Lake Bunyonyi - May

The college is still on term break, so Danny and I took another wee trip and spent 5 days and 4 nights at Lake Bunyonyi, very close to the Rwandan border. Due to the high elevation (about 2500 metres) the weather is normally quite cool in the morning and after sunset, but since this is the tail-end of the rainy season it’s been very cool or cold most of the time. A plus side to this is there are very few mosquitoes and a mozzie net is not required on the beds.

We were at Lake Bunyonyi during the xmas holiday in 2007 but did not hike to the top of the mountain, so we did so this time. Since it had rained the day before we took the road to the top instead of the muddy shortcut through forests. On our journey we walked past many locals on or near the road and greeted them in their language, Rukiga, which is similar to the language in our area - Runyankole. As always, the response was giggles or smiles of delight.

As we walked through one small village the children literally swarmed us. One large group of 3-7 year olds (from an orphanage?) greeted us with songs. Many wanted their photos taken which I would have loved to do but declined due to past experiences of being followed and pestered non-stop. Since we were on our way to the tourist hotel located at the top of the mountain these children were used to seeing mzungus and many asked us to give them money or pencils/pens. Actually, they don’t learn this phrase as a question, but as a demand, ‘give me money’. Children aged 3 or 4 or older usually know some English phrases or words including ‘how are you’ and ‘I’m fine’. We replied to their requests for money with ‘ngaha, nikibi’ which means ‘no, bad’ and told them not to beg. Unfortunately, tourists or short-term charity/NGO workers give away pencils, other gifts and money, thus training the children to be beggars and to expect (rich) white people to give you things.

We passed a group working in a field and exchanged greetings in their language. On the way back we passed the same group and one of the men said in Rukiga, ‘kurakayo’ meaning ‘welcome back’, to which we replied ‘narugayo’ meaning ‘thanks, it’s nice to be back’. The group was thrilled that we knew these words and one man said ‘excellent’ and gave us a ‘thumbs up’.

When we reached the top we sat at Arcadia Cottages for tea and lunch and enjoyed the spectacular view. While there we inquired into staying in one of the cottages for one night and decided to extend our visit by one night.

We stayed at the same hotel as before for the first 3 nights:
http://www.traveluganda.co.ug/crater-bay-cottages/
65,000 shs (about $32 USD) for a double and does not include any meals. The cottages are near the lake and dugout canoes are free for guests to use. The cottages have electricity and hot showers. Since it was cold and kept threatening rain we decided against going out this time.

Meals were much better and the service much quicker than our previous visit. The vegetable curry with rice, the beans/matooke/vegetables, and the cole slaw were fabulous. Danny is not a fan of salads but ate the huge portion of cole slaw – a high compliment.

We spent our final night at Arcadia Cottages. The interior of the cottages is much brighter and more spacious and modern than Crater Bay. A double was 120,000 shs (about $60 USD) and included breakfast. It also had satellite TV but as is common in many Ugandan hotels this is restricted to whatever channel has been selected in the bar.
http://www.traveluganda.co.ug/arcadiacottages/

We were very impressed with the service, food, accommodation, gardens, and spectacular view and will return in August during term break and dry season.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniedanny/collections/72157602736722927/