People walk every where at any time in Africa. They are always on the move. We often wonder why the buses are so full and where everyone is going. They don't carry a lot of luggage but travel long distances.
At Musanze we had to wait a short while for a minibus to the Uganda border. While we were waiting we bumped into the French guys who were turned back at the Rwandan border because they hadn't booked their visa online. They went into Burundi and then did what they should have, to get their visa, and came into Rwanda that way. It was good to know what happened to them so we don't say to each other"I wonder what happened to the French guys".
We had no problems at the Ugandan border getting our visas for $50 US each. John asked one of the immigration officials the rate to get a shared taxi or motorbike taxi to Kisoro and then the touts arrived quoting us 10 times the rate. John told them to give us the proper rate so they halved it and then he told them that they were cheating us. We left them to think about it and found a place to have our lunch. One of the taxi drivers had a call from one of his regular clients so he offered to take us into Kisoro at a reduced rate which was opportune.
Kisoro is a small place with shops along its long main road, which sits a long way below the shops. You have to climb up slippery clay banks to get from the street to the shops. There were small posters being pasted on to the houses and shops as there will be elections in Uganda in about three months. The locals told us that they are happy with the current president as he has brought peace to the country. He has served 4 five year terms already and looks set to do his fifth. We were also told that the president was due to make a visit to the town and we could see that there were a lot of road works and town beautification going on which would certainly encourage the locals to vote for him as they could see he was making improvements in their town.
The president with his trademark hat.The locals had grasshoppers spread out drying on sheets of plastic which the locals eat. They stunk and were going a yellow-brown colour.
We found a basic guesthouse and which had a camp ground and a well set out front yard. The room was OK but needed a lot of maintenance. They were building a new block with guest rooms behind so it looked like there was no money for renovations. The night was really cold and wet so after waiting for a meal for an hour and a half we headed off to a warm bed.
The next morning we caught a minivan in the main street. When we put our packs in the back the driver lifted the whole bench backseat off the floor of the van and dumped our bags under it. The seat just floated above the bags. There were huge rusty holes in the floor and the windscreen was cracked in several places. The thing was a wreck!
We got the two front seats and even before the van was full we headed off. The conductor had to push start us. There was some kind of disagreement between the driver and a passenger as a suitcase got pushed in and out of the van window accompanied by a lot of raised voices and finger pointing. The suitcase owner chased us down the road and the commotion continued. We headed up a hill out of town and the driver got a call from the suitcase owner and we had to wait for someone to come and get the suitcase. Every passenger got in on the discussion at this point which we thought was hilarious.
While stopped, the driver got out his tools and and bashed away at the battery terminals. The bus had to roll backwards so the driver could start the engine again. The van smoked badly and it came through every hole in the floor.
We stopped at a barrier across the road, as a small private plane had to fly across the main highway, which ran through the middle of the airstrip. Maybe the president had made an early visit.
Travelled over the Karaba Gap where the road was being prepared for asphalt and we could see a lake in the distance. At a traffic police point we were pulled over. The driver was issued a blue traffic violation ticket and had his number plate seized by the police. We took this to mean that the vehicle was banned from operating. However, we did continue our journey to Kibale.
Kibale is a busy small town similar to Kisoro where the shops all line the main road and they go on and on. Looked for a hotel as recommended in our guide book as being scrupulously clean. They only had a single bed that they said was a double and clean it was, but not' scrupulously', we decided we would continue to Lake Bunyoni instead.
We found a MTN cellphone company office and the lovely lady there activated the Ugandan SIM card that we had bought so we could use it on our modem to get internet connections in Uganda. A short trip to the Barclay's Bank and we could get money out for our stay and we were ready to head to the lake.
