•The second part the trip exploring Kabalega’s Kingdom in Uganda takes us through an indigenous forest to a church built by Polish World War II refugees.
At first glance Masindi gives the impression of a one-street, nondescript town with relics of colonial architecture. But is has an interesting history: Sally Wareing, a retired octogenarian teacher runs the New Garden View Court Hotel.
“In the 1920s, the East Africa Railways and Harbour transported people and cargo by road between Butiaba (on Lake Albert) to Masindi,” Wareing says as she gives me a tour of the town.
The cargo included ivory and pelts being taken from the Congo to Masindi Port on Lake Kyoga, and then by rail to Mombasa. Masindi town, 45 kilometres from the port, had a customs shed for registration of goods.
With profits running high in 1923, the now defunct East African Railways and Harbours Corporation built the Masindi Hotel where we enjoyed a morning coffee.
In the 1950s, Hollywood stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn stayed here during the filming of the African Queen.
In 1954, American author Ernest Hemingway also spent time here after crashing his plane twice at Murchison Falls.
Chimpanzees at Kinyara
It is 6am. An hour’s drive from Masindi has taken us to Kinyara Sugar, one of Uganda’s largest manufacturers to meet its famous residents, a family of chimpanzees living in the riverine forest on both edges of the sugar plantation.
We follow the guide along a path through the indigenous forest that once was part of Budongo forest stretching from Murchison Falls.
Two hours later, the chimpanzee family appears. They are chasing a troop of colobus monkeys. One falls to the ground into the waiting circle of apes and the feast begins.
Our guide informs us that the chimpanzees are allowed to eat the sugarcane courtesy of the sugar millers.
Today there are only 5,0 00 chimpanzees in Uganda, from a population of tens of thousands a century ago. Spread across Africa’s rainforest, the global population is 30,000.
Farther along the route, we see a white-washed church in the middle of green fields. It’s a church built in the late 1940s by Polish refugees after the Second World War.
After the war, thousands of Poles were brought to East Africa by the British and Polish government-in-exile in London.
The church stands strong with the original framed paintings of the Christ’s story, and outside lie the graves of those who died here.
Murchison Falls
Finally, I travel to Murchison Falls. From the gate to the top of the falls the road is tarmacked and cars are speeding on it.
Felled trees lie on the ground along the road to the ferry, where a large bridge is being built over the Nile. Signboards dot the road as Chinese surveyors supervise the construction work.
Kabalega’s aka Murchison’s waterfall thunders down 43 metres through a seven-metre gap in the rocks. The Ugandan government plans to build a dam on Uhuru Falls, which is just a few feet away from Murchison. There have been protests against the project.
Deeper in the park on a murram road, we see Rothschild giraffes, Uganda kob, oribi, buffaloes and birds.
