Lake Bunyoni

Time is getting short. We can't see everything we (or at least I) would like to see, but I wanted to see one more place before we left.

Lake Bunyoni is billed as the most beautiful place in Uganda. With so many beautiful places, that's a difficult measure to meet. I was curious just how beautiful it is.

Beauty is difficult to compare, but Lake Bunyoni is definitely one of the most beautiful places in the country.

Fr. Max was going to Kabale for a meeting on Friday. We went along for the free ride with good company. We left at 5 AM. I'm not by nature an early riser. When I get to bed late, I'm even less of an early riser. However, I was up at 4:15 AM. I woke Bry'Chell at 4:30. We were ready by 5. Max was on time.

It doesn't get light until about 7 AM, so we were well into the trip before the sun came up.

The roads were really bad in places, so it was slow going at times, but the countryside was absolutely gorgeous. We left the green swamp and hilly river lowlands around Nkozi for the high desert/savanah with trees look of the area around Lake Mburro and headed up into the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains, the southern end towards Rwanda.

Bry'Chell either slept or pretended to sleep for a good part of the trip. We stopped for breakfast about 8 and arrived a bit before 11. Max connected us with Sr. Beatrice before he went to his meeting. Sr. Beatrice, in turn, introduced us to Agnes who arranged for a drive and a place to stay.

I love the networks. You never just go some place and find a room. There's always somebody who knows somebody. Personal connections are important here. I find it pretty entertaining.

Our driver, Dennis, took us to Crater Bay Cottages. It was a great place--clean, reasonably priced with very attentive service.

I will say, the beauty of Lake Bunyoni is breathtaking. The drive took us down a winding dirt road. The view of the lake is magnificent. It's a crater lake that meanders through the hills and around the mountains. It's dotted with green islands. Some of the islands are inhabited. Most that are not inhabited are cultivated. They are terraced with crops. A significant effort has been made to plant trees, so many of the islands has patches of woods between the fields.

Every picture could be a postcard. The only problem with pictures is that they don't provide the sense of panorama that the human eye can take in.

We were pretty tired when we arrived so we crashed for a bit then we went down to the dock to check out the lake. We didn't bring our suits, so we had an excuse for not going in. It was a bit cold for my taste.

That first night we literally ate dinner and went to bed. We were whipped.