I got on the bus just in time to escape the INSANE rain storm, but unfortunately that didn't prevent the rain storm that occurred right over my seat about 30 minutes in. There was pretty much a waterfall leaking through the roof directly onto my seat. The buses are usually rammed so I figured I would just have to deal with it, but eventually a worker noticed and found me a dry seat. I snuggled by wet body under my kanga and tried to get some sleep.
I arrived at my hostel in Kabale at 7:30 am and managed to work out a deal with them whereby I could pay for everything the next day when I got money. The kitchen wasn't opened yet so I went to sleep for a few hours.
After a well needed breakfast, I started to try and figure out my plan for the gorilla sanctuary. Thank god they convinced me to delay my permit for a day because I never would have made it. However, the next problem was that the only reliable way to get into the park was to take a car for 250,000 Ush. I had a little less than 20,000 left at that point. We luckily managed to find a driver that would agree to get all of the money when my bank transfer went through at 3pm the next day, so I hitched a ride to Lake Bunyonyi with some Swedish girls for the day.
Lake Bunyonyi was beautiful, but around 3pm I started to get hungry again. I was very certain I couldn't afford hotel food so I made the 45 minute walk into town to try and find some local food. Nothing was opened, so the best I could find was two bananas for 400 Ush. One of the local guys offered to bring me to his house and cook dinner for me. I told him I had a boyfriend, but I think I should have gone for married with children because it had no effect on his repeating: "I'm 27 also. I'm not married..." Going to his house had bad idea written all over it, but he did help me get a cheap 3,000 Ush boda back to my hostel.
Watching "The last King of Scotland" while in Uganda is not exactly the best recipe for a good night's sleep, but rested or not I was up bright and early to head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
After a short walk down the road, I headed down a steep slope into the jungle with my two guides. I am not sure whether I would classify it as hiking or falling, but by grabbing onto the branches and vines along the way, I managed not to tumble down to my death. I have done quite a bit of hiking now, but this was something entirely different. It was about a 70 degree angle; the ground was made of lose, damp mud; it is thick brush that they have to take down with a machete to enable you to move at all; and the ground is covered in a thick layer of broken branches and leaves so that you never know whether your next step will be on solid ground, into a hole, or will leave you sliding down the steep muddy slope.
We found the gorillas quite fast so it was quite a shock to all-of-a-sudden look up and see these black and hairy backs crouched beyond the cover of trees. I took a moment to look around, and they were everywhere: a massive male in front of me, a female eating leaves to my left, and two babies playing in the trees above them. Their facial expressions and mannerisms are so human; it is very strange.
We followed them through the thick jungle for an hour, then headed back.
Before the tracking, my guide had asked for my full name in order to write out a certificate. I declined and said I specifically did not want a certificate as I had nothing to do with it and it would be ruined by the time I got home anyways. She brought the subject up again later and said that it didn't cost anything, and again I explained that I just didn't want it. Her English was quite good and I felt that she fully understood after we had thoroughly discussed the subject twice. However, when I returned back to the park, there she was handing me the certificate with a huge smile on her face like she was presenting me with the Victoria Cross. "Thanks," I said.
Luckily, the ATM worked so I managed to pay off all of my debts. I spent the night hanging out with two girls, one of whom was in the Uganda Peace Corps. She told me this crazy story about how she was in a matatu accident, watched the driver die because he was impaled by the steering wheel and the conductor ran away because he didn't want to get in trouble for the driver's speeding. She flagged someone down on the street to help her since everyone was trapped in the back, then they tried to get rides for them to the hospital, but no one would stop since they are told that you can get AIDS from car accidents. She had to clean off her face, put on her jacket, and walk a few kilometres down the road to get a ride home. She said that when she drove by a couple days later, the matatu was still sitting there in the ditch. Who knows if the driver's body was ever removed.
I have been in Africa for a while now, but there are still things that really shock me. There are times when I feel a bit like I have entered Hobbes' State of Nature where it is every man for himself. It is a constant challenge to understand and come to terms with the culture and the different motivations people have for acting the way they do. Growing up in such a different world, there are many things I will never fully understand.
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