Nimusiima Edward
Ambrose. That’s his name. I keep forgetting his name. He stands there, arms folded behind his back, and waits for us to finish our meal. We’re having greased pork. A salad is on its way. There’s a bottle of Nile Special on the table. In fact, two bottles. Across the same table, my ‘personal person’ takes a picture of me. And of her meal. And of her beer. And of herself. And of me again. “Remove the flash, bab,” I tell her, before complimenting her photography skills. She laughs. I laugh. We all laugh. Ambrose walks away.
Time check: 8:30 pm. It’s tar dark. And terribly cold.
We’re at Primate Lodge, Kibale. Nestled in the middle of Kibale National Park, in a place called Kanyanchu, about 36KM from Fort Portal town, along the neat mat that is the Kamwenge road (UNRA, that’s a decent road over there).
Off the tarmac, turn the nose of your car, climb up and get soaked in a tropical forest that doesn’t only harbour a bunch of primates, but is a home of this eco-lodge. Primate Lodge.
Here, if you firmly put your ear on the ground, you might just hear an echo of King Kong. We did.
There’s a lengthy, more detailed account of my/our stay at Primate Lodge, Kibale. It will be up on my blog: nimusiima.com, soonest. For now, I just want to thank Amos Wekesa (who’s the entrepreneurial brains behind this beautiful haven) for making this trip possible. Aloe Blacc would say, you’re the man, you’re the man, you’re the man. He’s the man of his word.
To the good folks at Great Lakes Safaris, thank you for your generosity. May the giver reward you greatly (see what I did there).
Photos by: Edna Ninsiima.
