Since leaving Nairobi,
I've had quite a good holiday.
100km West of Nairobi is Lake Naivasha, one of the
many Rift Valley lakes.
I was planning to spend one night here, which soon
turned into 3!
The campsite I stayed at, Fishermans Camp, has a
fantastic setting!
It is a grassy, tree covered site which borders
the lake.
During the day, the place is covered in butterflys,
birds and colobus
monkeys and at night, hippos come out to graze amongst
the tents.
Adjacent to Fishermans Camp is Elsamere, former
home of Joy Adamson, author
of 'Born Free'.
I spent most of my afternoons there as for $2, you
get an all you can eat
tea in the garden overlooking the lake.
Also got to see a lot of wildlife in this area as
there are quite a few
parks around Lake Naivasha.
When I finally managed to tear myself away from
there, I headed north along
the Great Lakes towards Lake Bukoba, then west
and once more crossed the
Great Rift Valley (previously crossed in Ethiopia).
At Lake Bukoba, I was told about a back entrance
into Uganda but warned that
the road was treacherous.
Always up for a challenge, I bit and headed up
through that way on Monday.
The border post at Suam was very laid back, I
ate breakfast with the
immigrations official whilst awaiting the arrival
of the customs guy, then
had to wait an hour on the Ugandan side while
someone went to go and find
the officials!!
It was all very relaxed, friendly and laid back
and a good way to enter
Uganda,
The road was every bit as bad as I was told, a
very rough dirt track which
wound steeply up and down through the mountains,
at one place a bridge was
out and I had to ford a river which made the ones
in the Omo valley look
like streamlets!
But the effort was worth it as the views from
the mountain tops were
spectacular! At one stage, I felt as if I could
see right across the whole
country from north to west.
That night I stayed at Sipi falls, amongst the
mountains. Out of interest I
asked how much a plot of land would sell for and
I was told $300! Cheap or
what!
After Sipi, I had decided to ride a Northern
circuit to Murchison falls, so
headed up to Soroti last night,
however, after consultation with the local police,
I decided that the risk
of being ambushed by rebels was too great, so
doubled back and am now at
Jinja, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria.
It is also the source of the White Nile, which
I shall be rafting tomorrow.
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