Chapter 10 - Journey to Fort Portal

Today we set off early for the 5th day in a row, to head to fort portal via Queen National Park.
We were now travelling with our new driver Raymond who seemed a bit green but seemed sweet enough.

We grabbed a breakfast of Katogo (Banana & bean stew) which we wouldn’t normally eat for breakfast, but it was ideal as we didn’t know when we would be grabbing lunch.

We set off on the first hot and dry day we’ve had in the last week, as we had been advised that the earlier, we got to the park the better.
We got to QNP and registered our car and passports to get access to the park.
The rangers were keen for us to pay for a ranger to go with us, but Raymond assured us we wouldn’t need one, and we didn’t have space in the car to take them.

Before we had even

got into the park, we spotted elephants and Impalas, but once we were in the park, we were directed to where there were sightings of a leopard.
We set off in the direction of the sighting and saw more Impalas, wild boars and Kobs.
Unfortunately, the fact that we saw so many Impalas chilling about, we knew that the chances are that the leopard was no longer in the area.

It was very hot, so we knew that we were probably not going to see that many animals, as they were most likely sitting out the shade somewhere that we couldn’t get to.
After driving around for 20 minutes without seeing any more animals, Raymond seemed surprised that there were no more animals out.

The plan was to continue and find somewhere to eat and to Caz’s dismay, we ended back at our starting point.
Raymond took every opportunity to speak to the rangers and locals about any animal siting, but we knew that we have missed our window to see any more animals.

We had hoped to grab lunch at one of the hotels in the area, however, we found that harder than we thought. Most were off the main road, and we were hungry and not keen to divert from our course, so grabbed some Chapatis and drinks to keep us until we found a

restaurant or hotel serving food.

There is a main road that cuts through the park and takes us onto Kasese, but it wasn’t until we reached Kasese town did we find somewhere to eat.
We stopped at Café Olimach and had a traditional lunch of Matoke and Goat stew which was delicious.
Our new driver joined us for lunch and managed to get away before the bill came, assuming that we would pay for it. We had agreed to cover the car & driver + fuel, so Caz assumed that we could remove the cost of Raymond’s lunch from the total bill.
When you’re an interracial couple from Europe, people assume you have unlimited resources.

Once back on the road, we headed straight for fort portal for Caz’s Dads farm.
It was about another 1.5 hrs on the road, so we settled in for a quick nap before we got there.
As we approached fort portal, the rain started, so we received a message from Caz’s Dad to be aware that the roads would be treacherous, and we should engage 4-wheel drive when we got closer.

Addresses don’t really work in the city, but there more ambiguous in the village, so we had to rely on Marion and Caz’s memory of the place.

After we left fort portal town, we passed many tea plantations, which is big business in this area.
The roads from the town to the closest smaller town Namaguga, but then they started to get more treacherous.
Caz’s Dad had spent his own money to work on the roads, however the marram that he had used to fill in the cracks kept getting washed away by the rain.
Marion wasn’t to sure of the turn-offs, so Caz’s visual memory kicked in to get us there. At one point we asked a local where the farm was, as he was well known to the locals as the rich man who fixed the road and brought electricity to the area.

Once we reached the Farm, Raymond commented on how impressive the compound was.
Caz’s Dad Chris had been developing the land for the last 4 years, so even she was impressed on how much had changed since she was last here.

We offered Raymond a drink and gave him the last of our cash to pay off our final bill. He seemed confused with the final amount, so my Dad gave him a 50k tip.

We had covered over 300 km to get to our destination and now we could finally relax and not have to think of moving for another week or so.
We were excited to be able to have a couple of lie-ins before work started on the land the following week.

Caz’s Dad is not a man that likes to sit around idle, he gets up early, does exercise and then gets to instructing his workers on the land.

He has around 125 acres of land, with a main house, staff homes, piggery, veg plot and a budding eucalyptus forest.
It’s a beautiful piece of land surrounded by lush green mountains and a river at the base of the land.
He had been away for a month and had only just returned, so he was keen to inspect the land and see what had been happening while he was away.

Mark was looking forward to seeing more of the land and starting the plans for our retirement Villa. Mark went on a long walk with Chris to see some of the land and the local villages and was fooled by the deep rain clouds into thinking he didn’t need sunscreen! A very red Mark returned from the walk but had fun any way meeting a lot of locals on the way who were surprised and pleased to have a Mzungu walking about!

Many builders and workers were on the land to start building two buildings, a new main house for the compound with a master bedroom for Chris, and a small villa. Most days we could hear the workers on the land and the constant stream of trucks arriving to drop off supplies. The foundations for both buildings were completed in about a week. We soon lost all concept of time and date on the land as we were relaxing and enjoying living in peace and quiet. Mark enjoyed the local wildlife including monkeys, and a rare species

of Red Cardinal a beautiful small bird that visited a tree just outside the house each morning.

The days and weeks seemed to fly by, and we really enjoyed resting, except for some trips into Fort Portal town or to the local village for supplies we relaxed. But at the end of October it was Mark’s and Marion’s birthday on the same day! So we drove to a beautiful restaurant/hotel called Kyaninga Lodge that’s on top of a crater lake with an amazing view of this beautiful area. It’s a beautiful place surrounding by fertile land due to the volcanic rock. We were impressed by the lodges unique use of building materials. Its very expensive and high end, but worth it for the experience. We had a dinner overlooking the crater lake. Marion and Mark enjoyed their luxurious birthday celebrations very much!