One of these things just doesn't belong here, one of these things just isn't the same...

A. Mountain Gorillas

B. Mountain Guerillas

C. Idi Amin

D. Safe Driving

E. Whitewater Rafting on the White Nile

For better or for worse B and C typically come to mind when you think of Uganda. To our delight, A&E are more typical of Uganda today, and as for D...let's say that D just doesn't belong!

From the moment we set foot in Uganda with the paved roads, the incredible array of roadside food vendors, the polite people, and a general sense of heightened civility, we felt we had found the African promised land. We quickly found our way to our new home away from home 'The Red Chili Hideaway' complete with peanut butter, toast, and brewed coffee. Neil had found his happy place!

We had two days to look into gorilla permits, find our way around Kampala, and plan our itinerary before meeting up with our very first visitor. We nearly missed meeting Neil's sister Annie at the infamous Entebbe airport: Her flight arrived early as our 2-hour backgammon match was just coming to a head in the airport bar.

Back at Red Chili's, we quickly realized that we weren't going to be able to secure gorilla permits that would fit into Anne's tight schedule. Instead, we decided to tackle the white-water rapids of Jinja and view the source of the White Nile.

Although we survived the 'Bad Place' in our raft, we did spend the better part of a beautiful day floundering for our lives in the midst of the other Class 5 rapids. By the end of the day we had achieved the dubious honor of executing the most spectacular backward capsize our guide, Juma, had ever experienced.

[If you are type 'A' on chronology, the 'Karibuni' & 'Zanzibar' chapters go here]

Four weeks later...returning to Uganda northbound from Tanzania...

We find ourselves two of the largest sardines in a mini-van load of 18-plus Africans crossing from the southern Tanzanian border back into Uganda. By this time, it had become painfully clear to us that our trip to see the mountain gorillas of Bwindi National Park ($$$$$) had been transformed into the pursuit of chimpanzee trekking in Kabale Forest($). This due in no small part to our adventure-packed month in Tanzania.

In a small town en route, we had one of those small-world Canadian experiences of running into a neighbour of Robin's who had just returned from the Kabale Forest. On her advice, we planned to join the morning chimp trek and stayed just outside the park gates at the delightful Safari Inn. We soon met our hospitable host Charles, and experienced his renowned cooking including his signature pineapple pie.

On arrival at the forest, and to our pleasant surprise, our guide turned out to be a friend we made on the journey the day before. After a half hour of trekking through dense forest, we found ourselves amidst a large group of chimps having breakfast in the trees. We were first struck with the intensity of the group's communications - jungle cries that would intimidate the most intrepid trekker.

An accidental (unguided) close encounter with the alpha male left us with our second striking observation, that these were not large monkeys but in fact small apes. At that point, we didn't doubt they were five times stronger than humans.

By the end of the morning, our small group of four had witnessed over 30 chimpanzees in a wide variety of their daily routines. We felt extremely lucky to have had such a rich and intimate encounter with our closest relatives.

With only a few days to spare, we trusted our guidebook's recommendation of a lakeside retreat nestled in the beautiful southern hills of the country. We quickly understood the appeal of Lake Bunyoni. It has a beautiful setting reminiscent of an Ontario summer camp, complete with swimming docks and dugout canoes.

We opted for a furnished tent, including real beds and an unbeatable view of the lake. It was the first time we could actually swim in a body of water since arriving in East Africa. The simple pleasures of paddling around the lake, reading on the dock and playing backgammon on the verandah kept us entertained for the three days we had at the camp. It was so tempting to stay longer but the adventure had to continue...