December 1st-4th, 2023
Gavis arranged for Brian, the boda boda driver who brought
us to Bwindi four days earlier, to come and get me from Nshongi Camp. Originally, I figured he would just bring me
the 25 kilometers back to the main road, but as I contemplated getting jammed
into a taxi, I wondered whether it made sense to ask Brian if he’d take me all
the way back to Kabale, or even to Lake Bunyonyi, my final destination. Before I had reached a decision, he made the
offer, for less money than I thought it would cost. Sure, why not? Even though I get a sore butt sitting on
these Boxer motorbikes (not helped by having to wear my backpack), it seemed
like a better option.
Some great views on the way back to the highway:
As we reached the paved road, there was a huge line-up of
trucks and other vehicles heading in the opposite direction of Kabale, towards
Kisoro and the Rwandan border. Brian,
whose English wasn’t that great, explained that there had been a mudslide nearby
that still needed to be cleaned up. He
had mentioned that he needed a few litres of gasoline in order to carry on to
Kabale. When Gavis and I had arrived
four days earlier, Brian had bought a litre of gas right there, from a small
hut that had the petrol in a plastic water bottle. I hopped off the bike, offering to buy the
two litres, but then there was bit of confusion. I was approached by some boda boda drivers
and I think the same taxi driver from the other day offering to give me a ride. I told them that Brian was my man, but Brian hadn’t
clue in that I thought we were buying the fuel there. He was going to wait until a proper gas
station where I’m guessing the price was better.
Once we got on the same page, we got on the road again,
winding our way through the parked vehicles.
We fueled up at the gas station and I mentioned to Brian that I needed
to stop in Kabale to go to an ATM. I
think he had a shortcut to get to Lake Bunyonyi in mind that would bypass
Kabale, but it’s a big lake and he also didn’t know where I was staying.
A very challenging toilet at the gas station, I am showing my foot to get some perspective:
They can sure fill the matatus to the brim!
I grabbed some cash in Kabale and checked on Google Maps how
far it was to my destination at the lake.
I was staying at a place called Seeds of Hope on Itambira Island, which
looked to be about a five-minute boat ride from the shore. However, even though the lake was only 15
kilometres away, it was supposed to take 40 minutes. That seemed odd. We soon found out why.
The paved road gave way to a rough, bumpy mud packed
road. A few times Google Maps lead us to
a non-existent road, so we had to backtrack.
We climbed high up on a small mountain and had views back towards Kabale
but I was starting to feel bad for Brian, who thought that it was a short ride
to the lake. I told him I would pay him
more money than he had asked for so that seemed to make him feel better.
On the back of the motorcycle:
We finally got on the right track, after Google Maps lead us
straight into a resort, but a couple of helpful guys there told us the way to
the lake. We saw the lake but then Brian
took another wrong turn towards a boat launch area that had a small
market. Immediately a couple of guys approached
us, asking where I was going. They
claimed that the 7 kilometers left, to get to where I thought I could get a
short ferry boat over to the island, was rough and partially washed out due to
recent rains and that I should take a boat from there for 40,000 shillings. I had just spent 3 hours on the motorbike
taxi for 70,000 shillings, so this seemed like a rip off. I told them that we would give it a try and
if the road was in fact messed up, we’d come back and I’d take the boat. The guy dropped his price to 35,000, but I
tried to stay firm on my intentions.
Then another man, wearing a shirt with a local tour guide company stated
that I should opt for the boat. The
shirt made me give him a bit more credibility than the other guys. Additionally, I was feeling bad for the
lengthy travel that I put Brian through so decided why not, we’re only talking
about $13 CAD and I wouldn’t mind getting off of this motorcycle as my butt was
getting super sore. I would find out 3
days later, that had we gone another 300 meters, there was the parking lot for
the place I was staying at, Seeds of Hope, and I would have had a free boat ride
from there. Oh well…
We made it Brian!
It was only about a 10-15 minute boat ride and it was just
me, the captain and the guy who conned me into the trip. He kept trying to sell me on other tours I
could do during my stay but I knew that there was no way that I was going to
enlist his services as I felt he had scammed me already.
We approached the dock for the Seeds of Hope on Itambira
Island, and I already knew it was going to be a nice relaxing three days
here. It almost reminded me of a Gulf
Island back near Vancouver Island, where I lived for 13 years. I was greeted by the tallest Ugandan I had
met named Hillary. He was a gentle
giant. He brought me to the main restaurant
area and told me that my room was being prepared…which in hindsight seemed a
bit odd as for the first two nights I would stay there, I was the only guest
and I had booked the room a few days earlier.
What were these guys doing before I arrived?
Approaching the dock:
My cabin:
The deck:
I had a nice chill evening and the following morning. I decided to rent one of their big canoes,
made out of a hollowed-out tree trunk, to circumnavigate the island. It was already after 11 am that morning and
the cumulus clouds were building quickly.
I hoped that I hadn’t set off too late as it was the tail end of the
rainy season.
I took the one with the paddle in it.
I picked up my stroke rate as I could see a storm approaching. I rounded the south end of the island and reached the dock for the Seeds of Hope just in time. About five minutes after arriving and getting to the shelter of the restaurant, it started to rain pretty heavily…whew.
The following day I wandered around the island and eventually
made my way to the place I had seen on my canoe trip. It was a great place to spend a few hours,
catch up on my blog and enjoy a different view.
Starting my walk around the island"
That evening, finally another guest arrived. Her name was Anna and she was from Germany. She was a design artist who worked online and
was recently living/working out of Kigali.
She had just gone to see the gorillas and had a night layover at Lake
Bunyonyi. It was nice to have a chat
with another traveller and pick her brain about places I might go in Rwanda in
the upcoming days.
Anna told me that Lake Bunyonyi is supposedly 900 meters deep,
which I found hard to believe. It is a
pretty big lake, but kind of skinny with many little arms. I looked it up online and there are claims
that say that is true, but other comments that it is only 40 meters deep…tough
to know what is right.
I could have spent another day at the Seeds of Hope as it was such a nice place to chill out, but it was time to move on…Rwanda is calling.
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