Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ROAD TO KAMPALA
January 2014
N
orth of Kasansero, the plan was to follow the shore for another 160km, seven days
of hard trekking that would finally take us to Kampala, Uganda's boomtown and capital
city. In Kasansero the fishermen warned us that the way north was a morass of tributar-
ies and dense swamps, and if we wanted to stay close to the lake the trek was going to be
laborious. Boston and I bickered about which route to take and, in the end, settled on a
compromise: we would gather the services of a few locals and their boat - not to ride in,
but to ferry our packs along the shore while we walked along the bank so as to make us
light enough to move through the swamps, and if necessary swim around the mangroves.
On the night before we departed I left Boston to source some likely guides and lay awake,
thinking of the walk to come.
In the morning, Boston introduced me to the boatmen he had hired. At the shore of the
lake, three policemen in uniform were lined up, with AK-47s slung over their shoulders.
Beaming, Boston introduced me to the first, who told me his name was Fred. Before I
could say anything, they began to load our packs into the boat.
I looked incredulously at Boston.
'It is better pay than for being a policeman, Lev,' said Boston as the three jolly officials
pushed their boat out onto the lake.
We pushed north. There was something quite indulgent about walking along a beach for
days on end, with palm-fringed shores, rickety fishing boats and quaint wooden villages
making it feel as if we were in a clichéd image of holiday perfection. Despite warnings
of 'chiggers', the voracious red mites that lived in the sand, it was too beautiful to wear
boots and a nice change to walk either barefoot or in sandals, with the lapping waves to
cool our feet. Most of the lake was flanked by thick forests, some of it national parkland,
where colobus monkeys and waterbuck abounded. All along the shorelines birds of every
variety gathered in their thousands: sacred ibis, white storks, Ugandan crested cranes and
Egyptian geese. Yet, for all this perfection, for long stretches paradise turned to hell. The
