Inveterate traveller and quiet explorer, Ros Freeman, embeds herself with a family of Ugandan mountain gorillas
The midday sun beat down hard as we trudged through the jungle, slipping and sliding in the mud. We went uphill; at elevation, each step was a labour. Stopping to admire a butterfly, we were assailed by a nest of stinging wasps. Further along, a disturbed ant nest resulted in many bites. We then brushed against stinging nettles.
Parched, hot and stinging, we stopped for a moment and looked up. There, in front of us was what we came here for, a family of silver-backed gorillas. Instantly our stings and aches disappeared, we were bathed in joy, seeing these magnificent creatures, our distant cousins.
A trip to Uganda isn’t complete without a visit to the mountain gorillas. It’s the main drawcard to this small land-locked country. There are 27 families of these lovable hairy vegetarians. Tourists are limited to eight per day to each family. We spent an enthralled hour watching a family of seven eat and play. Seeing a baby gorilla swinging in the trees was pure bliss. We gently followed them through the jungle. Accompanying us was a guide, two rangers and three trackers.
A few hours earlier, at the Visitors Centre, a troop of Pygmies welcomed us. There’s a large Pygmy community in western Uganda. Unfortunately their life-span, like their height, is short. These guys though looked healthy and happy as they sang and danced. Noticeably there were some very tall Pygmies. The milkman perhaps?
Uganda is one of Africa’s most beautiful countries with its rolling hills, red earth and green vegetation. There are sugar cane plantations, fields filled with crops, and bananas a plenty. Trucks are laden with bananas, a Ugandan staple. There’s a sense of pride in the villages. Mostly they’re neat and clean, however there is a problem with waste, plastic bottles in particular.
As we drove along an entourage of children would wave and cheer. Pleasures are simple in these African villages. An elegantly clad woman looks up and smiles as she fills her canisters at the water pump. In front of clothing shops, curvaceous mannequins in tight fitting dresses decorated the pavement. In Africa a woman’s shape is to be admired; each and every curve. A man walks past with a crate of biscuits on his head, overtaken by a woman with a basket of fruit on her head.
In the villages the lost art of sign-writing thrives. Creative and sometimes worrying names adorn buildings. ‘Prison view Cafe’? Maybe too much information. There’s a smattering of mobile ‘phone stalls, and a posse of motor-bikes; these are the village taxis, carrying all manner of items; crates of bananas, small fridges, four to a bike, sometimes five to a bike. Never a dusty bike to be found, they’re gleaming, always being washed. Beneath the acacia trees, a group of men can always be found, sitting around on old tyres. In Africa sitting around is a national pastime.
Though a relatively small country, 241,500 square kilometres (the size of Victoria), Uganda has a population of 49 million. It has the world’s youngest population; the average age is 16. By contrast, the world’s oldest population is in Monaco, average age in 56. In 1903, the British Uganda Programme proposed Uganda as a Homeland for the Jewish people. After two years of deliberating the proposal was rejected.
Meanwhile, back at camp, my tent erecting skills gradually improved, however my skill at requesting assistance improved even further. My latest accessory became a head-torch, essential for nightly peregrinations to the bathroom. The torch light could reflect pairs of eyes. If the eyes reflected blue it meant danger, if they reflected green it was okay. Or was it the other way round? A visit to the bathroom became a lesson in entomology. Geckos cast a watchful eye as you showered, millipedes entwined on the toilet floor and worms were the size of small snakes. During the day various animals wandered through the campsite; baboons, monkeys, Guinea fowls, a gaggle of geese, a troop of mongoose. At night it was best not to know what lurked beyond the tent flap. Strange sounds filled the night air. Hmmm, was it blue eyes or green eyes I had to be cautious of?
After the gorilla trek a relaxing cruise on the lake seemed a good option. A young man approached me and declared ‘I’m Innocent’. Innocent, as it turned out, was our skipper. As we set sail, Saturday, the barman, waved us off. Only in Africa! We cruised the lake with Innocent pointing out various birds and otters. Within the lake there are 15 islands; the children ferry to school each day. Twice a week the island residents come to the mainland to barter and buy supplies. Innocent pointed out one island, its history was a sad one. Until about a hundred years ago, unmarried pregnant girls were deposited on the island. They’d brought disgrace on their family and hadn’t brought in a dowry. On the island they starved to death, their remains placed in a cave. Today dowries are still important. Innocent needs to buy three nice cows if he intends to marry. One cow cost 1.5 million shillings, $900.
We arrived at a pretty campsite by the Nile River. It was then I saw what I’d come to Africa for. It was a Glamp! This is what I thought I’d signed up for. I wallowed in the space, however a decision had to be made, which side of the bed shall I sleep on? Damnit, I’ll sleep diagonally. I fell asleep with the sound of Nile coursing past. Uganda is the source of the Nile. Water from Uganda flows into Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake. The lake is bordered by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
There are a number of quirks in Uganda. They swap ‘R’ with ‘L’. Play becomes 'pray', and suddenly I became ‘Los’. Another quirk is the Rolex. ‘Rolex, 5000 shillings’ the sign said. What a bargain! That converted to $2. In Uganda a Rolex is an omelet rolled in a chapatti. That day we all bought rolexes.
Uganda is beautiful. It looks like the land of plenty, and once it was. In 1962, when Uganda gained independence from Britain, it was one of Africa’s more developed economies with a strong education system. It descended shortly after. Idi Amin seized power in 1971 through a military coup. He led the country into economic ruin and rampant mass atrocities. Since then there’s been one corrupt government after another. Uganda's population is increasing rapidly, and soon, the country won’t be able to sustain the population. Despite Ugandans' hardships, they are happy people who find joy in simple things. A most valuable lesson.
A trip to Uganda isn’t complete without a visit to the mountain gorillas. It’s the main drawcard to this small land-locked country. There are 27 families of these lovable hairy vegetarians. Tourists are limited to eight per day to each family. We spent an enthralled hour watching a family of seven eat and play. Seeing a baby gorilla swinging in the trees was pure bliss. We gently followed them through the jungle. Accompanying us was a guide, two rangers and three trackers.
A few hours earlier, at the Visitors Centre, a troop of Pygmies welcomed us. There’s a large Pygmy community in western Uganda. Unfortunately their life-span, like their height, is short. These guys though looked healthy and happy as they sang and danced. Noticeably there were some very tall Pygmies. The milkman perhaps?
Uganda is one of Africa’s most beautiful countries with its rolling hills, red earth and green vegetation. There are sugar cane plantations, fields filled with crops, and bananas a plenty. Trucks are laden with bananas, a Ugandan staple. There’s a sense of pride in the villages. Mostly they’re neat and clean, however there is a problem with waste, plastic bottles in particular.
As we drove along an entourage of children would wave and cheer. Pleasures are simple in these African villages. An elegantly clad woman looks up and smiles as she fills her canisters at the water pump. In front of clothing shops, curvaceous mannequins in tight fitting dresses decorated the pavement. In Africa a woman’s shape is to be admired; each and every curve. A man walks past with a crate of biscuits on his head, overtaken by a woman with a basket of fruit on her head.
In the villages the lost art of sign-writing thrives. Creative and sometimes worrying names adorn buildings. ‘Prison view Cafe’? Maybe too much information. There’s a smattering of mobile ‘phone stalls, and a posse of motor-bikes; these are the village taxis, carrying all manner of items; crates of bananas, small fridges, four to a bike, sometimes five to a bike. Never a dusty bike to be found, they’re gleaming, always being washed. Beneath the acacia trees, a group of men can always be found, sitting around on old tyres. In Africa sitting around is a national pastime.
Though a relatively small country, 241,500 square kilometres (the size of Victoria), Uganda has a population of 49 million. It has the world’s youngest population; the average age is 16. By contrast, the world’s oldest population is in Monaco, average age in 56. In 1903, the British Uganda Programme proposed Uganda as a Homeland for the Jewish people. After two years of deliberating the proposal was rejected.
Meanwhile, back at camp, my tent erecting skills gradually improved, however my skill at requesting assistance improved even further. My latest accessory became a head-torch, essential for nightly peregrinations to the bathroom. The torch light could reflect pairs of eyes. If the eyes reflected blue it meant danger, if they reflected green it was okay. Or was it the other way round? A visit to the bathroom became a lesson in entomology. Geckos cast a watchful eye as you showered, millipedes entwined on the toilet floor and worms were the size of small snakes. During the day various animals wandered through the campsite; baboons, monkeys, Guinea fowls, a gaggle of geese, a troop of mongoose. At night it was best not to know what lurked beyond the tent flap. Strange sounds filled the night air. Hmmm, was it blue eyes or green eyes I had to be cautious of?
After the gorilla trek a relaxing cruise on the lake seemed a good option. A young man approached me and declared ‘I’m Innocent’. Innocent, as it turned out, was our skipper. As we set sail, Saturday, the barman, waved us off. Only in Africa! We cruised the lake with Innocent pointing out various birds and otters. Within the lake there are 15 islands; the children ferry to school each day. Twice a week the island residents come to the mainland to barter and buy supplies. Innocent pointed out one island, its history was a sad one. Until about a hundred years ago, unmarried pregnant girls were deposited on the island. They’d brought disgrace on their family and hadn’t brought in a dowry. On the island they starved to death, their remains placed in a cave. Today dowries are still important. Innocent needs to buy three nice cows if he intends to marry. One cow cost 1.5 million shillings, $900.
We arrived at a pretty campsite by the Nile River. It was then I saw what I’d come to Africa for. It was a Glamp! This is what I thought I’d signed up for. I wallowed in the space, however a decision had to be made, which side of the bed shall I sleep on? Damnit, I’ll sleep diagonally. I fell asleep with the sound of Nile coursing past. Uganda is the source of the Nile. Water from Uganda flows into Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake. The lake is bordered by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
There are a number of quirks in Uganda. They swap ‘R’ with ‘L’. Play becomes 'pray', and suddenly I became ‘Los’. Another quirk is the Rolex. ‘Rolex, 5000 shillings’ the sign said. What a bargain! That converted to $2. In Uganda a Rolex is an omelet rolled in a chapatti. That day we all bought rolexes.
Uganda is beautiful. It looks like the land of plenty, and once it was. In 1962, when Uganda gained independence from Britain, it was one of Africa’s more developed economies with a strong education system. It descended shortly after. Idi Amin seized power in 1971 through a military coup. He led the country into economic ruin and rampant mass atrocities. Since then there’s been one corrupt government after another. Uganda's population is increasing rapidly, and soon, the country won’t be able to sustain the population. Despite Ugandans' hardships, they are happy people who find joy in simple things. A most valuable lesson.
Ros Freeman travelled at her own expanse with Intrepid Travel
Disguised as a mild-mannered corporate employee, Ros lives a secret life as a world traveller and adventurer amassing a count of more than 150 UN-recognised countries. Follow Ros on Instagram |
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