Feb. 27, 2013
6 am boda boda (motorcycle taxi) from Red Chilli hostel to Post office where I bought a ticket and climbed aboard the Post bus from Kampala to Kbale. The ticket was 25,000 Uganda Shillings ($10) for the 9 hr. ride. The Post bus delivers mail along with transporting passengers. There was only one official bathroom stop and 2 "short stops" in which we stopped on side of the road and looked for a bush. No lunch breaks but plenty of vendors storming the windows of the bus whenever we stopped. Meat on a stick, grilled corn on the cob, some type of pastry, and all varieties of drinks and fruits. When I got off the bus to go to the restroom I had to take both of my bags with me or else they would be gone when I returned.
After finally arriving at Bunyonyi Overland Resort, I asked and got a dorm room for $15 a night. Expensive but beautiful lake and location. Here for 3 nights and then to Kisoro, the staging ground for the mountain gorillas.
February 28, 2013
Lake Bunyonyi (Place of Many Little Birds) is Uganda's most beautiful lake and encircles 29 islands and its steep hillsides are intensively terraced. This morning I and Julian, from Germany, did the 1 hr hike up to Acadia Cottages for the best view of the lake. It was spectacular but not enough to sway me from moving from my $15 dorm to the $100 room at Acadia. We passed a school and all the children ran to the road waving and wanting to know our names and of course, tell us theirs. Good morning. Everything always seems better when I am hiking up high somewhere. The view down is always better than the view up.
March 1. 2013
Last full day at Lake Bunyonyi. Yesterday 2 Overland Trucks pulled up with about 40 new people for the lodge. Definitely interrupted the peace and solitude of the lake. I called yesterday to Bwindi Backpackers Lodge where I wanted to stay for the gorilla visit to the Virunga Mountains. He is based in Kbale nearby and showed up at the lodge today to visit with me. I arranged to be picked up, driven the 3-4 hrs to the lodge, stay in a dorm with all meals included for 5 nights and then transported to Kigali, Rwanda for $150. I am thinking that is pretty good deal since most lodges charge $50-$100 a night around this location. Not only that he said there is a good chance we may see gorillas from the lodge since his property is on the edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. He then agree to upgrade me from the dorm to a private room. This lodge is very new and in its infant stage as a lodge. I was told about it from my new backpacker friend, Jake Stone, who I met in Kampala. Jake was one of the first ever people to stay there. Since the grounds are still being landscaped everyone gets to plant a tree there with a sign and if you return you stay for half price. (Only $5 a night instead of $10 lol) Leave tomorrow at 3 pm.
