The traditional way to see Uganda is to go for a long safari from one camp to another, travelling along winding dirt roads in search of wild animals. It`s not a holiday for the weaklings, but the dream of a real adventure coming true.
The concept of an African safari that originally being exclusively as hunting has lost its blood-thirstiness long since and turned into an engaging way of learning more about nature. The only weapon you are allowed to take is a camera.
Though safari is supposed to be a lack of all comforts, this kind of vacation is considered very exclusive both because of high prices and guaranteed unique experience, memories and the pictures you’ll bring back. A fortnight trip with a loud gang of friends or on your own by a Jeep loaded to the roof would cost about $3,000–4,000 per person, and all this means staying and boarding at 3-star lodges (there are no more comfortable hotels in Uganda except in the capital). What such
money should be paid for? For the safe passage through an area where the flora and fauna have remained unchanged for the last several thousand years.
In the animal world
The plane touches down at the Entebbe international airport and your Hemingway-style trip begins. Kampala, the capital of the country, is one of the greenest cities on the continent. The name means "Antelope Hill". Indeed, Kampala lies on the seven hills like Rome, offering wonderful views of the suburbs and the blue lake Victoria.
The lake Victoria is the starting point of the Great African Way across Uganda: through the famous Lavero triangle and the town of Masindi to the Murchison Falls National Park.
There`s everything along the way: herds of antelopes jumprunning in a wide arc away from the track, a porcupine crossing the road, bridges across the dry river beds, the green spots of cacti and the almost white road dust. At the end there`s a marvellous view of the kilometre-wide Nile which falls down with a wild roar through a 7-metre crevice from the height of 150 metres. The Nile waterfalls are rushing straight out of the woods, breaking into millions of splashes on the huge boulders and spraying the mountains overhanging the river.
Buffaloes and elephants are grazing on the banks overgrown with palm trees and tamarinds. Hippos imposingly luxuriate in the shallows showing off their polished flanks and gaping wide their bottomless mouths. It’s hard to believe that these good-natured weak-sighted layabouts can run very fast and may be lethally dangerous in a rage.
Almost the whole bank of the Nile is scattered with crocodiles soaking the sun. The giant reptiles lie with their huge mouths wide open to regulate the heat balance of the body. The sight of the peacefully dozing reptiles is very misleading: hungry crocks are nasty as evil the same as
well-fed ones. Fortunately, they are undisputed masters only in the water, and on dry land remain clumsy, slow and feel rather out of place.
Visiting the smallest
From here we go to the south via Hoyma to fort Portal located in the shadow of the fabulous Moon Mountains which are among the most beautiful in the world. Close to the Itaru tropical forest live the pigmies - the smallest people on the planet 130-150 cm high. Their homes look like small green hillocks blending with the forest. The houses are built by women. Guests of the village can watch the process from the beginning to the end and may help the pigmy ladies if desired. First of all they drive tree branches into the ground, thick ends downwards. The upper ends are tied with lianas, and large palm leaves are placed on top of the framework. The whole construction cycle takes two or three hours.
Pigmies eat everything they can find, catch or kill in the jungle. Alas, from the point of view of the animal protectors their way to hunt elephants is beneath criticism. They immobilize the huge animal by shooting arrows in the tendons, then cut off the trunk and wait until it bleeds to death. If they are successful the whole tribe has enough food for a very long time, while the nervous tourist who has dared to watch the hunting is going to have nightmares for the next few nights. But such a big hunt
doesn’t happen often because it is quite risky. Usually pigmies hunt for smaller animals or catch fish, poisoning the water with plant alkaloids known only to them.
Pigmies greet the guests with drums and ritual welcoming dances. The best way to establish good contact with the tiny people is to bring a packet of common salt (they adore it) or cigarettes which they love to chew.
And a lot of wild monkeys
Of course a special thrill of the Uganda safari is a meeting with mountain gorillas. They live only in the wild in three countries: Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. There are just over 600 gorillas on the planet and a half of them live in Uganda in the two national parks: Bwindi and Mgahinga.
On exploring the depths of Africa, the Europeans suspected that gorillas were representatives of an unknown human race. And it was easy to make this mistake: when encounter a gorilla you see a giant with a human face standing on two feet. A barrel chest and powerful shoulders make the impression even stronger. Actually, these two-metre high 250-kilo apes are not aggressive at all and never attack without a reason.
Ugandan authorities issue only a very limited number of permits to see the gorilla family: each day only three groups of 8 people may enter the park. Admission price is $400 per person. They can spend no longer than an hour near the gorillas.
Trekking to the apes is a way only for the people with a strong body and mind. You have to cover about 10 km through the rain forest. The guides know every gorilla by name and cut the shrubbery with machetes right in front of the apes` noses so the tourists would have a better view. You can come quite close to the gorillas, but it’s safer to stay at least 7 metres away. Everybody who embarks on this unusual and amazing trip must follow the certain rules. One mustn`t make eye contact with the gorillas, especially male ones. If a male comes very close you must go down on all fours, that isn’t very nice especially if you’ve paid $400 for this privilege. If you take pictures it is strictly forbidden to use a flash - it may scare the gorillas or provoke aggression. No loud conversations and no smoking near them: for some reason they have a weakness for this human habit and will grab the cigarette right out of your mouth. There are age limitations too: visitors must be at least 15 years old. Each group is accompanied by hard-looking boys with assault rifles. However this measure is for protection from poachers, not from the gorillas as each animal is insured by the government for one million dollars.
The expert`s opinion
Natalia Minakova, deputy general manager, the company Ultra-Travel: "One of the African countries recently discovered by the Russian tourists is Uganda. First of all, there are eastern mountain gorillas there, which have inhabited the fabulously beautiful Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The tourist can enjoy Nile perch fishing on the Lake Victoria; some fishes can reach a size of a grown-up with weight of about 200 kilos. Another unique local attraction is the Murchison Falls, where the Nile had its rise from. Meetings with Pygmy tribal groups of people - the smallest humans in the world and African hunters - are unforgettable. They are usually only 130-150 cm tall. And, of course, inhabitants of Uganda with their kindness and hospitality are the heart and soul of this country.
Natalia Yakubova
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