From the Rift Valley

Rubrizi district, Uganda

July 21, 2024

The Rubrizi district south of the Queen Elizabeth National Park is dotted with lakes, formed from dammed rivers when volcanoes erupted in the distant past. Some have myths and mysteries attached to them, but all are said to be spectacular.

Once again in Mac’s car, we drove up the road climbing up to the escarpment above the rift valley. I had a bird’s eye view all the way to the Kazinga channel glinting faintly in the hazy light.

Close by are the twin lakes of Katinda and Mirambi, one said to be female and the other male. Even under the cloudy skies, they are a marvelous sight with their milky green waters. The narrow path between the craters would make a fantastic hike but I haven’t the time. I see fields on the precipitous slopes and wonder at the people tending and harvesting them. It reminds me of the fields on the slopes of Peruvian mountains. Down at the bottom I spy a fishing boat and wonder at the acrobatics of getting the boat down the slope.

Back on the main road we pass by a weekly market and further down the road is another lake ringed by trees and lush grass.

Even further down the road is yet another set of twin lakes called Butoha. This time we drive along the ridge separating them. These waters though are dark and forbidding and the dark myths make more sense.

Heading back, as we reach the valley floor we pause. A family of baboons wander across the road, in no particular hurry. Ha! I may not have seen the gorillas but there are their cousins in plain view. The lack of fences or walls mean this is the highway for animals too!

Earlier I had seen some wild boars who paid us no head other than an initial glare.

And the pair of elephants who were happy snacking on the papyrus thickets by the road held up traffic both ways. We waited in respectful silence until they lumbered off.