To the Rwandan Border

“It‘s the Circle of Life” runs through our heads as we watch the elephant approach the lodge with measured steps. If we weren’t on the lookout we’d miss it, so quiet are these enormous animals. This wrinkly-butted male must have been by before because he purposefully makes his way around to the back where the staff dump the food scraps.

An elephant using its trunk to gorge on pineapple peel, some skittish warthogs running across the path and a majestic waterbuck trying to woo a female (unsuccessfully) are just a few of the highlights on our day off at the game lodge.

The next day we start the lion hunt by following their footprints over 70km down a dirt road. In this region of the national park they are known for hanging out in the trees. We risk a stiff neck and falling over on the uneven road to spot them but not even our best karaoke version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (by The Tokens) makes them appear. Thankfully some hippos like what they hear and poke their heads out of the pond weed.

These days we’re finally getting better at haggling. By now we know that the price of a room or camping is always up for negotiation and we try out different strategies (like pointing out all the flaws of the room or threatening to go elsewhere) to get the best price. Though we usually have some success doing this, even getting free cokes in one place, it always puts us in a bit of a bad mood. We wish there was only the one price.

In the southwest corner of Uganda we try to toughen up a bit and tackle the slippery dirt roads in the rain to get to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We have a couple of people in 4x4s on their gorilla safari cheering us on as we climb and climb into the misty woods. It’s a tough day with 1400m of elevation gain over 40km of mountainous terrain. Ben helpfully points out the snail-like pace of 4km per hour. Lina snaps back at him for that. Five minutes later we both apologize and over is one of the few arguments we’ve had on this trip so far.

Despite the slow pace we wiggle our way to the Rwandan border eventually and it‘s reflection time once more. We are conscious of the peak-end-rule as our latest experiences with people have not been great. We‘re not sure why the kids in the southwest seem to ask for money more aggressively and more often than elsewhere. They easily keep up with us when we’re sweating uphill and harangue us no matter how nice or stern we reply that we will not give them anything.

Lina also sheds her first tears of the trip here. They are tears of shock, not of sadness, when a woman who she thought would high-five her actually grips her hand for a moment as she cycles downhill. Though unharmed, the unexpected “funny joke” that cracks up the locals, leaves her shaking a bit and will probably stop her from reaching out again in the future. The feeling of constantly being on guard is racking our nerves sometimes.

But Uganda seems to be a land of extremes with regards to the interactions with people. There are these negative encounters where we definitely have to press an emotional reset button to not preemptively snap at the next kid that crosses our path. But there are also people who come up to us, welcome us in the friendliest way and who point out how great it is to have white people traveling the country. One drunk guy goes out of his way to try an organize a prostitute for Ben. Many older women just smile at us, wordlessly wishing us well. So, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs.

The highlight of our time here has definitely been the roadside snack: The Rolex – an omelet wrapped in a chapati with tomato and sometimes cabbage. This nutritious and tasty meal is served by a guy in most villages for 50 cents. Rolexes have been instrumental in avoiding some pricey but lame dinners at the national park campsites and we are eternally grateful for that.

Contenders for the best cultural experience are:

1. The children at the school next to the guesthouse waking us up at 5:30 in the morning with a half-hour-long chant accompanied by heavy drumming. We’re almost certain that they did this just for our benefit.

2. The Good Friday parade led by a truck that blared the sermon over broken speakers. Ugandans definitely never let poor sound quality stand in the way of volume.

After two months, two countries, 2,500km and 25,000m of elevation gain we still don’t really feel like the beasts we should be by now. The increased fitness only shows itself in the amount of distance or elevation gain we can do day after day without needing a rest. The hills feel as difficult and sweaty as ever. But they have steeled our legs for Rwanda – land of a thousand hills. We dust off our French, switch to the right side of the road and turn the clocks back to European time. Rwanda, here we come.