The main goal of today was to secure a permit to track the mountain gorillas in Bwindi National Park. I hired a taxi to take me to the Uganda Parks Authority office quite a ways outside of the city center - according to the Lonely Planet. I got what I thought was a great price for the taxi, but then he delivered me to the office - in the city center. Anyway would have never found the office using either guide book (the Footprint Handbook has it in yet a different spot?!?). Anyway the booking procedure was straight forward as there were no other reservations on the day I wanted (Tuesday, the 29th). I opted for the smaller of the two available groups because it has an infant which supposedly means the Silver-back is more attentive and aggressive. One slight problem was that one of the $50 bills I'd brought with me to pay for the permit (total: $250!) was from before 1990 and therefore they couldn't take it. The woman agreed to keep the office open for me and I had to walk down the road to the Sheraton hotel to cash a travelers check.
While at the Sheraton I discovered two things: an internet cafe, and Starcom phones (cheaper international calls). So after getting my permit I went back. I spent a little over an hour answering email - a nice fast connection. Also took advantage of the Sheraton's lobby and read my guide book, contacted Adrift to try and arrange rafting tomorrow, and had a cup of real coffee (the cup cost half as much as my nights accommodation).
Walked the long way back to my guest house via the crafts market. I found the market very disappointing, most of the things seemed to be from Kenya or Tanzania and everything was fairly expensive. The highlight of the market was a map of Africa rendered in bottle caps stamped into the ground in front of the refreshment stand. Walked back to my guest house.
Spent the late afternoon reading the guide book - trying to make some plans for Ethiopia. Walked back to the Sheraton and splurged on a salad for diner. While there called my parents, called the rafting company to see if the trip was on (it is!), and spent another hour on the internet updating my journal. Back in my room I did some more research on Ethiopia, worked on my journal, and packed for tomorrow.
