The north!

Finally, a vacation for a week! But what to do? Where to go?

We were pretty short on money, like usually, but still wanted to do something exciting, crazy and interesting and, like normally with us guys, something different and off the beaten track. We concluded that there were 3 things we wanted to do the most:
1. Go to the north, and experience the mentality and destruction after the civil war.
2. Go to Karamanjoland in the north east and not get shot!
3. Go to a national park. That was bound to be expensive, but come on, once in Uganda... We therefore decided to go for 1 day to Kidepo Valley, a park far north, which was full of Sudanese and Karamanjong poachers and had just recently re -opened after the civil war.

After we had settled on the route, we soon found out it was easier to decide what we wanted to do than to actually be able to do it!! How should we get there? Should we go by bike? Rent a car? Go by public transport? Where could we get accommodation? Should we bring the tent?

We met a lot of barriers. Some people told us that the north was depressing, bitter and unfriendly and you would not be welcomed as a tourist. Others told us that former rebels, or bandits, were still roaming around the roads. The authorities told us that the roads in Karamanjong were not safe at all, and you would definitely get shot using private transport. Others told us that the Karamanjongs were shameless warriors, walking around naked, waving their guns in your face. Still others told us that there was no food or accommodation to be found in the far north, so you would have to bring food and a tent and camp in the park, which was apparently the only safe place in the north!

After all these helpful tips, we still decided to go, left the tent but packed some warm clothes, a pot, some food, a flashlight, a soap, raincoats and Vignirs Swiss army knife for protection and went off!

DAY ONE
We finalised some details at work and hopped on the only bus going to Gulu, some 250 km north-west of Soroti. The bus ride annoyed us pretty much because we had to stand the entire way! Well, we would never had complained if we would have known what was waiting us...
Once in Gulu, some 7 hours later, tired, hungry and thirsty, we found cheap accommodation, an Indian restaurant and a bar and even met some former student of ours from Lalle Primary School! We were happy and didn't mind the inhospitality of the north or rebels or the LRA or anything, all we needed was a chair and a cold beer.


DAY TWO
We found a Western bakery in Gulu (!) and bought everything there we could carry! (croissants, cinnamon rolls, sugared doughnuts etc.) Mmmm.... How delicious...after that we continued the trip to Kitgum with a matatu (shared taxi-van). The matatu was crammed like usually, around 25 people in the van (with around 9 seats.) We arrived in Kitgum in the afternoon, walked around for a while, got some bad pork, found some limited supplies for things to come. After that there was nothing to do but have some beers, but at the lodge we confirmed the word on the street regarding the hostile northerners, for we were forced to move outside because of some rude locals. Well, we didn't allow that to spoil our good spirit!


DAY THREE
We woke up early and went through our supplies once more, since Kitgum would be our last possible supply stop. We added some spaghetti and tomatpaste, along with some muffins and more crackers. After that we started looking for transport to Karenga, some 20 km from Kidepo park. We soon found out that even though Karenga only lay 110 km from Kitgum, the ride there would take a while.
Finally we found a pick up truck which was leaving "now". After "now" had lasted till noon we got a little anxious. In addition the vehicle was in very poor condition and had a busted tire, which later on would trouble us along the way. We decided that we would not leave with the truck later than 2 or we would risk not arriving before dark.
At 1 pm the pick up truck went off with us onboard. After 500 meters it stopped to load some additional illegal cargo and that procedure continued for some 20 km. At 4 pm we had not gone 1/4 of the way, and the road ahead was even worse. At nightfall we reached a small village and went off the truck. After discussing with the passengers and the drivers for an hour, we decided it was better to continue with the truck, than to maybe be stranded in some village in the middle of nowhere. We also decided to try to find some accommodation in Karenga, the village near to Kidepo, since we could forget about reaching the park this late.
After an interesting and dirty 8 more hours ride, us having to push the car several times, walking up hills carrying babies, sitting on the local brew jerrycans and stinking of alcohol with no food in our stomachs, we reached Karenga at 3 in the morning. Everything was pitch black, no people and no lodges, but luckily we met 2 policemen who took us to the police station where we lay down on the rock floor with one blanket and slept like babies till morning.



DAY FOUR
We woke up early and tried to find a ride to the park. The police was of much help and sent someone to get the only vehicle in town. It was the village ambulance. We paid the fuel and set off, still tired after the 14 hour drive from Kitgum, and still stinking of alcohol. We booked a banda (a thatched hut) in the park, took a bath, washed our clothes and cooked the most delicious packed noodle soup ever! We also met the neighbor, BulBul the alcoholic elephant, which liked us a lot, since he is very fond of the local brew and we greeted him stinking of it!
After a great nap we took a game drive in the park with Richard, a park ranger. We saw elephants, zebras, buffalos, many types of antilopes and birds. Richard also told us stories of poaching, which was still quite common in the park. He carried a machine gun and told us that last month he had caught 2 poachers from Sudan, meaning he shot and killed both of them. After the game drive we cooked some spaghetti and ate surrounded by BulBul, buffalos, jackals but no other human being, us being the only visitors in the UWA hostel that day.


DAY FIVE
In the morning we went for a nature walk, or more a construction walk, where we went to look at the remains of an Idi Amin structure in the mountains in the park. Amin had started the construction of a luxury hotel with more than 300 rooms, but he was overthrown before he could finish it. The building was remarkable, the rooms were somehow built into the rock, the bricks made from rock, the scenery spectacular, the architecture amazing! We were stunned!
After this remarkable experience we left the park back to Karenga to get a pick up to Kabong. We found a truck which only went half the way, or to Kapera. On that route, for about only 30 km, we noticed the climate and the people changing. We were now officially in Karamajoland! The land was a semi desert, no gardens, no market places, no casava bags or sweet potato bags on the side of the road. Only cattle, cattle and more cattle, and yes, some soldiers keeping the cattle. We also noticed the Karamajong beautiful beads and traditional clothing, which everybody wears there on daily basis. It also surprised us to see that their tradition is to cut their faces from an early age, some cuts being even real deep.
When we came to Kapera we had a soda and some crackers, but nothing else was found to eat. It was a karamajong village so they only had cow blood porridge! Yuk! We were getting pretty hungry for real cooked food and begged the driver to continue to Kabong, another nearby village which had a restaurant with normal food! He finally agreed and we hopped on the pick up truck. In Kabong we were lucky enough to find another pick up truck even going further into Karamajoland! We stopped in Kotido where we found a good restaurant with local food and a good cheap accommodation.


DAY SIX
We went to Moroto at 6 in the morning, some 100 km south from Kotido. The poverty and deserted land on the way was devastating, and in Moroto as well. We met the LC1 (local government official) of a neighbouring village which took us around and allowed us to take photos of the extraordinary karamanjong! We came across a lot of beggers and were quite surprised of the food shortage and poverty. We bought some local beads and clothing from the locals, with help from the LC1, and therefore made the day for at least 3 families that afternoon.
After a “sightseeing day” of the karamajong, we sat down, had a cold beer (finally) and laughed about the stories of the naked guncrazy karamajongs. Yes, they were some naked under their quilt, and yes, some of them carried guns and had no respect for human life, but even though these are not the friendliest people ever in uganda we soon saw that there was no reason to fear them and drank beer with a smile on our faces throughout the evening.


DAY SEVEN
We headed home, to our small cute grotty Soroti. We talked about what to do when we came home, take a shower for the first time for a week, have a samosa, drink some cold coke and watch seinfield. Even though we really looked forward of going home, we couldn't get rid of the excitement the thought gave us: "we had just been in the north!!!"