January 9-10, 2015 Mahogany Springs Resort and prepping for the gorilla trek tomorrow

January 9 -10, 2015 Entebbe, Uganda - Kihihi Airport - Mahogany Springs Uganda

You guessed it...another overnight flight less than 28 hours after the last one.

It's 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning January 11th and I am writing about the previous days events in hopes of catching up today on the BLOG.

I "videoed" the take-off in our 12 seater AeroLink plane from Entebbe to Kihihi Airport which when we arived was only 25 kms. from our first lodge resort, The airport was big enough to house a waiting area and 2 restrooms open to the air. The landing was quite nice even though there wasn't a runway (yep....really).  Did I mention the airport doubles as a golf course as well? We were greeted by Martin our driver in a somewhat okay conditioned jeep and we headed out for our "estimated"  one hour journey.  Right.  It took 1 3/4 hours to go that distance so you really need to prepare yourselves for slow driving since the roads are pretty rough. It was a really neat view and the landscape was scattered with giant ant hills some as high as twenty feet.  The villages we drove through were very, very modest but the absence of danger and discontent was noticeable.  One little girl came up and grabbed my hand and in a tiny voice asked for sweets.

The people walk everywhere and they walk for miles.  5 to 10 kilometer walks to and from work is nothing.  The market was on that day and we saw hundreds of people with baskets on their heads to carrying a couple of bananas to sell. A really calm and friendly environment whom looked sincerely interested in our presence.

We arrived at Mahogany Springs before noon and were escorted to our rooms.  I wish to hell that I could attach the pictures we took because the setting is right out of Shangralai.  From our spacious bedroom we look out over a vista at agriculture fields that climb up a mountain side about 2,000 feet before topped by an inpenetrable forest, Man, did we feel lucky.  The boss man name was Jotham and  our 3 waiter/porters were Gad, Marting and David,  The service was from a guilded age in the past and when we returned to our rooms that night, the beds were turned down, hot water bottles, in the bed with a nice poem about the gorillas on our bed with a picture of a baby gorilla and the misquito nets perfectly surrounding the beds and treated with an odorless spray.

The food is spectacular and with appropriate quantities.  We couldn't be happier.  The people are extremley nice and well-educated and somewhat wordly.  They are happy and have great sense of humors (they need too...you know how Di and Luise can be jokesters.). I decided to have a night cap (Glenmorangie) with anice young tour owner whose was celebrating his 28th birthday and I asked him to guess my age,  He said 68........Well.....it was then off to bed around 10:00 p.m. since our gorilla trek starts at 7:00 a.m.  We will need to wear rain gear and the trekking group the previous day saw 11 of which one brushed one of the tourists.  We are expecting an even greater encounter on January 11th.