UGANDA!!!

The first thing we noticed when we crossed into Uganda was the greenery. Everything all around us was so lush and green and jungle like…it was so beautiful. We stopped immediately after crossing the border to exchange some money and take a quick pee break. When we got off of the truck, we were immediately surrounded by about a dozen workers who wanted to exchange our money. I was immediately caught up with a very adorable boy who was maybe 7 years old. He asked me if I would support his business – he was selling water and banana’s…none of which I wanted. I told him if he had some pineapple, I would be interested in buying some of that. He quoted me a price but I told him I wanted to see it before I bought it. With that being said, he told me to wait for 5 minutes then took off running. When he came back sweating and panting, I asked him where he went and it turns out he ran across to the Kenyan side to fetch these small pineapple cubes for me. I paid him what he was asking (although I knew it was too much…but I appreciated the effort he put in and I admired the fact that he did not just ask for the money straight up...and the pineapple was so delicious and sweet).


We drove to the main city center called Jinja, which is where the source if the White Nile originates . We were very pleased with our campsite as it 1) was directly above the river and thus had an AMAZING view; 2) had cheap beers and ciders (<$1 per bottle); and 3) had free internet.


After pitching up our tents (Jeremy and I have now gotten very good at this) we relaxed with the odd few going for a swim in the river. Christine and I went to treat ourselves to some traditional Uganda food called Chiapatti’s. They are very delicious and I would compare them to a crepe. I had ordered a banana and peanut butter Chiapati and Chrsitine had ordered an egg and veggie. My wrap was ready first so I started to munch away. On about my third bite I felt something small but hard in my mouth. I pulled out a rusted old industrialized staple – I have no idea how it got there, it must have been from the newspaper that it was wrapped in because I saw him cook the chiapitti and peel the banana right in front of me. I did not want to embarrass him so I slyly pulled the staple from my mouth, continued to eat my meal (it was so delicious) and then told Christine and the others about my experience – we all had a good chuckle. But hey, I guess when you pay less than $0.50 for a meal, you cant complain when you get a little more than you were bargaining for – right??! And, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger!

That same night we had numerous people come to talk to us about all of the activities we could do over the next few days – this ranged from white water rafting to horse riding to quad tours to volunteer work. Jeremy and I were very excited about the white water rafting (looking back at it now, I have no idea what I was thinking) and the volunteer work. We had talked with our guide Kanyo and he informed us that this would be a great opportunity to donate some money that we had raised back at home. So, the next day (bright and early – Day 9) we were up and ready to go Volunteer for the ‘Soft Power Education’ Program. Soft Power was started by a female Overlander Truck Driver (our version of Robert) in the late 90’s. Soft Power specializes in educational development by helping the community construct schools and getting individuals involved who are able to help with maintenance, running the program and educating others. We first were given a brief tour of the main headquarters where we got to see some of the key people in the foundation. We then also got to see and hang out with some of the local kids in the area. Jeremy was a huge hit with the boys as he taught them tops with a spare coin he had –they loved him. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit a preschool as the kids had just started their one month summer holiday.
We then all hopped in the back of a truck and drove to a nearby building which was being turned into a school for the local community. Our job for the day was to apply a second coat of paint to one room and a first coat in another. We flew on the first room but had a lot more troubles on the second one. There were cob webs galore and posters that were stuck to the walls. So, before we could paint, we had to mop the room and scrap off all of the posters (not an easy task). We had a nice lunch break where some local woman had cooked for us some noodles, spinach and potatoes. We resumed back to work and started painting the room. When we were finished and it was all said and done we were exhausted!

We headed back to our campsite and decided to cool off in the river below. We were a little hesitant to plunge right in because we had no idea if the river had any crocodiles. We saw some locals swimming so we figured we must be safe – right??? Well, although the water was very refreshing and no one got hurt, we did later find out that their was a family of crocs that leaved upstream from our camp…we were also told they were vegetarians (WTF???) A bunch of people wanted to try and swim one of the rapids nearby…I even was caught up in the moment because I was inching my way over the rocks to join in as well. Luckily, my senses got the better part of me and I knew there was no way I should be trying to swim down a rapid. Anna, Christine, Glen and Jeremy made it down safely although from my point of view there was a couple of close calls. I jumped in to catch up with them downstream but the current was too strong and I could not get to them. Jeremy came to my rescue and helped me get back to safety.


The following day (Day 10) was our White Water Rafting Day. We all had signed up for half day rafting and half day river boarding (which is essentially riding down the rapids in a boogey board). Jeremy and I ended up in Group 2, which rafted first. We had a really cool South African Guide named Kirk who seemed very knowledgeable and experienced. Before we hit our first rapid, we did a ‘practice’ roll over…I should have known I was in trouble at this point because even knowing we were going over, I was nervous and panicked under water. We started off with some grade 2 rapids and then went into some grade 3 and 4’s. By the time we approached our grade 5 rapid, I felt sick. We had successfully remained inside the boat and we made it through this rapid safe and sound. When we reached the ‘Silverback Grade 5 Rapid’, our guide told us this is the one we really needed to hang on to as swimming down it would not be fun. He then proceeded to tell us that this rapid was, “terrorizing but fun”- WTF??? I did not know those two works could be used in a sentence like that. The Silverback was different than all of the other rapids because instead of one, it had four consecutive rapids – F**K ME!!! We went into the first rapid fine, but by the time we hit the second, we had capsized. I was pushed under by our damn raft and could not grab hold of it…everything was happening too fast. Before I knew it, I had a mouthful of the Nile and was back under water. I continued to stay under water until all of the waves had broken up downstream of the rapids (I don’t know how long I was under water but it seemed like eternity). When I surfaced I remember seeing the sky and I knew I could breathe again. A kayaker picked me up and took me to the nearest raft (which just happened to be other members from my Overlander). I had cried when he was transporting me but I had managed to toughen up by the time I made it to the raft. There I found Anna, another member in my raft, and we exchanged our experiences (she also had consumed a large amount of the Nile Water). By the time we met back up with our original raft I had composed myself but when I caught my first glimpse of Jeremy, I started crying. He looked so worried and I knew he would be. When we capsized, he managed to hold on and I guess he panicked the entire time looking for me. I felt reassured when Glen told me that that was the scariest rapid he has ever gone down and he couldn’t imagine swimming it. Next was lunch and some much needed R&R. We were served delicious pineapple and biscuits and took some time to swim in the Nile. It was here that our guide informed us of the family of crocs in the water…he then proceeded to tell us that snakes too can be seen in the water. We thought he was pulling our leg but then one of the Kayakers alarmed all of the guides about a snake that was in the vicinity. Although it was small, it still made us think twice before jumping back into that water.
Our next rapid was called 'Overtime'. Our guide told us that there are two outcomes, 1) we could go down backwards on the far left or 2) we could go down a waterfall. We were told we had no choice and it was all up to the waves and the way they reacted with our raft. We were the last group to go through this and wouldn’t you know our luck…we were destined for the waterfall – F**K ME!!! The waterfall was only 10 feet high…but that didn’t matter – it was still a waterfall. When we went over and contacted the water again, the front end of our raft essentially crumpled under the pressure and I flew into the back of Glen’s helmet. I chipped a tooth in the back of my mouth, had a couple small scratches on my chin and of course had a very large poofy lip. The pics of the rafting our priceless. Countless times our raft team looked so eager and excited except for me who looked terror stricken…kind of funny now but definitely not at the time. For the next few rapids, we were lucky enough to make it out untouched. I was reluctant to jump out of the raft and try river boarding but since our group had signed up for it, I thought I better not back down. Jeremy was excited, as was the rest of the group. We started with a Grade 4 Rapid and it turned out it was my only one. I was too scared and basically wanted the whole experience to be over. Jeremy was in heaven and on his last rapid (Grade 5), he head butted a massive rapid and came out safe and sound on the other side (my crazy man).


We finished off our experience with some complimentary drinks and a BBQ back at the campsite. The best part of this was that it meant no cooking and when there is no cooking, there is no dish flapping (the method we use to dry our dishes to reduce the spread of germs).


That same day, Glen’s girlfriend Rihannan had hitched a ride into town and purchased a birthday cake for Fysh. We were all very impressed because the transport into town was via a small 2 seater bike…and of course it goes without saying that the roads were the usual narrow and bumpy African roads. That same night our group played a new game to Jeremy and I called Shit Head. It is a very popular game in England and Australia…I don’t know why it hasn’t caught on in Canada but whatever the case, we will be playing it when we get back. The great thing about this game is that you can have as little as two people or 10+ people play.


After numerous drinks and rounds of cards, Micheal decided to give Fysh an extra special birthday gift which involved him singing. Although he wasn’t gifted with his singing, we both admired the fact that he got up in front of everyone and sang his heart out. It was funny because he also attracted some local stranglers from the pub. They pounced as soon as he finished and the entertained us with some traditional Ugandan singing, dancing and rap. Everyone enjoyed themselves except for Michael who wanted to continue and sing for his new found audience.
That should have been the end of the night but of course it was not. Rihannan kept finding Ants in her tent and they were biting her…she could not figure out where they were coming from and assumed they came in from her laundry out drying earlier that day. She finally had enough of them and got up to head to the bar to get Glen when she realized that there were hundreds of them surrounding her tent. She basically had to drag Glen from the bar to come and investigate as he assumed it was just a small annoyance. Glen could not have been more surprised when he saw what he called the ‘Army’. He then proceeded to wake neighboring tents up ensuring they did not also have the same problem as he. Jeremy jumped at this chance to go out and explore with Glen and even though we had a small number of ants, Jeremy wanted to relocate uphill…closer to Glen and Rihannan’s. I unwillingly agreed because I was comfortable in bed and moments before was sleeping. When I got out to move the tent, Jeremy got caught up in the excitement with Glen and before you knew it, they were proclaiming that they had found the “motherload”. Glen was not satisfied with this and continued in search for what he called the “Queen Bee”. He said if you killed her then you killed them all – haha! I was still patiently waiting for Jeremy to help me move our tent but I knew I was going to have to find other help when I saw Glen, Jeremy and a couple of other guys spraying deet at the ‘army of ants’ and lighting them on fire – I was just relieved Jeremy wasn’t using (or should I say wasting) our precious bug spray. It was a hilarious site to see and all the girls kind of just sat back, laughed and watched in awe as the guys continued to feed off each other's energy. One of my fondest memories is of Will standing in the center an ant pile in shorts and sandals getting bitten. He was hollering to his girlfriend Grace to help him as he was being bitten (they bite pretty good too). She looked at him and very calmly told him to then “get the f**k out of the ant pile”. I got a few of the girls to help me move our tent and went back to bed. Jeremy stayed out with the guys for another fifteen minutes reveling at the events that had just transpired. When he came in I thought it was finally over but he then proceeded to talk to Glen (our neighboring tent buddy) about the ants from inside the tent. I am not sure how long they held this conversation for as I totally and completely laughed myself to sleep.


After a full day of rafting and late night birthday celebrating, we needed a day of rest and that is what we did on Day 11. We really didn’t feel like doing much of anything. In the morning we got up and washed our clothes which turned out to be a group activity because soon everyone in the camp was out washing their clothes. For any of you who have washed your clothes using a bin and cold water, you will attest to how 'unfun' this can be. I think probably one of the things you start to realize while traveling is that you take so many things for granted. You never realize even how special your washing machine and dryer are until you have to do all the work yourself. When we get home, we are going to hug them both dearly. Not only does your washing machine make life easier but your clothes love you for it to. Constantly scrubbing and wringing out your clothes does a number on the material and they end up changing sizes. They don’t shrink but rather they become about six sizes too big.


Anyways after we washed our clothes we decided that it would be nice to go down and go fishing again. The little kids that we had fished with before had been waiting for two days already for us to fish with them again. That morning they were waiting at the fence for us. We met them down at the water and Katie, Glenn, Michael and I went for a quick dip while the kids played around. After our swim Katie headed back up to the camp to catch up on some well deserved reading while we stayed to catch some minnows. The kids truly enjoyed fishing with us because we supplied a reason for constant laughter as we, the Mzungu's, could not catch any fish at all. We would throw the line in the water thirty times and the only thing that came of it was that we lost all of their bait. Each time they threw the line in they would pull out a fish within seconds.


After we, okay they, had caught thirty fish they decided that they should show me what they do with the fish. I had pestered them so much about what they were going to do with such small fish that rather than laugh at me any more they were just going to cook some for me. Without any means of fire or cooking supplies I was a little curious. I ran back to the campsite to get a lighter and by the time I arrived they had scavenged a ton of small sticks for firewood and were hard at work getting things ready. Using a fishing hook they had ripped the guts out of all of the fish. They took small sticks and made skewers and rammed them through the mouth of the fish and out the back. They got the fire going on a rock that was out in the water and we sat around while the charred the fish. They enlightened us on how to tell when a whole fish is ready. When the skin bursts then it is ready to eat??? Hey...I guess you learn something new everyday. They had to help me eat the fish because I had no idea how to d-bone a fish that is only 2 inches long. They would also not eat the fish until I had my fill. I tried to persuade them that this was a bad idea because I had lots of food in the campsite but they would not take 'no' for an answer. I couldn't believe that the kids, who were sitting there half naked and in ripped clothes, wanted me to eat their hard earned catch. The fish was amazing especially considering it had absolutely no spices or any prep work done to it.


Once we had finished our meal I went back to the campsite to grab paper and a camera. I snapped endless pictures of them jumping of the cliff. They were delighted to view the pics and figure out who it was jumping off. It was a little slow getting their address because they all had to work together to figure out how to write their address and names in English. They asked again if we would go for a village walk with them, mini tourist guides already, and so I went and collected some recruits. I was only able to get Katie, and Michael to go on village walk but everyone else just missed out. These kids filled us in on how everything in the village works. Adam, who was obviously the leader of the pack, took us from plant to plant and told us everything from how it was planted to its nurturing process and then to how it was prepared. We truly learned a lot from these boys and we were all fascinated by the magic plants that closed up once we touched them. We even bought some raw vanilla that we planned to use for tea but we didn’t because we had no idea how to use it. The tour was just over an hour long and I would have hired these guys again over many of the guides we had already had. Not only was the tour great but we could easily play with them as though we were kids to. Katie exhausted herself playing tag with them and not once could she catch any of them – they were too fast! Near the end of the tour, we found a flat section of grass and Katie showed them how to walk on their hands. This inspired them to do somersaults and flips. What impressed us the most was how independent and knowledgeable these seven to eleven year old kids were…none of the kids I know back home could even cook macaroni let alone clean and cook fish with tree branches. It seems that kids here are the most responsive to tourists and Adam, Moses, Allen, Michael (Katie's favorite) and the rest of the boys showed us true Ugandan hospitality. We tipped them a little for their hospitality and thanked them profusely for our amazing experience – one that neither of us will ever forgot.


The rest of the night was pretty chill as we were all still reeling from our escapades the night before and just headed to bed.


In the morning (Day 12) we packed up and were on our way. From Jinga we headed to Entebbe which was no where near as exciting a campsite as we had just been at. Although, it may be a bit premature, it is hard to imagine that we are going to find a campsite that compares to Jinga with its beautiful river to swim in, the spectacular view from the bar and the adorable local kdis.


At Entebbe, we picked up two newbies heading to see the gorillas in Rwanda (McGill and Hannah). After eating some of the best steak we had ever eaten in our lives (so good that Katie ate her entire portion) we headed to the local bar to catch a glimpse of the local night life. The bar was filled with locals, ex-patriots, tourists and then the working girls. Everything was very similar to any pub that I have ever visited with the exception of the pool. Not only were the rules very different to back home but the game had its own security guards. If you wanted to play the next game you would talk to the security of the pool table and put your name down. It cost about 1 dollar. But if you really wanted to play you had to bribe the security and then hope that your bribe was the highest...otherwise you didn't play. Kanyo our guide managed to jump me into the line and I had to play the guy who had been running the game for the last couple of hours. I don't know how but I managed to beat him but rather than being upset he was super nice about it. The second guy that I played should never have beat me as he was one of the worst pool players I had ever been matched against but somehow he beat me...I think he scratched on an eight ball but it doesn't work like that. The bar was quite fun and eye opening. I had been told that there are very few women who go to the bar but working girls and I found this out at the end of the night. Mike had lured some girl over to our end of the bar, well she just kind of mosied on over to us, and when he went to the washroom I was left with her. I found her aggressiveness quite amusing and I don't think she liked that. Although, I don't think she would have remembered if I was rude in the morning because she was pretty tanked.

The next morning (Day 13) we had to redo our laundry because most of it still stunk from not drying fully at Jinja. It wasn't as nice as a setup as the other place but we managed to get it done. Despite the killer heat Jeremy ventured into town to see the sights, buy a new pair of sandals (as his birks were on its last leg) and check out the internet cafe . I was a bit more ambitious and went for a thirty minute run with the pro's Billsy and Laura, who had recently just raced in a marathon. It was a nice but definitely not a refreshing run as 2 minutes into it, I was dripping from the heat. I really enjoyed myself and I thought this was a great way to see the city....and the locals were great! They would holla at us, “Way to Go Muzungu's” and cheer us on. When we got back to the campsite, I convinced Billsy and Laura to finish off the excersize with my boxing circuit. It was nice to see the tables tun and watch them sweat a bit :) The remainder of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing followed by a chill movie night with the group.


The next morning (Day 14) we awoke and headed to the truck for a long day of driving. We were heading to Mbarara campsite which is located on the University campground. Like so many of our driving days it was going to be exhausting. The truck is fairly comfortable and it is great to have the company that we do. However, sometimes it would just be nice to be alone and I think we feel this the most after a long drive. The windows on the bus allow us to view the scenery with ease but at times when we are driving extremely fast it begins to dry you out and it can even be hard to read. The Ugandan landscape is very picturesque with rolling hills and mountains that are all covered in green. But unlike Kenya, the reception in Uganda has been slightly different. We have met extremely nice people and then we meet others who are not so kind. We have had teenagers and young adults pick up stones and in a somewhat joking manner make it look like they are going to throw it at the truck. When passing one of the small towns someone actually threw a stick at the truck. In one town a group of small kids tried to steal our small lock from the door of the truck as we left the supermarket. Thankfully someone had seen them and we got it back but this was after some of the passengers gave them food. They followed this by a middle finger dance. But for the most part, the people here have been great.


On our way to the campsite we passed through the equator and stopped for some basic information and to examine some basic physics...oh ya and don't forget shopping!! The physics I speak of is how the water drains on both sides of the equator and in the middle. Literally the difference of moving two feet from the North side to the center and then to the South was that the direction of draining water went from clockwise, to standstill to counterclockwise – so cool!!! We also passed into an area where the local cows are famous for their horns. Some of the horns were so big that it seemed impossible for the cows to pick up their heads...let alone move. But of course, to no surprise, these cows would slowly graze the fields like any other ordinary cow.


The following day (Day 15) we headed to the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Again it was a fairly long drive but we made good time for once and got there with a little time to spare before heading out on our hippo boat cruise tour. We were not excited about the hippo tour as the one in St. Lucia (South Africa) had been extremely boring. Much to our surprise, this one turned out to be great! The boat we were riding in was much lower to the water which allowed us to get closer to the animals. Immediately after beginning the tour we floated near two elephants bathing in the water....nearly submerged. They didn't like us around and made some fearsome looking mock charges but none of us were scared...we just wanted pictures. We got extremely close to hippos, and tons of other wildlife relaxing along the waters edge. Despite how dangerous the buffalo are, there were local village people around the park and people just sitting around while these large animals munched on grass right next to them. Another surprising thing was the people wading in the waist deep water with crocodiles, hippos, snakes and who knows what else lurking nearby.


That evening we had our first large group bonfire at our campsite inside the national park. The fire served two purposes – to gather around as a group and to keep the animals at bay while we were outside of our tents. We did a great job of getting the fire going as we had to keep moving farther and farther back as it picked up its pace – cooking marshmallows also entailed cooking your eyebrows!!! After dinner Kenyo sat us all down and filled us in on many of the various tribes from Eastern Africa and the traditions and customs they still follow. Kanyo was great at explaining how the traditions meld into today's society and why some of the olden day traditions are not as well accepted with changes in human rights - I.e. FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).


After most people went to bed Kanyo filled some of us in on what crazy things have happened on past trips. The worst was a trip several years back where one guy was so lazy and selfish that all the members on the truck hated him. So, one night they decided to get him back. A bit of extra information is needed here first – in the parks you are not to bring food into the tents or leave any out of the truck because this will draw the animals to the campsite – mainly the wild dogs and the hyena's. So after this guy had gone to bed several people in the group took the chicken bones from dinner and spread them in between the rain cover for his tent and the tent itself. In the middle of the night a pack of hyenas wandered into the camp and started munching on the bones right under his tent window. The guy woke up and got so scared that he literally shit his pants. After removing them he threw them out of his tent. In the morning everyone woke to find shreds of his pants covered in shit everywhere as the hyenas had tore them to pieces. There were more stories but this was probably one of the worst. After being on a trip like this, you have more respect for the people on Survivor or Big Brother as it is so easy to get annoyed with certain things and certain people and keeping your mouth shut is easier said than done.


I think most of the campers were a little worried about sleeping the night in the park especially after hearing lions roaring approximately 2 km away (??? Kanyo informed us that we were safe because we still had a fair distance...but how he knew we had 2kms still puzzles me)and hippos grunting while we sat around the fire. What made it worse was that we spotted a hippo near the toilet just before dinner and the wardens, who arrived as a threesome on one small motorbike, had just run into two leopards on their way to our campsite. But everyone made it alive to the next morning despite their full bladders.


We started the day (Day 16) with an early morning game drive in the park but sadly enough, we didn't see a great deal of animals. We actually probably saw more vultures and Maribu storks than any other animals - the only real meat eaters around. However, we did get a great deal of practice dodging stray cactus trees that protruded into the open truck as we passed through the park...some people just aren't that smart or lucky.


We spent our last night in Uganda in a town called Kabale. When we got there Katie and I convinced Mike that he should join us for a workout circuit rather than venture out for a run (Our climb up Mount Kili was less than 2 weeks away and we thought it would be wise to get some sort of training in). He agreed rather more easily than we thought he would but I think he regretted it after he signed up because he cursed the entire workout and could barely stand on his own two feet by the end of it.


On Day 17, we stocked up on groceries in Kabale before venturing into the small country of
Rwanda – famous for its rolling hills.