Kisoro, South-West Uganda

We love Uganda. Uganda is definitely going to be one of my favourite countries. Its beautiful and the people are so nice. Certainly Kampala is more developed than i expected, with high-rise buildings, cinemas etc. And the countryside is very African, its great to be in a typical African country before leaving Africa.

We left Kampala and headed to Kabale. A long day on the truck and for some reason i had a headache and felt very lethargic and sleepy on the truck rather than standing up and looking out of the front. We did stop for photo-op and the equator. Felt better in the evening and at the campsite we played 3-a-side soccer and then celebrity heads which was fun. In the morning i trod on the ball while showing off and ended up on my bum in front of everyone!

3 hours from Kabale to Kisoro. Mostly winding up and down through the mountains along a dusty road. The scenery was spectacular, this is where Gorillas in the Mist is set. Rivers, lakes, hills, volcanoes. Lots of agriculture; every bit of land and hill is being used to grow something. Kisoro is a town of maybe 10000 people? We seem to be the only Mzungu (white people) in the town so the locals do look at us a bit but they dont hassle us and are really friendly. It was great walking round the market yesterday among the locals. This is the place from where you go to see the mountain gorillas, but i am not doing it. Don't ask me why, just decided not to.

Yesterday we went to the pygmy village. It was a less-than-serious cultural visit. We had been told before that the pygmys like to smoke marijuana and it was certainly true. We had a tour of the village and learned a bit about their lives, then they sang and danced for us. But it was pretty funny cos all the adults are stoned, even the old grannies, even when we arrived at 9am. They were smoking pipes of ganja while dancing. Now, of course on one level it is pretty bad that they are out of it while looking after kids. But if you can ignore this, then it was funny. And the kids certainly looked well and healthy and looked after. They say that smoking dope keeps them free from disease and the guy dancing the most was, so he said, 86 and yet he was jumping around like a teenager, while smoking his pipe. Anyway, it was lots of fun, rather than some such events where its all serious.

So some of the others have gone to the gorillas. I am going to just have another walk around the town today and people-watch. Its a bit overcast but not hot because we are in the mountains. Feeling, um, a bit, um, melancholy about only having six days left. I am so going to miss the lifestyle and adventure of the last seven months......we are making our way back to Kenya on Sunday and i will catch a local bus to Nairobi on Thursday for my flight home on Friday, just in time for the start of the World Cup.