Hotel Pan Afric Lira

Up early again to register and head off to see the gorillas at 7.30. Had a mammoth 10 minute walk to where they had slept the night before. Absolutely UNBELEIVABLE, we were within 10 metres of a huge silverback and his whole family. At first he wasn't best pleased with us being there and started stomping around, beating his chest and ripping down trees. Then he seemed to relax a ...

... village. They all clamboured around the plane while we were getting sorted. After about 20minutes - we started up the engine and took off! It was all really surreal - both for the villagers - and for myself!

The flight was cool. We flew over Lake Victoria and took a different route back over Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha - two ...

... interestingly the camp site that we will remember. We have got better at chasing off monkey packs intent on stealing anything edible. We have a stick ready to go and are on to them, this place however caught us off guard as we were the subject of wart hog attack. These guys managed to steal a loaf of rye bread. Now if it had been bananas or something easily replaceable I would not have been so annoyed ...

... find out. As we pulled up we saw a large baboon attacking a local guy for his bag of crisps and we spent the rest of lunch aiming large rocks at them to try and keep them away. One broke through our defensive line and leapt onto the lunch table and grabbed the bag of rolls. Even the broom handle being bent over its head didn’t put it off. Having seen the size of the baboons teeth we probably should have just let it have the rolls!

After a night bush camping ...

... defeated. We kind of felt hopeful that the afternoon group would see more than the am group. There was an option to do a tea plantation trek with a guy at the camp. Since most of us were tired of being cooped up in the truck, we jumped at the chance to do some walking. There were only five of us going and we all brought our cameras and headed out. I don’t think I really learned too much about tea but didn’t really ...

... that five seventeen-ish year old boys would be so into this story, but they were. We talked about love and marriage, the role of fate, and the way that small and seemingly-insignificant-at-the-time moments can change your life’s course. As we discussed the latter idea, it was interesting for me to reflect that had my flight not been cancelled in December of 2006, then I might never have met the guy who introduced me to Invisible Children and I likely would ...

... grits left out overnight. It’s the tofu of grains and really has no taste. Like it’s soy friend, either people love it or hate it. As I love any starch that benignly pairs with beans, I’m a fan. Chappati-Those loyal readers of my blog will remember this from my last post. It’s the crepe/tortilla/fluffy-spongy goodness that is excellent with morning tea. Tea: Southern sweet tea served hot…it’s really addicting. I ...

... you feel better." This went against everything I had ever heard about African Sleeping Sickness, and to confirm, it is indeed Fatal if left untreated. I informed Monica and Patricia, who seemed to be the choice of meal in the vehicle.

Day two had a significantly earlier start, 5 am. Again we piled into the vehicle and drove towards the Nile, this time, to cross it by Ferry. The Ferry system was a little frightening. Six vehicles reverse onto the ferry, which is docked only by ...

... their presentation, rather than share the information. They would ask questions of their audience in the same way that they teach. Statement, followed by What?, followed by the fellow teachers instinctively answering, followed by the teacher continuing on. This would happen probably every 30 seconds in their presentation. On the surface, it seems like they are involving the classroom, however, it is so built into their speech ...

... in both directions. I was unable to determine the method of right of way, although my best guess is that it is like a game of chicken, and you move out of the way if you are afraid of the other driver, or damaging your vehicle.

Back to the words of Sachs, “the settlements were typically a few huts circled around an area for chickens and some fuel wood. These settlements had no electricity.” Transport in rural Uganda, by the local people is ...