Yesterday, after Lake Bunyonyi we drope a few hours to Kalinzu Forest Reserve. It was raining pretty heavily, the bus was leaking water from the air conditioning vents, and at the next camp there were only a few upgrade rooms available. They were snapped up pretty quickly, and so the rest of us set up mattresses in the “conference room”. Not ideal, but it was only for one night. Besides the bat hanging from the ceiling it seemed fine, and I didn’t want to put a tent outside in case it rained and my gear got wet.

Me and a few of the guys decided to try out the “coffee experience” – where a local coffee farmer helped us roast some beans by the fire and then grind them ourselves. The coffee was surprisingly delicious, and coupled nicely with a few sweet bananas. After dinner we sat around the fire and eventually called it a night. News reports had just come out about a newlywed couple and their local safari guide who were killed by an ISIS-linked rebel group at the Queen Elizabeth National Park (very close to where we were). Possibly unrelated, the campsite had also opted to have a few guards walking around the campsite – whether or not this was for actual protection or just to keep the tourists calm, our confidence in their ability to protect us was somewhat dampened after discovering that they were armed only with a bow and arrow.

We survived the night in the conference room. Today we enjoyed a chimpanzee tracking excursion through the scenic Kalinzu Forest Reserve. We followed forest trails, which offered amazing views over the Rwenzori Mountains, Lake Edward, the Kazinga Channel, and the Congo. Then it was back in the old leaking bus for a few hours drive to our next accomodation – Leopard Rest Camp. We arrived in the afternoon and enjoyed some drinks together as a grou, soaking up the afternoon sun on the balcony bar.