Chameleons

The guys, Matt and Harper, decided that they wanted to head for the Rwenzori Mountains (after chatting to a really friendly ranger in Queen Elizabeth) and seeing as how we didn’t have any real plans to speak of, we decided to head there with them (our guidebook had very little info on the mountains, but the guys’ book was much better). Again it turned out to be a bit of a journey for our poor taxi driver, traipsing along terrible roads in search of guide-book-mentioned accommodation, but we finally arrived at a wonderfully isolated place set deep in the mountain forest with the only sounds being a nearby raging river and the birds chirping.

The next day Sarah and myself do a forest walk with a local guide, Isaac. After only walking for about five minutes Isaac spots a chameleon and grabs it. He then places it on my hand and it crawls along, with its eyes rolling around madly like they do. I think this is just amazing – I can’t believe we’ve just happened to come across a wild chameleon – they’ve got to be one of the coolest animals in the world. Anyway, we put him back and continue along and it’s a really wonderful hike through the forest and along the river. Sarah gets a bit of a fright as her foot goes right through a log on a rickety footbridge across the river, but it was more funny than scary really.

That afternoon we did a village tour with the guys. It wasn’t bad I suppose, but was a little contrived. We visited a traditional blacksmith that was actually quite interesting, and he doubled as a witchdoctor and healer too. We met a local storyteller who told us (through our interpreting guide) about the old ways and marriage traditions (which went on and on for ages!), and a local farm where they’re trying new methods to improve productivity. Naturally the tour ended at the local craft shop, but in the garden there was another chameleon in a tree (a single-horned rhinoceros chameleon), but I think the lads had put him there and that he was really a pet!

Most people come to the Rwenzori to spend seven days trekking through the mountains but we didn’t have time for that, and anyway it wasn’t the best time of year (we later met a couple of English guys who had just done it, and although they said it was great, it was very tough going (through knee deep mud, etc.) and the weather meant they didn’t actually see much). Matt and Harper didn’t have time for trekking the whole route either, but they did do the first days route and then came straight back, but they’re both very fit runners. That day I just relaxed and went exploring on my own (trekked a couple of hundred meters along the Rwenzori trail) and actually found yet another chameleon, which I was pretty chuffed about.

The next day we all decided to continue heading north and had to walk down to the nearest village to try and get motorbike taxis to the main road. Luckily it was all downhill, as myself and Sarah shared a single moped taxi, with both our heavy rucksacks (very a-la-South-East Asia). On the main road we quickly flagged down a passing minibus and in no time at all we were in Fort Portal, which is a nice small town.