Bonus: Half Way/Leg 3 Video

Download Google Drive Version for better quality?

Special thanks to the Cloud Cult for hopefully not taking legal action to have us remove the video featuring their amazing song from the album Light Chasers.

End of Leg One: Please Insert Leg 2 Side A to Continue

Craig says the only thing that could have improved Casablanca is "more Star Wipes!"

This concludes the first leg of our trip. At this point it's starting to sink in that this is more than just a long vacation. We've been away longer than Erin ever has, and longer than either of us would be able to from our normal jobs. With September beginning, Erin knows her friends are back at school, and it is frequently in her thoughts. Our supplies of 'western comfort' items are nearly extinct, and we are starting what will arguably be the most difficult leg of our trip. We feel well-researched, prepared, and extremely excited about the section ahead: Madagascar, Reunion, and Mauritus, then Nepal, India, and Borneo to close out 2013.

Africa set us into a good routine. We know how long we can go back-to-back-to-back in new places before feeling drained, we know exactly how much (or how very little!) we need to unpack depending on how many nights we're staying in a place, and we're in tune with each others' desires to stay longer or shorter in towns without really needing to say anything. We've begun to measure time passing not through a calendar, but by how many malaria pills we have left in our small stash or how many pairs of clean underwear are in our bags. We always know the phase of the moon, but the date or day of the week takes some work to remember.

We've appreciated everyone's positive feedback on the blog. It's going to be a great keepsake for us, so we're happy others are enjoying it as well. We'll do our best to keep it up, but entries might come more sporatically now. And it seems fitting that we spend less time on electronics as we delve into the remote untouched areas of beautiful Madagascar.

Bonus Post! (in case almost every day wasn't enough)

Lasting Impressions of Uganda:

* Less so than in Kenya, the women have a way of 'hmm'ing 'yes' without saying anything
* The countryside is reminiscent of southern Okanagan with terraced hillsides and tea plantations instead of vineyards
* The people are quieter and friendlier on a whole than what we experienced in Kenya
* We were again impressed with the ability people have to carry large loads on their heads and shoulders, even while riding a bicycle
* We saw the whole spectrum of Settlers here...farming, ranching, mining in a quarry...we even saw people making bricks from wet Earth! (on that note, we were quite amused by the idea of pitting Survivor contestants against men and women from the small villages we saw)
* They sure like their nightly dance parties, or at least the volume of music would indicate as such.
* The cool story of our gorilla troop (now updated in the post about gorillas).

Days 29 - 31: Lake Bunyonyi

The geodome was one the most interesting room we'd ever been in. It was spherical (except the floor, as the name would imply), with the ceiling/walls covering about 75% of the sphere. Then it opened up to nature. The billowy mosquito net and thatched walls left a Bali-type feel to the whole thing. When lying in bed you could see the whole room leading right out to the deck, with views of the sky and lake beyond. There was a small triangle cut out of the thatching just above the bed that was covered with clear plastic so you could see more stars and the moon at night.

Although the room was paradisical and the bed more than comfortable compared to what we've been sleeping on, it was difficult to sleep merely for the fact that it was too exciting to be able to see outside the whole night. We kept waking up and peeking above the sheets to see what stars were out, what the hills looked like in the changing light, and if there were animals rummaging through our bags.

Picture taken from the second smaller bed.

The next day we had to move to a cabin due to booking and monetary concerns. Our cabin looked like it could fit a family quite cosily in winter. With wooden walls and a ceiling made of bound reeds, it was airy with all the windows open, yet nice and dark for sleeping with them shut. We had a large deck, tables and chairs and a less impressive view of the lake. Our ensuite was a ways behind the cabin, but this is usually best when it's a composting toilet. Like our geodome room, the shower boasted views of the lake and the water was heated by solar power.

Having said goodbye to our friends Adrian and Selma the day before on the mainland, we were surprised to see them arrive outside our doorstep heading to set up their tent. We were pleased for more of their company, and enjoyed playing games with them in the afternoon.

Craig is trying to not look nervous that the flexible tripod
through which the camera was precariously attached to a round
wooden beam would slip and fall

Other than that, our day was filled with attempts at internet and eating delicious food and drinking bad wine overlooking the lake.

Our next few days at the lake were relatively uneventful. We tried to book flights and accommodation through the solar-powered internet, much to the dismay of other guests and staff. We played games and ate lazily. The best part was meeting back up coincidently with many people from earlier in our travels. Most of the people we met in Bwindi ended up there (Adrian & Selma, of course, another German couple we met, a French/Bulgarian couple who had lived in Peru for many years and now live in Rwanda). We also saw a British family who had been at our hostel in Nairobi, and Nicholas, a French guy who we met in Lalibela, Ethiopia! It was fun to connect with so many other travellers, most people relaxing for a couple of days before heading back home and back to work or studies.

We ended up leaving a day early as we received (Erin asked for) the opportunity to hitch a ride to Kigali with the French/Bulgarian couple in their "tank" of an SUV. It made our travel day much easier when we would've had to go canoe/motorboat-taxi-bus to the border-walk across the border-find a bus on the other side-change buses in Kigali. We still got a workout from walking across the border with all of our bags (through the longest no-man's land we've ever seen), uphill, but we made it, and were excited about the new experiences to come in another country!

Day Twenty-Eight: Working Hard to Relax

Our serene time in Bwindi was coming to a close, so we tried to make the most of it by opening up our tent door flaps while packing so we could take in the view (also hoping to see gorillas or more monkeys). We were rewarded for our optimism when three large, beautiful Blue Turracos flew across the clearing and perched near our room.

After packing, it was back to Kabale to get supplies before heading to Lake Bunyonyi for a relaxing stay on an island. Arriving at the docks we had our choice between paying $8 for a 15 minute motorboat ride or a free hour long dugout canoe ride with all our bags. We chose the latter much to the chagrin of the many muscles our bodies had happily forgotten were ever needed. The trek was laced with the fear of losing all of our belongings as the dugout rocked back and forth with every stroke. But we survived the crossing without losing any of our bags to the "unfathomable depths" of the lake (we were told that the lake is more than a mile deep but no one knows for sure just how deep it is. Google says it is rumoured to range between 44m and 900m).

We were once again rewarded for our efforts when we found our next amazing room, perched on the hillside. Our open-air 'geodome' gave us amazing views from the porch, our bed, and the shower. We had to be careful of the birds though (so far we have lazily noticed around 15 species of birds around our room) as one made off with the last few chips that we were eating. As the sun set the winds died down and we were able to sit by candlelight looking out over the lake.

Day Twenty-Seven: Most Expensive Day of the Trip

We awoke early to have breakfast and then it was off in search of Mountain Gorillas. We learned that we would be tracking the Mubare group, the first group to be habituated. The group had been going through a rough patch recently with the old silverback passing away in June. As he grew weaker the group lost many members and by the time of his passing was down to only three, his son and two females. Clearly his son, the new silverback, had some work to do. In the few months that have passed the new silverback raided other groups and grew his family by showing other gorillas that he was way cooler and tougher than their silverback. Today the group is nine members strong with at least one of the females pregnant.

We also learned that we were not to approach the gorillas any closer than 7 meters, a rule that must be followed at all times...

Our hike began at a local primary school, working its way up a ridge through the land that had been purchased for the Batwa people after they were forced to leave the national park. The path was good, the climb steep and the sun was very hot. We had prepared ourselves for a hike through pouring rain and mud, and thus found ourselves sweltering. After an hour we crested the hill and got a good view of the park boundary. Lush tropical forest on one side and a burnt field with grazing cattle on the other.

Shortly after we were heading down into a valley, we heard the crackle of our guides walkie-talkie, "The gorillas are close." At this point we left our well maintained hiking trail and descended into the the darkness of the dense forest. trampling over and through bushes and thorns, sliding down muddy slopes, and hanging onto vines in the faint hope that they would somehow help us stay on our feet.

A worm thicker than my thumb and longer than my foot.

In a small clearing we found the trackers, and we could see the trees and bushes moving, and hear the cracking of stems as gorillas fed mere meters from us hidden in the undergrowth. Here it was time to leave our bags and hiking poles, and have our last sip of water before approaching the gorrilas.

We hiked another 5 meters and rounded a corner to find the silverback sitting infront of us, much closer than the 7 meters we were told before. Our first gorilla sighting was a lot closer than expected, as you can see from Erin's face.

We were told after the fact that the silverback in our group grew up in a habituated group, and thus provided a unique opportunity for us to be much closer than we would have been tracking the other groups (this was confirmed by those in our group who had been tracking the day before).

The next amazing hour was spent following the family through the woods, sitting and watching them, often just a step or two away from us (it was the trackers and our guide that encouraged us to get closer). The highlights were:
* our many close encounters with the silverback, including him standing proudly in front of his troop.
* a young female charging Erin (who wisely shrank into the defensive "ball" position on the ground with Craig draped over her) it stopped just 5 feet in front of her, brushing against us as she passed. (Video is shaky and underwhelming)

* Seeing the whole family together, and then having the silverback charge through them.

* Sitting in a small clearing as the family ate around us.
* Our guide saying he really liked the name Craig and if he has a son next will name him Craig. (He named his daughter Sasha after a woman he lead to the gorillas)

After 70 minutes our 1 hour was up and it was time to go. The hike out was easier and we exited the park walking down a ridge through banana plantations and small hamlets. It was interesting to see people working the steep terraces and making mud bricks, but the poverty was very pronounced, and at times heartbreaking.

Our day once again ended watching the moon rise over the jungle from our perfectly situated porch.

Day Twenty-Six: Preparing for Gorillas

Hummingbirds are lazy here.
They are in fact not even hummingbirds.

It was so relaxing to wake up knowing that we didn't need to go anywhere or arrange anything. Add that to the amazing views and the sounds of the jungle and we were set for the day. We had a slow-paced breakfast in the open-air restaurant overlooking the valley. Our room overlooked a clearing in the forest where gorillas were said to walk through, we thus spent the rest of the day lazying on our porch with our eyes peeled for wildlife. Sometime after mid-day we spotted a monkey in the tree not far from our hut. We watched it climb about and slowly move closer to us. We were able to capture a great look at it's face to discover that it's a blue monkey. We also saw a Black-fronted Duiker, a small animal similar to an antelope and a traditional favourite of the local Batwa people (pygmies).

By then our European friends were back from their hike. We invited them down to watch with us and together we spotted l'Hoest monkeys and a squirrel-weaselly thing that did not appear in the African Mammals book our friends had.

Day Twenty-Five: Forest Music

Eager to move to another hotel, we set out to arrange our transport for the following day to get to Bwindi National Park (to see gorillas), so that we could relax the rest of the day. Our plan was to go to the nearby Lake Bunyonyi and hope for a quieter stay, but we ran into a lovely couple from the Netherlands and Germany (Selma & Adrian) who were trying to get to the National Park that morning and decided to hitch our wagon to theirs.


Our quest for a driver took us to the taxi park where we were fed on like vultures eating a kill. Drivers hounded us for business, and we did our best to negotiate for cheaper rates. We knew the road would be bad, and we would need a capable vehicle and driver (the book advises that you take a 4WD), so the offer to get in the back of a pick-up truck with twelve other people was tempting. As we watched our new friends try to arrange transport for the day, and we tried to secure it for the next day, it became apparent that the best plan was to spilt a special-hire taxi together. The thought of getting as far away from the sounds of the city and into nature was so tempting, that we decided to go right away. We ran back to grab our bags and after tipping the taxi driver to help get Adrian and Selma's bags untied from the pick-up, we were on our way. Or so we thought. We had a few stops that gave us a view into our driver's life: first was a stop to pick up his phone at the phone repair store, next it was to a gas station to pick up his jacket from a passerby on the side of the road, and the last stop was at his house so he could tell his wife he'd be gone for the day.


The drive was beautiful once we entered Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and we took turns sitting in the front seat so we could have a view (the windows in the back were all tinted adn did not open). Once the rain set in, driving became precarious. We stopped numerous times for him to check under the hood, he explained that there was water in the engine on the wires and it was problematic.

The problem it seemed was on uphills, we could hear that the car was having trouble shifting gears. It wasn't much longer until we found ourselves stopped on a steep hill in the rain and mud, and he told us that we would have to push. It was tough work running up the hill pushing the car, getting sprayed with mud, but when we arrived and were shown our accommodation. All the hard work was worth it.

After a three course dinner we sat around a fire and talked with other travellers over a few drinks before going to bed in complete darkness and with only the chorus of night birds and insects.

Day Twenty-Four: The Party Continues in Kabale

After a couple of hours of sleep, we were glad to say goodbye to Mbarara and the Westlands Hotel. Even though we were told to swing by the post office at 11:45 to see if the 12:30 bus had free seats, we went over at 10am (we're learning!). We were guaranteed two spots, so we ate an early lunch (still no internet to be found), and went back to wait. At 12, other "mzungus" came to the office and were told there were no seats left. Extra 'travel bucks' for us for knowing to go two hours earlier than they said!

Actually from near Bwindi, but a typical sight on Ugandan Roads

With Craig in the first row, and Erin in the last, we enjoyed four and a half hours apart talking with busmates. Erin met a guy named Scott from Vancouver who is living in Uganda for three months with work related to his PhD, and Craig sat with a girl from Kabale where we were headed, so she kindly showed us to our hostel at the end of our ride.

Our social interactions picked up from there as we had a delicious meal at the House of Eridisa with a couple from Denmark who were travelling for five months, and a girl from Toronto travelling for four. We may cross paths with the Danish couple again as they're heading to Tanzania, Vietnam, then we'll be in Nepal at the same time!

We headed to bed around 9, hoping for a better sleep but spent a second night pretending while really listening to more techno, rap, hip-hop and pop songs. They considerately turned off their tunes at 3:50 am but by then, sleep was a lost cause. (We learned this is common place in Uganda and have since started asking about clubs)

Day Twenty-Three: Partying in Our Sleep

We left our spacious, ant-filled room this morning to catch a matatu (shared taxi) into Kampala. After many frequent stops to pick up and let people off, we arrived at the bus station. A kind woman in the matatu directed us to where we needed to go so we could shake off the throng of men trying to get our bags and help us on the bus (ten steps away) for a tip. We had to separate to find seats and were quickly on our way.

After a half-hour navigating Kampala's famous traffic, we stopped for gas and a "short-call," or quick stop for services. Erin experienced a new "bathroom" where women squatted together in an open-aired cubicle. The floor sloped downward into a trough, and was, well, wet. She was thankful to not be in flip-flops!

The rest of the five-hour bus ride was squishy and uneventful. We found a run-down hotel close to the bus and enjoyed a late lunch at a nearby (nicer) hotel. English was harder to come by and wi-fi near impossible to find.

Exhausted, we hit the sheets at 8pm, hoping that the severe thunderstorm would quickly quell the enthusiasm of the locals who were blaring loud music. By 3:30 am, it was clear they were not going to stop partying, and the rain had long since left. We finished our game of Settlers Cities and Knights on the tablet and finally were able to sleep at 5 when the "club" shut down.

Day Twenty-Two: Getting Sloshed

This morning we headed out to town to find snacks and a bank. We felt so pleased with ourselves with the amount of walking we've done and the money we've saved using public transit. Ugandans so far seem very friendly and polite and we haven't been hassled to take rides or buy things.

Having accomplished our tasks for the day, we were looking forward to an afternoon at Lake Victoria's beach. A wrench was thrown in our plans when we got caught in a torrential downpour on our way back from town. We still managed to sink our toes into the sand for a brief moment and have dinner overlooking the lake after wringing out our clothes. Oddly enough, this meal was actually the closest we've had to traditonal Canadian "pub food." We had dry ribs - goat ribs. They were delicious!

While we ate we took in the sights and kept an eye on the huge scavenging, hideous maribu storks patrolling the beach like cranky old men, and spied on a group of local teenagers/20-somethings swimming in the water. We observed many love affairs, girls and guys posing seductively in the surf, and some interesting improvised (ill-fitting) bathing suits.

In the evening we sampled the only snacks that we were able to find. A Kenyan wine that was made from strawberries (plus artificial fruit flavouring and colour). We also found (and have since drank) a wine Uganda made from hibiscus and pineapple.Making us 3 for 3 with sampling local wine from the countries we've visited.

Day Twenty-One: End of 3rd Week and 3rd Year

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day on the equator in Entebbe. We had spotted multiple gecko friends in our palatial room the night before, grateful for the help in the fight against our insect foes, we checked up on them in the morning only to find ants devouring one of them. Thankfully the housekeeper was just as surprised and disgusted as we were so we didn't deduct any Travel Bucks™ from ourselves. Travel Bucks being our arbitrary currency that we award ourselves for traveling smartly or being adventurous/frugal.

The majority of the day was spent trying to find the gorilla office and arranging the details for our journey to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park (best named NP in the world). In the evening we enjoyed one of our nicest dinners yet...a romantic techno-Italian meal in a Zen garden restaurant to celebrate our three year anniversary. (Lamp chops in a blueberry mint sauce with mashed potatoes and freshly caught tilapia in an olive pesto from Lake Victoria-Yum!)

We capped off the night with a candlelit game of cribbage on our front porch, which conveniently kept us unaware of the power outages.