Gorillas in the mist

We've made it back from the Gorilla tracking, it was one of the most amazing experiences i have ever had. I'll tell you more about them later... I thought it might interest you to get a view of the day to day life of the Ugandan town\city. The first thing that struck me was the weaponary everywhere, you walk down the street and the cops have shotguns, you walk into a bank and the guard has kalashnikovs. Even the supermarkets have armed guards at the door, and you have to leave your bags outside. Poverty is pretty obvious as well, its heartbreaking walking past a 1 or 2 year old toddler sitting in the kerb begging. The streets are hot, dusty and the fumes make quite a potent cocktail. Yet, the people seem pretty jolly, most smile and joke. Outside of the city, are small dusty, red mud tracked towns. Cattle (with great horns) roam free with small goats. The buildings are collapsing, a mixture of brick work and traditional mud huts. Every town has a Hotel come butchery! The womens dresses are splendid floral patterns, and with large shoulder pads, not quite shoulder pads though, more of a tower, almost to the ear. No prams, the babies are carried on the womens backs via a shawl tied around the back, sitting just above the buttocks. Where ever you walk, people shout mazungu to you. A typical conversation would consist of: "Mazungu, how are you" "Er, fine thank you" "Mazungu" "fine, how are you" "Mazungu, How ARE you..." (titters, laughs with friends) Occasionally, they will present you with the V sign (for victory, not the other one), which we eventually found out, means they support Col. Besigye. More about that later. Another odd sight, are the cars whizzing by with fish hanging on the mirrors or tied to the grill, not a hardcore christian as one might think, but a rather ingenious way of getting your fish home from the market without it going off. You learn things all the time. After we wrote last, Jo and I moved out of the backpackers hostel, into the Atlanta hotel in preparation for our trip to the gorillas in Bwindi national park, south west Uganda. Jo had her first near death experience, in the shower come long drop. She had successfully avoided plunging down the long drop during her shower, but, hearing a loud yelp, I found out she did manage to get rather a hefty electric shock off the taps. The next morning, we caught a bus to Butagota, just north of the park. The journey went through magnificent cultivated hillsides, steeped in banana plants. From here we managed to connect with one of the village people, and caught a lift the last 17km to the park entrance. Our lodgings were at the foot of the gorilla mountain range, a really impressive sight. The next morning we got up nice and early and met out guide, Moses. A jovial chap, who has been on TV in the UK, showing Jonny Rotten our gorillas. After a briefing, we started our trek. At the start we walked through the Batwa community village, aka pygmies, aka the forest people. Then the real trekking started. We went almost vertically up the hillside, scrambling at points. Lucky for us a spaniard with us was even more unfit than we were. So lots of breathers on the way. Out trackers had informed us the gorillas had moved over the hillside the day before. footnote: the trackers were armed again. We stopped for a quick break, chewing sugar cane. But the trek was worth the exhaustion, when we finally found the gorillas, hidden deep in the bushes, it was an experience hard to describe. They are just so peaceful, and powerful all at once. We watched the silver back and the young ones for about an hour, from a very close range, around 1 to 2 metres at times. To be honest, they spent most of the time, chewing leaves, and letting off some rather impressive pops. We will try an get some photos on the site soon. The journey down the hill was eventful, with Joey throwing her self down the hillside, while the rest of us grownups took easy controlled steps. In the end the guide had to hold Joeys hand to keep her upright. Luckily when back in camp we met a nice German couple, Barbara and Marcus, who were heading back to Kampala where they work. So we managed to cadge a lift with them, as well as an american doctor, Michelle, we met in the park. We all stopped off in Mbarara, for the night, and had a nice meal. Michelle stayed there, as she was going to work in a hospice. The rest of us continued our journey back to Kampala, stopping off at the equator and picking up a nice water melon on the way. So here we are back in Kampala. considering the next part of our jounrney. For those who have heard about whats happening in Kampala with regard to Col. Besigye, don't worry, we are not in the middle of it. For those who haven't heard, please ignore this paragraph. Madeleine - That stick of insect bite soother, that you got me for xmas, is magic. Almost instant relief, and lasts for hours. Its the organic lavender roll on stuff. If you happen to know where you got it, could you pick us up another tube for central america. Thanks. We plan to go the Ssese islands next and then a direct bus to Dar es Salaam. Hope you are all well, and we'll probably next write from Zanzibar. Lots of love.