Golden Monkeys and Lake Bunyonyi

Carrying the shopping home

Volcano peaks on our way to the Mgahinga National Park

Elias our ranger for the trek

Another early start saw us driving towards the 3 huge volcanoes that dominate the sky line around Kisoro. They are three of the towering peaks that make up the Virunga range across SW Uganda, sharing their slopes with Rwanda and the DRC. Finally breaking out of the valley allowed us to see how magnificently tall they are (highest peak 4300m). Thankful that it has been quite some time since lava has touched Ugandan soil we set off up the slopes with an American couple in search of the world’s last remaining Golden Monkeys.

Some tired legs later we stood amongst the bamboo watching them chew and play their way through the rooftop of the forest.

Golden monkey

Soon it was time to head back, the guide pointing out some of the various floras and fauna the forest has to offer its inhabitants. Elephant beer being a personal favourite..yep after a tough day in the rain forest there’s nothing more they like to do but have a beer and get a little tipsy – our genes are obviously not that far apart.

Sweaty Irish monkey

Elephant Beer

Worrying about making it back towards Mbarara over some tricky road services we struck gold (pardon the pun) with our American honeymooning golden monkey companions. They offered us a lift to Lake Bunyonyi, about half way back to Mbarara. One of the larger Ugandan lakes famed for its beauty and safe swimming conditions, Lake Bunyonyi is a popular retreat for the Mbarara crew so we gladly tagged along planning a night on Bashara Island.

The driver decided we had to take the scenic lakeside route although our nerves and buttocks cried out for one of the few stretches of tarmac road here. Rutinda harbour, the gateway to the islands was busier than expected. Lots of local people with their wares perched precariously in dug-out canoes. We gave a slight shiver as we remembered the vast majority would not know how to swim, and certainly no life jackets around.

Rutinda Jetty

A swifter but only slightly more stable motor boat trip across the lake passed some of the many islands we had read about. Of note were Sharp’s island (the previous site of a leper colony set up by an missionary doctor and now a secondary boarding school, Punishment island (where unmarried pregnant women would be abandoned in days gone by) and Upside down island (a curse on a group of drunkards saw this island tip upside down drowning all in the lake – or maybe the local brew is very strong!).

We were shown to our little cottage and headed to the bar to warm up in front of the blazing fire.