The birth of the Nomad Tour member

We started our Nomad tour at 6:00 in the morning, where the Nomad Bus picked us up. We were seven new members (Suzy, Rucky and the BAIN Company = Gabriel, Tom and Mr. Jacob and of course us). So we hopped on the bus, where already 10 people were sitting including some veterans who even started from the beginning (Cape Town, 7 weeks ago!). Johannes was our driver and guide while Muzo our cook managed the meals including buying the vegetables along the way. So we started our journey leaving Kampala, heading towards Lake Buyoni. We passed an endless stream of villages and climbed the mountains up to 2200m. In Kigali (a real mountain town, close to the Ruanda border) we stopped to stock up our supplies, before we drove onward to Lake Buyoni, a wonderful mountain lake which is the second deepest lake in the world! Being at altitude and close to a deep lake basically meant that at night fall, the temperature dropped and we were chilled right down to the bones.

Some of us had an “accommodated tour”, others had the pleasures to sleep in a tent. As some of the tent people did not enjoy the last heavy night rain in Kampala, they had the common sense to immediately “upgraded” to the chalets. Several young members (the Bain group) refused and decided to rough it despite the fact that they did not bring sleeping bags. We had an OK dinner, before we discussed the next day.  The new crew members (us included) were welcomed and the timetables for the next day were announced, as well as the general procedures. One of the rules for example, was to switch places in the bus (which makes senses, as the seats in the back are much worse and bumpy). To my big surprise an older German couple completely refused to switch, and insisted that they were older and had been there already 50 days in the front seats.

Waking up to a refreshingly cold morning we ate breakfast and noticed several of our tent camper were missing. I decided to bring them coffee to give them a wake up start since I was sure they were frozen to death. Knocking on the wrong tent made me concern since no one answered. Are they dead? Or are they at a different tent? Finally finding Gabriel, I handed him the coffee and told him he had five minutes to get up and Jacob was impossible to wake up. His friend Tom finally got him up but just on the border of missing breakfast.  We then piled into the boat with Luis, Susie, Rucky, and the three boys.  We were off to the Pygmie tour which was one hour away from our lodgings. The wind was bitter cold and as usual the three boys had no jackets.  Gabriel informed us that they were working on their cold resistance and then began telling us unbelievable tales of the most freezing moments in his life. We laughed the entire time forgetting about how cold we were all feeling and put us in a cheerful mood to meet the tribe.  The little group of about thirty individuals sang and danced for us but since no one could really talk to them, we took the usual tourist photos and then our guide tried to herd us back to the boat. A place I did not want to go so quickly!  So I asked,” but aren’t we suppose to see their school and where they live?” He answered,” yes but it is going to rain.” I looked up and said “But I am from Hamburg and it doesn’t look that bad. How far is it?”  “Oh far 2 km.” At that point Susie jumped in and said” Well I am from London and can handle the rain and 2 km is not far. Yes but it maybe three km and then we have to do 6km in total. Then I said yes but the boat man could move to another place closer and then it is not a problem.

 In the end we made the journey straight up the hill. I was of course last but only because I was wearing the wrong shoes and had a heavy load compare to the others.  The children sang in groups from each class. We were then asked to sing something back to the group and we were completely pathetic. We could only think of “We wish you a Merry Christmas”. I then tried to give a small speech on how wonderful they are doing with the English language skills and that they live in a beautiful place.

 Tom attempted to win them over with his knowledge of football which basically hit the ground with a thud.  Their blank faces told us that they had no idea what we were saying so we all gave a small financial donation and bid them farewell.  That night the three boys upgraded leaving Georgia, a 21 year old, and the two older Swedish ladies to survive yet another night in their tents.

Next morning we started very early to start driving in a mini bus to the Bwindi National Park, where the Gorillas were protected living. We were separated into three groups, each group having eight people. We were given instructions on how to deal with the gorillas which included ways of being kicked out of the group and being fine for misconduct or not being able to complete the track. He said with a smile,” we send you home where you can do two years of sport training and you can come back for half price.” Our group started with a relatively easy trail, while our guide was contacting the tracker by radio. The trackers which many of them are pygmies, tracks the Gorillas, starting from the last place they have been seen the day before. We had a relatively easy path to follow for about 40 minutes and then all of a sudden we had to leave our nice path and had to enter into the jungle. The tracker and guide both pulled out the machete and began to hack away at the foliage. Soon we were at the bottom of a swamp making our way through crisscrossed branches and muddy holes trying to get closer to the family of Gorillas.

Out of the sudden we saw the first female gorilla, sitting in a tree chewing sticks. What a nice creature, very big, very majestic, very similar to us!!!

Later we made our path a little bit further into the jungle and we saw an even bigger gorilla, sitting on the ground: the mighty Silverback, the dominant male. His back had silver fear and  his weight around 250kg. What a gracious animal! Only about 400 mountain gorillas are left in Kongo, Ruanda and Uganda. At least the population in Uganda is slowly growing.

Following our tracker deeper in the bush we saw more gorillas of the herd. One was sitting in a tree and eating delicious bark of a kind of palm tree. It was so much fun watching those gorillas, even if the stay is only limited to one hour. So overall we walked about 1,5 to 2 hours and returned to our camp. Despite the financial burden (Gorilla permit costs $500) and the remoteness of the National Park we enjoyed it very much! A magnificent moment in life!

The next day we drove early (of course) to the Queen Elizabeth National Park, where we stayed at the nice Hippo Lodge. Johannes organized a boat for us, so most of us went on a boat with a huge ice box full of beer and pop. We had to enter the park ($35 entrance fee for 24 hours) and rented the boat inside the park ($250). As I was collecting the money, I had the pleasure to deal with the ranger women. They really checked every single note and refused old one, slightly damaged one… in other words: they wanted perfect bills. So I had to exchange several notes and then the fun started. The boat cruised to the other side of the channel and immediately we could see hippos, buffalos and a herd of elephants!

Also we saw several fish eagles, a lot of birds and very cute hippo babies, always close to their mom. Enjoying the sunset and the beer we really had a good evening!

Next morning we had an early game drive in the park, which was quite nice. Some people complaint later that they did not see so many animals. Well, every park is different and cannot compare this park with Chobe, Masai Mara, Etosha or Serengetti. Nevertheless it has a lot to offer: we saw Elephants, Hippos, Gazelles and even some Lions. There are no cheetahs, zebras or giraffes. So overall at least our group (Suzy, Rucky and us) were happy watching the animals and the great view from the top of the car!

Next morning we left early our long trip back to Kampala, where we arrived late afternoon. We organized a pick up for us and the boys, so we had not to go through crazy Kampala. So we said Good-Bye to the group, which was going further to Nairobi. I am sure that we stay in contact with some of them. Overall it was a cheap tour (1 week = 650$) and a great opportunity to see the gorillas. For sure we are not group people and we cannot imagine staying longer in such a group, because you really depend on the timetable and very much on the group. If you are lucky, you have a good spirit, if not, you might be really in trouble. Particular if the group consists of a group itself (let’s say 10 Germans), you will find not so much fun, like a mixed group of several nationalities.