GETTING READY

(Gorilla Tales Part 1)

Travel Tales Index - Gorilla Tales Index - Uganda Pix - Rwanda Pix - Zanzibar Pix

 

Friends, Associates, Acquaintances & Moms,

This year, we are taking a trip to Uganda, Rwanda and Zanzibar from December 27 to February 18, 2003. For one reason or another, your name is on our travelogue e-mail list. It can NEVER be removed! (Just kidding) If you know anyone else that would like to receive our e-mails, have them contact Paul at PaulWorksHard@hotmail.com. This is the first of a series of e-mails you will be receiving related to our trip. Here is information about planning, packing, logistics and answers to some questions people have asked us:

 

Why Uganda, Rwanda and Zanzibar (i.e. Paul, Where Do You Get These Nutty Ideas?)

This is a hard question to answer because there are no clear-cut overwhelming reasons. We decided we wanted Africa to be our next destination so we set about deciding where. Of the 45 or so countries in Africa, about half are experiencing either civil war or war with a neighboring country. We started with a list of "safe" countries and worked from there. Weather was probably the next factor. Some countries have a rainy season in January and February. Not when we want to visit! Then there is the question of how over/under touristed a country is and whether or not there are things to do, places to go and people to see that seem interesting.

After researching it, we realized we could easily spend a month in Uganda and two weeks in Rwanda, get a feeling for the people, their culture, their country and see mountain gorillas in the wild. Both are off the tourist track, have current reputations for being friendly to foreigners and the weather is good. The island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania seemed like a great place to end a long trip with a number of days on the beach.

Is It Safe? Compared to what? Washington DC? - where planes crash into buildings, there is anthrax in the mail and there was a sniper on the loose? Certainly it is different than here, but in terms of crime, Rwanda and Uganda are considerably safer than many other "popular" (Kenya, South Africa) countries in Africa. We appreciate the fact that a lot of people have expressed concerns about our safety and it has led us to question if we are making a mistake. We don't think so, but there is certainly a risk every time you walk out of your house. We suspect our biggest risk will be the plane rides and our stopover in London.

How Do You Plan Your Trip?

Our two biggest resources are the library and the Internet. We get as many guidebooks and look at as many web sites as we can. The idea is to decide which cities/towns/villages/small grouping of huts might be interesting to visit. We don't figure out exactly what we want to do in a town, just how many days we might want to spend there.

For this trip, Paul read about 5 guidebooks, cover to cover. For any destination, we first look for guidebooks by Footprint Handbooks, then Lonely Planet and then the Rough Guides. Which guidebook to use is dependent on the destination. For Central & South America, Footprint is by far the best. For Asia, Lonely Planets tends to be better. For Cuba, Moon Handbooks can't be beat. For Rwanda, the only guidebook available is from Bradt Travel Guides. We don't particularly like Rough Guides, but the entire text of their books is on-line which makes research easy. The Uganda Travel Planner is an on-line resource we came across.

Guidebooks we are using on this trip:

Uganda: The Bradt Travel Guide by Philip Briggs

Rwanda: The Bradt Travel Guide by Philip Briggs

Footprint Uganda Handbook by Michael Hodd

Lonely Planet Tanzania by Mary Fitzpatrick                        

After doing our research, we select what we think is the best guidebook for the trip and supplement it with information from other books and the web. We create a list of places we want to visit and how long we want to stay. We get a map of the country (usually from an on-line source) and circle each place on the map. Next, it is simply a matter of trying to connect the dots in an intelligent fashion. The guidebooks we use tend to focus more on logistics than information about various sites. So, they have maps of each town with lists of places to stay and eat and information about getting from point A to point B by bus, truck, boat, taxi etc. With the dots connected, we have a rough idea of our itinerary and what modes of transportation we will use between places. At this point, we know where we want to go, but have not yet connected the dots. This will be a very free form trip!

More detailed planning is done at most a day or two in advance. Often, we do it on the bus/truck/boat ride into town. Sometimes, we don't do it until we're in the town. The initial plan may be changed radically or not at all depending on how much time we have, if a place is better/worse than it sounded in the books, if we decide to add/delete a town because of information from someone we meet on the road, etc.

What Do You Take With You? (i.e. Paul, Do You Bring Your Telescope?)

Here’s our packing list for this trip:

Eagle Creek travel pack

Underwear 3 pairs

Silk Sleep sack

Socks 3 pairs

Mosquito netting

2 pair nylon convertible pants

teva sandals

1 t-shirts

Day hikers

1 polo shirt

Butane lighter

1 Patagonia light weight s/s shirt

Zip lock bags (to keep things dry)        

1 long sleeve shirt

Toilet articles kit

1 lightweight fleece

Toilet paper

Anorak/Nylon windbreaker

First aid kit

Large backpacking poncho

30% DEET

Sarong

Insect coils

 

Pelican L1 Light

Passport photos

Nylon Cord - for clothesline etc.

Photocopy of passport & visas

Combination locks for backpack

Money belt - hangs from belt

Safety pins & Sewing kit

Journal

Water bottle or Camelbak

Guidebooks

Iodine tablets

Language dictionary

Lexan Fork, Knife & Spoon

Books to read

Titanium Sierra Cup

Pens

Thermarest

Camera & film

Lightweight Tent

Lots of books to read

Poncho Liners

 

 

 

In the spirit of full disclosure, Lois insists I note that she takes more than 3 pairs of underwear! The goal is to bring as little as possible. Our packs weigh less than 30 pounds each.

How Do You Get By With So Few Clothes? (i.e. Don’t You Stink?)

Yes, but you knew that already! We bring clothes that are quick drying and regularly wash them in the guesthouse sink at night. In some countries, it's easy to find a Laundromat and have all your clothes washed for a few dollars. We always try to look neat and clean but not necessarily fashionable!

Do These Countries Let Anybody In? (i.e. Even You, Lois & Paul?)

Just about. Uganda and Tanzania require visas for Americans. We got our visas in advance from the embassies. They require a couple of passport photos, forms in duplicate and $50/person.

What Happens If You Get Sick?

You feel miserable for a little while and spend lots of time in the bathroom. On our Cambodia trip, Paul got seriously dehydrated, but made it to a clinic; got the best and most attentive medical care he ever received and was ready to go the next day. We will bring Imodium, Cipro and malaria medicine. The Imodium stops you up. Cipro is an antibiotic for any bacterial GI problems. We have used both of these on a couple of occasions. Worst case, you need to be evacuated to a city with modern health care facilities. This time, it would be Kampala (capital of Uganda) or Kigali (capital of Rwanda). Insurance covers this.

To prevent getting sick, we've been inoculated for Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. We will avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes by covering up and using DEET.

Where Do You Stay? (i.e. At the Holiday Inn?)

Hotels, motels, guesthouses, inns, pensiones, albergues - any place that has cheap rooms for rent. The guidebooks list places to stay in each town. If they don't, we ask around when we arrive in town. We have no reservations. We don't know where we are staying until we walk up to the place, ask to see a room and decide whether or not we like it.

Occasionally, we call ahead or have someone call for us and make a reservation if the next stop is a large city or we expect it to be difficult to find a room. We have never slept out in the cold, but have paid a lot more than we wanted or stayed in a place we really didn't like or spent an hour or two looking. We will probably spend $10 per night for a clean room with hot water. Since there is no other option, we plan on doing a lot of camping in the national parks. This is the reason for the tent and thermarests.

Money, Money, Money?

Airfare to Africa

75,000 frequent flier miles per ticket

Visas

$200

Guidebooks

$75

Bradt Travel guides indicate the rock bottom cost for traveling through Uganda & Rwanda is $20/person/day. We are planning on double that or $80/day total plus a little extra, just in case. From what we can tell, day to day living should be very cheap (close to the $20/person/day figure). The expensive part is entrance to national parks ($10-25/person/day), Gorilla tracking ($275/person) and hiring a guide or private vehicle where needed. Normally, we bring $500-$1000 in cash (there's nothing like the US dollar), credit cards and an ATM card. We use the ATM card for getting local currency. This is the cheapest and best way to change money. Unfortunately, there are no ATM networks in Uganda & Rwanda. Instead, we will bring $2500 in cash and $4000 in traveler's checks. We will bring credit and ATM cards for emergencies. Of all the trips we've taken, we are the most unsure about how much this one will cost. We think (and hope!) we are erring on the side of carrying too much money with us.

The currency in Uganda is shillings and in Rwanda it's francs. We will change some traveler's checks into local currency and pay for some expensive items using US dollars or traveler's checks.

What Is The Language, How Will You Communicate?

The official language in Uganda is English, but many people only speak a local indigenous language. Rwanda has some French speakers and a few English speakers. Swahili is the most common language across East Africa. We plan on learning some Swahili as we go with the help of a phrasebook. It's amazing how much you can learn when immersed in a language. Usually, people are very helpful and while we might be confused as to what exactly is going on at times, we should be able to fumble our way along. People that run guesthouses will speak some English or French and, more importantly, are used to tourists and what they might want to do or where they might want to go. You just keep asking the same questions and trying to get reassurance that this bus really is going to where you want and not to China!

How Do You Get Two Months Off From Work?

Ask. It works for Paul. Don’t ask and don’t work. That is Lois’ method.

What Is Your Route?

If only we knew! NOW THAT WE ARE BACK, click here to see our route.

So, after not enough planning and a couple of hectic weeks getting everything together, away we go...

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year To Everyone!

Lois & Paul
December 26, 2002

 

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Gorilla Tales Part 2

 

all content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2003.