Day 103: Rushaga Gorilla Lodge and Campsite

The whole thing here is Disneyland. Or at least it seems that way to us, because we rarely come into contact with organized tours and the folkloric hype that comes with them.

We briefly considered yesterday whether things might be completely different with the children begging on the street: "If we hop a little and wave, let's see if the tourists wave back" – basically a game :-)

And we're realizing once again that many Americans, with their patronizing "big spender" attitude, are messing up the prices and also fostering the entitlement to get good money for little or no service.

As always and everywhere, including at Rushaga Gorilla Camp, the electricity doesn't work (so we plug in in the restaurant bathroom), sometimes the power goes out completely (the generator has a blessed "quiet time" between 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM). Then there's occasionally no water (not so nice in the restrooms), etc. But we've had it much worse. And despite the cold and the feeling that everything was damp, we slept quite well.

During the day we take advantage of the absence of almost all the other guests (trekking or departing, and no arrivals yet) and  have a hot shower and upload our data.

And the gardeners show us a wonderful chameleon (a three-horned chameleon). What a beauty!

At midday, the sun actually comes out, and we take a walk to the park entrance, where, according to Sheba, we should be at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow to collect our permit. Apparently, there might be a bit of a drive before the hike begins. So we'll take the car instead of walking.

We'll order packed lunches for tomorrow, prepare our backpacks, and will most likely take a porter, as the terrain could get quite steep or even slippery.

It remains exciting...