1. 82 February 2013 Destination DestinationFebruary 2013 83
in the wild
A Sordid Past
Uganda’s history of military coups, and
having the infamous Idi Amin Dada in power,
besmirched even the most inviting tourism
brochure for decades.
Idi Amin Dada was Uganda’s third
president between 1971 and 1979. He has
one of the worst human rights records of any
world leader and is even quoted as saying,
“[Hitler] was right to burn six million Jews,” in
the documentary General Idi Amin Dada: A
Self Portrait (1974).
But he is perhaps more popularly
caricatured in the award winning movie
based on the award winning book by the
same name, The Last King of Scotland
(2006), for his claim to be the “uncrowned
King of Scotland.”
South
North
But today Uganda is well and truly a pearl
in the dust of Africa. All my preconceived
notions of Uganda being a tame, lost
paradise go out the window on the plane
ride there. Uganda still holds Africa’s original
‘uncharted waters’ allure that has all but
vanished from the familiar khaki and jeep
burdened safari routes.
Abyssinian ground hornbills burst into
flight as we approach the Kidepo Valley
National Park airstrip for landing. Kenya’s
Turkana region lies to the East of Kidepo, so
I expected it to be arid, but the rains have
come early and laid out a banquet for all life
in this remote corner of wilderness. Open
savannah spills out across the valley floor,
and with every gust of wind the long grass
dances all across the landscape.
Julius, the guide from Apoka Lodge, is
as captivated by his world as I am, and our
game drives are dictated by the wildlife,
not by tourist meal schedules. The torrential
downpours every afternoon do nothing to
dampen my spirits; instead they voice the
region’s rich primordial nature. “When the
rain comes and the sun is still shining we
know a leopard has given birth to her cubs,”
says Julius as he drives towards a rainbow
in the hills. My idea of reaching the South
Sudan’s border to explore the edges of the
park and photograph fabled hot springs
bubbling in the area were thwarted by the
Kidepo River, which had burst its banks
TO
Nestled next to the tourist
hubs that are Kenya and
Tanzania, Uganda is perhaps
better known for its tumultuous
political past than for its natural
attractions. But as Cheryl-
Samantha Owen discovers,
this oversight is the very thing
that gives the pearl of Africa
its appeal
Uganda
still
holds
Africa’s
original
‘uncharted
waters’
allure
that
has
all
but
vanished
from
the
familiar
khaki
and
jeep
burdened
safari
routes
B
ouncing south through the
African sky from one laden
cloud to another, I rub away at
a patch of crusty red soil on the
little plane’s window and stare
wide-eyed at the enormity of the River Nile
below. After two hours of flying over almost
480 kilometres of green, dust speckled bush
and winding waterways, I feel like I must be
deep in the heart of Africa. The young, rather
debonair pilot, who had (apparently) flown
all over the world before basing himself on
the shores of Lake Victoria, turned shouting,
“Beyond that pyramid-shaped hill is Southern
Sudan.” While not quite at the heart of Africa,
equatorial Uganda is sandwiched between
Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Rwanda and
Southern Sudan.
Clockwise from top: The Nile River meanders towards
Murchison Falls; Looking into the eye of a mountain
gorilla; An African jacana carefully picks its lily pad
path; Julius, Apoka’s chief guide, unsuccessfully tries

2. 84 February 2013 Destination
sprinklers come to life. I peel my camera
from my eye only seconds before we veer
away and the sensory overload is as good
an adrenaline shot as any.
On nearby Lake Albert, prehistoric looking
marabou storks scavenge from traders
en route to the Congo. The shore is lined
with large boats that look worthy of ocean
voyages, and a never-ending convoy of
trucks empty goods ranging from cooking
oil, cement and orange squash to cheap
Chinese umbrellas. Most disheartening to
see are the heavy loads of timber coming
across the lake from the DRC. Uganda’s
own timber supply cannot meet the country’s
demand. Less than three percent of the
country’s land area remains covered in
tropical forest. But the true avian (living)
fossils of the lake are its resident shoebills.
They stand statuesque for several hours only
blinking, and with a speed incredible for their
size, lunge at their prey. I stare one down for
45 minutes until the shoebill darts below the
water, catches a lungfish and gulps down
the wriggling meal, all before I even register
what is happening.
A Disappearing Species
It is the mountain gorillas that tempted me
to Uganda in the first place. For eight hours
and devoured the access road. Instead, we
seek out lions and watch as six cubs learn
to negotiate their rocky kingdom while their
mothers spy a 1,000-strong herd of buffalo.
In the evening we find “the lads,” five male
lions, stirring from their siesta at the top
of 100-metre-high outcrop. As night falls,
their calls echo through the valley. One by
one, they scramble down and emerge from
the long grass directly behind our open-air
cruiser, significantly less wide-eyed than me.
Sometime after midnight, the males
announce their presence in camp, and I
wake to a nature extravaganza. Forked
lightning zigzags to the east and west,
stars jump out of the pitch-black sky above
and glow worms twinkle in the grass. The
soundtrack, a raucous mix of lion, hyena and
jackal, is no less spectacular.
The following morning a cantankerous old
buffalo snorts a greeting as he rubs against
a dead tree inches from my veranda, a dawn
ritual I grow to expect. Later, our spotter, a
local from the Karamanjong tribe, finds the
elusive leopard. And as she springs to the
ground, the forest erupts in a flock of rose-
winged parakeets. After finding the only
parakeet that lives in Africa, I head south to
look for waterfalls, shoebills and gorillas.
A Bird Watcher’s Paradise
In a tiny tin boat, I rock my way up the
Victoria Nile in search of Murchison Falls, but
once immersed in the river ecosystem, time
slows to the lazy rhythm of water lapping
the banks and the destination dissolves into
irrelevance. Virtually eye-level with hippos
and buffalo and without another boat in site,
the Nile has me under its spell. Pied king
fishers and red throated bee-eaters dart out
of nests in the steep sandy cliffs, and then…
straight out of the pages of a Tarzan novel,
elephants swim across the river, with trunks
fashioned into snorkels and the teenagers
playing water gun.
Murchison Falls announces its presence
in an offering of foamy water and a current
that grips the boat and threatens to wash
us into ‘crocodile pools’ downstream,
but thankfully the skipper knows the river
well. The crescendo-ing roar from ahead
drowns the boat’s engine’s complaining
whine as the skipper skilfully navigates the
treacherous waters. Watching the mighty Nile
crash through a cleft in the Albertine Rift’s
escarpment only 7 metres wide when you
are heading straight for it is, I would imagine,
how an ant on a leaf feels when the turbo
I slip down near-vertical slopes, trip over
twisted vines, lose my boot in a muddy bog
and stumble behind a seasoned ranger
who, all the while, strolls through the forest
and whistles to the birds like a Disney film
character. He signals to us that the gorillas
are nearby. Cornering a clump of bamboo, I
look straight into the soulful eyes of a huge
blackback. Blackbacks are aged between
eight and 12 years and subordinate to the
silverback. Next to him is the impressive
silverback, the dominant male that holds the
family together, and the rest of their troop.
Reports indicate that there are less than
800 mountain gorillas alive today. And
less than half of these are of the Bwindi
population found exclusively in the Bwindi
Impenetrable National Park where I am now
(the name of the park should have clued me
in on what the gorilla trekking would involve).
The other type of mountain gorillas are found
in the Virunga volcanic mountains and are
native to Rwanda, Congo and Uganda.
Once you find them, you only get to spend
an hour with the gorillas, but I get only 50
minutes as the silverback gathers what feels
like my newfound family and disappears
into the green. I’d like to think he goes in
search of luscious leaves and isn’t running
away from the noise my camera’s motor drive
makes.
For
eight
hours
I
slip
down
near-­vertical
slopes,
trip
over
twisted
vines,
lose
my
boot
in
a
muddy
bog
and
stumble
behind
a
seasoned
ranger
Responsible Tourism
Whether or not they will continue to be
photographed in years to come is not
certain. Their survival depends on the
continued existence of their rainforest
habitat, already a small fraction of what
it once was. Responsible tourism has
proven to be their final chance, and I am
truly inspired by the dedication of the park
rangers who both guide people to them and
act as their protectors.
Tourism is by no means a panacea for
conservation, in fact I shudder at the thought
of Kidepo being over-run by vehicles and
lined with hotels or a single shoebill being
surrounded by a flotilla of boats dripping with
twitchy spectators, but perhaps Ugandans
will be wise enough to not give away their
forests, savannahs and water sources to
mass tourism or agriculture. It is often said
that if you plant a stick in Ugandan soil it
will take root overnight. Now my hope is
that as Uganda grows, a true picture of its
wilderness value will emerge.
Clockwise:
Murchison Falls;
A patas monkey
admires himself in a
Land Cruiser mirror;
Uganda is the most
see the legendary
D
Useful Info
Apoka Lodge (managed by Wildplaces Uganda)
Tel: +256 414 251 182
Email: info@wildplacesafrica.com
Photographs:Cheryl-SamanthaOwen,Getty/Thinkstock