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14 January 1999

The Kingsmill's Trans-Africa Overland Trip, Part 9: Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya

Geoff Kingsmill
2006-04-25 21:12:17

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of the Moon" Hotel at Fort Portal overlooking the Rwenzori Mountains.

Next morning we headed for the Murchison Falls National Park. There were tea plantations everywhere. It was an interesting road from Hoima to Masindi as we passed through little villages from which we bought eggs, pineapples, bananas, tomatoes, cabbage, rice and potato. We arrived at Murchison Falls just as the sun was setting and made bookings for a boat ride along the Albert Nile to view the falls, and turned in for the night. During the night we heard hippos grazing through our campsite.

The Albert Nile is a graceful river, wide and fast flowing, with reeds on either banks. It supports an abundance of wildlife such as hippos, crocodiles, elephant, buffalo, storks and fish eagle. The Murchison Falls have been described as the most spectacular thing to happen to the Nile in its 6700 km journey.

After lunch we drove to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. We camped at the Red Chili hideaway, run by an English couple who have just finished their contract with the British High Commission in Kampala and didn't want to return to London. We were their sixth client having only been open two weeks. It is a nice campground with beautiful green lawns, good views, good water and secure. We stayed two nights in Kampala as we had the roofrack welded and the transfer case seal replaced at the Toyota dealer in town.

Next we headed for Jinja - the source of the Nile. Jinja once had a very large Chinese community but most left or were killed during the war. We ate at a Chinese Restaurant - one of the few times we have eaten out. The meal was very good. We camped at Bujagali Falls just out of town. It was a lovely campsite and we were lulled to sleep by the soft thunder of the falls. Unfortunately these falls and the campsite are soon to be flooded as part of a large hydro-electric project.

The following day we headed for Kisumu in Kenya. The border crossing was very easy, as usual, and took about one hour. We had to pay for a Kenyan VISA which cost US$150 for the three of us. Fortunately this is only the second VISA we have needed for our journey so far.

In Kisumu we met up with Mal and Wendy who had rented a 4WD from Nairobi. Together we travelled through the Eldoret, Rift Valley, Nakuru through to the Masai Mara NP. Unbeknown to us Mal and Wendy had also met up with Gertjan and Rita and they had arranged to meet together for a game drive through the Masai Mara NP. We really enjoyed the NP and we saw lots of lions, elephants, giraffe, buffalo, hippo and crocodile. We had an amusing time watching two male lions resting in the shade of a tree. One of them stood up and started dry wretching. He eventually vomited his meal (furballs?) and lay back to rest. It was the funniest sight. We hope the lion will be alright. We had a lovely day together and later camped at a Masai campsite just outside the NP.

After saying goodbye to Gertjan and Rita again we drove to Chanai Falls at Limuru just outside Nairobi. This area is very pretty, hilly and green with tea plantations, pine forests and horse stables and is reminiscent of the English countryside. It is here that we said goodbye to Mal and Wendy. Tomorrow they fly to London. Dave Young is still with us for another week. In the meantime we intend to travel through the Kenyan highlands around Mount Kenya.

We are still having a great time in Africa. We have been keeping amazingly well. We hope to send another newsletter from Nairobi in ten days time.

Hope you are all well and had a good New Year.

Cheers,

Geoff, Kienny and Su-lin Kingsmill