Wet and wild in western Uganda

When the Price family built Ndali Lodge on the rim of an ancient volcanic crater in western Uganda 15 years ago, they knew they were setting up on a beautiful spot. What they didn't know, until recently when a guest opened his wallet and pointed it out, was the status of the location. It takes about five hours to drive to Ndali Lodge from Uganda's chaotic capital, Kampala. The farther west you travel, the more lush and verdant the landscape gets, and the more peaceful life becomes. Fort Portal, the nearest large town to Ndali, is at the heart of the country's most fertile farming area, the garden of Uganda. Take a left turn just before the town centre and head 15 kilometres along a red, iron-rich dirt road through rolling farmland, past tea plantations and clusters of banana trees and fields of maize, until you round a corner and see below you a deep crater lake bounded on every side by steep hills. It's breathtaking, and whoever designed the Ugandan 20,000 shilling (Dh28) note must have agreed. Hold one up as you overlook the lake from this exact spot and you will see the view replicated in precise detail on the note, right down to the thatched roofs of Ndali Lodge on the far ridge.Most people who travel to Ndali arrive in a private vehicle. I came by public transport, and getting there from Kampala by bus and motorcycle taxi cost me exactly USH20,000: a fair exchange. We passed the lakeside vantage point and the driver dropped me off at the entrance to the lodge. The primary school on the corner was closing for the day and children in flamingo-pink uniforms greeted me with laughter and choruses of "How are you?" as they flocked out of class. The driveway to the lodge took me along a long, narrow ridge, like the spine of a tall, slender animal. On one side was a sheer drop to the lake; on the other side were the Rwenzoris, the highest mountain range in Africa. The mountains themselves were a hazy blue outline in the afternoon heat; the foothills in between were various shades of dark green. In the valley immediately below I could see a vanilla farm, with rows of wooden platforms where harvested pods are left out in the sun to dry. The lodge consists of six thatched cottages dotted along the ridge and a main building with a dining room and a lounge area. Two patios overlook the crater lake. On the Rwenzori side there is a swimming pool and, below that, a sun deck with a view to marvel at. Farther down, hidden in the trees, is a state-of-the-art Finnish sauna. A friendly host showed me to my cottage, which was comfortable and attractively designed, though lacking many of the frills you might expect at a $450-a-night (Dh1,652) lodge. No flatscreen TV, no internet connection, no minibar; nor, indeed, does it have electricity. There were solar lamps on the bedside tables, but otherwise Ndali relies on candles for night-time illumination, and the water for the en-suite bathrooms is heated by old-fashioned Tanganyika boilers, which billow fragrant woodsmoke across the grounds.While I settled in, lunch was laid out for me on the patio. The meal was simple - chicken and chips, and banana fritters with local honey for dessert - but the backdrop was extraordinary. As I ate, the sky went suddenly dark, thunder rumbled somewhere over the hills and heavy tropical raindrops started to fall. The thick ceiling of vines overhead kept me from getting wet and I watched the surface of the lake turn green and silvery-white in the rain. Birds continued to sing. Flowers covered the hillside below and I could hear the constant hum of grazing bees. After lunch the rain cleared and a guide called Robert took me down to the vanilla farm, which is owned by a cousin of the Price family. The lodge's four resident dogs came with us, delighted at the chance to stretch their legs and terrorise the local goat population. Robert showed me the storehouse where the vanilla is first steamed and then left to ferment in large, coffin-shaped wooden boxes. During the fermenting process it is taken out every day to dry for two hours in the sun. When the long bean-like green pods, which are grown organically in a local forest, turn black and pungent, they are packed up and shipped to Britain and the US. From / The National