12th – Chimping

We started with breakfast at 0600 before we got picked up by 3 guides who took us out for the day’s chimp walk. As the camp was located where it was we just stepped out of the camp into the surrounding forest and started looking for animals.

We didn’t have to walk far before we spotted some red-tailed monkeys, and while we couldn’t see them we could easily hear the chimpanzees. It didn’t take long and much walking, though, before the first was located, high up in the trees, eating. And not long after that we saw two more, grooming each other, not far from there.

Red-tailed monkey.

Chimpanzee.

The alpha male being groomed.

Having been enjoying the view we continued and around 1030 we exited the forest and entered a tea plantation. We didn’t get to see the actual buildings and processing plants but the guides explained the process and brought us through the fields while returning to camp. We were lucky enough to also see a few baboons roaming the area.

Having had lunch at camp, packed and taken down the tents we departed at 1230. We had a 5-ish hour drive to our next camp at lake Bunyonyi. The drive was without issues and the landscape we went though was beautifully green, hilly and with plenty of small villages spread throughout.

Tomorrow is an early start at 0530 when going to the reserve to (hopefully) see gorillas. Looking forward to it!

Our camp site at lake Bunyonyi.

11th – Go west!

Before breakfast at 0600 the tents were more or less taken down and bags were packed. After eating and packing the truck we left around 0730 to go west for the Kalinzu Forest Reserve. The drive was 10-ish hours including a few breaks here and there. Today’s schedule was just to get us to the new camp site with no plan during the way so we tried wasting as little time as possible during our breaks.

Crossing the equator.

We are 22 in the group and with 24 seats in the truck there is little spare room. It works as intended, though, and it has AC and WiFi (which was not expected at all). All in all more modern than the one we used on the Southern Africa tour in 2013. This one doesn’t have a built-in kitchen, though, which is a bit of a surprise, but as long as all campsites have some kind of cooking equipment that won’t really be an issue.

The camp is basically located in the middle of the national park which means that we might be able to hear the chimps during the night. Also, when doing the walk tomorrow it means the guides and trackers will arrive and we just start the walk directly from the camp – makes things easier than having to drive somewhere first.

Visiting the furry people

Searching for a job is depressing. Searching for a job for much longer time than expected is depressing, mind-numbing and taxing in every single way you can imagine. And I am fully aware I have not been unemployed nearly as long as many other people. Anyways, at some point you need some kind of distraction from all this and from the fact that the next planned trip isn’t until August. It’s hard to find anything that is able to distract you from the daily suckery but that is what trips are for!

I hereby present to you this year’s “I need to get away and be able to think about something else for a while”-trip.

9^th – 10^th of April

Fly out from Copenhagen, layover in Doha and continue to Kampala. The original plan was to fly with Emirates – they have the A380 going CPH-DXB with economy also on the top floor – but considering price, length of layovers, and the quite large difference in reviews on Skytrax I ended up going with Qatar instead.

11^th of April

A long day’s drive west to Kalinzu Forest Reserve. The tour is an overland camping tour so things will be similar to when I did my Southern Africa trip where we have a large bus/truck containing everything we need and the nights are spent in tents.

12^th of April

We will be getting up early in the morning to do a chimpanzee trek followed by a tea plantation visit afterwards. To be honest if the chimpanzee trek drags out I won’t be the one to complain if we are forced to skip the plantation. End the day by driving to Lake Bunyonyi.

13^th of April

Gorilla trek. Not much else to say, is there? Whatever time not spent on the trek is spent relaxing. Looking back to when I was there in 2010 that’s probably a good thing; the humidity and conditions you walk in doesn’t really encourage much running around after returning from the trek.

14^th of April

Free day to do (almost) whatever we want. Among the list of choices is also the chance to do a day trip to Rwanda. That sounds quite tempting, to be honest.

15^th – 16^th of April

Drive back to Kampala, spend a night there and continue east towards Jinja.

17^th of April

Spend the day in Jinja for relaxing and activities.

18^th – 19^th of April

Return to Kampala midday before getting on a flight home in the late afternoon.