To the valley, up the hill
In the water, above the trees
Feel the soft grass, sit
Calm air, cold the breeze
See the sights, where the eyes can reach.
What an introduction!! (You are fool if you don’t praise yourself) If only I was a better poet like my friend, Joel Nevender. Anyway a few days ago another friend Pearl, asked me questions about traveling. These questions are the focus of this blog.
Recently I have taken up to touring and traveling whenever I get the chance, and can afford it. You see there is a lot out there to look at rather than the many screen I have in my life.
On this one time I had just returned from a Gorilla Hike with the Gorilla Highlands‘ media team in Western Uganda, which trip has become a tradition for me since last year when I started it with the 7 days trek in the region.
Pearl wanted to know a number of things and her first questions were; “Did you always used to travel? What changed? Is it easier for you to travel within the country by yourself or with others? What motivates you to travel?”
My Response; “Yes, a little”
I have always been curious about things, and regions are a new added category to this. So when replied with ‘a little’, I forgot to emphasise that touring my home district and getting to learn about my surrounding like; how the Kasubi Tombs came to be, why my home area is called Lubya and not Las Vegas, what plants are edible, medicinal and poisonous etc, has always been in there. That I used to wonder around alone and discovering things I didn’t know about myself and my area.
What changed my ‘a little’ to full blown adventures were my friends. I got connected to people who wanted to see the world, who loved to tour and travel. People who loved nature, wanted to be connected to it and understand their surroundings. These are the best travelling companions I have ever got, but I don’t solely depend on them when the touring need arises. I can take a random bus and just go to see where it stops. I’m comfortable both ways, I am that wonderer sometimes.
My travels have been motivated mainly by curiosity and adventure. When I did the 7 days trek, it was my first time and I was wondering how it felt like to walk for 7 days. Climb hills and walk through streams and forests. Camp outside and listen to birds singing in the morning and owls in the middle of the night.
See some of the pictures I took during the Gorilla Hike;
Pearl went on and asked; “Do people decide to travel with you just from you talking about travelling? (Same way someone would last minute go to a bar) Usually when you make plans to travel with people, does everyone show up as promised? Do they have valid reasons for not showing up?”
No, people don’t always do so. I tried once to get guys to go with me, it was disappointing. People promised and never showed even after following them up and offering discounted costs. There were never valid reasons for the disappointment. I resorted to planning with friends or go alone, then talk about my experience online as it happens or later when I am back.
When she asked about costs for travelling regularly and what the average budget would be like, my response was not clear because random has no real budget. When I get on a random bus to anywhere, I expect everything and nothing, so I travel with my Debit card. But because I have made friends in the different regions, I get discounts on accommodation, food and the activities offered.
The Gorilla Hike was a free experience that only cost me transport from Kampala to Buhoma Lodge in Bwindi National park. The rest were catered for by the owners of the different lodges we visited like Chameleon Hill lodge, Lake Bunyonyi Hotel. The 7 days trek was a bilateral trade kinda of tour, I offered free online publicist of the places we visited and they offered me accommodation, food and a great adventure.
My advice to people who fear touring and travelling because of costs, there is no cheap life adventure, you have to invest in it and it will invest back. Start now and you will ripe later. The cost of touring and travelling depends on what you want.
Do let me know in the comments section why you travel or why you don’t, maybe we can fix that…
UPDATED
A #KoiKoiUg travel blog will be posted soon to continue these tour stories.
Discover more from Patricia Kahill's Cogitations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Dear Patricia.
When you talk of touring and traveling, you remind me of my days while working with an outgoing and youthful workmates in Fort-Portal. True, we had a plan of every weekend visit one tourist site in kabarole district (the good hotels, camping sites others). We were at the level of even traveling to Kigali and Mombasa. The team was good. We made it. The time i left the team, we were planning for a journey to Cape town in South Africa. When i left Fort portal, the whole team almost left. We were a group of 10 people, but the three of us who were workmates were the chief organizers. We would come up with the plan and sale it to others. But two of us, left Fort Portal and one left the country. she now works in Kigali.
One sure way of making touring and traveling easy for some people is the kind of people around them. You can’t associate with un outgoing people and you expect to make it. Money shall never be a reason to be, but the people around you.