Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria

The sun has not yet risen over the dusty streets of Kabale as I stumble sleepily outside to catch the early morning bus to Masaka. Minibus taxis and bicycles are already ferrying passengers in the purple pre-dawn light.

After safely storing my backpack, I climb aboard the bus which takes off like a bat out of hell. Long-horned Ankole cows grazing next to the road stare at us as we thunder past. It's good to be on an African bus again and I relax, content to watch the Ugandan countryside fly past in a blur of green fields and scenic hills.

I quickly strike up a friendship with Robert Mutaganda, a dairy farm worker travelling home to see his family. 'It's a pleasure to meet you,' he smiles cheerfully. 'I have been overseas before on a study grant and it's always nice to talk to people from other countries. I welcome you to my land.'

This is Uganda, a land of warm smiles and open hearts. After a week spent in the south western region exploring the countryside and tracking gorillas in Bwindi National Park, I'm now headed for the remote Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria. We motor into Mbarara and stop at the bus depot to pick up more passengers. A bunch of boys immediately besiege the bus, eager to sell us tasty chicken kebabs and sweet yellow bananas.
After a short break, we continue into the warm day towards Masaka.

Thick dark clouds have built up and a thunderstorm is brewing. Suddenly it starts to pour. Brown pools of water flow across the road, turning small side streets into muddy rivers. Soaked bicycle riders struggle in the driving rain with heavy loads of sugar cane. Then, as suddenly as it started, the storm subsides and a weak rainbow appears over the plains.

A few kilometres before Masaka, I hop off the bus and straight onto a boda boda for the junction town of Nyendo. Here my adventure really begins. Before I can catch the ferry to the Ssese Islands, I have to reach the lakeshore village of Bukakata. Which means a long bumpy ride in one of Africa's infamous matatus.

The African minibus encounter is an experience everyone should have at least once on their travels. The driver never leaves until the taxi is full, so for 45 minutes I wait for enough people to show up. The minibus is licensed to carry 14 passengers but African taxi drivers have their own interpretation of a full load. More people arrive, mothers and babies, shy schoolchildren and old men with shining eyes. Everyone packs in and by the time we leave, 27 of us have squeezed in like sardines.

We bounce along the bumpy road on cracked and worn tyres, dodging potholes and skidding noisily around dusty corners. I'm the only mzungu aboard and am wedged in the back row between two smiling schoolgirls. Even though I'm stuck here and can hardly move, a familiar elation suddenly washes over me. Feelings of connection, adventure, freedom and joy. Sensations that so often arise when travelling through this great continent of ours. There's no need to hurry. Just go with the flow of Africa.

At Bukakata, we drive aboard the ferry for the short trip across to Buggala Island. Then it's a joyous ride along rutted roads to Kalangala, the main town and administrative centre of the Ssese islands. With the sun about to set after a memorable day in Africa, I arrive at the calm paradise of Hornbill Camp.

The Ssese group consists of 84 islands lying off the north-western coast of Lake Victoria. Life on these idyllic shores is slow and relaxed. The only way to reach them is by ferry or fishing boat, so the Ssese's are never overrun with visitors. Unlike many towns on the mainland, these tranquil islands escaped the destruction of Uganda's civil wars and therefore remain largely unspoilt.