Lake Bunyonyi is located in south western Uganda, not far from Rwanda. It’s an incredibly scenic part of the country and our home for the next two days.
But I’ll back up to share images of our ride to the lake. We pass through lots of dusty areas where the land has been carved away to accommodate a road. Our guides tell us that this new dirt lane is a 5-star road compared to the old one.
As a consequence of all that dirt flying around, many nearby trees are almost entirely camouflaged. Surely that dirt layer interferes with the photosynthesis process? I can’t imagine it’s healthy for the long-term life of these trees.
Our truck pulls over near a line of fruit and veg vendors, all of which rush towards us to peddle their produce. Juliana negotiates with them to pick up ingredients for dinner.
Kabale is the last village we pass before heading up to Lake Bunyonyi and we stop here for last-minute shopping. There isn’t a proper grocery store but we can pick up a few snacks and drinks.
There isn’t a paved road in sight, even in this main village:
We press on towards Lake Bunyonyi, passing by quarries. The road is rough and it’s slow-going up these hills.
We don’t know it yet, but in about two weeks an overland truck will be ambushed here in the wee hours of the morning — the truck will stop at an errant log blocking the road just after 4am, and the driver will get out to move it. He will be shot in the leg and shoulder. Another bullet will graze a passenger in the back of the truck. Men with guns will board and demand everyone’s cameras, phones, and cash. No one will die, but the psychological scars of that encounter will run deep for those overland passengers, guide, and driver. My heart is with them. I’m grateful it didn’t happen two weeks earlier.
For the record, this is far from a common occurrence, or else overland tours wouldn’t pass through here. During the two nights we stay at Bunyonyi Overland Resort, we are joined by trucks from G Adventures and Intrepid and Nomad Tours and Africa Travel Co., and certainly all of these companies are taking measures to make sure this incident remains a stand-alone one. I don’t want to deter anyone from visiting this beautiful area — robberies can unfortunately happen anywhere, in your home country or abroad — but I’d be remiss not to share this. I feel like I dodged a literal bullet.
Back to our campsite at Lake Bunyonyi, which is easily the prettiest accommodation of our 18-day tour.
Dugout canoes are available for rent at very reasonable prices.
Lake Bunyonyi is the base for our gorilla trek, which will take place the day after tomorrow. This big guy greets us at the campground:
The German brothers on our tour have made a traditional dish from their country; we had it for dinner the night before and these are leftovers below. It’s more like a dessert — they essentially make french toast, douse the bread slices with cinnamon and sugar, and then roll them up and deep fry them. YUM.
More images from the campground:
We have the option to upgrade to a tent with beds and electricity overlooking the lake for around $25, split between two people. Cute, right?
The wifi gods have answered my prayers: there is a bar with free internet. I buy a soda and edit photos while overlooking the lake… life is good.
We give our guides a night off from cooking and whip up this stir fry dinner:
Sunset is an event here — the light and colors around the lake are glorious.
Me with my overland buddies Kamani and Cheryl:
The next night we enjoy the tastiest spaghetti bolognese I’ve ever had.
At night our guides set up their projector and a white sheet to screen the movie Hotel Rwanda on the side of our truck. We’re going to spend a day visiting Rwanda and this film provides a general introduction to the horrific genocide that took place in 1994.
A late-night glimpse at Lake Bunyonyi as the moon rises:
What a gorgeous spot. So glad we had two relaxing nights here.
Thanks to Acacia Africa for discounting the 18-day Mountain Gorillas to the Mara tour in exchange for blogging and photography. Opinions are my own.
