On Our Way to Rovos Rail

January 20-21, 2026 from the itinerary - Transfer to the Kisoro Airstrip where you catch the 10:15 am Airlink flight to Entebbe. From here take the Air Uganda flight 712 to Johanesburg. Pick up any left luggage and transfer to Pretoria for a 2 night stay at the Protea Hotel. From there pick up Rovos Rail to Victoria Falls.

January 20 - It was a more relaxed day starting with a glorious sun rise. Unfortunately, the time lapse got lost. The bird calls and lighting was beautiful. The bunnies were busy which is probably why I almost forgot Buni....

We left at about 8:30 for the hour transfer to Kisoro Airfield

where we had a hand luggage search and a useless x-ray security. The 1 hour 15 flight had a lady pilot,

with Victor as the co-pilot which brought great mirth to Chris who kept quoting the movie Airplane. We took off from a paved runway versus the grass runway in Kasese. We flew at about 9500 feet (similar height to our hike the other day) through rain along the way and had interesting alarms go off - thankfully not for very long each time. We were put on a holding pattern for 2 right turns before landing - it was a bit dizzying as they were rather tight turns. The little airplane landed almost a bit short of the runway, almost before the "piano keys", but it ended up ok.

We were met by Nkuringo Safaris at the airport and had a bit of a debriefing before splitting. As Vena and I sang the "3 hours later" song, we were wondering how much longer we would be debriefing. Time was moving on for Ann, Lisa, Rob for their 14:35 departure. After this briefing we said goodbye to Chris, John and Vena

who were staying land side for later flights. I'll be glad to travel with them again.

We were able to check in and get through security a bit early and hit the lounge. Unfortunately Lisa, Ann, Rob were corralled by Kenya Air staff and weren't allowed to leave the boarding area, even though their flight hadn't landed. Thankfully Lisa was able to get a message through and I was able to race down and say a good bye to my wonderful travelling companions until our July Ireland adventure.

Lisa, Ann, Rob's plane pushing back.

It's a shame they couldn't come to the lounge because it's one of the better ones I've been to. It's large, has lovely food and even massage chairs. The down side is - no champagne.

As we said goodbye to Uganda, our 4 hour flight to Johannesburg went without a hitch. Dinner was less than exciting - chicken - which wasn't to my taste.

It was odd to come back to an industrialized nation with paved roads and lights.

From the OR Tambo airport we had an Uber take us the final 30 minutes to Pretoria and the Protea hotel for our 2 night stay. It was nice to be in a hotel with a comfy bed, no mosquito netting, and reasonable internet.

January 21, 2026 from the itinerary: day at leisure.

And boy was it. We lounged around at breakfast until 10:30 before heading out to see some of the sites.

There's not a lot to see in Pretoria. The big sites are:

The Loftus Versfeld Stadium - Rugby Stadium. This is right across the street from our hotel and, unfortunately, there were no matches scheduled while we were here.

and the Union Buildings which you can't go inside because these are the government offices. You can look at the gardens which were quite pretty.

There is also a big statue of Nelson Mandela, as well as a memorial to fallen policemen.

We also saw some birds including the common myna and hadada ibis.

I somehow managed not to get arrested.

After some retail therapy, Chris found us a great Indian restaurant. This meal was amazing - I had tandoori chicken and chili/garlic naan.