The most important aspect of enjoying any trip is in how much planning goes into the preparation process.
Impromptu trips can also be fun, but I think when especially headed to a national park, a well-planned one is better, as I was to discover during a recent visit to Lake Mburo national park. The email that invited me to the trip either did not specify the mode of accommodation to expect or I just did not pay attention out of excitement.
Bottom line, I ended up on a trip to a home to wild game without adequate preparation. At night I found myself in a tented camp without beddings. I have always imagined how my first time to camp out in the wilderness would be. I imagined a perfect night. With a campfire, lots to eat and drink and to end it all with a good night of sleep in a tent with me tucked inside a warm sleeping bag. But alas! If only dreams could come true.
In reality, at least the company was great. I asked for a second helping of roast beef and chicken, which I was given gladly and there was an endless supply of Nile Special and water as I enjoyed the beauty of this park a few kilometres from Mbarara town.
I also got my favourite spiced tea. Everything seemed perfect in a way only park life can offer: unusual bird calls from the trees, the occasional animal sounds to remind you where you are…
But the temperatures were dropping very fast. I looked towards the horizon towards the lake after which the national park is named. It returned a cold stare.
That is when I knew mine was going to be a long night. All I was given was a tent and mattress. Compared to my cozy bed back home, there was no way I was going to fall asleep on that.
I was wearing a shirt, sweater and one of the sponsor’s T-shirts; enough to allow me two hours of sleep after my body demanded for it around midnight. I was awake two hours later, thanks to a combination of the biting cold and the loud snores from the next tent whose occupant had clearly come better-prepared. I ventured outside, where three other souls in my predicament sat around the campfire.
Sitting by the campfire under the starry sky was a better bargain. I joined the last three people awake. The DJ had since gone to sleep, leaving a mix tape by DJ Black Coffee blaring into the dead of the night. The animals must have been baffled by the funky new noise in the night.
At 3am, the park rangers who had been patrolling came to warm off at the fire briefly. They made the time fly by faster with their shared lessons of how to survive if attacked by certain animals.
For example, the rotund hippopotamus does not make turns easily and finds it easier to barrel its way through obstacles. If you are ever lucky to have one chasing you, don’t try to outrun it; just out-turn it and get out of its way.
When faced with an angry buffalo – ok, any buffalo – lie down flat. Buffaloes kill by tossing their victims around with their curved horns, a feat they cannot achieve when one is on the ground. If you are lucky, you won’t get trampled on.
Planning to come face to face with a lion? Do not turn your back on the king of the jungle. Just retreat backwards – and pray no other members of the pride are behind you, either.
We had not spotted a lion during the game drive earlier in the day. We had, however, crossed paths with bushbucks, antelopes, zebras, warthogs, buffaloes, as well as hippos during the boat ride.
The national park is also home to 315 bird species, my favourite being the African fish eagle. Many of the tourists that choose Lake Mburo over other national parks are also ardent birders.
The trip was part of the Uganda Travel Month organized by Pearl Guide Uganda in partnership with other corporate companies including MTN and Total. According to Philip Kalibwani, the business development manager at The Pearl Guide, Uganda travel month is the biggest domestic tourism drive.
“The objective is to get the millennial middle- class to understand the tourism opportunities Uganda has to offer. They think it’s expensive. They think we don’t have many opportunities here. So, we trying to show them that with even Shs 200,000, there is something you can do.”
Kalibwani says tour operators need to create more packages for Ugandans. In total, close to 1,000 people experienced the wild in the four promotional weekends, going to Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls national parks, in addition to the adrenaline-packed grand finale in Jinja, renowned for its bungee jumping, quad bikes and white water rafting, among other activities.
Babiba Byengoma, the managing director, Acadia Cottages, our host for the trip, says government, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda Tourism Board have a big role to play in order for the domestic tourism dream to come alive.
The wildlife authority stands to gain from such successful drives, since at least ten per cent of accommodation charges go to it. That, he said, is in addition to $3,000 paid annually by those in the accommodation business in the parks.
Such costs inspire high rates, thus hindering local tourists. Byengoma has initiated a $100 (Shs 340,000) per night promo for domestic tourists. To access Lake Mburo national park, one has to pay a gate fee of Shs 15,000, ($40 for foreigners and $30 for foreign residents). The fee is valid for 24 hours.
Lake Mburo is the nearest park of all at 150km from the capital Kampala on the Mbarara highway. It has a friendly terrain; so, it is easy to access and drive through. I will definitely be back to find out if the two isolated elderly buffaloes near the water actually died or made it.
Most importantly, I will return to enjoy my dream tented camp experience with one or two people in tow. We have unfinished business, dear Lake Mburo national park.
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