Monday morning (29th November) we made our way to Potter's Village ready for our hike. We couldn't do the volcano in the end as it was $50 a head to get there, a quarter of the Peace Corps monthly allowance. We instead opted for Lake Mutanda, a shorter 4 hour hike.

We started out following a path but before long decided to take it cross country, cutting through fields of sugar cane, heards of cows and goats and through small tucked away villages. At some points I felt I was Indiana Jones searching for a lost temple as the foilage was your typical jungle and the terrain dense and wet.
We stumbled through peoples gardens as we approached unknown huts, but no one seemed to mind. We eventually made our way down the other side of the hill and towards the vast Lake Mutanda and at points I wondered whether we'd approached from the wrong angle as the ground turned to marshland and no visible road was present but after a bit of a detour we found a soggy track which led the way.
We passed another primary school and much to my delight children came running from their play across the field to the fence to shout the customary 'Mzungo'.

We quickly moved on and eventually arrived at an eco community centre, which seemed to monopolise the walking edge of the lake. A man hurridly descended some forest steps and introduced himself as the manager of the centre, ushering us towards the lakes edge. He listed off all the activities available, including swimming, python safari, nature walks and canoeing and then offered us a pricey soda. We accepted, sat on bank for a while, chatted and then set off home as the sun started to set. I managed to get a photo of Potter's Village, Kisoro town and the volcano just as the sun was setting - click on the picture to make it bigger.

Potter's Village on the left (green roofs), kisoro center and right with volcano