Nwoya - PaKwach

When you stop to picnic in a national forest reserve on the side of the road, is that encroachment? Nevermind that there was a herd of goats grazing right next to us! The forest got me thinking that this could be a natural alternative to the oily fast food restaurants for long distance travelers. To the calm and shade of the trees, add benches, tables, rest rooms and decent, affordable eateries – and we might just have stumbled onto the idea of the year! Or not. Who will maintain the spaces? The National Forestry Authority? Uganda Wildlife Authority? Ministry of Tourism? Local Council? Just thinking about the bureaucracy is already too much drama. Anywho, it was a nice stop over – courtesy of grandpa Nyeko.

Yiyi and I were headed to Purongo, Nwoya district, along with his Papi and Grandpa [we do not have a pet name for the Acholi Jajjas yet – working on it!]. We’d picked up a pineapple in Luweero and the entire drive the car smelt like it had been sprayed with pineapple air freshener. So that is the juice of the day – pure pineapple perfection – because Uganda has the sweetest pineapples in the world. 

So, back to the trip. For everyone who hasn’t done so yet, you need to cross Karuma bridge and see the Nile from that point. When we were younger, despite the rebel-infestation, Daddy [Yiyi’s Opa] insisted on visiting the Great West Nile Republic every year. [Now, he goes every fortnight!] The bridges [PaKwach and Karuma] were considered weak spots and were heavily guarded by the army. I think there was a year when we had to travel in an army convoy with a 6pm curfew! So, it is refreshing to be able to slow down, listen to the river rumble and watch it rush by – without interruptions from the army or rebels. 

 

Our destination was Grassroots Cottages and Tours in Purongo. Grandpa Nyeko has been busy working on this tourist hub. For now, he’s set up cozy cottages, a restaurant and also offers tours within the Murchison Falls National Park – which is literally on the other side of the road! He mentioned that he was going to spend the day there, checking on things and, of course, we were more than welcome. I just want to say – shout out to the coolest in-laws ever! Yiyi was thrilled to be in a car different from my little Toyota, and he was literally swingin’ from one seat to another.

Purongo is quiet. And HOT! Which is why I was surprised by how cool the cottages were. As a person who spent too many years thinking about temperature control – I wonder how the ancients figured out how to combine reed and wattle walls plus grass thatched roofs to turn 30oC into 18oC pleasantness – without stressing about the laws of thermodynamics. Clearly, I studied too hard. I was glad to have a cool place to lie and also not to have to worry about Yiyi wandering around since he was amongst family. He eventually had an almost conversation with Grandpa about a light bulb! Or more accurately about Grandpa switching the light on and off.

We drove to PaKwach for supplies since Purongo is still a little more than a village. Surprisingly, though, the area has the highest number of tractors per square mile in Uganda [it felt like a scene out of Cars, the movie, with fields of tractors that keep mooing all day long]. Thanks to mechanized farming, it is the source of the best upland rice, and another reason I love going to the Great West Nile Republic. 


As we crossed the PaKwach bridge, Grandpa mentioned that from that point onwards the Nile was calm and navigable. It made me wonder if we had ever considered using water rather than roads to cross over to Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. [Water transport is still a bit of a sore subject in Uganda, given the recent accident on Nalubaale. However, there’s always the future. Imagine combining the tourist hub with a cruise along the Nile to Sudan and back?]

 

We were close enough to the national park to watch a herd of elephants grazing near a water hole at sunset. I can see myself staying here – in the quiet – living peacefully amongst nature in my manyatta.

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