Arriving at The Rwenzori Mountains
The 8-hour drive from Entebbe to The Rwenzori foothills was worth every minute. Sometimes unmade roads and other times perfect dual carriageway. I think the theme of this post and especially of the drive for me was ingenuity. I saw so many small businesses along the side of the road with stands out selling tomatoes and mangos, avocados and jack fruit, bananas and pineapple grown in their gardens. I also saw motorbikes and lorries packed to the gunnels. My BBC training in Health and Safety and the ensuing Risk Assessments are useless here. People do what needs to be done and there is no one to tell them not to.
We arrived at the Rwenzori Founders early evening, turning right up into the hills just before Kasese. What struck me in the half-light was the huge triangle of green forest stretching up the mountain. They did that! … clearing lantana bushes for two years in order to plant trees. The bird song was extraordinary as were the numerous sculptures dotted around the land. The aim of the foundation is to cast sculptures and then artwork sales help pay for tree planting and all sorts of other good work done by the Founders. Internationally renowned artists come from far and wide to study the wildlife in the forests, create their pieces in the foundry and sell it in the gallery. The result… a haven of tranquillity and contemplative appreciation of the world around us.
We slept very soundly after some Ugandan home cooking – goat and beans. Not that sure about the goat to be honest but it’s a favourite staple so we will have it again. The beans were delicious.
Zuleika and I now have 6 days to shape our outlines and fill in the details, to buy 1188 tree saplings and to make sure all the community elders, and even the current King of the Basongora people are happy for us to film them.