Hello there!

Once again I find myself writing on the blog with a beer in my hand, sitting this time in Kigali. (Al the zim beer will have to wait a few weeks!)

So what a fantastic week it has been, finally the holliday feeling has arrived, and how. We left Nairobi and travelled first to Nakuru national park (Jude said that it was really beautiful) where we had our first taste of African wildlife, apperently also one of the easiest places to spot tree climbing lions as well. Unfortunately even though we paid $75 each!!! to get in we didn't see a single putty tat! Well that's the story of my life with lions, but we did get very close to rhino, buffalo and the usual mac of the bushveld, impala's!

So then of to Eldoret in the west where we stayed at a sort of centre parks camp(the Dutch will no what I mean). Later in the evening we met Raj Singh the owner, a laid back weed smoking Indian who was very happy to share his story's with us as well as Johny Walker his best friend. After 'walking' a bit to fa rit was bed time as next on the list was Uganda.

After waking up and finding mr Walker still using my head as a boxing bag we packed up and left for Uganda, to Sipi falls in the east close to mt. Elgon. The road deteriorated once again and the going was slow, especially with a big hangover! We crossed the border and entered our 15th country sof ar and arrived at Sipi falls at 5 in the evening.

Early the next day we had a hike up the falls which was hard going but definately worth it, our guide took us to the top falls(there are three) and then to the other two, telling us on the way about his circumsition ritual that every male in the tribe does at about 25 years of age. Not for me is all I can say!!!

After some really 'factual' stories we hoped in the trusty hippo(our new name for the car) and headed to Jinga in the west where we could do some white water rafting. We arrived at the lodge and booked us in fors ome rafting the next day.

The rafting was fabulous, big rapids and great scenery and we only tipped the raft once! After a great day back to the clubhouse and once again a bit to many Beers but we had to tell everyone how good we were, so a good excuse to endulge!

The next day we headed for Bwindi where we wanted to do the Gorilla trekking, this took us two days, the first night we camped in a small forest reserve close to Kampala and the next day drove on to the park. When we arrived we met a ranger who said that there were no tourists booked in to do the trekking(only 8 per day are allowed) and so we could go and see the apes the next day.

We woke early and went to the park gate to pay the extortionate amount of $500,- pp. Lucky the dollar is very weak at the moment! But I suppose you're only here once and in a few years that might be double or tripple the amount.

So we left and headed into the rain forest and I can see where the name comes from, Bwindi impenatrable rain forest. It was hard going hacking staraight through the vegetation to reach the elusive mountain gorillas. We were in luck as they were only 1,5 hours away the guide said that in the past they thay had been known to be up to 8 hours away!

As we arrived in the spot where we were we were greeted with a gorilla charging and trying to punch us, this was normal the guide said and he was just trying to play! I don't like playing with a 15 year old pubescent gorilla! But after he showed us who was boss he setteled down and then the rest of the family came out including the dominant male silverback. What a sight to see a huge gorilla come within two metres of you and behave as if you were not even there! The hour(yes hour) was gone to quickly and we hacked our way through the forest back to the camp where we got our official gorilla trekking certificateJ and then left for lake Banyoni.

After a quick drive we arrived at the magical lake and that is what it was. It is a huge crater lake infused with little islands and rolling hills all around. A real gem in the area. We decided to stay two nights and splash out for a furnished tent. This was a welcome break from our own tent.

We did some canoeing on the lake and and a a supurb dinner at a restaurant owned by a Belgian man who had decided to seek his fortune in Uganda. After two great days we headed off to Rwanda and Kigali where we will be picking up Peter a mate of ours, the idea being that he will travel with us through Tanzania. I hope he knows what he is getting in toJ I

So that's all for now, we'll try to upload some pics as soon as possible.

Chow!