Sunday, April 1 (Day 16) continued: Getting back to camp.

Easier said than done! Coming down had been muddy and slippery. Now at least an inch of rain had fallen – more, I think – and it was downright soupy! In fact, water was pouring down the hillside along the little path we had made through the undergrowth. Our footprints from a few minutes earlier were full of water. And it was still pouring.

With considerable effort we all regained the path and started back. It had taken us an hour to get to the gorillas from the river with logs over it. Now the path actually had a small river of water running along it when it went up or down a hill. When we approached the houses and banana trees, there was a clearing off to one side and the guide suggested that we eat our lunch there. It was now about 1:45 PM, and the rain had slacked of to a drizzle but it still looked threatening.

We broke out the slightly soggy box lunches and ate our standard boiled egg, piece of chicken, banana, roll, fruit juice, cookies, and candy bar, offering what we didn't want to the porters and trackers. They again had their lunch of bananas.

It had taken nearly 4 hours to walk in, and we knew we had another 3+ hours to walk out from where we now were, so we headed off again. The rain never completely quit, but it never rained really hard again either. Linda had revived somewhat during our gorilla viewing and lunch break, but the prospect of the 6 mile walk back in the mud was daunting, to say the least. Carol, Carolyn and I were doing OK, but Robie began to get really fatigued before we had gone very far. We went slowly, but kept going.

Going down the slope towards the river with the log footbridge, we felt like we were walking in a stream! This was near the village we had passed earlier with banana trees growing in groves, and the path was obviously well traveled and beaten down into a slight depression below the level of the surrounding ground. It formed a natural channel for runoff water heading down the hill towards the river, and a stream 1-2 inches deep was babbling rapidly down it. We waded down, going slowly to keep our footing as it was very slippery!

We crossed the first river on the logs without incident. The level was higher than before and the current was obviously faster, but the logs were still well above the surface. Now we faced an hour of first uphill, then down to the second river. The rain was gentle but steady as we sloshed along through the mud. At this point Linda and Robie were going very slowly. We had long since ceased to care if our boots and pants legs were mud-covered or not. There was nothing to be done about it.

When we arrived at the second river, we understood why the guide had been anxious to get us started away from the gorillas. This was the river we had crossed stepping (tiptoeing) from stone to stone. Now, there were no stones visible, and the surface looked like a good spot for white-water rafting! It had risen at least two feet, and the only way across was to simply walk through it.

Using our walking sticks for balance, and with the help of the porters (who seemed unfazed) we picked our way across without major incident. I'm really surprised that no one fell down in the water, because it was moving fast enough that you really had to plant each foot firmly before taking a step. You could feel the water tugging at your leg trying to push you off balance.

Once on the other side, I took off each boot and dumped the water out, wrung out my socks, and put everything back on. Now we really "squished" when we walked. The porters had all been wearing rubber boots about 14 inches high. They simply slipped them off (of their bare feet!), dumped out the water, and slipped them back on again. If I'd been wearing loose rubber boots without socks, I'd have had blisters in about 5 minutes! But these guys walked 12-15 miles with us and were not bothered at all.

Home stretch! All we had left was about 2 hours of walking, the last half of which was pretty level! Unfortunately, we had a fairly long, if not too steep, climb up from the river to get to the level part. Going up this part was much more difficult than we thought it would be. It had been easy going down that morning when it was relatively dry and we were still fairly fresh. Linda and Robie were now nearing the point of exhaustion, and the trail was extremely slick from the rain and mud. We climbed. Rested. Climbed. Rested.

Finally Robie gave up. She said she couldn't go on, and the guide radioed ahead for some assistance. Her porter and one of the armed guards stayed with her, while the rest of us trudged on. It was still drizzling. Carol and I each had "rain jackets" in our backpacks, but we had never put them on because it was warm, and we had both gotten wet before we thought about them, so there was little sense putting them on over wet clothes. But we also had black plastic rain hats with a brim that would keep the rain out of our eyes and prevent it from running down our faces. She (Carol) thought about them when we had stopped for lunch, so we wore them the rest of the afternoon. They were actually a big help.

We eventually gained the fairly level path, and knew that we had maybe an hour of walking left. Linda was hanging in there – I don't know how! Soon we saw the local ambulance coming for Robie – the bicycle! It was a standard one-seater. I don't know if she was to ride while others pushed her, or if they planned to put her on the handlebars!

We kept walking. At one point I'm sure I broke a local taboo. I was getting some water from my backpack, and offered Wilberforce a drink from the same plastic bottle. The porters had not been carrying or drinking any water that I had observed. He looked shocked.. At first he shook his head, but hesitated and looked tempted. I told him, "Go ahead, it's all right." He shyly asked, "Is OK?" I said, "Yes! Drink some water!" He glanced around as if to see if anybody else was watching and took a drink. Nothing else was said, but I wondered from his reaction if that was something the just wasn't done! Tough!

During the last mile, I was really feeling the effects of the exertion of the last two days. Linda still trudged along slowly. What a trooper! She is 59 and, like us, probably doesn't get a lot of vigorous exercise. Carol actually said she felt like she could keep walking, as long as it was fairly level! I hated to admit it, but I was thinking longingly about the warm shower and cold drink waiting at the camp!

Finally, ahead we saw the sign for the park entrance. Even the drizzle had just about stopped now, so I had to take one more picture.

Carol and Sullivan, wet but happy after a relaxing walk in the park. Wilberforce is at right.

Wilberforce and Sullivan were really good porters. Why? Well, Sullivan especially was extremely attentive to Carol. Every time there was a step up or down, or a slippery spot, he was right there offering an arm for balance or support. If she ever looked around as if she might want some water or something from the backpack he would almost literally jump forward to offer it to her. Even though she usually didn't need a lot of help, the fact that he offered it unfailingly was really nice. And although I rarely accepted any help from Wilberforce, he was also very willing and quick with the backpack.

I told each of them that we would try to mail them a copy of the picture I took of them, and wrote down an address (in care of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park). I also offered them each a ball cap if they could come by our camp to get them. As it turned out, we offered them a ride in the land cruiser, and Denis carried us all to the camp together. They seemed really pleased with the hats, plus we gave them quite a large tip by local standards for the extra service they had provided.

The park entrance. John blocks a view of the "ambulance." Everybody was cold but us!

Shortly after we arrived back at our camp I took a picture of Carol in her soaking wet clothes standing outside our tent. Boy, did a warm shower sound good. Before we even had a chance to shower we were told that a group of local women from the village were waiting for a chance to sing and dance for us. We said we would hurry, so we peeled off the soaked garments and cleaned up as fast as we could.

Carol about to pour the water out of her boot. Time for a shower!

When we walked back to the dining pavilion near the entrance, the women (25 of them!) were waiting for us in a line. Two of them had drums, and one had a seed-filled "shaker" like maracas to accompany their singing. The rest of the camp guests (Les and Linda, Carolyn, Michelle and Jim, and others) also sat down, and the ladies began.

Their performance was really good! I took a number of pictures with flash, but you really need to see (and hear!) the video tape to get a sense of the rhythm and volume of the singing, and the energy of the dances! Their shirts all say "Bwindi Progressive Women's Group." The pictures in the emblem look like a women carrying a baby, and another woman hoeing a garden. Sounds pretty progressive to me!

Getting ready to sing and dance. The Bwindi Progressive Women's Group.

They told us that one of the songs was about good government, and one was about creation. The dances were traditional. You can see that one woman is holding what look like small (probably symbolic) shields, while another is holding similarly small spears. In several of the dances the participants would jump high off the ground, and there were other quite strenuous moves. They could probably put many local aerobics classes to shame! The ladies in the group ranged from probably late teens (one was obviously very pregnant) to some with gray hair.

Really getting off the ground! The lady in the middle is holding the two small spears. The seed-filled shaker is at far right.

More energetic dancing with spears and shields clearly visible.


A closer look at two very active dancers. The lady in the background with hands up is graying.

The dances were impressive enough that we applauded vigorously for each one. After one particularly high-energy dance, I let out a "Whoop" with our applause, which seemed to surprise and delight them. After the dances they brought forward plastic bags filled with baskets they had hand-woven. These ranged from large (nearly two feet in diameter) to very small (two to three inches in diameter), some with woven lids. Most were marked at the equivalent of $5 down to $3. We couldn't resist, as they were beautiful and clearly authentic – each one had a small piece of paper in it with the name of the maker. We bought a number of them as gifts and souvenirs, not knowing how we would pack them or carry them around for the rest of the trip, but sure that we wouldn't have another opportunity like this. And in fact, we didn't!

After the ladies gathered up their things and left, dinner was announced. This was to be our last night in this camp, and we were told that they had prepared for us a traditional Ugandan meal. It consisted of cassava, sweet potato, green banana with peanut sauce, steamed beef, steamed eggplant, and fruit salad. It was definitely different, but good. The peanut sauce tasted a lot like peanut butter, so envision a green banana with peanut butter on it. I probably wouldn't want a steady diet of it, but it wasn't bad!

It felt sooooo good, just to sit at the table and be waited on! It was very hard to push back at the end of the meal, get to our feet, and walk to the tent. We did manage to stay up long enough to write up our notes, then slept like the dead for the second night in a row.  

NEXT: Installment 17. The drive back to Lake Mburo Park and a short game drive!

Click HERE to return to contents page.