The trip to Western Uganda
Travel map
We will pass through following districts:
- Mpigi
- Masala
- Lwengo
- Mbarara
- Ntungamo
- Kabale
- Kisoro
Our departure from Kampala via the Northern bypass will be at 8:00 AM. Lock your doors and hide your phones as you approach Kalerwe junction. 38 minutes into the journey we start asking whether there are alternative ways to get to Western Uganda and discover that there are flights to Kisoro, Murchison falls, Kabale.
12pm arrival at the Equator, I would recommend that you save your loo breaks till you get to Mbarara. I will say however that the tourist stops are safe as they have a policeman manning each stop.
Arrival for lunch at Igongo cultural center, I must say it’s the best Ugandan meal I have had in a while. Photo included for your reference. We depart from Mbarara wondering if we will reach our next destination before dark. Bob (our driver) confidently states that we will and is willing to bet $2,000 that we will as we will only take 4 hours to get there.
5.57pm time of arrival at Kisoro after 10 hours of driving, we are happy to be at the destination before we are reminded that it’s another 30 mins to the actual lodge we are staying at - Volcanoes Mgahinga, being 2,000 metres above sea level the location is noticeably colder than we have been used to.
We have dinner which was a Ugandan delicacy called Chicken Luwombo which is chicken slow cooked in banana leaves photo included. After dinner a hot shower is a very welcome activity before my head hits the pillow.
Day 2: 25.05.19
The view was breathtaking with lakes scattered around such as Lake Mulehe, Lake Mutanda which has activities such as canoeing, fishing it also houses a beautiful lodge Mutanda Lake resort and Chameleon hill lodge note the road to these places is rather hilly and rough.
We then drove to the Rushaga tracking point for the gorillas. To track gorillas one must wake up early to depart at 6am, arrive at 7.30, briefing at 8.00 and then tracking begins. It is a once in a lifetime experience this gorilla tracking thing, you are assigned to a gorilla family and you are permitted to follow them for an hour.
We then drove to the controversial Rwandan border Cyanika which was empty when we arrived. Yes you can drive to Rwanda to see the gorillas and return.
Back to volcanoes for the much needed rest, at Volcanoes you get a 30 minute complementary massage on one body part! I thorough enjoyed it, I must say.
Dinner and then to bed in preparation for the 7 hour drive the next day to Queen Elizabeth National park.
