Early in the morning I found it a little chilly so I pulled the blanket over my sleep sheet and me. What seemed like moments later a voice told us that breakfast was almost ready. I got up and found it quite chilly—a testament that my silk sleepsheet was working well. I quickly got dressed and made my way in the dark to the outhouse, where nearby a kerosene light was lit next to some warm wash water (what service, I tell ya!). I made my way to the breakfast table, which had on it mostly fruit and toast. The omelette, while delicious, didn't come in portions big enough (for a group of ravenous cyclists, anyhow.)

We cycled back a few klicks to the tourist centre in the park. While we hung around until 8:00am for the guide to arrive it rained lightly, but not for long. We occupied the time looking at the displays inside the building on birds, insects, primates, etc. in the park. Quite interesting, in fact.

Our guide (sporting an aged MEC pack) led us around the park answering questions and pointing things out to us. The trail was narrow, but reasonably dry considering it was, after all, a rainforest. On several occasions we stopped when there was movement in the trees. To get better looks we'd venture off the path, cutting our way through the vegetation. Overall, the "bush" wasn't very dense—similar to the forests at home (ignoring, of course, the differences in botany and wildlife). We spotted a few species of monkeys... most of which I don't remember.

We had emerged from the forest in a grassland area and were resting in a wooden gazebo when the guide's walkie-talkie came on telling him there were chimps in another area. We set off again and eventually came to a wider road where a PCV (I think) was observing them—largely to habituate them (get them used to human presence). We watched about five chimps as they ate and moved around. Interesting.

After the chimps, we cycled back to the Safari Lodge where lunch was awaiting us. We helped ourselves to the best treat of the trip: a mouth-watering piece of pineapple pie. Again, not enough, so Charles made up some avocado sandwiches for Maxine and me. Again, Mmmmmm.

After lunch we prepared our gear, filled our bottles from the lodge's tank (another doctor's rule broken) and took off. David, Doug and I went ahead of the others. The hills were loooooong... on one of them David and Doug walked. I fought my way up past them, resting about a zillion times and sucking back water. David made jokes about me having helium in my panniers.

We arrived at the lodge that we had stopped briefly at the day before around 3:00pm. The ride wasn't long, but it was tough. While Doug and I chatted, David secured our rooms. The lodge is at the top of a hill overlooking a crater lake. Twenty-two round, cement cabins surround it. Doug and I took the first one. It has electricity, a wicker chair and table and room for the bikes. Very nice.

After settling in, the others arrived. I found them later at the lake side—Doug resting and David, Maxine and Christine having a swim. I abstained at the thought of leeches and sat next to Doug by the lakeside. I discovered a few mosquito bites on me. Oh, well.

David came by to discuss the menu for dinner. We decided on another buffet for supper. We could have had chicken if we all wanted it—otherwise they didn't want to kill a chicken just for a few of us. With the spare time I've been able to tend to my chain, catch up in my journal and relax. Doug is off snapping photos. What's nice is the food is cheap—usually around 60 cents for a pop and 2 or 3 bucks for a meal. Around double that in the bigger towns and cities, but still not too bad. And apparently Uganda is one of the more expensive African countries!

I had a bucket bath, prayed a bit and then joined the others as we waited for dinner. Chatted. Finally, dinner was ready so we moved to the darkened dining area—in the dark because the power went off. (Surprise!) We had a nice mixed meal, though Doug got the spoils (much to my annoyance) because the bowls went through him first. After the meal we chatted—mostly about the route we had taken yesterday and the other 3 options we could have had. Maxine spoke up on her philosophy—going slow, stopping a lot, etc. While I can't disagree, it seemed that most of us liked the cycling as much as anything else.

Finally we headed off to bed (okay, it wasn't exactly LATE... only 9:00pm). I was quite warm with my sleep sheet and mosquito net (I think I've figured out how to sleep in it tangle-free) but the others found it cold that night—Doug got up in the might to add some clothes.