Uganda: Bwindi and Entebbe
Had a quick night at Boma guest house in Entebbe upon arrival, their Indian food was good, then off to Bwinidi. The airport process was somewhat confusing, we had our flight departure time marked as 0745 but it seems it was changed to 0700. The agent at the gate didn’t tell us this, just told us to head straight to our gate. We stopped to look at purchasing a gorilla book along the way not realizing quite how rushed we were and almost missed our flight (we did make it, and receive a scolding from the agent). After a brief stop enroute (also not scheduled initially) we met our driver at the Kisoro airport who drove us to clouds.
Clouds has a very impressive building and views. The rooms with the double fireplace were gorgeous. Friendly managers (fellow Canadians) and really nice grounds. We did a community visit, which was interesting, and visited the local medical clinic the first day. We did two gorilla treks, both the regular treks. The first was nearby the hotel (Nkuringo sector). It was a 7hr day, with about maybe 800m elevation change. Not too bad, but on the way out I wished we had at least an extra 1L of water (they recommended 2L each, we took 5L total, I’d say 6-8 would have been better). A lot of tourists get carried out of this hike, but if you are a hiker in should not be an issue as long as have enough water. The next day we did the hike you have to drive 45 mins to (Rushaga). Was a much more enjoyable experience hiking wise, not only easier (a lot of our group was 70+) but you spend the whole time actually in the park as opposed to in the shrubbery outside the park the first day. We took turns photographing, so each could have a chance to just soak it all in. one of them ran from behind me and pushed me aside on the trail, won’t forget that anytime soon. I think in retrospect habituation + regular tour one day each at Rushaga would have been best option (although more expensive). Overall gorillas were amazing of course, but I cannot say I was awestruck to the degree that others report. It is certainly no more indelible in our minds as the first sights of the Mara.
If your scouring the internet planning for your gorilla trip, you’ll see that most people recommend the 70-200/f 2.8. Believe them. I rented it for this trip, the extra stop of light makes a big difference in heavily forested jungle (its named impenetrable for a reason) . A prime zoom wouldn’t have had nearly the flexibility, there are a few shots that probably would have been decent with f4 or my 100-400 /4.5=5.6 but i felt the rental was well worth it.
The food and butler service at clouds was not as strong as we had in Kenya. I got the impression that our butler isn’t suited to his job personality wise, probably the least friendly service of our whole trip, but this is a remote location and the organization hires locally so I can understand. We got served milk that had been sitting out on one or two occasions, spouse caught it the second time but she drinks her coffee black so I think I missed it the first time in the early morning and got slightly sick at the end, but it was nothing too serious. Our housekeeper did a wonderful job with our hiking boots and gaiters I must say though. Overall I have no regrets choosing clouds, and cannot really complain too much about the price because they really give back to the local community and the room/setting is truly remarkable, but it is not the sort of place where you can check your food common sense totally off it seems and the butler service is not particularly strong; as well other locations are closer to the better hiking starts, so keep this in mind when deciding where to stay. We had an extra day in Entebbe before the start of our conference. We did a mabamba swamp tour to see the shoebill, which we did indeed see along with hordes of other birds. Was quite nice, until the boat ride back in much more turbulent waters which was a bit sketch but we survived (further reading reveals that many people don't, Lake Victoria is one of the deadliest lake in the world FYI). Hotel No 5 was a great base for us during our stay in Entebbe, very friendly staff, great food, nice pool and room, were very happy that we chose it instead of Imperial Beach hotel where the conference was held. We took a quick visit to the reptile museum and botanical gardens, both worth it if have some down time in Entebbe. We then caught a flight out to Brussels for a quick stop in Belgium on the way home, shortly after finishing King Leopold's Ghost to put some of their palaces into an central African perspective.
