Old Friend, New Experiences

Dateline: Monday, April 23, 2012

It's been a couple weeks since my last post and I've gotten many requests for an update. I have been very busy working to finish things up at the school for the end of term. Many long days and headaches trying to sort out the mess of the finances! But thankful for the end of term and a much needed break!

Break started for me on Good Friday, April 6 when I met up with my dear friend, Miriam Hagen from Norway. Miriam and I met while doing our Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies together at the University of Sydney in Australia in 2010-2011. We spent a lot of time together that year and even took an epic road trip up the eastern coast of Australia from Sydney to Caiirns to the Great Barrier Reef. Miriam decided that she, too, wanted to work in Uganda and applied for a job with the Norwegian Peace Corps when she returned to Norway. She got the job and is working near the western border of Uganda, near the Congo, in a small village called Katwe. It is located right on Lake Edward and surrounded by Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Miriam and her coworker, Anna Maria, met me in Kampala on April 6. From there we took a bus to Jinja to go rafting on the Nile. Jinja is the source of the White Nile ( the source of the Blue Nile is in Ethiopia, I think). From this point in Jinja, the Nile travels 4000 miles to the Mediterranean Sea. Saturday we woke up and met the other rafters for our safety briefing then boarded buses that took us down river to where we would begin our adventure! Yes, I said down river. The Nile is the only river in the world which flows from south to north! We were put together in groups of 6 rafters and one guide. Each group selected whether they wanted to go easy, medium or hard core rapids. Our group chose hard core of course. We were fortunate enough to get the leader of the trip as our guide - Bhupi - a guy from India and an expert rafter. He saved our lives many times! Rafting the Nile is a great experience and a death defying one, too! The rapids are class 3 -6 and depending on where you hit them you will either have an easy trip down each rapid or a hard one. Our guide was true to his word, and gave us an experience of a lifetime! We flipped out 5 of the 7 rapids! I lost both my contact lenses by the 2nd flip and thus traveled down the remaining rapids pretty much blind, which made for an even scarier ride! Bhupi's excellent instructions saved us from nearly drowning several times as the water is relentless and continues to pound over you and suck you down once you fall into the rapids. It was the most thrilling experience I've ever had and don't regret it one bit! Everyone survived and we had a great lunch at the end of the day. Later that evening we went to the nearby campground to watch the video they had shot of our trip up the river. It was pretty cool to see how many times we flipped out and how well we recovered.

The next day we decided to take a much more sedate walk to the source of the Nile where we boarded a leisurely boat cruise with a guide who described all the historical and scientific information about the Nile. The Nile begins where Lake Victoria joins together with fresh water which bubbles up from underground. It is interesting to see the big round circles of water mixing with the flow of the lake. After a relaxing cruise we walked into Jinja to check out the town. It was very quiet because it was Easter Sunday and most everything was closed. We each bought a locally made and traditional styled dress. We the took a bus back to Kampala and spent the night in a hostel. I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to Entebbe.

Back to work in the village for the last week of school before term break. My host family finished their new outdoor kitchen. It looked pretty nice. On Thursday I said goodbye to the family and told them I wouldn't be back for about 3 weeks. Back in Entebbe I met up with Miriam and Anna Maria again. We stayed in a luxurious hotel where many of the NGO workers stay on their way in or out of the country. It was nice to relax by a swimming pool and have delicious western style meals for a couple of days! Yes, I spoiled myself. It felt very weird to be living in such luxury when just outside the gates the locals don't even have electricity or running water. On Monday, the 16th we hired a van to take us to Kampala so they could shop for things they can't get up in Katwe and then to drive us the 6 1/2-7 hours back to Katwe.
We arrived just after midnight so I could not see the area. When I awoke in the morning to the sound of hippos laughing, I looked out the window to see a beautiful view of Lake Edward. Katwe is actually surrounded by Queen Elizabeth National Park. There are many wild animals around the area. Ugandan Kobs, waterbuck, bush buck, water buffalo, warthogs, mongoose, snakes, many bird species, crocodiles, hippos, elephants, and lions can all be seen wandering around. It is so beautiful here and such a difference from where I am working! I would love working up here! I'm glad I get to stay 2 weeks, not just because it's beautiful but because I get to spend time with Miriam!

On Saturday we met up with some other friends of theirs and went on a game drive in the national park. This was amazing!!! We saw all the animals I mentioned above. The highlight was the lioness we saw who was in the process of hunting Kob. We watched her for over an hour but didn't see a kill. She was very patient as she crept and prowled. Finally it started to rain and she took shelter under a thicket. Lions don't like to get wet. Oh well, it was thrilling none the less. We also took a boat trip down the Kasinga Channel, which connects Lake George and Lake Edward. We saw lots of hippos, crocodiles, elephants, water buffalo, kobs, warthogs and birds.

This has been a completely different experience than my first two months here. I'm really enjoying the beauty of Uganda. The people here in Katwe are lovely, too! I fall more in love with Uganda every day!

Much love to you all from the Pearl!!!