From Muko Rwanda to Muko Uganda Over the Hills and up in the Air

We were very sorry to leave beautiful Rwanda but the scenery across the border from Cyanika to Kabale was just as stunning. From Red Rocks, Muko village to the border was a quick 25kms and a leisurely re-entry to Uganda. At the first town of Kisoro we were held up for 30 mins waiting for a small plane to land, discharge its passengers and take off again as the runway ran straight across the main road. Then it was a series of hairpin bends through terraced hillsides up into the equatorial forest zone and its roadside baboons, with views of the top of one of the Virunga volcanos appearing above the cloud on one side of the mountains and beautiful Lake Bunyoni in the valley as we descended the other side. At Muko, the road plunged to the edge of the Lake and here we stopped late afternoon, parked on the grassy edge watching dug-out canoes landing passengers and their wares, to the cries from the nearby restaurant 'official' of "No Parking", not to us but to the boatmen. The variety of birdlife  kept me entertained, as the sun set behind the mountains, and the few solar lights became visible on the hillsides. Muko village was mainly in darkness, except for the restaurant where we ordered a meal of pork and chips. We probably funded their lighting bill for the week. The fried potatoes were edible, but the deep fried pork bones were more than we could cope with. However it was a pleasant place to spend the night. In the clear sky full of stars I saw the longest 'shooting' meteorite I have ever witnessed.

Next morning, in the dusty town of Kabale we did some shopping and ate breakfast alongside the gorilla roundabout in the centre, watching life go by. It was not that far from Kabale that we had identified a possible area for flying, and after another winding trek through the mountains we came out into dairy farming territory and big grass fields. In the small town of Rubare we found a track marked on our digital map which took us away from the town. On reaching a crossroads a sign pointing in one direction to Mateeka Close intrigued us, so we followed it and could see on the hillside ahead a farm with a smart looking big house. Arriving at the gates, Chris was admitted on foot and went in search of 'the boss'. When he returned, he had good news: he had spoken to General Mateeka in Kampala on the phone, and also his wife who was out at a funeral  The General readily gave permission to the strange request to fly a hot air balloon from his property, and we were invited in to park during the afternoon in the beautiful grounds of their house, to await the return of Mrs Mateeka (Estella). An Aunt was at the house and we were offered refreshments and given a life history of the General and his family, then taken to a little rondavel where the traditional milk 'cupping' ceremony was held. The inside of the building was painted in black and white abstracts, 'carpetted' in cow hides. The churning of the milk in a large gourd was demonstrated, the beautifully carved dark wood milk pots with bamboo woven lids were inspected and the method of sterilisation with smoke from burning grass was very interesting and helped to pass the time until Estella returned. African tea was then offered and drunk (by me) and an explanation of how we had come to be there and what we wanted to do followed. The General had been Military Attache in Washington DC for 8 years, so he, Estella and their 5 children had lived in the US for some time. We never met the General, but it was decided that their son Solomon should get the bus from Kampala (5 hrs travel) and join us on Saturday afternoon to help with a flight on Sunday morning. With that, we retired to bed.

The farm had no mains electricity, all powered by solar, so no access to internet as we have no Uganda SIM card. We decided to pass Saturday by retracing our route 25kms to visit the Great Lakes Museum with cafe, WiFi and an interesting cultural display. We were able to make contact with friends and family. We had been concerned by several missed phone calls from Carlisle Hospital at home, as I knew that my half-brother Johnny was recovering from surgery and a prolonged hospital stay. Thanks to great help from Kirsty, the situation was explained. Returning to the 'ranch' somewhat reassured, we were shortly joined by Solomon driving a dairy pick-up. He was a charming young man, and having spent several years in America he understood the difference in our lifestyle as opposed to that of the average Ugandan. He took us on a walking tour of a small part of the farm as far as 'his mother's' lake. This was stocked with fish and used to irrigate their banana plantation and gardens and provide water for the cattle. The house water supply was purely collected from rainwater. He explained how all the cows were brought in each night and milked by hand in the morning, after the young calves had been allowed to drink a small amount from their mothers. The milk was put into churns and taken to a local refrigerated collection point. They had secretely bought a German breed of bull recently that they didn't want the neighbours to know about, but word had got out somehow and a man turned up on a motorbike to offer them a lot of money to buy it off them! Their cow count was 328 on the farm having sold quite a substantial part of the herd to build an 'executive' hotel in town.

Chris decided that as Saturday morning had been calm at sunrise, we should launch the balloon on Sunday from the immaculate grass lawn in their garden, which Estella thought would be wonderful. She was such a welcoming lady and told us that God had brought us to their home, otherwise how would we have found a family that would understand us. Everyone kept thanking us for coming to meet them. We had 'built' the basket the day before, so it just needed a small amount of preparation to start the inflation just after a magnificent sunrise. Solomon was given a handheld radio and we had squeezed some more helium out of our cylinder to confirm wind direction, and with that we took off and flew towards the main road as expected at a gentle 7 knts below the top of the inversion. We got so excited with the flight that we went higher than intended and were soon doing 18knts directly towards a big flower farm, which we later learned belonged to the President's wife. Descending, we slowed up again, and seeing the pick up with Solomon and his 3+ 'helpers' following not far behind, decided to land after 30 mins in a field of long grass. Before the pick-up had even entered the field we were surrounded by men and boys from apparently empty countryside. It turned out it was land belonging to Sol's uncle so all was well. Chris invited him to get into the basket and operate the burner and the balloon flew on across the field towards the entrance. Plenty of kind help to load everything aboard and we set off back along bumpy tracks, followed by motor bikes and runners

 until we met the local security police, out looking for us. They were put out by having missed the 'event' of the flight and told Sol that it was a major problem because they had not been informed beforehand. It was good that he could quote that General Mateeka had given permission and everyone was happy to see the balloon. 

Once we had tidied ourselves up a little, we were given a proper Ugandan breakfast of bananas, mango and bread and honey, sitting on the veranda of their beautiful house. Chris and I had decided we would be on our way but Estella had promised us she would cook lunch, and she had been so hospitable we couldn't refuse. We retired to the Enterprise to pack the balloon away and have a short rest, but this was disturbed by the arrival of the police to interview everyone concerned in the morning's event. They couldn't think of a good reason why it shouldn't have taken place, but hung around for ages angling for some little 'present' before they could be persuaded to leave. We were surprised how deferential Estella and Solomon were to the police, seeing their standing in the community. Lunchtime came all too quickly following breakfast and we were 'treated' to a 'Sunday roast'. This consisted of matoka (boiled bananas), spaghetti and village chicken, bought in our honour. We were still chewing when we departed, with invitations to return.

It seemed a long drive back to the Masaka Backpackers, where we had a bad night with dogs barking. Yesterday we avoided Kampala and took the Northern Bypass, with a 2 hour break on the outskirts to fill the balloon tanks with gas, so we are now all set up for the next flight in Sudan. We are now back at The Haven, and have decided to stay for another 2 nights. It may well be the last place for a while where we get internet and can plug into the electricity. Even the more up-market lodges like this suffer from power cuts and slow WiFi, so please understand that keeping in touch with the outside world is not easy. Chris has taken the opportunity to do a lot of research and sent emails to shipping companies for our eventual return to Europe. We expect to reach Ethiopia early next week after traversing Kenya again. We will not be sorry to say goodbye to the Ugandan speed humps!!