Rest & Relaxation: Getting to Murchison Falls

It is easy to get from Bukavu to Kampala. The flights from Kamembe to Kigali and Kigali to Entebbe are scheduled and predictable (the plane will always be late from Kamembe to Kigali!). On this trip, those two flights were the only travel arrangements I was sure of. Getting to my final destination, Murchison Falls, was going to be a crap shoot. And if there is one thing I don’t like while traveling, it is not having a plan; not knowing how I am going to get from point A to point B. Well, I’ll give away the ending right now: I am sitting at the Paraa Lodge at Murchison Falls on my verandah overlooking the Nile River. It is beautiful; majestic in its calm and orderly procession across the amazing African land. I have been on and in the river as it rolls and drops and speeds through Uganda, but here it is slow and relaxed. But that’s getting ahead…I’m sure you are wondering how I managed to get here in the first place.

I spent weeks trying to find a way here. I knew I wanted to spend my first R&R relaxing in Uganda and since I had never been to the West of Uganda I thought that Murchison would be as good a place as any. I didn’t want to go with a tour group as I didn’t want to be on anyone’s schedule but mine. It’s harder that way, but I think the payoff is so much better. So I booked, well actually my friend Julia booked for me a room at the Paraa Lodge. It is the up market accommodations at Murchison, but since this is my first holiday in 2 ½ years I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. So, now I had a reservation for Monday-Thursday night, but still had no idea how I was going to get there. I searched the internet and didn’t find any good answers. Then I remembered that I had the Brandt Guide to Uganda. DUH! There I was able to find that if you are trying to get to Murchison all by yourself, you can take a bus to Masindi and from there hire a taxi to take you to the park. I learned from my housemate Joel that I had to take a ferry to get to the Paraa Lodge.

So I had a starting point. I got back online and found that there was a Uganda Postal Bus that left at 8:00am every morning from the Main Post Office going to Masindi. I had my favorite Kampala taxi driver, Fred, take me to the Main Post office at 7am Monday morning. Already there was a pretty good line up of people waiting. I met a group of Muzungu’s from the UK, Australia and I think the US that were going to Tororo (near Mbale) with African Inland Missions. The bus finally arrived and it was a mad dash to get on board and get a good seat. You don’t put your luggage underneath (they charge extra for that) so I found a spot in the back corner and tucked one back pack on the floor at my foot, put the other across my lap and the camera bag on top of that. Not comfortable, but it gave me a little space as no one could get too close. What proceeded was the longest, most uncomfortable bus ride of my life. For six hours I couldn’t move. We traveled on some stretches of road that could rival the Congo. I was sitting at the back of the bus and at times I went air born. All this on 3 hours of sleep (I had stayed up late catching up with friends the night before). So I slept most of the way to Masindi, the only way to forget about the numbness in my butt and the pain in my back.

The one thing that always stands out for me about Uganda is how friendly the people are. All the staff working for FH are amazing and you could think it is just them that give me that impression. But the truth is, Ugandans are a friendly lot. They want to know all about you, where you come from, why you are here. They always tell me they pray that I will stay longer, visit their part of the country. There openness is always so off putting and so very welcoming. On this trip, I was blessed my several helpful Ugandans who made it possible for me to get to the Lodge as happy and in one piece as I did.

The Postal bus was a mistake. It stops all over the place. Mostly in towns to drop off/pick up mail, but also to pick up passengers from the side of the road. And they don’t really announce where they are. I had a generally idea that Masindi should be around 3 hours outside of Kampala (without stopping!), so I felt comfortable napping most of the way. When we finally came to Masindi, the bus stopped on the side of the road and most of the people started getting out. With my two pack backs, camera bag, sweat shirt and bottle of water, I was neither quick nor graceful trying to get off the bus. As I made it from the back to the front of the bus, the conductor came back on and asked me if I was going to the post office. I told him I needed to rent a special hire to take me into Murchison Park so he told me to sit back down and they would drop me up ahead at a tourist location. It turned out to be The Traveller’s Corner, a place I had read about in my research for the trip. Thank you Uganda Postal Service worker!

I got off the bus and headed into the restaurant and was greeted by the server. I told her I needed to find a special hire to take me to the park. She got on her phone, called a driver and told me he was just on his way back from Paraa and would be there in 30 minutes to get me. Now that is why you should always tip your waitress! Thank you Traveller’s Corner waitress. I was also able to have my first meal of the day, a Spanish omelet and a coke. The driver Sam arrived and we quickly got on the road. My tour book had said around 100,000 UGX for the special hire to the park, and when Sam said 150,000 I was pretty happy. Fuel has gone up so much in the last year, that I was appreciative it wasn’t any higher. We also took along with us a Murchison Park guide who was on his way back to work. His name was Emmanuel and he was a great resource as I asked him questions about the park.

Sam was/is a wonderful resource. I have his number to call for a ride out of the park and he said he would get me on a bus or Matatu on Friday to get me back into Kampala in order to catch my plane back to Kigali. He also said he would come to the park and take me for a game ride if I can’t hook into a tour here at the lodge. Along the way to the ferry launch, we saw a few animals. There were tons of baboons. We saw them mostly in the forest part of the park. That’s were the trees and vines were thick and the insect noises reached my through the sound of the car speeding along the dirt road. Later, when we came to the more savannah areas, we stopped and watched some warhog and saw a Uganda Kob. I saw another Uganda Kob at a watering hole and a few more warthog standing in the middle of the road. When we reached the ferry launch, the next boat wasn’t for an hour and a half. Sam spoke with a man he knew, Angelo, who is the captain for a boat that takes tourists up the Nile to the bottom of Murchison Falls. Sam entrusted me to Angelo and we sat and talked for a bit. He is from Arua, but has been working the Nile here at Murchison for three years. Angelo gave me the number for the Lodge so I could let them know I was here and arranged for me to take one of the Paraa boats across the river so I didn’t have to wait or pay for the ferry. Thank you Angelo!

On the way across the river I watched a herd of water buffalo and a hippopotamus make there way into the river for a late afternoon dip. The boat driver radioed the lodge and a van and driver met me at the launch to take me to the lodge. Thank you boat driver and Isaac the van driver! As I was standing waiting for Isaac, I looked and not 10 feet away was a very large primate. I don’t think it was baboon, but I am not sure what type of primate it was. He was just sitting there, no fear as I pulled out my camera and got a little closer.

The Lodge is beautiful. It has been around for a long time; weathering war and royal visits. I was greeted at the front door with a cool towel and a fresh juice. The wonderful lady at the front desk gave me a room with a view of the river and it is spectacular. The room is simple and understated, with a quality that can only be called colonial safari. There are no TV’s and no phones in the room. It is quiet, with the sounds of animals in the night close enough to hear but not see. After a quick clean up and rest I headed up to the dining hall for a beautiful dinner by lamplight. It is weird being on my own; wonderful but lonely. I have no agenda, no plans. It’s just me, my wits a couple of books and my laptop. Exhaustion overtook me early and I think I was asleep by 9:00pm.

Day 1 was one for the books!