@ The River

It's our final day in Queen Elizabeth NP, but today we're not going so far- just across the road. We're staying at a lodge that Bas and Vera stayed at last night. They had checked yesterday and loved it so much that they texted us, telling us to come over and stay there. Unfortunately, we had received the message just after checking in at Enjojo, so had no choice but to promise them we'd join tomorrow.

Since it's just across the road, we arrive early, and we're warmly- rapturously- received by the owners. Unfortunately, they explain, they have to head to the nearby city of Fort Portal. Their kids are there, watching the England Australia Rugby World Cup match with the expat community. They explain that they should have left a little earlier, but had a heavy night. So they're dashing between welcoming us, sending off the last guests, and packing up their stuff.

At around 11, just before kick-off, they still haven't left, and Fort Portal is a good two-hour drive away. They insist that they can still make if they leave now, but they still don't leave. Instead, they crack open beers and invite us to join them. And so begins a day-long unplanned drinking session in the middle of the Ugandan bush.

Across the day, they tell us stories about expat life in East Africa. She's Zimbabwean, and hes English, and they met in Kenya, at a club. They would play tennis before tucking into a Sunday roast with all the trimmings, and would reliably get terribly drunk.

Later, Bas and Vera return from their game drive. They had an inauspicious start to the morning, with a burst tyre, but later managed to see the famous tree-climbing lions, which we're told again are the only ones in the world. We're slightly jealous, but remember the entrance fee to get into the park itself.

Later still, we're joined by an Argentinian couple who cycled in. They had cycled across East-Africa, and had just been in Bwindi- the home of the gorillas. We ask them if they saw the gorillas, and of course they had. And did they say it was worth it? Of course. We begin to rue our decision not to get permits. Nevertheless, we jot down the name of a great lodge there, and decide to head over, if only to see the forest.Read more