Road to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Park

I decided to upgrade to a private room with a shower and fluffy white towel after the muddy trials of the previous day which felt like the lap of luxury after a week of camping. I spent a long time in the shower washing the ochre red, ingrained, mud from myself and my shoes and slept well on the plush surroundings despite having to get up at 5am for a long truck journey to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park where we will hopefully see the dwindling population of those 'gentle giants' the mountain gorillas. As we left Kampala the sun rose reddening in the dusty air of the awakening city streets already bustling with people on their way to earn their living on foot, motorbike, vans and cars. I saw one of those huge marabou storks flying like a contemporary pterydactyl overhead. We also saw them pecking the turf of a rugby pitch in Kampala yesterday. As we slowly escaped the urban influence of Kampala, the vista opened out into tropical green, lush forest expanses infused with banana plants, and high hill peaks rising all around us, punctuated with small roadside villages summoning legions of Ugandans to their daily business. After the equatorial line (see footprint) we travelled through more lush countryside populated by a special breed of cow, Ankore, (possibly named after the Ugandan tribe of the same name who bred them) which has giant horns like the ancient and long extinct aurochs of old.Read more