Africa.Jungle and veldt by Caravan and Sedan chair.

[drron]

When we got back to the ship we had a new neighbour.A tall ship from Holland-

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For our final dinner we had the Hot Rocks on the pool deck with 2 English couples and 1 American couple.A great way to finish up.Bags out when we got back to our suite.Didn't sleep very well as usual when you have to get up early.Had breakfast in our suite as the sun began to appear-

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Was good to have tomatoes for brekkie.They had run out about 3 days before docking.
We left the ship at 0700 and had to wait a while for our bags to come off.had a taxi booked for 0715 but it didn't appear.The local tourist rep then booked Uber and rang the taxi company boss.Very soon a grey Merc made a rapid entry.It was the taxi boss half in his PJs and he took us to the airport.The taxi drivers were peeved with the Explorer as none got any business the day before when it arrived-as the ship's tours were free that made perfect sense to us.

At the airport we got our bags wrapped.No line at checkin and got them booked all the way to EBB.First leg on BA,second on SAA but both flights on the same PNR.A bit of a line at security.Had to take shoes and belt off.Naturally I still set off the alarm and once again a quite perfunctory pat down.Then a walk around the shops before heading off to the lounge.A large place but 2 separate desks at the entrance.One for BA the other a Slow lounge desk.Food out for brekkie was quite weird with the most unappetising egg dish I have ever seen.So we just had a coffee and did some reading.

 

[drron]

BA 6410. CPT-JNB. ETD-0950. Push back-0957. Take off-1006. B738. Seats-3A,C.
ETA-1150. Landed-1144. at gate-1153.
As always this is the usual BA domestic J.That is Y seats with middle empty.It was very hazy around Capetown but cleared a little as we went over the mountains

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Lunch was served.It was supposed to be a pork curry.

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It tasted to me like a sweet and sour capsicum dish.There may have been a piece of meat.Mrsdrron put up with just a glass of wine.Otherwise uneventful and we arrived into JNB on time.A fair walk to the International terminal.The lines at security weren't long but an extended family was in front of us-a fellow with 3 wives and 4 children.Every one of their bags was subjected to a full search.Straight through Immigration and to the Baobab lounge.
Strange food again.4 hot dishes.3 curries all of which were bland.The 4th dish was meant to be roasted vegetables but was in fact just 3 colours of capsicum.

 

[drron]

SA162. JNB-EBB. ETD-1405. push back-1407. Take off-1416. A332. Seats-2A,C
ETA-1900. landed-1901. At gate-1909.
It was a bus to the plane.This makes a joke of priority boarding.First on the bus,last off and onto plane.RJ are the only airline that does this well with a separate bus for J pax.Served a sparkling SA white on being seated but it was not collected.

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So to the menu-

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Mrsdrron was happy with thw Stellembosch SB and the Prince Cab sav was very nice so I stuck to that.You get a salad.for appetiser I had the goats cheese dish and mrsdrron the prawns.Both nice.

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[drron]

For mains I had the salmon-overcooked.Mrsdrron the mushroom pasta which she enjoyed-

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Again an uneventful flight but magnificent views coming into EBB over Lake Victoria-

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And we pass over a mini South American continent-

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[drron]

One of the best sunsets I have seen from a plane-

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Then a turn into EBB so we lost the view until on the ground-

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Now there are 3 airbridges at EBB but none were being used.We also were at a remote stand and bussed to the arrivals hall.

 

[drron]

On going into the arrivals hall you are told to fill out an Arrivals form.next your yellow fever certificate is perused.We had applied for the visa on line and had our printout.Only 1 couple in front of us in the online queue.The other queues are longer but we are second last out of Ummigration.Now the couple in front of us were English.Got the third degree,had photo and fingerprints taken and each handed over $US100.
Now on the online visa application it says visa is $US100.On the Ugandan Immigration website it is $US50.many reports on TA etc of people being charged$US150.We had 2 $100 bills ready.Now for the clincher.The woman Immigration official asked us if we knew Sydney.mrsdrron answers we were both born there.She then says my church is there.Hillsong,do you know it?Mrsdrron says yes it is very big and very popular.So we only had photos taken and charged $US50 for our visas.Win!Our Arrivals form was not even looked at.

So get to baggage carousel and it is just stopping.Our bags are standing beside it.Then a farce with the hotel shuttle.Go outside and no one there.Ask a fellow who rings the number we gave him for the shuttle.Noone answering he says.You will have to get a taxi-how much $US10-for a 1Km trip.noone would budge so resigned to our fate.Go outside with a driver and there is the Protea shuttle driver so we ditch the taxi option.
Arriving at the Protea and given warm towels and mango juice.Whilst checking in the concierge comes over asking if we need anything so we organise leaving our 2 larger bags to be collected when we come back from Bwindi.Asked if I would like the 250MR points or the local amenity.Now I wouldn't put as much value on MR points as SPG points so I took the amenity which was a glass of wine and a fruit platter.Upgraded to a very large room.Would have a lovely view over Lake Victoria but we arrived in the dark and left in the dark.here is the room-

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The only problem was no hot water for our whole stay.But it is Africa.
The next day we had been told to be at the airport at 0615 so we took the 0530 shuttle back.The sun was rising as we got there-

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We tried to enter the airport-you have to go through security to get in.We were turned back and told to go to the waiting room and come back when your flight is called for checkin.Now you have to go through another security setup to get into the waiting room.The bags are put through the x-ray with no one looking at the screen.I set off the alarm,say a new knee so waved through.
On the departure screen our flight is listed for 0820-an hour late.Nothing to do in the waiting room.A café but nothing looks good.At 0645 a woman comes up and asks if we are the drrons as you are the last to checkin for the flight.It is leaving at the originally advertised time.So a quick checkin,through another security and then taken to boarding gate with the other pax through another security check and then wait for 30 minutes until boarding.On the bus to our plane.

 

[zig]

Stunning photos dron. The helicopter flight looked like it was an amazing experience, and if I get back to Cape Town it will be at the top of my to do list Continuing to enjoy ( and be very envious :mrgreen of your travels.

 

[drron]

So here is drron in the Caravan.

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3 flights on Grand Caravans during our African sojourn.So off we go-

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It started to rain as we were about to take off.past the terminal and the WFP planes-World food Program-

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[drron]

We are flying on Aerolink Uganda flight A8111.We are heading to Kihili with a stop at Seniliki.The route varies according to where passengers want to be.The first part of the flight is again over Lake Victoria but soon a lot of cloud.it clears later so some aerial pictures of Uganda-

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[love_the_life]

So here is drron in the Caravan.

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3 flights on Grand Caravans during our African sojourn.So off we go-

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So all has been revealed - well half anyway, looking forward to the sedan chair

 

[Jacques Vert]

Looking forward to following your African adventures. Enjoy.

 

[drron]

Now descending into Seniliki-

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Obviously very fertile country.A lot of what you see are tea plantations.Some of the locals are comparatively well off.

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[drron]

There is a road crossing the strip with just a bamboo barrier.When it goes up everyone is off-

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After 10 minutes we are off again-

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Over the Bwindi Impenetrable forest-

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And looking into the Congo-

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This turned out to be the road close to the lodge where we stayed-

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The caravan at Kihili-

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[drron]

A local fellow has built a resort close to the airport and there is a vineyard and golf course beside the airport-

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A classy pub-

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A lot of private enterprise with the fronts of houses along the road usually being a shop or restaurant.Each door represents a separate business-

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You pass by a few muslim villages.But also lots of gum trees.

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Some have opulent houses-

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But most live in not so elegant housing-

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[drron]

A modern service station.But only selected roads get maintenance-

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the local butcher-

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Many tea factories but behind this village a lot of coffee bushes including flowering bushes-

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[drron]

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A little unusual is a large tea plantation-

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A church in every village-

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The Mountain is in the Congo-

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[drron]

You pass quite a few schools-

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Another large tea plantation-

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[drron]

There are always people walking on the roads-

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A tea bush nursery-

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This school will feature later on in this TR-

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A lodge a long way from the gorillas-

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Necessity is the mother of invention-

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[drron]

Now getting to Bwindi-

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And we reach Sanctuary Gorilla lodge.The view is peaceful-

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[drron]

When you arrive there are 91 steps up to the main building of the lodge.Most places have lots of steps as this is in the mountains.We are greeted by the manager Nicholus and room attendant Shadrack-the bible is still in vogue here.Though we didn't meet Meshach and Abednego.A fruit juice and then off to our room.each is a separate building set in the jungle though ours did overlook the next door lodge.Our room-

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After unpacking and freshening up it was back to the main building for lunch-

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It was a standard menu for lunch and dinner-choice of 2 salads,2-3 mains and 2 desserts.Usually a vegetarian option.This time I had the Thai beef salad,mrsdrron the garden salad.We both had a local fish for main and a fruit platter for dessert.

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There are 3 chefs who rotate daily.All meals were good.Simple dishes with good ingredients and prepared very well.
Lots of birds around.

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