Ndali Lodge

I have a suspicion that a few people read my blog awaiting the latest of my misadventures and tales of woe. Well I am afraid I am going to disappoint you all, as I have just come back from a little patch of paradise on Ugandan soil. We often feel like we’re in a time-warp over here, what with slow internet, dubious fashions on display and feeling like we’re completely out of synch with any new music. As I write, my neighbours are blasting out a bit of Dire Straits interspersed with a spot of Reggaeton! But staying at Ndali Lodge was like being transported back in time in a much better way! As you drive towards the lodge, you are treated to a view of the Rwenzori Mountains in the distance on one side and a crater lake on the other. The main house is shabby-chic, like an old English style cottage furnished with a hotch-potch of old furniture and crockery. Lazy afternoons are spent curled up with a good book in a corner, laying by the pool overlooking the lakes or playing board games on a rainy afternoon (pre-1990 Trivial Pursuits to be precise – we gathered this from the plethora of questions with answers such as Soviet Union, West Germany or Yugoslavia – I think this must be the last edition my parents bought too as I had somehow had a surprisingly good knowledge of the most random of subjects, except, of course, the sports questions!) Sundowners on the veranda also featured strongly.
It wasn’t all just lazing about though. We took a walk down to the vanilla plantation and learnt all about the vanilla growing process and got to sport some fetching hats too! The vanilla is grown at the lodge and around the country, then treated and packaged before being sent off to the UK to a well known supermarket. It’s all got the Fair Trade stamp of approval and the workers have free health care and a few other benefits that are perhaps rare for many Ugandans. They also grow all their own vegetables in a small plot, so everything you eat tastes fresh and delicious!
So that’s it, in a nutshell. A new place to add to my list of favourite places and somewhere I am looking forward to visiting again.

... photos to follow when the internet decides to speed up ...