Weekend Adventures: Fort Portal

After a few weeks of full-time teaching, we all decided that it was time for some fun! We have an incredible friend here in Uganda who plans trips for groups like us, so we contacted her and asked her to plan an adventure to Fort Portal for us (we had all been told by several people that Fort Portal was a city we HAD to visit while we were in Uganda). She quickly put together a trip that we all found very rewarding and adventurous.

Our trip began early Friday evening. The two KSU students on the other side of the city picked us up in a Matatu [LINK HERE] around 6pm and we were off! Fort Portal is about a 4-hour drive from Kampala, so we arrived in Fort Portal a little after 10pm. I was really excited when we arrived to our lodging for the weekend. We stayed at Y.E.S. Hostel, and the acronym stands for Youth Encouragement Services. We had the opportunity to meet with the ‘Youth,’ but more on that a little later on. Because we got to Fort Portal so late, we did not do any sightseeing or exploring of the city. We stayed at the hostel, took advantage of the wifi, and went to sleep.

Saturday started super early. However, after getting up before 6 every weekday for the past month, we were all used to it. I took a quick shower (yes, hot water does exist in Africa) and we were on the Matatu by 7:00, ready for the day’s adventure. Before heading to our first stop, we stopped in the city for breakfast. When we pulled up to a row of several shops as well as people manning roadside stands, we were confused. Where was the breakfast restaurant we were supposed to eat at? Silly Americans! As it turns out, the roadside stands were the “restaurants” we were going to eat at! Now, I know what you’re thinking! “How unsanitary!” Trust me; I had always had the same reservations about eating food from a roadside stand. However, the food was amazing! We had rolexes, which are rolled chapati (a form of tortilla) with eggs and onions inside. SO GOOD. [Now, we look for rolex stations all over town and stop whenever we find one.] We ate on the road so we would not lose too much time in our day.

Our first stop was to a Pigmy village, home to the Batwa Pigmy’s. These people had previously lived in the forest that is now part of the Semuliki National Park, surviving off of plants and animals. However, when the government came in and declared the forest a national park, they forced the Batwa’s off of the land and into a village of sorts (sound familiar to anything in American history?). Not used to this lifestyle, the Batwa people suffered greatly. It has only been recently that they have been able to successfully live the “civilized” lifestyle. In addition, they have started to marry people outside of their village, so their heritage is being lost through this blending of cultures. While we were visiting this village, we had the cool opportunity to meet the King and Queen of the Batwa people. They were both SO nice to us and even showed us around their mud home. They have 4 kids, three girls and one boy. As normal royal tradition would have it, the boy, who also happens to be the youngest, will be the next Batwa king. [I can just imagine him singing “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” as he runs through the village.] The Batwa people then performed their traditional dance for us, and some of us jumped in once we got the moves down!

After leaving the village, it was time to go to the park! We were set to go to the two hot springs in the park, which we were told would take us about an hour and a half to visit both and get back to the entrance. I wore my Chaco’s, and the tour guide told me that I needed close-toed shoes, so I had to rent shin-high rain boots from them. As stylish as you may think those sound (picture below), they were more uncomfortable than anything, and actually gave me a blister. They worked, though, because the paths were VERY muddy, and several of the girls now have shoes so muddy they are almost unwearable again. Lucky me! After a short hike through the forest, we arrived at the Male Hot Spring. [The difference in the male and female hot springs has to do with the celebratory rituals the people used to do – males and females did not celebrate together.] I feel as if this is completely unnecessary to say, but it was hot. [Thank you, Captain Obvious!] After taking all kinds of pictures, we cleared out and headed towards the female hot spring. The hot springs were very similar, but the female hot spring was in a clearer, more open area. By this time, it was time for lunch! We actually cooked our lunch – matoke (banana-shaped potatoes), Irish potatoes (the potatoes you’re used to), eggs, and veggies – in the hot spring! It was a really cool experience!

After our lunch, we headed back towards the city for our next stop. Here is where the “Youth” come in! We learned that all of the proceeds from the hostel go to fund an orphanage for kids who are HIV positive and have been abandoned by their families, so we visited the orphanage! Visiting was terribly bittersweet, as orphanages often can be. Knowing the kids are not only HIV positive but also were abandoned by their families was so heartbreaking, but it was so refreshing to see them all so full of joy. The lady who runs both the hostel and orphanage is a Christian, so the children are taught the Bible, which I loved. We stayed at the orphanage for about 2 hours, and during that time, the kids all played several songs for us on various musical instruments – they are all so musically talented – and even invited us to play with them! We had such a great time with the kids and were sad to leave.

Sunday also began early. Another quick breakfast of rolexes from the road and we were off to the Ambere Caves and Crater Lakes. The hike to the caves was a short one, and it ended with a waterfall! We saw so many cool features of caves and got to get into the water. It. Was. SO. COLD! However, it was so refreshing. After the caves and waterfall, we headed to the Crater Lakes. The hike was gruesome, but we made it, and the views from the top of the craters made the hike worth it! Uganda is home to some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

We ended our Fort Portal adventures by doing some souvenir shopping. Wanting to save money, I had not bought any souvenirs for family and friends yet. However, these prices were too good to pass up. Things were much cheaper here than in Kampala (although they are still cheap in there), so I had to buy whatever I thought people would like. I hope I did a good job!

I have done SO much since this weekend adventure (which was back in September), so be looking back often for more posts!

Cam

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