The Gorilla Highlands Trails campsite at Lake Kayumbu is located on a cliff that belongs to Church of Uganda. That means periodical changes of the omushomesa (“teacher”/lay leader) family that hosts our hikers. In February our reliable partner Baker Tugume (see the video below) was transferred and a new couple moved in.
Gerald Nizeyimana, 32, and his wife Jacklline, 25, have two children: Christian, 2.5 years, and Rebecca, 10 months. Gerald has been serving the Lord since 2008 but otherwise he is a student of Development Studies and passionate about bringing progress to his area. Jackline teaches Primary 2 and that means she speaks English – a rare ability among Gorilla Highlands Trails hostesses.
We will, as always, encourage both of them to join our trekkers at campfires on the lake shore and converse. Getting to know local people is a major point of the Gorilla Highlands Trails, however, hosts often get too busy preparing abundant meals. Or are they just a little shy?
Gerald has expressed a wish that would be an excellent conversation starter: he asked if we could get him some “tourist” photos for his bare walls. He meant pictures of foreign countries. If upcoming hikers email us some, we will gladly print big hard copies for him. Imagine coming to rural Africa to find images of your home country (and your faces) awaiting you there!
While paying a visit to Jackline and Gerald today, we also brought funds to level another campsite (there will be two huge groups camping in June) and checked on the sitting toilet and jetty we built in 2015. The swimming dock will have to be repaired and extended but the latrine looks good.
With the parish team we finally discussed how to reduce on locals coming to the campsite to stare at hikers; Lake Kayumbu doesn’t get any other visitors so the attraction is understandable…
