I did not spend a lot of time in Uganda, but I did very much
enjoy what I did whilst I was there, apart from the horrible bus trips. The
people were very friendly which cam as a welcome break after the difficult
people in Kenya.
The primary reason for my visiting the country was to go and see
the Mountain Gorillas, very endangered primates living in the border areas of
D.R. Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. There numbers are down to less than six hundred
and fifty, but this is thought to be slowly increasing, at least in Uganda.
The Gorillas (photos 1 - 5) are beautiful, powerful, majestic
animals that I felt privileged to see in there natural habitat. The Silverback
(photo 5), the alpha male was very protective of his family and spent a long
time just staring at me.
When I was in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see the Gorillas,
the President, Yoweri Museveni was also there in order to promote tourism and
show how safe it now was (this was a year after what became known as the Bwindi
incident occurred, when nineteen tourists and their guides were massacred by
Congolese rebels). As I was the only tourist around at the time I joined his
group and had a nice time chatting with him (photo 1) and watching how he
interacted with the locals. We posed together for a few pictures (photo 2) and
then after having some lunch back at camp, parted company when he flew back to
Kampala. A few days later I was surprised to see me and the President on the
front page of the national newspaper (photo 3).
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