24 jan. 2013
Hello friends!
Wanted to let you all know I
arrived safely in Uganda! I am now in the little town of Jinja, on the
banks of the Nile, this is where the Nile begins its long journey north.
I see a monkey's tail hanging out of the tree & I hear geckos
clicking their little tongues as I write this!
Why Did I choose Uganda you ask?
Well,
7 years ago when Graciela and I were touring east Africa with Carly as
our guide, our trip ended in Tanzania. The next place the group was
going was Uganda. I remember Carly saying, "if you think the people of
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania are friendly...you should see how
kind and happy they are in Uganda!" This has stuck with me ever since,
so it was the natural place to go when I was ready to do my volunteer
work in Africa. She was absolutely right. As we walk through the
villages or drive through the countryside the kids race to the road,
they stand there barefoot and shouting, "hello mzungu, how are you?" Or
shouting and singing things I can't understand! The one thing I always
understand is "mzungu" which means "white person".
This place is
full of incredibly friendly, helpful and happy faces. When I arrived at
the airport on Tuesday, a local woman, Remmie, picked me up! she was
working in Alaska last year and met my friend Bianca, who told her about
me coming to her homeland. Remmie insisted on making the drive to the
airport, picking me up and having me stay with her. I stayed with her
and her sister, for two nights. They fed me, drove me around, made sure I
was all set, then saw me off at the bus station when I left to come and
meet Carly. What a relief to have a smiling face there to pick me up
after a 30 hour trip! I was very lucky on both of the 8 hour flights I
had three seats to myself! I was actually able to lay down and sleep
rather well!
Remmie-What a welcome to Uganda, "the pearl of Africa", you have given me!
2 Feb. 2013
I
travelled to Jinja to meet Carly in a matatu, which is basically a
mini-van that serves as a shared taxi. You only leave the matatu station
when the van is full. So, I sat in the sweltering heat for about
25minutes, then made the four hour drive to Jinja. The drive was
supposed to be a 50minute drive...with all the stops, letting people off
and picking up more, and police inspections, it took about four times
as long. The police stops are to ensure we aren't overloaded. Never mind
the fact that it states clearly on the side of the door "14 passenger
limit" and there are over 20 humans crammed into the van, they send us
on our way!
Thanks to Carly's connections we rafted the beautiful
Nile, it was spectacular! She has done it heaps of times and insisted I
jump into the last rapid and swim it. Let me just say, she is crazy and
knows not what dangers she gets us into! Nevertheless...it was awesome!
Don't worry...the crocodiles are vegetarians!
We've spent the past ten day traversing Uganda,
seeing some of the most breathtaking sights that Uganda has to offer.
Sipi falls is a tiny village town in the mountains surrounded by
waterfalls and farms and fields. We hiked through paths and through
fields and swam in cold mountain water. We ate local food and shook as
many hands as we were offered. "Hello mzungu, I am fine!" So many
friendly faces, so eager to greet us and just say hello. Some
accommodation has been pretty rustic, but mosquito nets are always
provided, which is what allows me to sleep knowing the lizards, iguanas,
spiders and slimy snails are not getting through my net. Impossible!
3
hour bus rides turn into 9 hour bus rides and we happily buy peanuts,
bananas, bread buns or water through the bus window when we stop at
various towns to add or subtract from our load, we bounce along the
muddy rooted roads. Often they are not paved and the downpour of rain
washes away the edges of the road.
We left lake Bunyonyi today, a
gorgeous lake full of little islands and locals in canoes made from
tree trunks and surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. The crops are
planted on the sloping hills, how the seeds don't wash away is a mystery
to me. Carly's main mission in uganda is greet and photograph every
single baby and child in the country, she has been very successful!
While we greet and photograph, we chat and laugh. We have met many
orphanage directors, it turns out the biggest problem with me finding an
orphanage to work in will be choosing which one.
We crossed the
border into Rwanda today, another beautiful country with a horrifying
history that is both intriguing and incredibly sad. Two weeks exploring
Rwanda, then Carly flies home and I will venture back up into uganda on
my own. I will miss her terribly. Tomorrow we trek the gorillas. The
worlds largest primate, which Diane fossi gave her life to protect. We
trek through the jungle until we find them, then spend an hour or so
with them. A gorilla has 98 percent the Same DNA as a human. Tomorrow I
am going to visit my ancient ancestors...and yours too!
I will give my love to all!
Bonnie
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