Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

We made a quick stop in Kabale to use the ATM and buy some more wine and bread, before driving a short distance to the edge of the forest. We have permits to go gorilla trekking in a few days, but thought we’d spend a few nights on one side of the park, then backtrack to the other side where our gorilla trek begins.
We turned off the paved road onto a steep and windy dirt road for the 20km drive to our lodge. Almost immediately, the afternoon downpour started and the road turned into a slippery river. At several spots, the torrential rains had washed large rocks onto the road and we (John) had to get out to clear some of them, with the help of local villagers, in order to get through. At one stage we thought about turning around, but decided to carry on, check into a dry room, and hang out until the rain let up. The location of the lodge was great and we spent a few hours sitting out on the verandah, with drink in hand, watching the mist roll in and out of the valleys of the rain forest in front of us.
We've had a few interesting experiences here.
First, we found ourselves in bed bundled up under several warm blankets at 7:30 pm, drinking boxed-red wine from our plastic glasses, listening to an NPR podcast (radio show for non-US readers). We had a good laugh about whether this was a preview of our twilight years.
Another interesting moment happened as soon as we turned out the light. We both felt something hit the middle of the bed – something with weight. John kicked whatever it was and we both are sure we heard it hit the wall on the other side of the room. We turned on the light, but could not find anything. A very restless night of sleep followed with our thinking every noise was some 4-legged rodent, big six-legged bug, 100-legged centipede or legless snake creeping up to get us. We are in the middle of a rainforest and nature can easily get into the rustic cabins, huts, and what not. However, we opted to spend our second night in our tent, which felt much safer and better sealed. Rain be damned!!Read more