uganda. They were lucky, but it also showed that people underestimate how difficult it is to see the gorillas and how it is trully the gorillas and not us who are allowing the priviledge of a visit.
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