Broadbill Forest Camp
The last time I was in Ruhijia, we stayed at the Trekkers Tavern in the town, a bit of a run-down backwater for a number of reasons. We did, however, visit the site of Emmy's Broadbill Forest Camp on the next ridge. The location had magnificent prospects, overlooking the Bwindi Forest in splendid isolation. Fred, Elizabeth and Chris had all since returned to the camp as work progressed, staying and enjoying the location greatly.
The location really is a great one and the accommodation is quite acceptable. Like many things in Africa, it all seems a little unfinished. You never know whether something is going to work or not. There are random light switches, dodgy plumbing and doors that won't open or close properly. Because Emmy is so busy with his guiding business and family, he has barely enough time to supervise the ongoing construction and maintenance at Broadbill. Sadly, this leaves things a little incomplete. Our first tent had a leak from the wash basin waste pipe that constantly wet the floor of the bathroom and it just couldn't be fixed. We moved to another one that was much better, but in both cases, the Velcro-attached canvas flap that served as a door could not be attached properly and could not be easily closed from the inside.
This is still Bwindi Forest, but this is now the high forest above 2000m altitude. It is cold and damp with thunderstorms threatening every afternoon and a constant chill in the air. The birds are a little different because of the height, but there are few mammals apart from the occasional Duiker and the ever-present array of monkeys.
While I love the location, for me it is just more forest bird-hunting and that doesn't really appeal. It is nice to walk around a little, but I find even this difficult with the slightly thinner air being noticeable to a sea-leveller like myself. You have to keep telling yourself to take it a little slower and don't try to rush about. If you move at a slow and steady pace you will be fine, but don't even think about rushing up a flight of steps or back to your tent for a forgotten water bottle.
I have mixed feelings about Broadbill. On the one hand I do admire the location and Emmy's ambition for the place. On the other hand, I despair a little for the small failings that take so much away from one's enjoyment of the whole. If you can make all the little things work, people don't notice, but they mysteriously do seem to like the place more. Get these things wrong – whether a loose toilet seat or a door that won't latch and you have sown the seed of doubt in the visitor's mind that they find it very hard to forget
I'm also starting to despair about the lack of ambition and thought going into desserts, not just at Broadbill, but more generally everywhere. A biscuit with some orange sauce poured around it is not a dessert – it's a tragedy! The same can be said for a pineapple ring with some syrup over it or a little square of forlorn cake. Why make such an effort with the presentation and imagination of the other courses then just let it all fall apart at the end – Africa in microcosm perhaps?
Mind you, it is possibly not just the desserts. There seems to be a general trend across Africa, not just Uganda, to see vegetables as something that should only be shown some heat, never actually exposed to it. I will apologise in advance if it offends, but I have a simple view. If it is on the plate then you should be able to eat it (bones excepted). In order to be able to eat it, it needs to be either deliberately raw or deliberately cooked. I know people like their vegetables to be a little crunchy these days, but if I can't put my fork into it then it isn't cooked enough. On this trip so far, everywhere has suffered from this to some extent – some places more than others, but ever present nonetheless.
I'm not asking for miracles here. If you want me to eat a nicely grated carrot or beetroot in a salad, I'll love it. If you shred a little carrot as a garnish then I understand it should be raw and crunchy. If you are going to give me carrots as a vegetable with my steak, however, it should be tender, not outright crunchy. What makes it odder is that the chef can get this right with Matoke, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes. The starchy staples can all be cooked just right, but the accompanying vegetables will always be under-done.
Nkuringo Revisited
From Broadbill on the eastern edge of Bwindi to Nkuringo in the south-west is only maybe forty kilometres in a straight line, but by road it is more like 90 on pretty bad dirt roads for much of the route. Our plan was to set off early, with the possibility of a little birding along the shores of Lake Buniyoni on the way. We did so, but to be honest I'd rather we'd just driven from A to B with no stops as the roads were truly awful and it was very late when we rounded the final corner at the top of the hill to see the familiar gates of Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge in front of us.
The gates were almost all that was familiar to me. Six years – almost to the day – had seen many changes on the site, much more than just the new bungalows that were to be our homes for the next four nights. Everything was now much more up-market, with better facilities and public spaces to go with the better accommodation and prices. Our new bungalow was not the only one either, three more had been built below ours down the forest facing side of the mountain.
The journey to Nkuringo had posed and interesting question between us, including Emmy. Why were we going there? After spending the time there, I can see both sides of the argument. The views are great, but ecologically it is much the same as being at Broadbill. The birds, plants and animals are the same and we would and indeed didn't see anything new. The place, however, is really nice, calm, quiet and relaxing. The bungalow rooms assigned to us are new and possibly of the highest standard we have seen on the trip so far – even equalling or exceeding Gorilla Forest Camp and Mweya.
The staff are friendly and the opportunity to walk down through the village to the woodland beyond is worth the slog back up the hill at the end. I do seem, by this time, to be getting a little acclimatized to the altitude. It doesn't seem to be as much of an effort to simply walk from one place to another as it was just a few days ago at Broadbill. It is amazing how quickly your body gets used to the changes in oxygen level. Will I feel re-energized for a few days on my return home?
On the down side, getting there is really tiring because the roads are pretty bad. It's great if you want a 2-hour spinal massage, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise. However, once again we are unusual travellers to these parts. Most visitors are here for a couple of days to see the gorillas and will endure the hardships only once in their lives to make a dream come true. Overall, I'm glad I came back to see a place I liked so much the first time around and still have that same feeling of contentment about it all.
From here, it almost feels as if the end is in sight, with only two more stopping off places on our safari to go, one to relax over the Christmas break and then a couple of days back looking for birds and big game in Lake Mburo National Park.