Week Four in Uganda- Our trip to BANDA ISLAND

Since I decided to revive my blog, I decided that I will post my Uganda travel updates on my blog instead of through email. Even though this post is four weeks into my travels and I won’t be posting my previous emails, I think it’s better late than never since I still have a good month to go.

Last weekend was quite the adventure and it has taken me a while to recover. After venturing into Jinja, Mityana, and Gulu the previous weekends, we decided that it was time for an island getaway to the Sesse Islands. Especially since Kampala is so close to Lake Victoria, we thought that it would be easier than the 10 hour bus ride we had to Gulu the weekend before. Unfortunately, things do not always go as planned.

Sesse Islands are a group of 84 islands on Lake Victoria named by Lonely Planet as one of the world’s best secret islands. We found a website offering cheap accommodations on one of the islands- Banda Island-and thought it would be a great way to relax for the weekend. We got onto a boda to get to the taxi park, only to find that it would start pouring down rain a minute into the ride. I could barely keep my eyes open during the entire trip and I was terrified- I was riding a motorcycle in the crazy streets of Kampala during a downpour. After getting fully drenched and in a mild shock, we arrived at the taxi park and got onto the matatu headed for Entebbe which would make a stop near the Kasenyi fish terminal. The canoes at this terminal would take us to the islands while picking up fish and people along the way. Our one-way fare was Ushs 5,000 which is around $2. While there are ferries and other large vessels that are much safer and will take you to the islands from different ports, these larger boats are much more expensive to take. We decided to be adventurous and take the backpacker route with these canoes. 

Once we got to the terminal, we saw numerous canoes lined along the shore and being filled with various foodstuffs. Most of the canoes were being filled with boxes of milk, water, soda, crackers, bread, and other processed foods not available on the islands.

The canoes get heavier once they are full so they are not parked directly by the shore where the water is too shallow and the canoes will sink. Instead, they are parked several meters away and require designated men who make a living off of transferring items to and from the shore to fill the boats.

Caitlin and I were the only foreigners traveling by these canoes so we stood out. Everyone was staring and talking about us. We knew this because we constantly heard "Mazungu" come up in their conversations.

These men do not only carry food and other products to the boats, but they carry people into the boats as well. This was my first time being carried into a boat and it was quite an experience.

Men are carried on the shoulders and women are carried cradle-style like you would a baby.

Caitlin and  I were both scared, but all of these men are skilled and the one who carried me promised not to drop me (well I made him promise me).

Once we got on the boat, we were excited and ready to go.

Many boats left the port around the same time we did.

Our boat was pretty empty with only about twenty other passengers. We had a seat to ourselves and got to enjoy the boat ride with an amazing view. I even took a short nap.

Four hours later, we finally reached one of the islands and got to see an amazing sunset.

We had to wait for a motorboat to pick us up and take us to Banda Island  (Pictured here).

The fishermen and other villagers unloaded the boat to take all the food to the markets on this island

Our motorboat's motor died so we had to wait an hour before we could start our way to Banda Island.

The sun was slowly setting as we waited and waited.

We finally got the boat to work when the sun went down. Luckily the moon was out so we traveled to Banda Island by moonlight. When we reached Banda Island, our host, Andrew, was waiting for us by a campfire. We had beans and eggplant with rice and potatoes for dinner and relaxed by the campfire before bed.

Our host, Andrew, is a native Australian who has been traveling all over Africa for several years . It has been two months since he came to Banda Island in the hopes of trying to revive it since the original owner of the cottages passed away a few years ago. Banda used to be a much more popular tourist site before he passed away. Andrew lives here with his numerous dogs, all of which are incredibly sweet.

The cottage that we stayed in was comfortable but we barely slept due to the incessant amount of bugs and noises that woke us up all throughout the night.

Despite being a beautiful island, Banda island did not offer the activities that a beach would (I miss cali beaches!). The sand was actually very pebbly, dirt-like, and full of ants. The water is also very contaminated with well many things that you would not want to expose yourself to. Although many people go swimming here- we didn't want to risk it in the shallow waters especially because we had spotted hippos nearby during lunch.

This is the main dining/lodge area where we had our meals. Caitlin and I spent most of our afternoon reading, playing cards, playing jenga, and I learned how to play backgammon. I felt like I was at summer camp.

Hippo tracks! The hippos had come onto the island during the night to feast on grass.

Birds of prey are flying everywhere on Banda. I wasn't very interested in them because I am not a huge bird fan but I feel like Banda Island would be a birdwatcher's paradise.

We decided to take a forty minute hike to the other end of the island to visit the village. This village is populated by 200 villagers. They subsist on fish and have their own chickens, goats, and cows.

The hike to the village was terrifying because we had to trek through trails of safari ants. These safari ants are not your regular black ants. If they crawl onto you, they bite and don't let go. Andrew, Caitlin, and I each got bitten once but we had to spend the entire hike swatting these ants off our clothes and legs. I couldn't enjoy the hike and the scenery because I felt like I constantly had ants all over me.

We met these cute kids when we got to the village. They walked around with us and were sad to see us go.

The kids didn't want to let go of my hand and started crying when we left. They were the sweetest kids!

The island was definitely beautiful but very deserted and we were ready to leave come Sunday morning. It was only Caitlin, me, and Andrew on this side of the island and Caitlin and I were ready to go back home. Although the escape from the city was nice, we were ready to get back to reality and have communication with the rest of society. 

 

Unfortunately, getting back home was not as easy as getting to the islands. The boat that arrived to take us back to Kampala was filled to the brim with bags of fish and people. These bags of small fish would be grounded up with corn to serve as chicken feed. The smell was horrible. I sat on top of these bags during the whole trip as did the other passengers who sat right next to me. I was rolled up in a ball and unable to stretch my legs.

 I feared for my life on this four hour journey home as we rode through a thunderstorm and almost capsized. I was so terrified. There were no life jackets and the boat was so full that waves of water filled into our boat multiple times. Thankfully we were able to make it through the storm without being struck by lightning or falling overboard. I was drenched and freezing during the hour we had remaining on the boat after the storm. Luckily, Caitlin and I do not get seasick but my poor Caitlin had gotten terrible food poisoning from the food we had the night before. We had been served Nile Perch for dinner and she must have gotten a bad piece because she was having horrible symptoms up until she had to sit on top of the smelly fish in the boat.

We finally made it back home after landing, traveling in our wet clothes on a matatu to the taxi park and back on a boda. Caitlin was as pale as a ghost and we were both freezing. I made sure to nourish Caitlin back to health and she has fully recovered since her food poisoning. We have decided not to do anything adventurous this weekend and only have a short trip planned.

On another note.. happy belated fourth of July! We spent our fourth at an American cafe (endiro cafe!) where we splurged on overpriced American fare and sang our national anthem loud and proud. We drew this picture of the American flag during dinner.