Bird Lake

So we found a driver of a matatu (bus) that we paid to take us only to the lake. Passing Kabale and heading into the scenic mountains around Lake Bunyonyi was breathtaking and bloody scary! These narrow, dirt roads with potholes and falling rocks everywhere made my heart leap into my throat until we made it safely to the docking area where we proceeded to take a speed boat to our island resort- Byoona Amagara. It was well worth it! For the first time here in Uganda, we were able to spend two days doing absolutely nothing but eating, catching up on sleep and meeting fellow travellers from all parts of the world. Special shout out to my card playing San Francisco "hearts" buddy Clay, whose on an eight month travel trip around the world (I am the card champ and you know it! lol).

Lake Bunyonyi or "place of many birds" is a beautiful lake shaped by numerous mountainous peninsulas and of course, has a variety of birds that like to wake you up early in the morning. Why?! Why can't I sleep in just one day?! LOL!


I had an opportunity to stay in a geodome which is basically a private hut missing a wall that overlooks the lake. It was so cool to wake up in the morning staring out onto the water or looking at the cloudless, starry night sky-although it was NOT cool waking up to see a spider INSIDE my mosquito net (it was big Claudia!)



This place will be well missed but I'm looking forward to my gorilla trek in two days!!! draft 5:43:00 AM by Sandy Delete
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Goodnight, and don't let the bed bugs bite...literally!

Ok. I thought our shed was going to slide off the cliff last night during the heavy rainfall. Poor Claudia had to sleep on half her bunk bed since the tin roof was leaking. Heading back to Kampala today and resting a night at Red Chili is definitely needed, especially after my neck and collarbone was eaten alive by some insect while sleeping at Crow's Nest. I don't even want to think about what kind of bug did that to me. Freaks me right out. Its a good thing our expressionless driver James drove in the pouring rain WITHOUT windsheild wipers! When we asked him to put them on, he clicked them on once then shut them off again. O-Kaaaaaaaay...

Yay! We're alive and its pizza night tonight at Red Chili! Sooo gooooooooood!

We left early this morning (again) for a nine hour drive to Lake Bunyonyi. Now this was an adventure in itself- truly an African experience as we broke down on the side of the road twice! The first breakdown occured near the equator marking of Musaka. The driver pulled the van onto the side of the road where there were small shops. No mechanic shops around that any of us could see but our driver saw something we didn't...old car parts thrown around on the ground in one spot which "clearly" indicated that it was where you get your vehicle fixed. An hour or so later, with a "new" belt in place and the air conditioner still not working, we headed off again towards Kabale hoping the car would take us that far. However, this was not meant to be as we started to smell smoke about 2 hours later and pulled over to the side of the road once again, in the middle of nowhere. Midday, with sun beating down on us we couldn't help but laugh at our dilemma. With no town in sight and with some youngsters from school hanging around to see why these muzungus were hanging out on the side of the road, our driver Thomas, flagged down a truck driver to take him to the next town so he could bring a mechanic back with him. Its times like this u wish Uganda had its own version of CAA. An hour later, our driver appeared with a mechanic and some tools on a boda-boda(a motorbike which is a common yet very unsafe way to travel around). Once again the timing belt was replaced but now the battery was dead too. I still can't wrap my brain around this but our driver flagged down another vehicle and removed their car battery into our van. Once the van started up(and remained running) they removed the battery and put it back into the good samaritans car. Apparently, sharing batteries is a common occurrence here, but how the car remains running with no battery in it, is still a puzzle to me. Finally, we were on the road again- behind schedule and arriving late to Mbarare where the car again broke down. We decided not to chance finding another driver until early morninng since driving through the mountains to the lake is very dangerous at night. Luckily, we found a relatively nice hotel to stay at...or so I thought! Close to midnight and exhausted, as I unpacked some of my things I saw a bed bug crawling around on my bed!!!! Seriously!!! I know what they look like and there was no way I was going to sleep there this night. However, since it was late and searching for another place to stay was out of the question with the rest of my travel partners, I switched rooms instead and spent the night covered from head to toe in my clothes on top of the bed sheets with my towel wrapped around my head leaving only a breathing hole for my nose. I even left the lights on in the room and lay like a mummy as if that would make a difference- but in my mind, at the time it did. It was torture but I made it through the night without suffocating and without a single bite. I do have to mention a common reaction among many Ugandans here when they don't know something or are surprised with something -for instance, when telling the hotel clerk there were bugs on my bed, or that there's no water in the rooms, etc, in a high pitched voice they would say "hmpf...are you sure?!" "Hmmm....sure?!" Its quite comical really. Needless to say though, the people here are really great and super friendly!

Sipi Falls

Today we set off for Sipi falls, Mt. Elgon, in the eastern part of Uganda. Stunning scenery! Our accomodations at Crows Nest Lodge is on top of the slopes of Mt. Elgon and while sleeping in a hut, shed, whatever it is, on the edge of rocky cliffs is definitely awesome..it can be a little sketchy at night, when you have to make your way to the latrine with flashlight in hand and dodge spiders waiting to attack you in the darkness of the night (don't laugh its true, I hate spiders.
Either way, the view here is incredible, with Sipi falls off in the distance you hear the falls clearly in the night while staring up at the starry night. I wish you could see our bunk beds - six people in a tiny room with mosquito nets so thick u get tangled in them! It worried me, however, when the employees of the lodge said that the nets weren't for mosquitos since the climate is colder up here in the mountains, but that the nets were for other bugs....hmmmm...



We spent the day hiking to all three parts of Sipi falls.
This five and a half hour hike I think was even better than the safari! We trekked on steep slopes, through villages and their farms of coffee bean trees, maize, cabbage, matooke, and beans high up in the hills. Absolutely fantastic!


I even explored some caves near the falls but freaked out when I heard some bats screeching. It didn't help that my friends were shining lights on them causing them to fly around our heads...HELLO PEOPLE! RABIES! (I passed on the rabies shots this year too! Ugh!)



Its interesting how we were all using hiking sticks, while the little children and their mothers carried massive bundles of beans on their heads and over their shoulders up the narrow terraces, barefooted nonetheless!

They put us to shame, we must look pathetic with our runners and bamboo shoot walking sticks, even having little kids escort us around some of the steeper parts... hey- it was pretty treacherous at some points!

I learned quite a bit about the people here, their land and sustainable farming. On the east side of Mt.Elgon are the Sabiny people who are of Ethiopian descent, and on the western slopes of the mountain are the Bagisu people, descendents of Cameroon. Our guide explained how Arabica coffee is the main commodity exported from this region and he explained the planting, harvesting, and processing of the coffee bean "business" here.



As I mentioned earlier, we had little kids help us near the end of the hike. Martin, my 10 year old little guide made sure he took my hand and helped me over some slippery rocks
and even when I almost took him out with my walking stick he apologized to ME as is the typical Ugandan way- he could have been 5 km away from me as I tripped and he would have still apologized to me.LOL.


Its pretty neat when you can get real close to the falls yourself. There are no barriers here as there are in Niagara Falls.

Holy Hippopotamus!

Heading back to Kampala, we set off for a safari the follwing day at Murchison falls. This was a cool experience! We stayed in two man tents with cots


(ok, the moldy tents were not cool),

the main dining/bar area was a large open hut that over-looked part of the Nile and allowed for our nightly hippo visitors. Not to mention watching a serious lightening show take place in the night sky during our first night there. It was pretty awesome!

Our safari guide had two warnings for us:
1. Absolutely no food in the tents. Baboons are vicious and they will rip their way through the tents to get at it.
2. Campsite lights go off at midnight and we should not go to the washroom after that time because hippos come up to the grounds from the river and "mow" (i.e eat) the grass around our tents. In the next breath, our guide says in these exact words: "when you go to the toilet late at night, should you see a hippo, maybe cross your legs and wait"
Huh? Is this guy serious? Sure enough, another traveller from Israel literally bumped into a hippo the first night we were there and she ran off screaming. The hippo- too interested in the grass to take notice- didn't even budge. I must admit it was a bit unnerving to hear munching sounds around our tents at night but we got used to it...sort of...
The family of warthogs that decided to keep us company were less scarier. They were just fat and lazy and only snorted at you when you got too close!





Before setting off in the early morning however, I watched a big baboon open my packed lunch and eat my banana.
He didn't like the seeds in my watermelon slice so he carefully made sure to spit them out before proceeding to eat the rest of my lunch. The safari was awesome! We spent the morning driving around the open savannah. We even managed to get a glimpse of a lion and lioness (since we weren't in the Serengeti the chances of seeing lions here were slim so we were quite happy to come across them). Having to make a "short call" in the open grasses near the watering hole full of hippos nerve wracking- especially when you're trying to prevent monstrous dragonflies from landing on you while you're doing the deed (sorry...had to share that, it was worse then described! LOL!)

In the afternoon, we took a cruise down the Nile river and got up close and personal with elephants, crocs, hippos, water buffalo, you name it!



The boat took us to the bottom of Murchison Falls which was amazing. I guess you could say its Africa's version of the Maid of the Mist...but better!!!





This is definitely a highlight of my trip so far!

Final days in Lira...

Its been awhile since my last post and so much has happened so I'll do my best to condense things as much as I can!
My time in Lira was incredible and much too short! This year, I had an opportunity to spend more time with the students especially since I was able to organize a music group after school. Jasper- one of the students who I became very fond of last year- told me that his uncle would like for me to come to their village and meet the rest of the family. So I walked over with Jasper to meet his aunt, uncle,two grandmothers, and his two older brothers (who have not finished school because they could not pay their fees; they spend their time digging (farming) around their village and neighbouring villages to make some extra money for the family). I was really taken aback by their hospitality and genuine happiness to meet me.
Last year, I asked Jasper if he had paid for his school fees for his senior 3 year. He mentioned that his uncle Patrick works at three different schools because the pay is very poor and that is the only way he can help keep at least Jasper in school. Since Patrick was slowly paying off Jasper's fees whenever he received some money, at the time, Jasper "only" had 10 000 ush (five dollars) left to pay. I decided to surprise Jasper and I paid for his remaining school fees. When Jasper ran home to tell his uncle I had paid for him, I unexpectedly received a letter of gratitude and blessings for my entire family from Jaspers family! So this year, when they found out I had come back to Lira, they wanted to meet me and thank me personally. We sat around and chatted and I took some snaps (photos) with them.



I need to mention that Jasper is such a humble and sweet kid...there is such an innocence about him you can practically see a light shining from him! At one point, Jasper pulled me aside and showed me a tiny plot of land beside their garden with a few weeds growing out of it. He pointed to the plot of land and quietly told me that his mother was buried there, that he only knew her for one and a half years, and that since we have become close over the last year, he now thinks of me as his "mother" because I have shown him that I care about him. I couldn't control the tears at this point- I thought of my mothers own recent passing, I thought about how this kid was giving me way too much credit for a tiny thing I did and at that moment I felt how much love he had for me as well. HE was comforting ME! I realized how lucky I am to have known my beautiful mother for thirty one years of my life, how lucky I am to have family and friends in my life who care about me, and how lucky I am for having so much of everything and more in my life!
My time with Jaspers family ended with a lovely traditional Ugandan meal they had prepared for me (no matter how little people may have here, I find they are always willing to share with others) and they saw me off with flowers and fresh fruit!
I had to say no to the whole pineapple they offered for me to take. I had no place to put it and no free hands to carry it!



On the last day of our time in Lira, the students had a "good-bye" assembly for us. Once again, they performed songs, traditional dances and recited poetry for the volunteers.


My music group also performed songs for the school (I'll have to post my video of "One Love"; I have found Uganda's next reggae star!)


As a surprise to the students, all us volunteers decided to perform our own song and dance for the whole school. You would be impressed with our version of "the lion sleeps tonight"- again, I'll try to post the video! Calvin...you made a great lion buddy!


Just as last year...I'm really going to miss these kids :(

Lira & Kampala Kids Day

Just as it was last year, the senior 3's organized a kid's day for the primary children at Ambalal school as the culminating task of the leadership program Kirabo delivered.

In Kampala, we held another kids day with Right to Play for the impoverished children of Bwaise. Both days were very successful and super chaotic! I think all of us volunteers were exhausted by the end of our volunteer program- but no matter how much dust, diesel and body odour we inhaled during our time here, and no matter how many screaming children there were, we had a blast doing it!

Sweet Nutella!

Every morning we do construction at the school. Some of the volunteers are working on a mural that is being painted on the wall of one of the school's buildings.

I, on the other hand,am shoveling rocks,carrying buckets of water,
mortar,

hauling bricks,

laying foundation and building a kitchen and an additional dormatory for the girls! This is some serious physical labour! I think the Ugandan workers thought a mzungu wouldn't be able to handle the tough work but I showed them!



I was even able to carry and stack more bricks than the little barefooted four and five year olds who were eager to help! Don't laugh, these kids could probably out-bench me in the gym! LOL!

The afternoons are spent teaching a leadership workshop to the senior threes (which is equivalent to grade nine in Canada).



After that, I have a bunch of students who showed interest in my music research. We get together, play some rhythms on instruments, sing songs and dance! You should hear some of the songs these kids have written themselves. Stephen, my little Usher wannabe, wrote a song called "African Child", the words were unbelievable- its hard to imagine a kid could write something so profound, but then again, it just goes to show that their experiences are drastically different from our own.



We've even had two movie nights at the school. The first night, all 400 of us crammed ourselves into a classrooom (yes...400) since we were flooded by a thunderstorm...let me tell u, when it rains it pours...HARD!



One of the volunteers brought a projector and a laptop so we were able to share some movies with the students once we got the generator going. That was a cool experience! the interaction with the kids is of course the best part of this whole experience- especially my time with Denis (my sponsored student) and another boy named Jasper who I was able to help out a little last year.


(Denis)


(Jasper)

The kids have been so hospitable and welcoming, I think they appreciate that I've managed to come back twice now to see them and based on what they've told me it shows them that I truly care about them (which I do)- or maybe they just said those things because I introduced them to nutella! Yes! I they do sell nutella here in town- how could I deprive them of the chocolately goodness on bread! LOL!

The other night I caught some sort of bug that I think was with me for a couple of days but reared its ugly head within the last 24 hrs. Not to fear its all out! Sort of... I did have to miss an afternoon of activities, but coming back to school was really special when many of the kids were welcoming me back and literally thanking me for recovering! Some of them were so worried they were saying prayers for me! Love these guys!