Day 227
Sleeping location: Byoona Amagara, Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda
Distance (km today/total): 48 / 14455
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1000 / 113400
Canoe: too small
Distance (km today/total): 48 / 14455
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1000 / 113400
Canoe: too small
Day in three words: It’s getting real
Didn’t sleep well due to continuously rolling onto various grazes and waking up. As a result slept in until 8.45am; Rebecca slept in until TEN but to be fair she had essentially been sleeping on the ground for the last two nights. The hotel went massively down in our estimation after a rubbish breakfast of two sausages and some dry white bread. After processing this disappointment we didn’t get away until noon.
The road continued to wind through green hills on smooth tarmac, although it felt less Welsh today. The main event was a steady 300m climb followed by similar on the descent, which was fun. We are starting to get more coronavirus shouts and some of them seem a bit less friendly than before. This is an unanticipated result of this increasingly bigger problem. A more anticipated result is that Kenya has closed its borders today and there is a real worry that our progress will be blocked. We might have to start making some difficult calls soon. A potential way to ease any pain is to drink some local “Science Gin”, which I saw advertised on the side of a van and seems to be sold in one litre bags.
After 40km we turned off onto a dirt road towards Lake Bunyonyi. It looked a stiff climb based on the map and definitely turned out that way. There was one of those moments where you look at a road high above and think “that can’t possibly be where we’re going”, but oh it is. This involved an extremely stiff section where we climbed about 100m over 750m on loose dirt, ie a relentless 15% gradient, which brought out the effort-induced groans for the first time in a while. It was stiffer than a steel girder, stiffer than a quadruple brandy, stiffer than...other things. The view over the lake from the top was very nice though, all winding bays and steep sided islands*. After a shorter descent down the other side we got to the docks and had a mixture of confusion and negotiation in order to get a boat to the island we wanted to stay on. This included pretending to fit our bikes onto a tiny canoe to get the price for a bigger boat down. Once we got one we chucked all the panniers in, laid the bikes on top and calmly motored across the beautiful lake.
The resort was very beautiful and peaceful, although the latter is sadly because of coronavirus; they were meant to be full (56 guests) but everyone has cancelled their holidays and there are only seven of us here. We took a dorm to ourselves with a very nice, now essentially private, seating area by the lake, and watched the sun set (or rather, the clouds darken) whilst hummingbirds fluttered around and an ibis tried to catch insects in a thatched umbrella. At dinner we met a nice man from Northumberland named Oran who has been volunteering on the island with his family for 11 weeks. They are going home early, with sadness, because of the growing crisis. Over some very tasty food Rebecca and I invented a game where we ask each other five questions about the trip so far. She won the first round. Back in the dorm we snuggled up, as Bunyonyi is at 2000m and it’s nice and cool, in the dark and peace in anticipation of some good sleep.
*It is effectively a natural reservoir formed by an eruption creating a lava dam about 10,000 years ago, which explains the extremely wiggly coastline.
Didn’t sleep well due to continuously rolling onto various grazes and waking up. As a result slept in until 8.45am; Rebecca slept in until TEN but to be fair she had essentially been sleeping on the ground for the last two nights. The hotel went massively down in our estimation after a rubbish breakfast of two sausages and some dry white bread. After processing this disappointment we didn’t get away until noon.
The road continued to wind through green hills on smooth tarmac, although it felt less Welsh today. The main event was a steady 300m climb followed by similar on the descent, which was fun. We are starting to get more coronavirus shouts and some of them seem a bit less friendly than before. This is an unanticipated result of this increasingly bigger problem. A more anticipated result is that Kenya has closed its borders today and there is a real worry that our progress will be blocked. We might have to start making some difficult calls soon. A potential way to ease any pain is to drink some local “Science Gin”, which I saw advertised on the side of a van and seems to be sold in one litre bags.
After 40km we turned off onto a dirt road towards Lake Bunyonyi. It looked a stiff climb based on the map and definitely turned out that way. There was one of those moments where you look at a road high above and think “that can’t possibly be where we’re going”, but oh it is. This involved an extremely stiff section where we climbed about 100m over 750m on loose dirt, ie a relentless 15% gradient, which brought out the effort-induced groans for the first time in a while. It was stiffer than a steel girder, stiffer than a quadruple brandy, stiffer than...other things. The view over the lake from the top was very nice though, all winding bays and steep sided islands*. After a shorter descent down the other side we got to the docks and had a mixture of confusion and negotiation in order to get a boat to the island we wanted to stay on. This included pretending to fit our bikes onto a tiny canoe to get the price for a bigger boat down. Once we got one we chucked all the panniers in, laid the bikes on top and calmly motored across the beautiful lake.
The resort was very beautiful and peaceful, although the latter is sadly because of coronavirus; they were meant to be full (56 guests) but everyone has cancelled their holidays and there are only seven of us here. We took a dorm to ourselves with a very nice, now essentially private, seating area by the lake, and watched the sun set (or rather, the clouds darken) whilst hummingbirds fluttered around and an ibis tried to catch insects in a thatched umbrella. At dinner we met a nice man from Northumberland named Oran who has been volunteering on the island with his family for 11 weeks. They are going home early, with sadness, because of the growing crisis. Over some very tasty food Rebecca and I invented a game where we ask each other five questions about the trip so far. She won the first round. Back in the dorm we snuggled up, as Bunyonyi is at 2000m and it’s nice and cool, in the dark and peace in anticipation of some good sleep.
*It is effectively a natural reservoir formed by an eruption creating a lava dam about 10,000 years ago, which explains the extremely wiggly coastline.
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