East Africa Day 42 (Fri June 24): Sipi Falls

This morning I noticed Ugandan staff members carrying jeri cans of water up the hill from the stream towards the bandas that have running water in them. I also saw some fires going – I assume that water was being heated for the buildings. However when Meg and I tried to shower in the AM, we found the water was cold. She showered – I declined.

We had fruit, toast, coffee (locally grown) and tea for breakfast, and then Fred took us on a guided walk to the three Sipi Falls waterfalls. I learned that the top of the third waterfall is approximately 1 kilometer from the Mt. Elgon National Park border. So we were not walking on government-owned land- it was all privately owned. Hence, the need to take the guide. We walked through fields under cultivation, past people’s homes, and through some woods to get to the three waterfalls. The community members need to be reimbursed in exchange for crossing their land. Fred took care of all of that for us. Also, even though I had imagined that Sipi Falls was a well-visited place that would be overly accessible, it turned out that we were walking on muddy single track paths that weren’t that well worn – especially considering that community members traverse them as well to get water, etc. It wasn’t quite a total wilderness feel, but we also didn’t see any other tourists today. We stopped and had a picnic lunch of sandwiches, bananas and hardboiled eggs, near the base of the third waterfall. (No, I didn’t eat the eggs.)


Photo: the first waterfall


Photo: the second waterfall


Photo: the third waterfall

We got back to Lacam Lodge at about 3pm. We then walked down the road to the Crows Nest to check out the hostel’s accommodations for Meghan’s roommates who might come visit Sipi Falls, and to find out about how to get back down to Jinja. (Lacam Lodge was great, but we thought that they might try to get us to hire a private car, and we wanted to find a more affordable way of getting down the mountain.) After seeing the Crows Nest, we were very glad that we were staying at Lacam Lodge, though Simon, the employee that we met was very nice and gave us great advice about how to get back to Jinja.

We walked back to Lacam Lodge, took (hot) showers and spent the rest of the afternoon admiring the view from the main building’s deck, and reading.


Photo: view from the deck.


Photo: our banda in the lower right, and the view beyond.

Dinner – again at 6pm – was very good. By this point two other groups of younger, white tourists had shown up, so the joint was a little livelier. However I think that Meghan and I were both asleep (again) by 8pm:) You can’t really tell from the photos – fortunately – but it was very hot out, the climb was steep at times, and we got very, very sweaty. We needed the sleep!

East Africa Day 41 (Thurs June 23): The Post Bus & other Transportation Adventures

Meghan and I met up at her house early this AM. I left most of my stuff in her room, and took just my day pack with me when we left the house, bound for the Post Office in town, where we’d catch the Post Bus to Mbale, a town enroute to Sipi Falls. We boarded the bus at around 10am – it was so nice! It had a flat screen TV that folds down from the bus ceiling, behind the driver. It showed music videos until the bus started up, and then the TV was turned off and the screen folded back up. But then the bus piped East African and American pop music through the speakers at a moderate level, for the duration of the drive. It was a few hours to Mbale. I was reading “What is the What” and looking out the window.

When we got to Mbale, we learned that we should walk to the clock tower in town to find a matatu to Sipi Falls. We stopped at an Indian-owned restaurant with interior décor that was somewhat nautical, mostly to use the bathroom. When we exited the restaurant a matatu driver pulled up to the curb and asked if we were going to Sipi Falls. We said yes, asked the price (5,500 UGX/each) and jumped in. Sure enough, the matatu drove around town picking up and dropping off passengers, before we headed out of town. Fortunately we weren’t in a rush – this was part of the adventure!

When we got to a small town, we were told to get out of the matatu. We were then told that someone else would drive us to Sipi Falls from there. The driver handed me 5,000 UGX and said that would be enough to get to Sipi from the town. Then someone from the matatu connected us with a man who was driving an SUV style car, that was headed up to Sipi Falls. It was already full of Ugandans and a lot of packages, but Meghan and I fit in. Fortunately it was a short drive, but up a steep hil. At the top, we were dropped off at Lacam Lodge, where we were staying, and were charged 8,800 UGX each. But at least we were there.

We walked down the driveway too Lacam Lodge, where we were greeted by Fred, who is under 30 and one of the tour guides/managers at the lodge, which we later learned is owned by 2-3 white men, and a Ugandan who lives nearby. When I signed in, I saw that the last guest had signed in on the 16th, and that Meghan and I were the only guests. Clearly they were not overbooked but it made us feel better to have made the advance reservation. We were shown to our banda, which had a bunk bed and a third bed. The bathrooms were in separate bandas not far from our banda. We walked up to the main lodge where the bar and restaurant and deck are located, and read our books until dinner. Fred also walked us along the path below the deck, to a view point for the waterfall that you can see from the property. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous – tropical, diverse, and very vibrantly green.



Dinner – as I had read on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree – was very good – four courses. We ate at a table overlooking the view. After dinner we retired to the banda and read. The property does not seem to have electricity. We used lanterns.