A Trip with in a Trip: Fort Portal Part 5

We awoke, groggy and swollen-eyed, from a restful, though short lived, nights rest. Our plan was to stay for 2-3 days, depending on how much fun there was to be had. It was overcast, as it often is in mountainous regions of the world. After all we were in the shadow of the fabled Rwenzori Mountains, and the third highest peak in Africa, Mount Margherita (5,109 meters). We walked into town and found a place that rented bikes for a small fee. Our plan was to ride out to where a series of crater lakes dotted the country-side. We were also hoping to find the ancient Ambere Caves. That was the plan…but plans change! We were given a crude little hand drawn map, but what we didn’t know (and weren’t told) was that the signs and landmarks we were to follow had been removed because of construction. T.I.A.
We peddled right past the turn-off and rode into nowhere. To make matters worse, Therese’s chain kept falling off, my breaks were a bit shotty, we didn’t have helmets (sorry Mom) and two police officers said we were on the right track! Eventually we came to a large hill that was under road construction. By the looks of things, it seemed like they were widening a pre-existing road. What was somewhat surprising was that traffic was allowed to pass while construction was underway. There was no road crew with hard hats, two-ways, or “Stop/Slow” signs. We biked right down. By this time, we were pretty sure we were not where we wanted to be. We stopped for some water and a picture, before approaching the next section. It was around a steep, blind corner and we took the turn slowly. A pick-up could be seen 40 meters away coming at us. The road was extremely wet and muddy and the truck needed to get speed to race up the slope, allowing its momentum to carry it through the mud, not its traction. We quickly realized it was not a very safe place for us to be at the moment, especially considering the death and oblivion that awaited anyone who was unlucky enough to go off the road and tumble the steep 300 meters down into the river and ravine.
The truck raced up the slope, splashing and skidding its way to dry level land, while Therese and I looked at one another with that calculating look that we have given each other often in Africa. We continued on in haste, hoping to beat another approaching car; the beauty of the area pushing us to continue. As another car approached, heavily laden with people, we noticed what looked to be a rock slide cascading down from above. We watched as the car, gunning the final section through the mud, was pelted with baseball size stones. Any slower, and the car would have been struck by the basketball size rocks that continued to rain down over the road. In shock, I looked up to see a back hoe precariously situated over the edge above us. His excavations on the road above had sent the rock slide down.
At this time we came to our senses and realized descending down the road would probably lead to our untimely deaths and was almost certainly not going where we wanted to go anyway. We were able to hop in the bed of a Uganda Wildlife Authority Range Rover pick-up. In hindsight that was also a poor decision. The driver, showing absolute conformity with every other driver I have had in Uganda, sped recklessly up the slope, taking blind corners at over 40 mph, the back wheels sliding out to the far side of the turn. To make matters worse, I was positioned on the top of the tailgate, desperately holding onto the car and my bike. The rest of the passengers (maybe 5-8) in the back with Therese and I, seemed to look at us with something between curiosity and annoyance. Every time we took a corner I feared I was going to tumble right out and over the side of the ravine. We hit one particularly bad bump that send the handle bars of the bike into my face. The force of it almost made me lose consciousness and I screamed up to the driver to stop! Honestly, my fear in that moment was on par with the hippo sighting only a few days before. I was on the verge of tears as I lifted my bike out of the back, thanked the driver, and pedaled my way up the remainder of the hill.
We biked into town for some food and water. I drank a cold beer and thought about life, death, and what other adventures I could get into tomorrow. I love when life becomes that simple!