Now that everyone has finally been on the gorilla tracking trip, we are ready to leave Kisoro. We have breakfast, pack up the campsite and are off before 9 AM. We drive back on the winding, dirt road towards Kabale. It is another great drive through the countryside. We watch through the morning as the mist slowly rises from the valleys. We get to Kabale at noon, where we need to do some food shopping. We also grab some lunch and do some t-shirt shopping at the park office.
We head off shortly after 1 PM and drive to Lake Bunyonyi, where we will spend the night. We arrive shortly before 2 PM. After setting up our tent on a small spot on the hillside overlooking the lake, we decide to rent one of the dug out canoes.
Three of us (Ika, Jacqui and Lars) hop in and we head towards one of the islands. The first problem was the "hopping in". The dug out was very narrow and Lars had troubles fitting in, but in the end we found a spot he could squeeze into. Then came the rowing - was this an experience. We did what is called the muzungu (white person) corkscrew - we just could not keep the canoe going in a straight line. It was so funny we could not stop laughing. After a while we worked out a system where we were able to go in a zigzag which got us to our destination.
We arrived at an island in the middle of the lake where there is a "resort". We pulled the canoe up onto shore and then wandered up to the bar. It was quite nicely done - a big open area with great views and a big fire place in the middle. We ordered some drinks and sat down to admire the view of the lake. We then decided to play some scrabble - Jacqui pulled from behind and won. It rained for a sort while, so we decided to stay a bit longer.
When the rain stopped, we decided to head back. Glenn joined us and so this time we had four in the canoe. After a zigzag course back we made it to the campsite by 6 PM. We then decide to go for a swim in the lake - it is one of the few bilharzia free water bodies that we will come upon in Africa. Was it cold!!! But it was fun and refreshing to go for a swim. After a quick shower, we headed over to have dinner - vegetable curry with rice and leftover pork.
After a drink in the bar, we headed off to our tent to go to sleep.