Uganda- The land of red dirt and big smiles

In early May I departed for my Christmas/Birthday trip to Uganda to see Mountain Gorillas in the wild.  Jason wasn't super interested and didn't really have the vacation time so I went with a fellow expat wife; Andie.  It has taken forever to post about it since I am still reviewing photos- I took over 1,400 pictures!

Andie and I spent a week in Uganda - we flew to Nairobi, Kenya to catch a flight to Entebbe, Uganda (which is the main airport in the country).  Our flight to Nairobi was delayed 12 hours luckily we knew in advance but it made for a long day - arriving in Uganda at 8am.  We were super impressed with the visa process (started online and finished in 15 minutes at the airport) and the calmness of the airport.  Our guide meet us and took us to a hotel to have breakfast and change before our transfer to Kibale National Forest.  The drive that first day was long but very interesting.  The roads were not great- red dirt in many area and it rained a bit.  The country is very clean and amazingly green.  Although Uganda relies heavily on tourism it is obvious foreigners are still somewhat unusual.  The people are very kind and interested in sharing their culture and kids waved from the side of the road- kind of what you might imagine.  We arrived at the first lodge - Crater Lake Lodge- which indeed sits on the edge of a crater lake and we were the only guests.  The view from our deck was amazing but we did have more creepy crawlies in our room then we would have liked- luckily all the places moving forward had no bugs to speak of.

Roadside fruit stands

View from the room at Crater Lake Lodge

On day two we tracked Chimpanzees in the Kibale Forest!  We had been told in advance this was the opposite end of the spectrum of gorillas - since chimps are loud, move around a lot, sleep in the trees and can be less of a hike to find.  And all of that was true.  We meet with a large group and then were divided into smaller groups to hike with a ranger.  Our group of 4 people was tracking Totti, who is the "president" of the troop.  There are roughly 120 chimps in the troop and they stay in a general section of the forest - there are many other troops in the forest in their own territories.  The hike started easy, but hot and humid, and after a quick hike we found a few chimps "copulating" so we gave them some privacy.  After that we followed the very loud calls the chimps make and found Totti - he was basically posing for photos which was pretty cute.  These chimps (and the gorillas we track later) are habituated which means they are used to people.  The process takes over 2 years to complete with researchers and others hiking to be with them each day.  They are never fed or touched but just get used to the presence of humans.  After Totti allowed some nice viewing he was off, basically trotting through the forest on all fours, so our group followed suit.  At this point we are basically running through the forest on a chimp trail (which is just through the brush) trying to keep up to him.  We followed him through thick brush for about 25 minutes until he decided it was time for a snack of figs.  We watched him climb the tree and feast for another 30 minutes or so until our time was up (you are allowed an hour of viewing).  The tracking was described well by our fellow tourist - it was like special forces training in the rain forest.  We later learned that seeing chimps during the trekking is pretty lucky,  mostly because they move so fast people usually can't keep up - we were in a good group that was fit enough to really track!  But boy were we tired!

Totti 

Following Totti's "trail"

Totti in the fig tree

We returned to the lodge to shower and eat then headed to the second lodge Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park.  We crossed the Equator and may have taken the most desolate photos ever since there was NOBODY at the equator crossing site.  The lodge we stayed at is on the Kanaza Channel which connects Lake George and Lake Edward (which are both connected to the Nile River).  The lodge is next to a Uganda Wildlife Authority Ranger station - this ranger station was the site of a leopard kill the week before.  A ranger's child was taken from the yard and killed- it made international news.  The lodge required us to have an escort after dark and our guide who was a former ranger actually knew the ranger :(  The rangers tracked the leopard and killed it (and confirmed it ate the child).  Sadly the leopard had 2 cubs who are just old enough to survive alone but they are worried they could be dangerous to humans now.

One of the many tea plantations in Uganda

Trucks loading bananas for market- we saw more bananas in a week in Uganda than I have seen in my entire life

View from the room at the Mwyena Lodge

Next day we safaried in Queen Elizabeth Park - thankfully both Andie and I have been to Tanzania and seen amazing safari because this park was a bit lacking on animals.  We did see some elephants, Cape Buffalo, hippos, Uganda Kob (antelope) and Spring Boks.  The park has a bit of a problem- they have allowed people to remain on the grounds (for historical reasons) and fish but this has turned into raising cattle which is not compatible with lions.  So last year the locals in the park poisoned a huge pride of lions for killing their cattle.  The wildlife authority doesn't seem to have a lot of options available to them to manage this tough position.  After lunch we took a river cruise on the channel and saw lots and lots of hippos and buffalo.  We also saw many crocodiles - interestingly the crocs were right next to many animals and lots of birds- the guide told us they prefer dead meat in this section and rarely kill anything.  We also saw the local fishing village where locals were bathing in the water next to hippos!

Hippos!

Mixed herd enjoy a dip in the water

Nile Crocodile

Hippos feeding

The next morning we were off again for Biwindi National Park - the home of the Mountain Gorillas in Uganda.  We safaried out of the park looking for the famous tree climbing lions in the Ishasha section of the park- to our guides dismay we didn't see any.  We did stop for a picnic lunch on the Ishasha River (which mean suffering) and enjoyed the grunting of hippos.  The river makes up the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda has the greatest number of refugees in any country in Africa- accepting refugees from both the DRC and South Sudan.

This big boy tried to rush our car but our amazing guide knew how to scare him- bang on the car!  He quickly tucked his ears and retreated

Next up Gorillas!

The Sahara

After arriving in Todgha Gorge in the dark we awoke to see the sights.  It is a narrow canyon carved out by the Todgha River - the canyon is 1300 feet in some places.  The place we stayed was deep in the gorge and didn't have visible water but had a underground spring that feeds the river further down.  We toured the local village with a guide who grew up there - each family in the village has a plot of land they cultivate - mostly alfalfa.  The whole area is irrigated with spring water using a gravity irrigation system.  We saw the old Medina that was abandoned years ago - it was built in traditional style with mud bricks but this style of construction doesn't hold up over time.  Morocco no longer allows new construction out of it.  

Our "Cave" hotel

Todgha Gorge

Aqueduct system

Entrance to abandoned Medina- notice the local lady working on her laundry

Abandoned Medina

We also saw nomads in this area - they live in caves (see example of that below) and herd sheep and goats.  We saw this group on the hillside so we got the big boy lens out to get some closer shots.  Pretty interesting to see people living like this in modern times.

Nomad and his herd

Up close of the nomad

Nomad cave

Now we are off to the Sahara - which is the largest "hot" desert in the world.  In the afternoon we arrived on the edge of the desert in Merzouga.  From there we rode camels about 90 minutes to our desert camp for the evening.  The dunes were very red and gorgeous against the deep blue sky.  The desert camp was not as secluded as I imagined but it was fun.  We were the only guests at our camp - so after watching the sunset we had a nice dinner and then sat out and star gazed for awhile - defiantly the most amazing stars I have ever seen.  Our tent had a proper bed, flush toilet and shower with hot water.  The next morning we watched the sun rise and got back on our camels for the return trip.

First view of the Sahara

Our tent

The camels were pretty funny - we named them Rocket and Ali Baba.  They are not very comfortable to ride but pretty stable which is nice when you are so high.  Our "camel man" who was raised in the Sahara told us all about them while he walked and lead them.  Camels are pack animals and can't be ridden if they don't know where they are going so somebody has to lead them.  They can find their way back "home" from up to 120 miles away - they tied the camel's foot to its body at night to prevent that.  Camels can carry up to 800lbs, can walk all day and only need water every few days. And they have yucky teeth that look like they could do some damage.  When I asked if I could pet it I was told yes but it might bite- great!  I did pet it and it didn't bite.

After a long ride back we stayed in Ouarzazate.  The next morning we visited Ait Benhaddou, a world heritage site, where many movies have been filmed including Gladiator and Game of Thrones.  The city which sits on the caravan route between the desert and Marrakech dates from the 1600s.  A few families still live in the city but it is mostly abandoned for tourism now.

I was obsessed with the storks in the mosque towers!  

Ait Benhaddou

View from top of Ait Benhaddou

That evening we stayed back in Marrakech, had a nice dinner at Latitude 31.  The next day we had the morning to explore and shop a bit more.  After a leisurely breakfast we headed to the Majorelle Jardin again but the line was silly so we instead headed to the modern section of town and saw a mall, grocery store and went to McDonald's!  With all our shopping done and our steps in for the day we headed to the airport for the return trip via Lisbon.

Grocery Store

Modern part of the city

The future - touch screen ordering with no human interaction needed

One last mint tea 

Into the Atlas Mountains

On day three we packed up and headed for the Atlas Mountains.  This range runs 1,600 miles east to west and separates the Mediterranean from the Sahara.  There are three ranges, the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas and the Dark Atlas.  This area is mostly inhabited by Berber families and holds some of the most remote villages in Northern Africa.  Berbers are the indigenous people of the area and have their own language, culture and religion though many are Muslim they keep some of the traditions of their ancestors.  The women sport facial tattoos and we saw lots of them in this part of the country.

Typical hillside image- it means "God, Country, King"  Later we saw one that said "Stay out of my almond orchard"

After a lengthy drive we ended up in Bin el Ouidane which sits on a lake formed by the dam that shares it's name.  The dam was built by the French in the late 40's and supplies much of the power to the country.  We had a great room with an amazing view of the lake but sadly it rained almost the whole time we were there.

The next day our plan was to hike a few hours to a local Berber house and have lunch.  Since it was raining we hooked up with another guide (and his 2 travelers) and toured the weekly souk (market) one town over.  The guide grew up in a village about 2 hours from there but went to boarding school in the town so he knew everyone.  In small towns the souk only happens once a week - this is where locals (including people from villages up to 2-3 hours away) get their fruits, vegetables, meat, and grains.  We toured the fruit and vegetable stalls set up in a muddy lot and saw the butchering of sheep and goats.  We were surprised that the butcher was so welcoming and was honestly excited for us to take photos of him working.  I am not a huge fan of seeing butchering but it was interesting since the animals had just been killed and were still steaming in the cold air. *Spoiler- scroll fast if you don't want to see a butcher picture*  The local dogs and cats were also present waiting for the innards to be tossed aside for their lunch.  The locals were not quite sure what to make of the 4 foreigners touring their souk in the rain but they were very kind; stopping our guide and speaking to him in Berber to invite us to their shop for tea.   The souk is very social and includes some makeshift restaurants and tea shops.

Around 11am we ran into our guide's brother and his wife and they invited us over for tea!  They ran ahead to get set up and we followed a few minutes later.  After trudging in the rain we were pretty muddy and wet- they welcomed us in to their home, took our coats and shoes and offered slippers.  The women were invited into the kitchen to help make mint tea and learn how to make M'smmen (crispy pancakes) - we couldn't speak the same language but we learned and it was such fun.  We had a tasty snack and warm tea and spent a few hours in a local home.  I was really blown away by this since I truly felt it was by accident we ran into them and nothing was planned.  We were so warmly welcomed even though we couldn't communicate, it was a very sweet gesture.

After tea we headed to the Berber family for lunch.  Again we were wet and muddy and welcomed in.  The women were sent to the kitchen to learn how to make couscous - it is a ridiculously long process requiring 3 separate times in the steamer (it is not cooked in water) and lots of fluffing by hand.  Couscous making is a rite of passage for Berber women- once they can do it correctly they can get married.  The men learned how to make mint tea with fresh mint and lots of sugar.  One secret to mint tea is aeration - you need to pour it in cup then toss is back in the pot several times and then do the final pour from a height.  After some tea we finished plating lunch of couscous, chicken and vegetables.  It was tasty (although a little bland) - we did learn Berbers' don't really do bread with meals and eating is a communal activity - we were all handed spoons to dig into the community plate (no plates!) and we were told they only used spoons because we were there.  Interestingly the women never joined us at the table to eat. Another thing I learned today was that most of Morocco has access to fresh running water and electricity.  These people lived in a pretty remote area and had municipal water - something Angolans could only dream about.

Our Berber hosts Fatima and her son (along with our fellow tourist Ronie on the right)

The next day was a disaster but reminded us were are in Africa.  We set out on what should have been a 5-6 drive to the next spot. First things first we helped out a stuck car - we pulled over and promptly a mountain taxi (all are 1980's Mercedes Benz) pulled over where 6 men jumped out to assist - sense of community here is very strong.  After 3 hours on the road we came to a raging river that took the road out - so we turned around and headed to the nearest town - turns out we could take a back road so we did that and spent about an hour in 4X4 on a wet muddy road to bypass the closure.  Another 2 hours and we come to another river crossing that required 4X4 and up to a mountain pass that has active road work- when we approached our driver is informed the road is closed until 5pm - it is 2pm now!! Ugg - so no bathroom, no lunch and 3 hours wait, fun times!  The best part was they were drilling rock out to make a wider road and we are on top of the action, no safety barrier or anything.  By the time they are ready to clear the rock off the road there is about 50 people around following the construction vehicles on foot watching the work.  Now another 2 hours of driving to the hotel - after a pit stop in Imichil for a super later "lunch" of kebabs and more tea.  This is was the first place I felt the desire to cover my head- I was the only woman in the restaurant and maybe the only woman in 50 miles without a head covering.  Got to the hotel super late- 5 hour trip turned to 11 hours!

Daily good deed

Washed out road

Second river crossing

Roadwork delay- 3 hours