Uganda Chapter 7: I AM a Female Hot Springs (and Ndali)

To see a complete set of pictures from this day, click here. To see a complete set of a million photos of Ndali Lodge, click here.

Once again, we are moving at the crack of dawn, this time to drive three hours to hike through some jungle and and see some hot springs. Lisa and I are kind of "eh" about the hot springs, but the day before we were doing some on-the-spot changes to the itinerary and Lis and I suggested that maybe we skip the hot springs. In our heads, we were going to drive to the "attraction," get out of the car and then see the hot springs, take a picture with the hot springs, and move on to lunch. James, however, insists that we were not to miss the hot springs. And he was, of course, right.

You do not, in any way, just drive up to the hot springs. You hike through a bunch of jungle for an hour to get to the hot springs. And on the way to the hot springs, you see leaping monkeys, huge ant farms, massive trees, ridiculous crazy amounts of mud and dozens of beautiful birds and butterflies. And THEN you see the hot springs. There are two hot springs, actually. A male one (the larger one, which irked me to no end) and the female one (which oddly enough, actually ejaculates). And you get to hear fabulous stories about how they used to sacrifice children at those hot springs, which I refuse to believe is true even though it probably is. And then you take an amazing hike back.




Did I mention the mud? It's rainy season in Uganda. The mud is, like, mid-calf deep. I'm finding that for some reason every single guide we have in Uganda seems to think I'm allergic to mud or something, when the truth as everybody else knows it is that I really like to get dirty. I've finally had enough of my guide making me daintily cross these big expanses of mud by skipping from rock to rock, and so when we get to one that looks really good, I just finally look at Nicholas (our guide to the hot springs) and say, "I really just want to walk in the mud. Is that okay?" And suddenly the day is much better for me.

Also, on this particular day, for some reason, Lisa begins to channel Ho Lin and there are suddenly a dozen pictures of people walking from behind. I enjoy those photos, but I find it funny that Lisa has become the Ho of the trip. There were entire days where I didn't take my camera out at all.

And the hike would have been amazingly beautiful anyway all on its own, but we have a great guide in Nicholas who makes it even better. He tells us stories about himself and his wife and how they want two children and they definitely want girls because boys are too expensive. Or my favorite story about how they had to build a wooden bridge in the middle of the hot springs because the dumb white tourists weren't coordinated enough to walk on logs. True story.

And he gives us the quote of the trip. "There is no hurry in Uganda."

I super heart Nicholas.



From there, we stop by a pygmy tribe to buy some souvenirs. And then we head back to Ndali because Lisa wants to tour the farm. Oh, right, there's an organic farm at Ndali, too. They grow vanilla. I mean, they grow other things, too, but the fascinating part is the vanilla. Let me just say, harvesting vanilla is a PROCESS. I understand now why it's so expensive.



And then we spend the rest of the day chilling out at Ndali. And now would be a good time to talk about Ndali. On your next trip to Uganda, we recommend it. If you like little sweat drops of God landed on Earth, you'll like Ndali.

Firstly, location. There used to be active volcanoes in the area. The Ndali lodge is located on a natural land bridge between two huge crater lakes from the volcano days. So the view in every direction from every spot it magical.




Secondly, ambiance. Every room is a tiny little guest cottage tucked away and very private from the other cottages. And there is no electricity. So at night when the staff comes to turn down your bed and your mosquito netting, they also light the room up with candles and kerosene lamps. I took a lot of candlelight baths with the window open and the stars in the sky. Because I'm like that.

Thirdly, food. The lodge is on the top of the hill, and the organic farm is down near the lake. So the food, in addition to being amazing, is incredibly fresh.

Lastly, the people. Ndali is a people place, which I would have enjoyed more if I hadn't had to be in hyper social mode at the last couple of stops. The lodge holds, I think, maybe fourteen guests total? Maybe twelve? So you get to meet everybody at dinner every night (unless you are some snotty French people who want to eat on your own and ignore the rest of us and I'm going to refrain from generalizing that statement to be about the French in general, even though I don't like the French anymore than the French like me. Except for when they say my name, because they're the only people who can say it correctly.). The first night we eat with a group of Americans who are fun and loud and, well, American. The second and third night we eat with a gay British couple (because it doesn't matter where you put me, the gay white men will find me) and an older Scottish couple who confuse me.

And then there's George, the houseman. His sweetness and service level are kind of legendary among travelers in Uganda (the British couple had actually heard about George before they even got to Ndali). He's this sweet, quiet, old man in a suit, and though Lisa and I joked that his job was pretty much to sit under a tree and watch the workers who were cleaning the pool, he actually made the stay perfect. And when I said I wanted fried dessert bananas for breakfast, there were friend dessert bananas for breakfast for me the next day. And finally, there's Aubrey, who owns the lodge. If you like me once I've had a drink or two in me, you'll like Aubrey, period. That experience is pretty much interchangeable.

I never wanted to leave Ndali. But we have to, because the next day is Shoebill day...

To see a complete set of pictures from this day, click here. To see a complete set of a million photos of Ndali Lodge, click here.