| Fort Portal at the foot of Mt. Rwenzori is a | | | | years old when he succeeded his father who died |
| one-Street Town that resembles any other small | | | | of a road accident in 1995. |
| town of East Africa. | | | | The rain subsides and Mutesi suggests a drive to |
| Maps are wonderful things. The smaller the | | | | the Tooro Botanical gardens on the outskirts of |
| tourist guidebook or atlas, or even one drawn | | | | town, where project manager Samwel gives the |
| across the bar counter, the greater the inclination | | | | spiel. "The objective of the botanical is to |
| to go and see a place. Everything looks so close. | | | | conserve the Albertine Rift species and at the |
| At that point everything vanishes from the mind, | | | | time sensitize the public to the uses of the plants |
| and the brain goes into auto-pilot. Images of vast | | | | and how to derive sustainable income from them, |
| savannahs and things all new to see paint the | | | | "he says. |
| mind's eye and with tinted glasses we hit the | | | | I realize that I am close to the Albertine Rift |
| road. I felt all powerful. | | | | valley, which is part of the Great Rift valley and |
| You can only go to Kampala so many times and | | | | home to some of the most unusual and endemic |
| not see the rest of Uganda. Like I said ATMS are | | | | species of flora and fauna. "The Rwenzori is |
| wonderful things. I got some money in seconds | | | | heavily forested and it's in our interest to protect |
| from the smart Cosmo shopping mall. The garden | | | | it because it's a very good source of honey, |
| city. UGSh 100,000 seemed like a lot of money | | | | "says Patrick of Kabarole Bee-keepers |
| and I hit the road. | | | | Association. Everybody's got something to say |
| I chose the route from the tattered little tourist | | | | about the mountains. |
| book. The Rwenzori, the fabled mountains of the | | | | It's getting late and I haven't a glimpse of the |
| moon, popped out. I'd do that; take a nice bus | | | | mountains yet, even though everybody says |
| ride along the mountains of the moon where | | | | they are there. Mutesi suggest that we drive to |
| gorillas and chimps still find a home in the | | | | Sebitoli Forest camp.10 Kilometers from fort |
| equatorial rainforest of Africa. | | | | portal. Its a beautiful forest surrounded by tea |
| Two hundred kilometers away lay fort portal on | | | | plantations and in the bitter sweet-cold of a |
| the foothills of Rwenzoris; my first stop. Uganda is | | | | finishing day, monkeys fill the thick canopy of the |
| a well watered country. You see that driving | | | | upper branches." Can you tell the three species up |
| almost from anywhere. Roads pass through lush, | | | | there?" asks Tumusiine. He offers to take us for |
| green swamps of papyrus. | | | | a walk in the forest in search of chimps the |
| Indigenous forests of incredibly tall trees bracket | | | | following morning I have to decline because he |
| the roads and they are matoke fields all over. | | | | doesn't accept credit cards. So it's back to town |
| Uganda and matoke are inseparable. Thick green | | | | to the pearl Guesthouse, which offers" peaceful |
| banana clusters fill the roadside markets .Men on | | | | accommodation" on the main street opposite the |
| bicycle and pickups ferry them up and down the | | | | expensive hotel. |
| roads, and nobody can go hungry in Uganda. It's | | | | I finally had to cut short my trip and head back |
| the fertile land- "the pearl of Africa." | | | | as I faced my worst fear of running out of |
| As we approached fort portal the town on the | | | | money. The exchange rate played a trick on me |
| slopes of the mighty Rwenzori Mountains, it was | | | | this time and I promised myself that next time it |
| pouring like skies had burst open. Heavy clouds | | | | would be different. |
| hung over the horizon. Riffle in hand a statue of | | | | How to get to Mt. Rwenzori in Uganda. |
| sir Gerald portal stood guard over the township | | | | Your tour operator will organize either a die-hard |
| he founded over a century ago. | | | | camping adventure or a softer roomed |
| "Over there, behind the clouds, "she replied | | | | accommodation in Fort Portal. This is the base |
| looking in the direction of the Mt. Rwenzori. | | | | town where you can launch your escapades into |
| Needless to say, all I saw was a white sky. | | | | the Mt. Rwenzori forest. Gorilla trackers will have |
| Remarkably, there were two banks in town, just | | | | to do advance booking preferably 3months or |
| not my bank. But the only tourist-class hotel was | | | | more in advance. The reason is that gorilla safaris |
| fully booked. But there was nothing to worry | | | | are highly controlled to limit the impact on the |
| about. The king's palace sat perched on the | | | | very endangered species in Uganda. Sometimes |
| hill-top, a circular structure built by Libyan | | | | the gorilla tracking is booked for over a year due |
| strongman Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. King Oyo | | | | to limitation in numbers they put for each tracking |
| Nyimba KabambaIguru Ukiidi IV of the world's | | | | party. |
| youngest monarch. Now 14, he was only three | | | | |