Howdy all. If you have been following the ol’ blogga-roo here you will know that recently I have been recounting my time in Africa last year, a part of my trip round the world that I undertook. Actually, I’ve only started the Africa blogs! Last time I detailed what I saw in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.
The reason I had flown into Kigali was for easier/closer access to Kabale and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in neighbouring Uganda, where I had booked a gorilla trek. Details of that will be coming up over the next week on the blog, I have a couple of vlogs up already on it too.
Kigali was only one and half hours (ish) from the border with Uganda, and Kabale was only 20 minutes further on. Kabale is near the Lake Bunyonyi, and this is where I booked my accommodation. From there I would be picked up at 5am for my gorilla trek. BUT – I had to get there first.
I’d look into buses to Uganda or to the border, and I had a taxi driver who had taken me from the airport to my guesthouse in Kigali (and back to the airport return the next day to pick up my forgotten bag) and I’d discussed with the reception and him and he was due to pick me up straight after breakfast and take me to where I thought I would be catching a bus. There certainly are buses that run the route, all the way from Kigali to Kampala if you are enough of masochist to want to take that which would be well over 12 hours I would think.
But instead I was dropped at a little spot on the side of the road, a garage of sorts where cars (shared taxis) and mini vans would take you into Uganda. This was fine too, possibly more comfortable and I scored the front seat so I was happy about that. There was a lady under and umbrella taking money, and also exchanging money which was good as I was able to get a few Ugandan shillings there.
And then I was swapped from one vehicle to another. And it wasn’t long until we left, so that was nice. And it was a comfortable… well it was like the size of a Kia Carnival, if people know that car. Somewhere between an SUV and a mini van. There were several stops in Kigali because one of the passengers was looking for some medication, not sure if she got it in the end actually but that’s basically what you can expect on these kinds of journeys.
The scenery was very beautiful, it’s a hilly and green country Rwanda, and the road was in good condition although it was single lane all the way. We had to stop to fill up our petrol tank, but that’s something you can regularly expect in Africa, and before I knew it (I really thought I was in for a long day of travel!) we arrived at the border with Uganda.
This was the easiest border post I can remember in Africa, in fact it was easier than all my ones in Latin America too and probably Asia! The border post it was all sort of together, a very quick line of almost no-one in front of me to get stamped out of Rwanda, a walk to a booth and stamped into Uganda, I think there was a quick x-ray, but no waiting, maybe I was just lucky, no time spent by officials looking at my passport, they checked to see if I had the visa, saw it, stamped it. (remember that I had the ‘East African Tourist Visa’ which was good for Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya).
And so back in the car and onwards to Kabale! A short twenty minute ride – at the border we went from the right hand side of the road to the left side too, Uganda being a former British colony. OH and guess what, I had now entered my 100th country! Yes, after years of travel I hit 100 countries and Uganda was it. So that was a nice milestone, if truly not important in the scale of the world.
Entering Kabale was truly something too. As we began to enter the town, which is sprawled lengthwise along the main road from Kigali to Kampala, we encountered a political rally for a candidate in what was the upcoming election, with probably a couple of thousand people following cars with placards asking everyone to vote for ‘Enid’. This was July 2025, and actually the election was held in January this year, so that makes for a pretty long election campaign. So there was loud music, and lot of the use of the colour yellow, it was peaceful and there was a bit of celebration so it actually was the highlight of the day.
Once arrived at the bus station I needed to get the final 25 – 30 minutes to Lake Bunyonyi and my accommodation. The road there goes through the hills/mountains, and is presently unsealed (there were plans though to seal it) and I found myself… on the back of a motorbike! With my day pack and my main pack. I wasn’t very sure about this mode of transport all things considered, but my main backpack was securely tied down so off we went, and it was quite a little journey through the beautiful hills, up and then down to Bunyonyi Safari Resorts, where I was staying.
This place was lakeside and in a pretty beautiful spot. $50USD and I had my own cabin to myself which was roomy and pretty decent, although the reviews weren’t great online, I decided this was the best option mainly because staying in town didn’t appeal too much when there was a lake nearby. There was a big restaurant, the place hardly had anyone staying in it. There was a mix up with Agoda but that was all sorted, and the only real issue I had was the appalling WiFi, which I found out wasn’t just restricted to this place.
The heavens opened and the rain really came thundering down, I had an early dinner needing to get up at 430am the next day for what would be the number one highlight of my entire year – Gorilla Trekking. More on that to come! One of the simpler days of travel I have had over the years to be fair. Thanks for reading as always. Take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!
