Kenya & Uganda

 

So here we are in Jungle Junction in Nairobi waiting to have our bikes  >serviced and Alan's blown our rear fixed (think he needed a new back tyre  >too! :) > >...............and what a place to hang out, a veritable oasis of calm in  >the sea of the Nairobi madness (not sure you can have an oasis in a sea but  >I hope you get my drift). Having said that we were in Lavington one of the  >swankiest city suburbs and managed our week and a half stay without even a  >hint of trouble. The news was full of car jackings, rapes and robberies but  >I think you had it worse in London. 'The Junction is 'a must' for all  >African Overlanders, Chris and Diana run a great guest house and camp site  >only a short Matatu (sardine can cum mini bus) ride to the hustle bustle of  >the city. The motorbike workshop is second to none in Africa and I have  >never had a bike serviced so thoroughly and for a great price. We met all  >sorts of other interesting trans Africa travelers some in 4wd's, some on  >motorbikes and some skinny nutters even cycling! > >Spent most of the days chilling out (not so warm in Nairobi this time of  >year) tinkering with the bikes and watching the Motorbike Samurai at work  >and some of the evenings exploring the lively Nairobi night life. The  >restaurants in and around the city are second to none (by Africa standards  >at least) and the bars and clubs are to say the least, interesting! I have  >been to a few bars in my time (really?) but I have never felt like a  >wounded Zebra being picked off by a pack of hungry hyenas before! Very  >scary stuff, we had to keep our heads down to avoid eye contact otherwise  >they would be all over us. We found safety in numbers worked well but they  >were always nipping at the edge of the group trying to pick off a  >straggler. As a last resort we just ran off - quite a sight, a huddle of  >muzungus (foreigners) jogging round a bar being stalked by a pack of hungry  >(probably literally) local girls! > >We managed to escape Nairobi in one piece after a tearful farewell with  >Chris, Chris and Vlad (the other bikers) my goggles were all misted up, and  >we were off again on our newly shinny (if but a little dented), sweet  >running steeds. Via the worst tarmac road towards Uganda passing the most  >breathtaking views of the rift valley area and a smattering of wildlife,  >baboons and zebras by the road and lake fulls of flamingos, we arrived at a  >lodge on the shores of lake Baringo. The lake is full of crocs and hippos  >so we thought it would be a good idea to take a boat out. We thought we  >were the real dare devils until we saw fishermen wading in zero vis, muddy  >water up to their chests - well at least they wouldn't see it coming. Did a  >bit of touristy fish eagle feeding which involved whistling at the birds to  >get their attention and throwing a dead fish stuffed full of balsa wood  >into the lake then trying to time the swoop and pick up photo accurately.  >Probably not a very ecologically friendly thing to do for the eagle  >population - if the balsa wood splinters didn't get them the reliance on  >being fed might. > >Made a few other stop off's on the way to the boarder including a night in  >a Christian retreat in the Kakamega forest. We were offered such a good  >deal in the five start lodge located in the depths of the forest we could  >not turn it down. I knew we were in for a quiet night when the only reading  >material in the room was religious magazines or the bible in any language  >you wanted. It would have been a great place for a romantic weekend forest  >walking with your dearly beloved but Alan just wasn't doing it for me. The  >candle lit dinner was a bit scary - I am sure he winked at me a couple of  >times. > >The road into Uganda started off great but soon deteriorated to a mess of  >mud and potholes. There were bicycles everywhere, we saw one with at least  >12 wicker chairs stacked on top, one with a heavy wooden bed frame tied on  >upright and another with a black coffin across the rack - I only assume it  >was empty. > >We arrived in Jinja, the adrenaline capital of East Africa in a torrential  >downpour and decided to head out of town to a Nile River Explorers rafting  >camp near the Bujagali falls, effectively the source of the Nile as it  >funnels out of lake Victoria. The 10km track to the camp started as  >potholed tarmac and ended in a slippery rutted mud. We were doing all right  >until we started going down a long hill and I realised even slight breaking  >was causing the bike to slide, one and a half seconds later the bike went  >from under me and I was off. As I picked myself out of the mud I looked  >back to see Alan doing the same thing 15 meters behind me. The locals came  >running out of their huts, half of them apologising for the condition of  >the road the other half in fits of laughter. We gingerly rode the bikes at  >walking pace the last few miles to the camp. Unluckily my foot and shoulder  >were hurting quite badly as I had come down like a sack of spuds - luckily  >they had the perfect cure at the camp - beer, lots of it. So we checked  >into our grass roofed banda (cottage cum hut) then hit the bar. The camp  >had the most amazing views over the falls and was quite lively with rafters  >from that day gathering to swap near drowning story's and for the next  >days, would be drowners, gorping at the video, checking the small print of  >their travel insurance and bolstering their courage with still more beer -  >a fun night was had by all. > >We both had a fitful nights sleep, me because the liquid pain killers were  >wearing off and Alan because he had his first bout of the squits on the  >trip so far. In the morning we decided to postpone the white water action  >for a day so we both had time to recover. That night I had to fly solo in  >the bar (Alan was too washed out) for a re-run of the last nights  >adrenaline trip come down/build up. > >I have been white water rafting four times before and had found it a little  >tame. I knew from watching the previous two nights videos and looking at  >the falls this trip was going to be a little more lively. The river at  >Bujigali is a series of mainly grade 4 and 5 rapids over a roughly 20 km  >stretch. We were 8 in our raft including the guide and we felt we were  >doing a good job as we successfully navigated the first few sets of rapids.  >Things started to get a bit worrying when we were being briefed for a 200  >meter long section terminating in the 'G-spot' - whatever one of those is?  >The guide informed us that if we were to fall near the top we would be in  >for a long swim with lots of 'down time'. We dropped down the first falls  >all paddling hard when we hit a wall of water twice as high as a man. The  >raft was completely engulfed but we came out right side up but sideways.  >The instruction came from the back 'hard forward' - instead we just huddled  >in the bottom of the boat awaiting our fate. Then everything just went  >white and then kind of upside down and black. I reached towards the surface  >and could feel other bodies above me so I grabbed a leg and pulled hoping  >it would bring me back up - look after number one I say. After what seemed  >like minutes, but was probably 10 seconds later I saw white again then  >blue. I managed to grab half a gasp of air and was dragged down again into  >the next standing wave. This pattern went on all the way down through the  >length of the rapids. Being a dive instructor I am quite comfortable in  >most water environments but was having a hard time fighting down the panic.  >When we were finally spat out at the bottom one of the girls, Valerie  >floating near me was looking quite shocked, no doubt reflecting my  >expression. It turned out she had got her foot caught up in the boat and  >had a badly twisted ankle. Once back on the boat and the adrenaline had  >abated we were much more focused for the following sets of white water  >including one ominously called 'The Dead Dutchman'. We managed to stay  >upright for the rest of the day which was good going as one other boat  >flipped 5 times. The last rapid of the day was called the 'Bad Place' and  >one had the option to sit it out as the survival rate is only one boat in  >twenty. We felt lucky so thought we would give it a go however ended up  >just another near drowning statistic. Well it all made for good bar room  >banter as we watch the whole thing on video that night. > >After a fantastic three days a Jinja we rode off on the nicely dried out  >mud towards the Ugandan capital Kampala nursing hangovers and empty  >wallets. The traffic in Kampala was mad, having left Jinja late we had  >arrived in early rush hour - impeccable timing as ever. However the city  >seemed quite sane and safe with modern buildings everywhere and lots of  >greenery. Uganda was a big surprise to us, perhaps not being as well up on  >current affairs as we might, we had originally excluded it from our  >itinerary as we thought it too dangerous. On the recommendations of other  >travelers we came and were not disappointed. Things have changed a lot  >since Idi Amin and the country is booming, in fact it was the country with  >the fastest growing economy for several years. Other that the terrible  >situation in the far north of the country with the 'Lords Resistance Army'  >reeking havoc the rest of the country is safe and prospering. The Ugandans  >themselves are second to none with their hospitality and friendliness. > >We checked into the laid back resort paradise of The Blue Mango for some  >R&R to rest my injuries and to await tyres being TNT'd from England by  >Graham. We couldn't have picked a better spot for relaxing by the pool,  >getting sun burnt and meeting lots of interesting people. Many charity  >workers use The Blue Mango as a retreat from the hardships of the bush. We  >even visited the UNICEF HQ in Kampala to find out more about the work they  >are doing in the north, though we didn't quite get the Ewan McGregor  >reception we were hoping for. We hung out with 'Gin and English girl who  >had spent some time with a charity in Gulu in the north. She was great  >company and became our chaperone in the bars at night, very useful when it  >came to fending off the 'bar girls' attentions. Relaxation soon turned into  >boredom as we were promised time after time the tyres would clear customs  >'tomorrow'. They had in fact been in country for 11 days by the time we  >finally got them. > >Well it's time to settle our bar tab and head on, we have managed to book a  >Gorilla trek near the Rwanda border so I will leave Alan to fill you in on  >the next and hopefully a more eventful part of our journey.