Many (especially those in India) do not fathom the size of Africa. They think it is of the same size as India. How mistaken the world is. To give one an estimate, if you have to commute from one end of the continent to the other end, in a direct flight, you take 6 hours, in an indirect flight, almost a day.
To go from anywhere to anywhere in Africa, the best choice is Ethiopian Airlines, with the country’s capital Addis Ababa acting as the hub. While India was in the midst of the the second wave, Europe still coming to grips with the damage caused and America getting its act right, Africa seemed like it belonged to another world. Here Covid was the rich man’s problem. The poor have (and continue to) remained untouched. And, in a relatively poor society, the large multitudes remained unaffected.
To prove this point, the flight to Addis and the one to Kampala were brimming with people.
Exiting the Kampala airport, we were greeted by rain. In the worst of times, it soothes. When seeking an adventure, it energises. We felt excited.
To me, the true hallmark of a country is how safe women feel, especially when they are alone and at night. As we exited the airport around 2AM, I saw a Chinese woman walking alone to pay the parking token in an airport, it felt nice, but was it the exception? Surprise of surprises, in the apartments we were checking into - the security guard was a woman. All alone, at night, fearless.
There could not have been a better advertisement for Uganda.
Africa is the only continent in the world that splits the world both ways. The Meridian (Greenwich) and the equator pass through the continent. The equator has the privilege of passing through Uganda.
We decided to dedicate our first day in Uganda to driving towards the Gorilla habitats while crossing the equator.
The equator is invisible but its impact clearly measurable. It is demonstrated by a flower test. Water is poured into a basin with a hole in it. As the water drains out from the basin, it swirls. It is best understood by seeing a lily placed in the basin. In the Northern Hemisphere, it swirls clockwise, on the equator- it does not swirl and in the Southern Hemisphere it swirls anticlockwise.
You can watch YouTube videos of the same and be pleasantly surprised by this natural phenomenon. The explanation is done by friendly guys who know what they are talking. Our tour guide cum local expert Godfrey explained that even creepers grow in different directions in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Marvellous ain’t it?
While this was the nicer part, what caused immense sadness was how poorly this was marketed. There were no surging crowds, no queues, no restaurants/ cafes screaming the equator point. If you did not know that this vital icon of geography existed here, you would miss it when you crossed this line.
Post this, it was just driving, driving, driving to a place called Bwindi from where we would do the adventurous trek to spot Gorillas.
“Pearl of Africa” the sobriquet given by Winston Churchill unfolded around us and engulfed us in its beauty. The bewildering greenery, the rows and rows and rows of banana, pineapples and millions of other types of plantations bewitch your eyes.
Most Indians have seen cows with small horns. But, the Ugandan cow called Ankole is a majestic exception. With long white horns it is menacing and only a fool would fall foul of this otherwise gentle animal.
By evening, we reached the Bwindi area. Tired, exhausted but excitedly looking forward to the Gorilla trek.
More in Part 3.
