Lake Bunyoni

From Kampala we decided to head for Lake Bunyoni, which is quite near the border of Rwanda. Perhaps stupidly we went to the bus station the day before to find out what time we needed to arrive the next day. For about 1km around the bus station the streets were packed and chaotic to say the least and the bus station appeared to be something made out of nightmares. We did find someone who was wearing a jacket proclaiming him to be a guide for the bus station who told us we needed to be there at 6am the next day. Little did we realise that in Uganda buses don't have a departure time, they just leave when full... so the 6am was just a suggestion not a compulsory time to come. So we organised at large expense a taxi to pick us up at 5:30am and set our alarm for 4:15am to give us time to pack up the tent and all our belongings in the dark. (We have discovered that by using all our clothing we can make quite a nice pillow - but packing up does take a bit longer).

We arrived at the bus station tired and mildly disorientated to find the entire area empty and really quite peaceful at that time of day. Our taxi driver handed us over to another person wearing one of those guide jackets and we were led to a bus (accompanied by a couple of other people)paid our money and were given tickets that read Kampala to Kabale. There was only one other person on the bus which wasn't promising, so we settled in for a long wait. After about 20 minutes I decided to go stand outside the bus and stretch my legs. As per normal I was immediately approached by about 5 guys who started talking to me and asking where I was going. When I told them Kabale I was promptly informed that we were on the wrong bus. After much talking to everyone I could find and just a hint of tears as I explained we had paid all our money for the bus fair and now wouldn't be able to afford the bus ticket for the right bus I was taken to the bus station bouncer. This was a big African dressed all in black who was slouched by the entrance to the bus station. The situation was explained by my 10 supporters to him, I handed over my tickets and the group of us went to find the ticket seller for the bus we were on. Whilst the 10 guys who were helping me yelled, abused and shouted at this guy the bouncer just held out our tickets and kept getting into his personal space. Within another couple of minutes we had our money and were seated on what everyone in the bus stop assured us was the bus to Kabale. (During all this palava Jason had remained hidden on the bus, figuring as a lone girl I would get more help than if he was with me... undoubtedly an accurate assessment).

The bus journey was long, but otherwise uneventful. At the other end we joined up with the other two tourists on the bus to get a taxi to the Lake. There we met up with 5 more and the 9 of us headed off in a motorboat to the island. This led to a very enjoyable few days camping by the lake, eating too much food and reading. There was also the memorable vodka and amarula night when we played 'This is how I bang my stick'.... but I guess the details of that aren't really necessary.