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Safari

Apologies for not being on the updates for the past week. The following should explain why this has been the case. We arranged our safari with Red Chilli Hideaway in Kampala. The trip was a 3 day extravaganza up to the north-west of the country and Murchison Falls National Park. The park is a fantastic mix of a number of different terrains, from jungles that are home to Chimpanzees to the classic African Savannah to the formidable Nile River. The park is named after the waterfall which is where the Nile River squeezes through a 6 metre gap - as you can imagine the effect is astonishingly powerful and impossible to really capture, quite immense. On arrival at the park we were ushered, all to quickly, along the route to stand by the falls. This could have been quite special had we not felt so rushed by our driver. Still, we arrived on time at the rest camp and settled into our lovely safari tent. We were with a group of 7 biology students from Imperial College, London. They were fantastic company and good value. We also had interesting conversations with an ex-israeli soldier and a marine tradesman from New York. It is always a blessing to find yourself with a good group of people, obnoxious or unnecessary people would somewhat spoil a safari...so we both found this very pleasing. The game drive takes place early in the morning. And we crossed the Nile onto the North bank to do this, as that is where all but the baboons and chimpanzees live. Safari's can either start at break neck speed or very slowly, and you start to get concerned that, of all the options, you went and chose the wrong one. Murchison Falls was most certainly the latter. But fortunately, it picked up. There are only so many Hartebeests, and Impala you can see before you start to get anxious to view the Big Five. Buffalo were ticked off early, herds of them, and though this was interesting and exciting, it does feel more like a warm up to the animals you are most interested in seeing. Just round the corner from the buffalo herd stood a lone Bull Elephant, exceptionally close to the road. If it were not for the gorillas, elephants wouldbe my favourite animal, so it is always enthralling to spend time in the company of this animal, the size of which, is always a surprise and as the guide reels off his facts, you cannot really grasp just how hueg the creature is. Our guide, was a total fruitcake and a nutter! Enough said With Two of the Five now ticked off we now came across an animal so distinctive and famous that it ought to be on the list, however, it is just too chilled out and peaceful for that to be possible...the giraffe. So cool. The sillouette of a giraffe as you look out across the savannah is an image of Africa you have seen so many times growing up...seeing it in real life is quite surreal and beautiful in equal measure. Driving around, we thought back to friends we had made on Lake Bonyonyi...they had spent days in Murchison without sighting the Lion or Leopard. We had a feeling that this might be the case too. As we went backwards and forwards seeing all manner of antelope, but no manner of cat! Until our guide, looked at us, with a crazed and amused expression and stated "Lions.....I seeee them"!  Awesome. Our vehicle turned off road and drove over to a lioness with two adorable cubs and a half eaten carcass beside them. The proximity was fantastic, the set up equally so and, neither of us having encountered a lion before we enjoyed the experience immensely. 3 of 5 down. Leopards eluded up, as they so often do. Still a herd of elephants on the way back helped to distract us. The afternoon saw us take to the nile for a boat ride along, hippos were seen in their hundreds, quite brilliant. Numerous Nile crocs, a few distinctive birds and a close encounter with the Murchison Falls meant that this was a really enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. Much of the time is spent, with a drink, relaxing and enjoying the experience of travelling down the Nile. It is always amusing how relaxed one gets about yet more hippos...having never seen this massive beasts before, and the excitement when you first approach them, it doesn't take long before you are totally chilled about it. Quite funny really. The final day is mainly about the drive home. But, since the time of Idi Amin Uganda has been devoid of wild Rhinos as poaching was encouraged by the regime. As such there is only one place in all of Uganda to see Rhinos and that is the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where they have become the long process of re-habituating Uganda with Rhinos...particularly White ones. The Rhinos are wild yet very much used to human contact. You walk up and approach them, yet it does all seem somewhat sanitised and not quite the exhilarating feeling that you get as you drive around on safari. Good to tick of 4 of the big 5, but not as great as we had hoped for. Home to Kampala. Then onto Nairobi, which is a wonderful story for another day. For now, we are in Mombasa, safe and loving this trip. The return flight is dawning and we are both quite concerned about going home to the job hunt. But we have a few days of beaching it ahead of us, ready to relax after what has been the most hectic 7 weeks. Best Wishes Nick

Lake Bunyonyi

Its been a pretty hectic life for me the last 12months. Third year of study; Final good times at university, organising the expedition and dealing with the drama that Nick Kershaw has become famous for attracting in his life. So two days, on a private island, in the middle of a totally still and beautiful lake would seem like perfection. It was so far from anything, that we had to canoe for an hour to get there - pretty tough work in the humidity. And it was...eventually! You see, in 12 months, I haven't stopped. I tried to shut my mind down, and I simply could not work it out. All this time to sit and do nothing, I was thrown into disarray. Lisa kept bugging me to sit back and relax, but I didn't know where to start. We met some great people, a 6ft8 aussie, our very own Charlie Thomas returnedto our consciousness and 3 Oxford students joined us. It was great fun, and we really enjoyed having some conversation other than each other! Sadly, that lot left the day after we got to the lake. On that day we sorted out a 'geodome' - an open fronted thatched hut, with views out over the lake and a private balcony. Perfection. This time finally helped me relax, I even achieved 9 out of 10 on Lisa's Relaxation Scale and it was very pleasant, one more day would have gone down a treat. Swimming in the lake was a delight, reading by the lake was wonderfully quiet, sleeping to the gentle sound of crickets and bird song was a feeling that I cannot compare to anything else. I don't think I could spend too long in a place with so little to put my mind to work. I appreciate being distracted from my own thoughts, but for what it was the Lake will have a special place in my memories of the trip. The first time in 12 months where I let my mind go quiet and my body could just flop. The Lake is known as 'the place of a thousand small birds' and, I must confess, I was fascinated by all the different shapes and colours on display. I have never in my life considered myself remotely interested in birds, let alone a bird watcher. But as I sat on our balcony, I was loving spotting the brilliant colours that set these tiny birds apart from any I have previously encountered. The birdsong that gently wakes you up in the morning is full of many different tones and rhythms, again, unlike any I have known before. Lisa, being a Leeds lass, thought my new found interest in birds was a tad on the sad and pathetic side, but I remain firm that I was appreciating my surroundings. Anyway, it proved a good way of switching my mind off! The place needed a touch more sun and a ping pong table to be complete. But good food, good company, beautiful room and an unbeatable, smooth lake and the whole time there, all inc. cost about 25 pounds. Tomorrow we travel up to the crazy Kampala again. Then onwards to our safari, so no blog for a while methinks. I will do my best though. After safari we depart Uganda for Kenya, specifically Nairobi, very much looking forward to a rather special hotel that has been booked for us there! Best Wishes Nick

Gorillas in the Mist

There are three ways of getting to Mgahinda National Park from Kisoro. A special hire taxi, too expensive...a tour bus put on by your tour company, too expensive. And BodaBodas, motorcycle taxis, cheap as chips. So, in the pitch black, at about 6am we jumped aboard our bikes and headed down 14km of volcanic rocks and ash and dust and dirt. Gripping on for dear life, we could see nothing of the road ahead and it was pretty darn cold. But, I was thrilled by it. Knowing that I was about to tick off the number one thing on my bucket list, meant that every bit of the journey was only adding to my anticipation. Being outside of the confines of a car meant that our senses were heightened. The smells of the trees and plants we were passing, the feel of the cold wind whipping by our ears, the sounds of the villages we passed waking up and the birdsong, and, of course, the sight of the mountains, shrouded in the mist as the sun began to rise. It was simply beautiful, I barely noticed the bumps in the road, everything was just as I had pictured it. Gorillas have been a fixation of mine since I was a small child. My favourite books were about gorillas, my cuddly toy, Grilly, was and still is a gorilla...he still sleeps in my bed! All I ever wanted to see at the zoo were gorillas, all I ever wanted to be was like a gorilla. My Grandma loved them too, her talking about the gorillas is one of my strongest memories of her. She always wanted to take me to Howletts Zoo to see them, but was never able to. My Dad took me there shortly after her death in her name. I bet she never imagined that I would actually get to see them in the wild. This day was not just about me, it was about my Grandma as well, and her memory was strongly in my mind. Throughout the time I truly wished I was flying home that evening to tell her all about it, I know how enthralled she would have been, and I hope she is proud that I was able to do this. Mgahinda National Park is Uganda's smallest. It has three peaks and borders Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. This is a great place to see the gorillas, as permits can be obtained at short notice and the foliage is more open than Bwindi Impenetrable. The one problem being they don't need Visas to pop over to either of the other countries. Fortunately, they were happily munching there way through the Ugandan undergrowth. They were some way from the Park HQ, so we were bused round the park to a closer point. My travelling companions were a family of 5 Austrians and a Dutch couple. I was very lucky to have such considerate, honest and decent people to watch the gorillas with. The walk up to the gorillas took about an hour and was pretty hard going, lots of foliage, lots of difficult climbs, but you barely noticed as the sound of the gorillas started to become more obvious. The sight of broken branches and gorilla dung along the way meant that you the excitement was continually building. The trackers had located the gorillas nice and early meaning that they were prepared for humans to approach. Rounding a corner, I looked up to see a Silverback sat up staring right at us. The intake of breath in the group was an amazing sound in itself. He sat there looking, then looking away, weighing this group of humans up and deciding we were just about alright by him. However, there are three silverbacks in this group, making for a rather tense, testerone filled group of animals. And as we sat looking at the dominant male, his understudy came flying through the bushes at our tracker, screaming and smashing his chest, he must have travelled about 20 yards in no time at all. The tracker stood still, as is the correct technique, we all shifted very uncomfortably and quite frankly, we were all looking at each other in terror. We had been told about charging, but you never really expect it. The sound of the scream is ear piercing, and the sight of 250kg wild animal flying at you is one that is unforgettable. Still, the chap calmed down a touch [though he did do two more mini charges during our stay] and we continued to watch the dominant silverback as he watched us straight back. I sat about 4metres from him, just in awe. You see them on TV, you see them in a Zoo, but nothing can prepare you for the sight of the greatest animal on earth, sitting just metres away, staring at you. It is as magical as it is terrifying. As the dominant male walked off, we followed him for about 10minutes as he worked his way through the undergrowth. Soon we found ourselves sitting amongst the whole group. IN the tree a female sat eating as her 8 month old son swung in the same tree. The dominant male sat munching away, but the tension with the other males still clear...if another male entered within 10metres, the dominant male would shout at them, throw his arms about and generally make it clear that this was his food. How the group can survive with three silverbacks, two women and male black back I do not know, but it does make for pretty spectacular viewing! As we watched the other baby showing off in the tree right above our heads, the young male blackback approached us. He worked his way up a small path towards us then stopped. The tracker told us all to shift back half a metre, as we sat in a line looking out over the group. We were told that the gorilla wanted to pass by us. And he did. He came up, turned and walked along the line of us strange humans...then stopped by me. I know what you're all thinking, hairy nick, looks like a gorilla...something tells me that this chap was thinking exactly the same. He stopped there, just staring at me. I stared right back, in shock, in terror, in delight. His eyes were such a beautiful, deep brown. Here I was, half a metre from the greatest of all apes, a future leader of the group, staring right into his eyes. Its hard to explain how the eyes of a gorilla differ from most other animals, but I shall try. When I look into my dog, Brynach's eyes, he has a rather vacant, 'pat me' look to them. Nothing is going on more than just a basic loving look, its very simple and very nice. But the gorillas eyes are calculating, they are thinking, they are considering and they are interested, they are curious. At exactly this time, I felt a tug on my trousers, I look down to see his hand grabbing them, trying to get a grip on my leg. What do you do? I was just amazed, a wild mountain gorilla was interested in my trousers, interested in me! The moment lasted about a minute, but will stay with me a life time. I had always wanted to spend time with gorillas in the wild, watching them. I had gotten to see a silverback charge, a baby swing in the trees, and now, a young male was wanting to find out more about me. You dream about it, but you don't imagine it. Why did he stop at me and not the other 10 people? I don't care, it was wonderful and I just wish my Grandma could have seen it! Afterwards the tracker called me 'the friend of the gorillas', he pulled me aside and told me that what had happened was a special moment that I should never forget...I told him that there was no risk of that happening. One of the group caught it all on video, and is throwing it my way when they get home. So, watch out for that when I get home. Enough from me today. I have gone into much detail, and I could go further still. Can't wait to post up the pictures for you all. It is expensive, it is difficult to get to and hard work, but that hour that you spend amongst a group of the world's most amazing animals is the most precious moment of my life...my first born child is going to have a hell of a job on their hands to beat it! Since my Grandma's passing, my Great Aunt Maud has been my adopted Grandma. I see it fitting that, as Maud passed away last week, it was the money she left me that made my Grandma's dream a reality. Both women are dearly loved and truly missed. Best Wishes Nick

BUUNNGGGEEEEEE

So, we did it! It is fair to say that Lisa was less than happy that I phoned up and booked her in to do a 44m Bungee Jump over the Nile river. In fact, she was pretty worried and angry with me. Never in her life had she planned to do a bungee jump, and then some bearded greek goes and books her in for it! Still, I was mainly doing this to have someone else up there with me to hide my own absolute fear. For those of you who have bungeed before, you will know that initial feeling of free falling is possibly the most terrifying experience possible. The moment you jump you look down to see that you are simply falling, its not until the rope kicks in that you relax and enjoy the buzz, not for me at least. Lisa went first, and I was possibly more scared for her, after all the guilt trips and the "my mum's going to kill you if something happens" I was very very relieved to see her safely into the boat below. Seemingly having enjoyed the experience due to her wooping as she went (though I have to say, and you'll understand why I say this later, they had to count her down twice). OK, its official, I screamed like a girl...i know it, the chap who sent me off knows it (his exact words..."you fucked up the scream mate") and Lisa bloody well knows it and won't let me forget it! I jumped first time though! And the less said about the scream the better, I just figured I'd tell the world before she did. After the bungee and a brief visit to paddle in the source of the Nile (slightly unimpressive to say the least, but a sort of "must do" thing I suppose). We went off for a horseride. The views over the Nile rapids were spectacular. The experience of riding a horse around the area is fantastic as its a unique way of seeing the world. Both of us would have liked a quicker pace, but our fellow riders ( a group of dutch ladies and a man ) were less happy with the bumping around that accompanies anything faster than a trot. Still, it was a really pleasant way of spending the afternoon, and our legs are quite a bit more stretched because of it! Today we took bus down to Kabale, from which we will head to Kisoro where I will be doing my gorilla tracking. Fortunately, the gorillas are currently in Uganda, please keep your fingers crossed that they stay there and dont think it would be fun to potter off to the Congo or Rwanda for a day to two...that would be rather annoying. All safe and sound anyway. The place we are staying at tonight is really nice and friendly, as is usually the case with this country. Best Wishes Nick

This is on my road, only now do i understand it!

Kampala

What an amazing few days...where to start? When last I blogged we were in Mwanza awaiting the overnight ferry across Lake Victoria. It may well be my favourite experience thus far. It was like a scene out of an Agatha Christie novel...only without murders. I bunked with a lawyer from Mwanza who was very interesting, we spent the night in the bar together debating politics, education, football and all manner of things. He had climbed Kilimanjaro twice so we reminisced together. It was the kind of night you hope to have when travelling and to wake up to sunrise over the world's second largest freshwater lake is quite something. The girls enjoyed it also, and I believe it was a cracking start to Tash's birthday. After such a good start, it was unfortunate that a 7hour journey/border crossing lay ahead.  But it was a far superior journey to our previous coach ride and we were in Kampala before we knew it! So...Kampala. It is the craziest city I have ever visited. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Kampala has to sleep because the pace of life is so astonishingly fast. Just walking somewhere takes complete concentration to be jumping over the pavements, avoiding the motorcycle taxis (boda-bodas) and cars and minibuses, and people with things on their heads, and just people....people everywhere. No one knows where anything is - you get on a boda boda and find that he has no idea where he is going and is asking everyone else (it took nine different directions to find the hotel). The maps have no correlation to real life and we have been leaving everywhere early to make sure we have time to get lost. Astonishing City Tash chose Fez Brasserie for her birthday dinner. After a month of chicken and rice this was a luxury none of us can quite find the words to explain. I had a Ugandan beef fillet with a beautiful onion sauce, Lisa the chicken with parma ham and gorgonzola and Tash the pan-fried Tilapia (fish found only in Lake Victoria). Each dish was exquisite. And we all fell in love with the chocolate cheesecake with mango and cashew nuts for desert. The house wine was  Rioja, which is always my favourite! You would pay upwards of 50pounds for this meal at home, we paid about 20...and it was amazing. I hope Tash enjoyed her meal...we certainly turned up in style, two white girls in dresses on the back of boda boda was something the locals found quite a sight! Our dinner last night was the antithesis of this high class  dining. We sat on the side of the street with kebabs, samosas and chipattis from street stalls (about a pound each) and loved it. All completely stuffed we moved on to the Red Chilli Hideaway.,.a backpackers retreat outside of Kampala. I can't say I'm a big fan, I go on holiday and travel to get away from Britain. Still, its cheap, and the people we meet are friendly. They also do laundry which is a nice treat. We are currently in Entebbe having visited the local wildlife centre. Tomorrow Tash departs for home and Lisa and I will go bungee jumping and horseriding at the source of the Nile. This should be amazing. Hope you are all keeping well. Love you Nick