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karibu !
Written by Jerem   
Sunday, 04 March 2012

My first stop in Uganda has been near Jinja, not because of the source of the Nile, river rapids and white water activities that attract many tourist there, but because i could meet Mahmoud, Belker and other of my previous colleagues who are currently working here. I enjoyed their company a couple of days before continuing the trip to the western part of Uganda. I wild-camped on the edge of the queen Elizabeth national park, which sits between the Rwenzori mountains to the west, and the lake Georges to the east.

sunset on Rwenzori mountains sunset on Rwenzori mountains

During the night, i could hear some buffalos which spent few hours at less than 100 metres from my tent but unfortunately couldnt see them as it was too dark. The next morning, the guards who were working at the neighbouring carrier showed me fresh leopard footprints all around the area, 10 metres away from my tent !

sunrise on lake Georges sunrise on lake Georges

morning mist on queen Elizabeth national park morning mist on queen Elizabeth national park

Like in many other east african countries, the main roads in Uganda have been built / fixed recently and give you the possibility to enjoy the landscape.

western Uganda western Uganda

My last visit in Uganda has been to the lake Bunyonyi, where i could find a small track that allowed my to ride along part of the lake and get really nice views of it.

lake Bunyonyi 1 lake Bunyonyi 1

lake Bunyonyi 2 lake Bunyonyi 2

lake Bunyonyi 3 lake Bunyonyi 3

I then crossed to Rwanda, where I met again Hans & Roger. All 3 of us camped some days along the lake Kivu, while waiting for our visas to DR Congo, where we planned to trek a volcano.

camping along the lake Kivu camping along the lake Kivu

We used our waiting time to drive a nice trail along the lake Kivu, the first part of it passing by the top of the hills overlooking the lake...

on the hills around lake Kivu 1 on the hills around lake Kivu 1

on the hills around lake Kivu 2 on the hills around lake Kivu 2

...and the second part coming back to the starting place through forests and tea fields

riding the forests in north Rwanda 1 riding the forests in north Rwanda 1

riding the forests in north Rwanda 2 riding the forests in north Rwanda 2

tea fields tea fields

Sadly for me, the new organisation of the park (it re-opened few months ago thanks to better security conditions) lost my applications for the visa and the trek so I could not join Hans & Roger on the slopes of the volcano. After that, we left Rwanda, driving near the foot of old volcanoes, then between some of the thousands hills of Rwanda.

old volcano overlooking fields old volcano overlooking fields

That evening, Hans found us a very nice camping spot on a top of a hill, overlooking the tanzanian savanah.

camp site in western Tanzania camp site in western Tanzania

Next day we drove all together through Tanzania...

who has the biggest? who has the biggest?

... passing by landscapes dotted by granite rocks...

granite rocks granite rocks

... and baobabs...

baobab baobab

... going down again to the rift valley.

one step down to the rift valley one step down to the rift valley

lake Singida lake Singida

Then our routes splited, Hans & Roger continued south to Malawi, I continued east to Dar es Salaam and the Indian Ocean coast.

mountain range mountain range

 

sunrise near Dar es salam sunrise near Dar es salam