Ninja Jinja bound via Lugazi

We said goodbye to our wonderful hosts Emily and Anthony, loaded our luggage in a private hire taxi and headed back into centre of Kampala near Javas at Oasis Mall.

As soon as we pulled in on the taxi (minibus) rank the conductors were upon us, each one vying for our business. After several bouts of commotion and different luggage positions it became clear that the luggage was going to turn into a person ie. We had to pay for another seat for the journey to Lugazi. 12,000 Ugandan Schillings in total (£3) for a 2 hour journey!

Daughters doing what they usually do..  tap, tap, tap on their mobile phones....  the wonders of Whatsapp.

Just because you jump on a taxi it doesn't mean it will go anywhere...  you have to wait until it all the seats are filled before they will think about moving and even then they will still see if the can squeeze in a few more. Squashed like Sardines we eventually moved off but not without them tooting for more people to cram in this tin can. The good news was that we had the 2 seats at the front next to the driver. Not sure if that was such a good thing considering the random driving of the on coming traffic.

Never a dull moment on this road!

Imagine your on a bus back in the UK and the driver decides to pull into a shop and pops in to buy credit for his mobile phone... I think you would have raised eyebrows but that seems to be the norm here including stopping for a pee. Mind you after nearly 2 hours I was nearly joining them.

Sods law says if you near your destination with more luggage than an airport carousel it will piss down with rain - it did and by goodness did it chuck it down. You just gotta get on with it - at least it was warm.

We walked the 100 yards to where Annabel's school and her accommodation was. As you can see it's not quite the 5☆ Hilton.

The outside long drop toilet isn't much better but she wanted a challenge for the year and I think she came up trumps.

We met up with Lily's family and got a tour around the school from the headteacher.

The classrooms have no windows and have a mixture of cement or mud for the floors.

 We saw where the library was going to be to hold all the books that were brought from Scotland and Australia ie me and Lily's family which had just been plastered - job for Annabel and Lily to paint once we've all gone back home!

After lunch at Chilly Willies (interesting name for a restaurant), we all had a tour around the village where Lily's family (a mixture of Scots and Aussies decided to demonstrate the highland fling dance to the locals.

By sheer good fortune Annabel and I had left our 'See You Jimmy' hats back in Scotland so we were unable to participate lol.  Not sure what the locals thought of it but good effort anyway.

We all jumped aboard a taxi and headed for the Nile River camp for a good nights rest.

Road Trip Uganda - Part 5 (Rhino trek and back to Kampala)

Rhino trek started at 0730, just the two of us with a guide. We drove for a few minutes before parking in a clearing and trekked on foot for another 5 mins before a group of Rhinos came into view.

After we had seen 10 of the 15 Rhinos in Uganda (which are guarded 24 hours a day, every day of the year) we headed back on the road down to Kampala.

As you can see from above their way of making sure you don't go in the bit they are trying to repair is by throwing thousands of boulders in way. I suspect cones would just be used for target practice for the locals.

Drove into centre of Kampala - if you can drive here you can drive anywhere, nerve racking, a bit like being at the dodgems without anybody hitting you. You have to force your way through any junction. If you don't another day will have gone past and you will still be in the same place.

Met up with Bert and handed bike back. Told him about my tooth issue and he took me to his local dentist who mixed up some cement and slotted my cap back on. I could smile again! 40,000 Ugandan Schillings lighter in my pocket (which is about £12  or about  $19 approx).

Back to our villa again, dumped our luggage, got a shower and drove back into centre of Kampala for dinner and Ice-cream before meeting up with Road Trip Uganda rep who met us at Oasis Mall and handed the jeep back in one piece hurrah...

He then gave us a lift to the Ndere centre (African theme night) for a show with African dancing and music. Well worth going to see if you are ever in Kampala. The African drumming is simply amazing.

Show finished around 2200 and we arranged a private hire taxi to take us back to our villa (50,000 Ugandan schillings or £12.50). Day over!

Road Trip Uganda - Day 4 (Murchison Safari to Rhino Sanctuary)

Never slept a wink during the night, saw every hour - too many beers was this issue. There is nothing worse than getting up in the middle of the night, standing there and wondering if you have to stop in mid flight and make a mad dash back to the tent due to all the animals that roam around our camp site - that will teach me for not booking a Banda.

Packed and ready to go at 0715 we headed to the gate which was only a 2 minute drive from the Red Chilli camp.

Through gates and drove onto ferry which only holds about 6 vehicles across the Victoria Nile.

As we drove off the ferry we were met by our guide with an something something 47.

within minutes wr saw Giraffes and Lions. One Lion in particular was lying down next to a hetd of Buffalos - it only had 3 legs due yo an injury a while back. It had to wait until the Buffalos had got bored before it could make its escape.

We crossed back over the river, had lunch at Red Chilli and headed down to Murchison Falls.

Time was against us as we had to be out of park by 3pm. We made it with 30 mins to spare and headed to Ziwa Rhino sanctuary for a Rhino trek the next day.

Unfortunately just before we arrived in Masindi en route yo Ziwa a cap on one of my front teeth fell out!
I rammed it back in but it kept falling out from time to time - this wasnae looking good for any further pictures for the rest of the trip.

We arrived in Ziwa about 1630 and checked out our accommodation which was basic but comfortable.

Road Trip Uganda - Part 3 (Hoima to Red Chilli, Murchison Nationall Park)

We had a lie in at Hoima hotel as we didn't want to arrive too early at the entrance of the national park because you pay for 24 hours - if you go over your time I'm led to believe you have to pay for another 24 hours even if you have just gone over by 30 mins... so, be warned should you ever visit this place.

Around 1100 we were back on dirt tracks and headed for the town of Masindi. Halfway along the road split in two and we were lost - we picked o e and kept going until the road split in two again and then a few miles it did the same.. geez.. we hadn't a clue as numerous trucks pushed us into the side ... see below...

..... we spotted a chap riding what looked like an old butchers bike from the 1960's and waved him across where he told us to reverse and take another road that would take us direct to Masindi. So we duly followed his instructions but it shortly became clear he was at the ham. The road was even narrower and eventually brought us to a main road about 5 miles west of Masindi. However, can't complain to much but Im sure the original road would have got us there quicker.

We stopped for lunch at the 'New Court Hotel' where I had the obligatory ham and cheese toastie and a fanta - btw the Fanta here is bright orange and tastes nothing like the Fanta back home.

As petrol gauge was showing half fuel we stopped at a Shell garage and got the lady to fill it - you don't get out of your car, you just tell the attendant how much fuel you want and they do it for you and you hand them the cash. Hslf a tank cost us around 100,000 Ugandan shillings, around £24 I think but not sure.

40 mins up another dirt track we reached tje entrance to the park and paid the necessary monies and were asked to give a lift to one of the gamekeepers which we duly obliged - good call because by tbis time it was torrential rain and I got him to remove part of a tree blocking tbe road.

We carried on and the weather cleared up - saw this sign which I thought was amusing...

As we kept going we saw more baboons blocking the road and appeared to be offering free grooming sessions which we declined gracefully and pushed on....

After driving through the park for about an hour we arrived at Red Chilli camp. It was our intention to put our tent up but as it had started to chuck it down with heavy rain we paid tbe extra $10 and got ourzelves a lovely ready made tent with 2 single beds in it - more like Glamping than camping but it was on a plate and we accepted.

Road Trip Uganda - Part 2 (Bush Lodge - QE Park to Hoima)

We got up at 0530, got breakfast at 0600 and picked up our guide for the Game Drive in Queen Elizabeth park.

We were in the park by 0700 and the guide took us around for 4 hours where we saw Elephants, Wart Hogs, Antelopes, Buffalos and a Hyena - no Lions to be found. I asked the guide if the Lions were on a package holiday to Tanzania at the moment but he just looked at me and smiled... not so sure he got my sense of humour..  but more likely he was struggling with my Scottish accent.

By 1100 we were finished and headed north passing the Equator, see below...

 to a small town called Kasese where I heard there was a Jambo cafe (this will only have meaning to Scottish folk that have an interest in football!). HEARTS supporters are called Jambos - Jambo means 'hello' in Swahili.

We eventually found it but only by getting a official looking chap to guide us. My daughter was absolutely cringing by putting on a Hearts top and standing next to getting our photo outside the cafe but it had to be done ha ha...  although I do think the name Jambo would look better in maroon.

A lovely woman called Alice and her friend run this cafe which make cakes and brownies. They are absolutely fab - if you are ever passing, drop in and try them out.

We headed back to the main road and up to the town of Fort Portal for lunch. This is where the 'Top Gear' team got bits for there clapped out vehicles.

Stomach refuelled with cheese and ham toastie we headed north again for the overnight stop at Hoima. Just as we left Fort Portal we spotted some baboons on the road where I slowed down to have a look but as soon as I did one of them jumped up on the car at which point Annabel screamed (forgot to shut the windows - bad move) and I stepped on the gas to shake it off - I think Annabels screaming had greater effect ha ha..   got a yellow card from my daughter at that point which was fair comment. Here is the culprit....

It wad then onto a 'B' road ie off tarmac and onto a 70 mile (100km) stretch of dirt track to get to the to the town of Hoima. (Btw that yellow tube is 'bite cream' - very useful)

At one point there was a long down stretch followed by a long uphill bit of road - unfortunately I wad a bit slow in recognising the upside down speed bump and although I braked the bike and luggage gained weightlessness. Jeep still in one piece we checked into the Hoima Resort Hotel - best described as a 2 star Med hotel, basic but comfortable and the food was ok, not much to choose from but it is what it is and quite frankly I was that knackered I would have put down anywhere.

Road Trip Uganda - Part 1 (Kampala to Bush Lodge - QE park)

Uganda Road Trip begins now!

We left our villa in Kampala (beautiful btw - Keelan Ace Villas, great hosts, highly recommend it) at 0800 on Monday in a Rav 4 jeep courtesy Road Trip Uganda - he drove it for us to the northern by-pass where we said goodbye to our driver and headed south east towards the Equator.

Driving down the road we saw this truck coming towards us. Just as it passed numerous telegraph poles slid out the back along side us - thank goodness we were heading in the opposite direction or else we would have been at loggerheads ha ha!

We reached the Equator where I unpacked the bike that Bert gave me the previous day and cycled from the Northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere - all of about 5 metres - I was exhausted after that marathon cycle ha ha  Annabel thought I was crazy just borrowing a bicycle for all of a few metres but, hey, why not! At least I can say I cycled over the Equator.

Ever wondered if the water flowed a different direction down the plug hole depending on which side of the Equator you where on - they have these buckets to show you - see below...

We then drove to Mbarara, passing the outskits of Masaka (which was well sign posted for Mbarara.. and you don' t see many of them) for lunch at the Golf Course supermarket where there is a lovely cafe called Ark.

From here we headed to Ishaka and turned right heading north for Bush Lodge.

This was our view from the Hippo lodge on stilts.