1st February - Lake Mutanda to Lake Bunyonyi

We finally left a lodge on schedule - a first on this trip!  We retraced our steps from the other day but this time in a comfortable vehicle with an excellent driver so it was a completely different experience. 

Our welcome

We met our guide near the Batwa community and he caught a boda boda taxi so we followed him.  As we neared our destination, hordes of young boys started running after us and climbed up on the back of the vehicle to hitch a lift.  Shindishi didn’t like that and made them get off and then kept reversing at them very fast to try and stop them getting on again. 

We were introduced to our guide who was resplendent in a Manchester City T-shirt.  He walked us into the community which was just so incredibly poor.  We were ushered into the centre of the village which consisted of a rough hut and then a couple of brick buildings and a raised wooden shack full of sheep with their manure underneath it so it was a bit smelly.  The area in the middle was a shallow pond and very muddy round the edges due to the rain yesterday.  A bench appeared out of one of the huts and we were asked to sit on it.

An elderly man with a black hat and bright yellow shirt was introduced to us as the village headman and apparently, he welcomed us to his community and thanked us for visiting and shook our hands.  There were a couple of drums near his hut and these were banged with a stick to summon the community (numbering 80 in total) to come and greet the visitors. They then performed a marvellous dance accompanied by singing which was amazing - my, those people have got the most incredible rhythm.  We then had a tour of their homes which were nothing more than shacks/hovels - bare earth floors, pitch black inside and very smoky from the cooking fire as there are no chimneys, and just very basic.  Some had thin mattresses on the floors and their clothes were hung over a piece of string slung between 2 walls.  Not everyone had a mattress and some people lived in very basic shelters made from banana leaves over a few canes with some plastic on the roof.  Only the chief and his wife wore shoes and most of the kids were dressed in rags.  The chief’s wife also wore a necklace of plastic pearls.

The tribe used to live in the rain forest living off fruits and plants and eating bush meat killed with bows and arrows.  However, when the National Parks were formed, they were evicted and forcibly restored outside but given nothing and nowhere to go.  This particular community had been given their land by a local very rich lawyer, but it wasn’t enough land to support 80 people.  They relied a lot of tourists visiting them and obviously paying for the privilege and we bought a couple of little pots from the chief’s wife which was the only thing on offer.

The Chief's wife

After the village tour, we had another dance performed for us and then a display with the bow and arrow.  Chris had a go too and managed to “kill” a bucket much to their amusement.

We were saddened to see quite a bit of drunkenness and also a young man completely high on marijuana which they grew locally.  Our guide had a great affinity with the village via his older brother who had built the 1st house for the community and given them a lot but sadly succumbed to alcoholism himself.  Our guide said he’s also had a bad relationship with alcohol but after his brother’s death had cleaned his act up and now worked for the community to try and better their lot and give something back to them.  Their future was resting on the chief’s son, a handsome young man aged 20, who our guide was trying to persuade to complete his studies so that he could make something of his life and show the community that education was worth pursuing.

We then continued our journey to Lake Bunyonyi which included stopping off in a local bar where they drink banana gin and some sort of evil brew made from fermented sorghum seeds - it looked horrendous - a frothy cloudy sludgy foul-smelling liquid which is served by the pint.

Crowned crane

We also saw a mum and dad crowned crane with their baby - it’s the national bird of Uganda due it’s colours which represent the flag.

We talked a bit more with Shindishi about the lot of women in the area, which is not good.  They are basically sold off for a dowry and have to put up with a terrible life as they have to run the house, raise the children, work the land and do most of the work.  Quite a few men don’t have jobs, or, if they do, they like to drink and then come home and beat their wives.  I asked if they could get divorced but that is almost impossible as they have nowhere to go as their families won’t take them back.  Apparently, there is a movement for women to get educated, work hard and get some money behind them and then they buy some land and build a house.  They then have a boyfriend and have a child but don’t marry and live as single mothers.  Society doesn’t approve of this so they have a low standing but the plus side is that they’re their own bosses and don’t have to look after a useless man who may beat them.   Am glad I wasn’t born a Ugandan woman as their lives are undoubtedly very hard. 

We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon in the rain although it’s stopped now. We have a nice view over the lake but it’s not as spectacular as Lake Mutanda.  There is a function on here tonight and we’re above the bar which has been belting out loud rap music - great!!

We have 2 choices for tomorrow.  Either go out on a boat trip and visit another “punishment island” or leave at 8.30am and drive to Lake Mauro NP and do a game drive in the afternoon.  We’ve opted for the latter as want to finish our holiday viewing wildlife.