The A-Z of Cape to Cairo: Uganda to Ethiopia: The Great Rift Valley

The Reds victory was pleasing all round...but unfortunately it meant that we had to get a local bus from Bunyoni to Kampala to catch up with the truck. However, we were assured that the buses were safe, ran hourly and would get us into Kampala in 6 hours. We were up bright and early to be on the 8am bus...which finally left two hours late at 10.30am. Packed to the rafters (I lucked out with a middle seat so had a rather odourous man squeezed in on my left) we set out on the single most scary journey of our lives! Our driver was a lunatic. Overtaking on hair-pin bends at speed, driving on the hard shoulder (a strip of dirtier dirt than the dirt road) and talking on his mobile. He was pulled over by the police for "arrogant driving" after a few hours. When the policeman asked for his licence he replied that he didn't have it as he'd left it at home. It was funny in a fear-for-your-life sort of way. I just closed my eyes and wished the journey away...but Andy spent 10 hours swearing and almost jumping out of his seat. Joy. I was so relieved to see our driver, Hastie, back at camp and vowed never to leave him again. Definitely an experience we'll remember.

The following day, 8 of us headed to the city's cricket ground to watch Nigeria v Ghana in the Africa Division 1 Twenty20. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that a) admission was free and b) we could take in our own food and drink. We also found out very quickly that we were to be the only spectators! A 9am start meant that we had to watch an hour of cricket sober...but at 10am the bar opened up and we had a great time cheering on the teams and showing off our 8-man Mexican Wave. It was a really exciting game, with Ghana winning on the last ball. As the only spectators, the players, coaching staff and umpires were very happy to chat to us after the game and even let us have our own game on the pitch. We spent our afternoon feeling the effects of daytime drinking in the heat of the day - asleep.


Massive crowd waits for the bar to open, Kampala Cricket Ground

Ghanaian quick sends down a thunderbolt

Nigeria batsman takes an Agricultural Swing

From Kampala we drove a few hours east to Bujagali Falls; the start of Africa's mighty River Nile. The area is popular with thrill seeking overlanders who want to try their hand at Grade 5/6 whitewater rafting, quadbiking, kayaking and jetboating. We spent most of our 2 days there enjoying the views of the Falls from our camp and I joined some others to go a jetboating trip. Jeff, a Kiwi who runs the camp, took 11 of us out on the Nile. 90k an hour, 360 turns, hard brakes (to drench us) and near misses with low-flying birds filled the hour. I screamed the entire time. I felt bad when Jeff purposely aimed the boat at locals on the shore doing their washing etc, only to turn at the last moment and absolutely saturate them. They must bloody hate him and his boat. I would. But all in all, it was great fun.

I also went out on a boda-boda a few times (motorbike taxi) to visit a small textile factory. Andi and Hastie have said that they'll transport our souvenirs back to the UK for us on the truck, which means I'm no longer restricted in how much I can buy (I don't think Andy likes this).

Me with my stoic boda-boda driver

Andy cooking up shish kebabs, Jinja

I enjoyed Uganda. It's true that some of the people were trying at times but others were welcoming and the landscape was beautiful. I'll remember Uganda for its greenness, its abundance of colourful and lovingly presented vegetable stalls and its delicious 50c chapatis. Any sadness about leaving the country was overshadowed by our excitement about getting back to Kenya. We couldn't wait to start our journey up the Rift Valley.

We spent our first night back in Kenya bushcamping - our first since Tanzania. We camped in a forest, sheltering from the threatening rain while my cookgroup made steak and mash. At 6am the following morning, I stumbled out of out tent in the dark to set up breakfast and was surprised to find two local men sat around the fire with big guns! Apparently, the local police chief had arrived just after we'd gone to bed and stationed two officers to guard us. They hadn't even asked for payment, genuinely wanting to be of service to us. We thought it entirely unnecessary but read in the news a few days later that a group of bandits had been arrested in that very area. Ooer.

We then spent one night at Kembu - a farm camp set on 900 hectares. The owners, Andrew and Zoe, have 380 horses, 340 cows and field upon field of lush farmland and flower gardens. It was our favorite camp yet - cheap beers, table tennis, darts and soft grass. What more could we want?

Petting a newborn calf at Kembu Farm

It was a 5am start for our last game drive of the trip, into Lake Nakuru National Park. It's famous for its large number of flamingos, which make the water look pink when viewed from afar. It was a relaxed drive (our guide was useless - telling us the stalks we asked about were flamingo) but we still saw 14 rhino (black and white), antelope, zebra, giraffe and 2 lions.

Morning in Nakuru NP

I love this shot

Pelicans and flamingos

White Rhino Mum and Son

Grumpy buffalo

Butting gazelle

Our wheels

Lion looking out for his friend

Here comes his friend

Snuggle time

Our next stop was Naivasha, where we spent 2 nights. Camped at Fisherman's Rest on the edge of the crater lake, we could hear hippos at night when they ventured right up to the camp's electric fence. Andy and I opted for a day's cycle ride into Hell's Gate National Park. It's the second smallest national park in Kenya and is renowned for its scenery rather than predators, which is why we were allowed to cycle around. We assumed this meant there weren't any...but when we arrived our guide informed us that, apparently, "there are only 2 lions and a few leopards". Hmm. Anyway, the 32km round trip was great fun, broken up with a 2 hour hike through the park's awesome gorge (they filmed Tomb Raider there). It wasn't your average leisurely cycle ride - travelling on rocky dirt roads past giraffe and warthog.

Zebra crossing

Climbing through the gorge

Hot volcanic springs in the gorge

Lee, me, Andy, Kat, Kirsten & Dan (pubeface)

We rewarded ourselves for the exertion by paying an afternoon visit to 'Elsemere'; the home of Joy Adams of 'Born Free' fame. Her home, now a museum and visitors centre, is in a beautiful spot, surrounded by lovely gardens overlooking the lake. We were made to watch a hilariously bad video about Adams (who seemed to be a bit of a goer) made in the 1970s and then had a 1970s inspired high tea out in her garden. Colobus monkeys peered down from the trees overhead and jumped down to steal our cake whenever the man with the big stick turned his back.

Had to take this one quickly!

Greedy monkey enjoying our biscuits

We were in bed by 8pm, knackered from our day of cycling and cake-consumption and conscious that hard days of travelling lay ahead. We were to take on some of Africa's worst 'roads', travelling North for 6 days to get to Ethiopia; bushcamping all the way...

On the morning of our departure Hastie recommended we take a group picture to compare with how we'd look after 6 nights driving and bushcamping on the bumpy, dusty roads. We assumed we'd get dirty but I don't think any of us realised just how much! The first day's drive wasn't too bad but days 2-4 were crazy - we were thrown around the truck like skittles, risked asphyxiation from dust clouds and broken ankles from heavy jerry cans sliding around the back of the truck. We had a brilliant time! Sometimes we drove as slow as 5 miles an hour but it made no difference. One accidental emergency stop sent Gary flying from the back of the truck to the front in less than a second, which left him with a nasty gash on his head and his head and a badly bruised shoulder. We showed our sympathy by laughing at his snazzy bandages.

Bumpy gravel. This was a good road

Spooked camels

Andy trying to read from Kindle, Gary donning snazzy bandages


This is a road

Ready, steady, cook: making bread in the desert

We've done some really exciting and adventurous activities on this trip but both Andy and I said that those bumpy days on the truck beat all other pursuits hands down. Despite the jarring, dust and injuries we laughed so much and felt like true explorers camping out in the middle of nowhere where hyenas circled the camp at night and getting tipsy around our fire under starlight...all the while absolutely filthy: )

Jen and me napping (trying)

Our most memorable bushcamp


Just a bit dirty

The landscape in northern Kenya changed dramatically too, from lush farmland to arid, rocky nothingness. We passed small settlements that we just couldn't believe could survive in such wilderness, where the children ran naked and women sat in traditional Maasai & Samburu dress. We were confronted with hard realities too, when instead of asking for money or photos, the skinny local children called out and asked for water. These communities have nothing.