Africa Weary and Some Much Needed R&R

My parents arrived (minus one bag, more on that later) and checked into their lovely boutique hotel, The Bourgenviller, a lovely oasis in this dusty city as they soon came to appreciate even more. On Tuesday and Wednesday we visited Meeting Point so that they could see the murals in person and meet the people I worked with and some of the children who were still hanging around the school even though classes had officially ended. My parents also met with the director, Noelina, and the teachers. And though my attempt to coerce them into eating G-nut stew was a failure, I did have them try my favorite fried cassava, and even agree to take a matatu into the center of town.

And here’s where the problems began. Not with the matatu—they were very good sports about that actually! More so it was the trials that were to consume our afternoon. First, we made an attempt to claim the lost luggage at the KLM office. Thus began a very long, tedious, and infuriating week-and-a-half long battle to reclaim the bag, as we literally crossed paths with it several times. But on Wednesday we were unsuccessful. Then we had some customer service issues at our otherwise fine Nando’s (pretty good South African fast food) lunch, followed by a two-hour battle with one travel agency to purchase our airplane tickets to Tanzania as there was only one airline, Precision Air that flies Entebbe to Mwanza, the little used western entrance to the Serengeti. After quite a commotion over payment—everything here must be paid in cash, credit cards are simply irrelevant at times, or carry a huge surcharge—we finally purchased our tickets, but boy, were we Africa Weary by that point.

So what else to do but head for the muzungu’s respite from the red dust storm that is Kampala—Garden City, yes, a mall, sad I know. One massage (Dad) and two mani-pedis later (my Mom’s first pedi ever!) and we were in better spirits, and met up with my housemate for a good dinner, looking forward for our planned escape from the city on Friday.

Mhingo Lodge proved to be the perfect respite after a couple days in Kampala where my parents began to understand the truth behind some of my earlier blog entries. The crazy roads, lack of customer service, and general disorganization of the city didn’t take long to bring them down a bit. So when we arrived at Mhingo Lodge on Friday afternoon and were treated to bright yellow passionfruit juice and cold towels, we finally breathed a sigh of relief that we were away from Kampala. In addition to going on some game drives on Saturday and a nature game walk on Sunday, we relaxed, hung out on our lovely porch and by the infinity pool, and generally ate far too much (every meal was a 3-course event!). Here are some of the highlights:

A Room with a View

We had a spectacular room: Lake Kacheera, which overlooked the lake of that name in the distance beyond a setting of Africa brush and green hills beyond and as far as the eyes could see, turning a gray blue in the distance. Our tent had three beds with nets, a marvelously huge bathroom with rough twig detail, a big open shower and toilet that had the same stunning view out over the brush, lake and hills. The best part though was the veranda with steps leading down the large boulder on which out tent perched. During the day and night, the tent flaps rolled up to reveal mosquito netting that let in the cool breezes and our veranda was the best viewing platform for thousands of bright stars and shooting stars.

Full Bellies
We ate so much, some would argue too much—that someone would not be me though ;) The food at the lodge was fabulous, which is quite impressive considering that the lodge is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by bush for many kilometers. They have carloads of groceries delivered from Kampala. We had a delicious tilapia (white fish) dinner one night, pork chop another night, delicious chilled avocado soup for a starter for lunch one day, dense chocolate mouse for one dessert. Every meal was three courses and breakfast was fruit, cereal, eggs and bacon made to order. In other words you could have rolled me down the kopje (rocky hill) and out of the national park by the end of the weekend!

Warthogs, Impalas, Topis (but where are the Elands?)
There may not have been the animals of the “Big Five” (Elephants, Rhinos, Lions, Hippos, Buffalo), but there were plenty of cute animals running all over Lake Mburo National Park (the only park in Uganda to contain an entire lake). We saw lots of zebras which I love, impalas which are awfully cute and graceful, warthogs which are bizarrely ugly-cute, especially when they go running away with they’re tails straight up in the air, and crested cranes--the official bird of Uganda that can be found on the national flag. In an attempt to see the illusive eland, apparently a very shy animal, we drove the Eland Track--no elands. Nor were there leopards on the Leopard Track. Ah well, this didn't stop us from plotting to talk loudly at lunch about how we saw a leopard attack an eland!

Aside from several game drives we also went on an early morning game walk with an armed park guide (very early—the Plattners awoke at 5:45am)! The highlights of the walk were viewing nocturnal bush pigs, spotting a grazing hippo (though we couldn’t get too close for fear of charging), and “waking up” a family of warthogs. This last one was quite spectacular in that we were walking along in the quiet early morning light when out of nowhere came an explosion of grunting warthogs that nearly scared us all to death. Apparently when they smell humans they get afraid and run away—nevermind that we were more scared of them!

Ants in My Pants
Possibly one of the more terrifying and uncomfortable moments in my life (yes, I’ve had it good) was last night when my dad and I were walking to the main lodge from our tent to meet my mom who had gone up earlier. All of a sudden I started to feel pricks on my leg. Little sharp piercing stings. I think something in biting me I said briskly. Just then one of the lodge managers appeared, apologizing for the lack of electricity in our tent. Are you okay she asked. I’m being bitten I think I replied. Oh you must have walked over some army ants she remarked sympathetically, just a bush experience. Go to the bathroom and take off your pants and get them off. I panicked! I took of running like a madwoman, dashed up the steps to the lodge, flew through the dining room and down to the bar area where my mom was reclining on a couch, and flew by her asking abruptly for the bathroom location. I leapt into the bathroom, and threw off my flipflops and jeans. Sure enough, about a dozen large dark ants were scurrying all over the jeans and my leg, one biting my calf, drawing blood. Gross. I drowned those suckers and my mom came in to help. On the walk back to the tent we encountered another mass of ants and got a few more up the pant legs. After that, I curled up in my bed in fright, an utter coward. Top ten ways I do not want to go: getting eaten by army ants.

Equatorial Adventures
We had stopped on the way down to pose for cheesy pictures at the site of the Ugandan equator—a very simple structure adorns either side of the road. But we did not participate in the water drain spectacle and so on the way back we coughed up the 10,000 shillings so that the three of us could view the counter-clockwise swirl of the drain on the north side of the equator, then walk a few fee south of the equator to see the water drain clockwise. At the exact spot of the equator, the water went straight down the drain, sucking the demo flower with it. Not only that, but we learned that you are on average 3-1/2% lighter at the equator than elsewhere on Earth. Not sure how much truth there is to this belief, but I was tempted to stick around! We had a coffee and beer break, took a couple more photos and then clambored back in the car to drive the remaining hour or so to Kampala.

A Little Culture
After passing the Equator, we made one more stop: a drum shop on the side of the road about 30 km from Kampala. Michael told me that this would be a good place to get a fair price on handmade drums because it cuts out the middleman. As soon as I entered, over half a dozen young men swarmed myself and my mother holding drums up to me, reaching for others, asking my preference. Despite the overwhelmingness, I settled on two beautiful wooden drums, one taller one smaller, with a graceful curved base. When I insisted on bargaining the price down from 45000 Ush to 37000 rather than 40000 (it’s about RESPECT) they didn’t have any small change and through in a lovely little drum chocolate brown fur. Anyways, I’m very pleased and sending them back with the obliging parents for my future grownup apartment (whenever in my life that comes to pass)!

Then, since we had a driver and since we were cutting back into town from the west during rush hour (ie anytime on Sunday from 2-10pm) we stopped off at the Kasubi tombs, arguably one of the only tourist attractions in Kampala. We actually had a very informative guide who claimed one of the former Bugunda kings as a great grandfather. He lead us into the tombs, a large thatch hut—in fact, the largest thatch hut in the world, and a world UNESCO Heritage Site—and gave us a 30 minute history and tour of the one room hut. My dad got a little cultural info and was a happy camper despite previous doubts.

Michael drove us (and managed to park the enormous vehicle in Old Kampala—no easy feat!) to my dinner pick, my favorite restaurant in Kampala, Tuhende for a delicious cheap dinner. Even Michael was impressed, saying he would tell other clients about this place. Then it was back to Bugolobi to unload, unpack, repack and prepare from our departure to Tanzania tomorrow morning! Serengeti and Ngorogoro, here we come! Now let’s just hope our tour operator exists—fingers crossed…