The Q-Files: Lost place

The Q-Files: Letzter Ort – Last place

Mouila – A quiet place – Ein ruhiger Ort

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Mouila is indeed a quiet place – not to say sleepy. It is the capital of the Ngounié region, named after the river which is the most important tributary of the Oogué. 30.000 inhabitants are living in Mouila that is linked to Lambaréné and Libreville in the north as well as Ndendé in the south via another Route Nationale. That one is quite good because it got paved by an Italian company in the recent years. Nowadays, more people are using the overland route to go to the south, which means more visitors coming to Mouila. But it is still a rarely visited town in a rarely visited region. In this respect, the lack of any touristic infrastructure and the nearly complete inaccessibility of the beautiful rainforest hinterland might play a role.

Buggala, ein Rückzugsort II – Buggala Island, a place of retreat II

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Alle Unterkünfte auf Buggala liegen über die Lutoboka-Bucht verteilt, von wo aus seit ein paar Jahren die Fähre MV Kalangala täglich nach Entebbe pendelt. Dafür benötigt sie in der Regel um die vier Stunden. Morgens um acht Uhr geht es in Lutoboka los, und um 14 Uhr tritt sie von Entebbe den Weg zurück zur Insel an, wo sie dann noch vor Sonnenuntergang wieder anlegt. Nachdem die Insel schon in den 90ern ein Backpacker-Treffpunkt gewesen war, hatte sie Anfang des Jahrtausends unter der Einstellung des Fährbetriebs von Entebbe aus gelitten, die Touristen waren weiter an den idyllischen Bunyonyi-See im Süden des Landes gezogen.

Buggala Island, a place of retreat I – Buggala, ein Rückzugsort I

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From Kalinzu Forest, we caught a minibus to the east, to Mbarara where we had to change transport and took a big bus eastward on to Masaka near the shore of Lake Victoria. After the delicious Friday night BBQ buffet at the Frikadellen, a Danish-run eatery linked to the NGO Childcare Denmark, and a night at the Vienna Golden Hotel in Masaka (we couldn´t figure out why the hell this is called Vienna), we tried to take a minibus to Buggala Island, the largest island of the Ssese Archipelago which comprises 84 islands just off shore on Lake Victoria. There is a free ferry service commuting all day between the mainland east of Masaka and the western tip of Buggala Island, covering the three or four kilometres in around 40 minutes.

Cityscape Panorama, Luisenplatz, Darmstadt

3 x Nikon D3200; Tamron 11-18mm, F 4,5-5,6; 11(16)mm; F 10; 1/160 sec.; ISO 100