Mount Elgon - Day 4

Fourth day was quite easy and mostly downhill. It was a pity to leave the excellent camping site behind, but we packed our tents again around 6 and left. This time the Danes left half hour earlier, but we caught them up half way and supplied them with some painkillers. On the way we met some local people who were gathering honey, dry bamboo for construction and bamboo shoots for food. We actually got fresh honey with the combs to eat on the way. The forest education centre at the end of the trail was bit of let down. There was nobody around and the girls like everybody else must have been disappointed as they were counting on getting a taxi from the centre. Instead, we needed to walk further down to Sipi, which I think was actually good decision as there was lot to see on the way, like the Sipi falls. Tom took us to some restaurant, which I guess had some connections with UWA, as it was advertised many times by the guides. I had a beer there and was happy to find that the Danes had not been very far behind us and arrived only slightly after we did. It was time to say goodbye to the porters and guides, as well as to Ben & Carrey who stayed behind to eat at the restaurant. Tom told us to pay the porters some extra, which I guess, I could have reported to the UWA, as they are not supposed to need any bonuses.

While waiting at the matatu I talked with a local youth about cultural differences and Ugandan economy. This time the ride was not as eventful, one Indian girl throw up from the window of the matatu, and that was all before Mbale where we took another matatu to Kampala (with a very reasonable price tag of about €4). On the way, it turned out that one of the Danes suffers from similar panic attacks in fast cars as my mother. In Uganda, and especially in that matatu, I can understand it, as the roads were bad and some situations were really horrible with three cars side-by-side. The locals are used to it I guess, but I was trying to avoid watching the road myself and conversing with the other Danes instead.