Uganda. Wow.
A part of our study abroad program is an 8 day trip to either Tanzania or Uganda, and we each get to choose which trip we would like to go on. Just based on the itineraries, I chose to go to Uganda, and I am so glad I did. I'm sure I'm going to forget a lot of what we did, but here are the highlights.
We left really early last Saturday morning and drove the hour and a half or so to the town of Nakuru, which is in the Rift Valley. We had a gorgeous early morning drive through the Rift Valley, but it got even better when we got to Nakuru, because we got to go on a tour of Nakuru National Park. The National Park is home to a ton of different animals, but we were lucky enough to see pelicans, flamingos, impalas, giraffes, a rhino and a hippo, zebras, buffalo, and lots of other smaller animals. It was a beautiful morning and part of the drive led us up a big hill that gave us a stunning view of the valley below. We could have stayed there all day, but we had a long drive ahead of us, so we had to move on.
We reached the town of Kisumu in Western Kenya by evening and settled into our hotel for the night. We had a very short and informal lecture with a professor in Kisumu about the development issues facing the western part of Kenya and had dinner with her. Then, after a long day in the car, we went to bed.
Early the next morning we got up and back in the van and drove to the Busia border checkpoint. We had to cross the border on foot, but what is interesting is it is not a simple border crossing. We had to fill out forms in order to leave Kenya, and then we walked through an area known as "limbo" which is neither Ugandan or Kenyan in order to reach the Ugandan border checkpoint. After paying our $50 with relatively little hassle, we were in Uganda. We met another van and loaded up all of our bags, and then we once again began driving. We only had to go a couple of hours to reach the town of Sipi, which is home to Sipi Falls.
We had a little time to settle into our absolutely beautiful cabins in Sipi before beginning afternoon activities. The lodge-type place that we stayed in Sipi was on a steep hill, and the eight students stayed in two 4-bed dorms with a gorgeous view of a valley and Sipi Falls. After changing into comfy clothes, we went down and had a delicious lunch in the dining hall (after having what more-or-less amounted to a lunch in the van on the way- oh well). We were completely stuffed, and that naturally meant it was time to go on a hike.
When I say hike, I'm not exactly sure how to accurately convey the nature of this little excursion. Well, first, we thought we were driving to the hiking site from where we were. Nope. We walked the whole way. We reached the little trailhead, and I thought they were joking. It was probably a 70 degree incline, going down into the jungle. The dirt path was barely wide enough to put both feet side-by-side, and it was wet. Awesome. They handed us all walking sticks, and I really didn't want one, but based on how the hike actually went, I am so thankful I had it. Anyway. Here's the scene: There is a valley with two steep slopes on either side. We are on the side opposite Sipi Falls, and so we are supposed to hike down one steep slope to the base of the falls (which is 100 meters tall) and then hike back up the other side. So we started. And it was slipper and narrow and each side of the path was more or less a sheer cliff. So given my history with gracefulness, I was a little concerned about plummeting to the bottom of the valley and crashing through all the coffee and banana trees. But somehow, with the help of some local children, I managed to only fall twice on the way down, and I luckily stayed on the path. The falls were beautiful. When we reached the bottom, we were getting soaked by the mist of the falls, so I didn't take too many pictures because I didn't want to ruin my camera. But it couldn't go completely undocumented either- I mean, there was a rainbow for crying out loud.
Anyway. After taking in the view for a few minutes, we turned around to start walking back. It got really steep really fast. And because now we were soaking wet, the path was getting even slipperier, so naturally, I fell again. But this time I also twisted my ankle (which I have had problems with since I was 15 or so), which slowed me way down as we climbed back up. By the time we reached the top, my ankle was pretty swollen, but we had some stunning views. Completely covered in mud and drenched, we all climbed into a car which drove us back to our little cabins. An exhausting, but successful afternoon!
That evening was very low key, we had dinner at the lodge. The high point (or maybe it could be considered the low point) of that evening was trying home-brewed millet beer. First, let me just say that it was being served out of a gas can. Awesome. And there was a hose in it, which we were just supposed to suck on to drink the beer. I'm not sure I've ever tasted something so disgusting. It was warm, thick, and gritty. Not exactly my beverage of choice. But it was an experience! And then what added to that, was one of the locals that was sitting around the fire with us, informing us that this is a traditional circumcision brew, and then he asked us if any of us wanted to be circumcised. After awkwardly explaining that female genital mutilation is not a part of American cultural practices, we changed the subject and started telling scary stories, and then went to bed pretty quickly.
The next day we went and visited TASO (The AIDS Support Organization) in the town of Mbale. This is one of the most effective organizations in Africa at combating AIDS, largely because of their signature counseling program. We also had the privilege of seeing their drama group perform. This group consists of all HIV positive clients of TASO who sing and dance and put on shows and tour local communities teaching about prevention and management of HIV/AIDS.
After this point, the days kind of blur together, so here's a not-at-all chronological account of what we did on the rest of the trip...
We spent a night in Kampala (the capital and largest city) and had a lecture by a former member of parliament about the history of Uganda. He was actually forced into exile during Idi Amin's regime in the 1970's, so he was a very interesting person to meet and talk with. The next day, as we were leaving Kampala, we had traditional Ugandan food for lunch. Big mistake. I'll spare you the details, but lets just say I've never been that sick, stomach wise- luckily it was over within 24 hours or so.
We travelled to Western Uganda and spent the night and visited Queen Elizabeth's National Park. We went on a boat ride during which we saw buffalo, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, lizards, and tons of other amazing animals- besides, the boat ride and the landscape were beautiful, on their own. We spent the night in the park, and the next morning we got up quite early and went on a game drive. Oh man. We saw lions. A whole family- mom, dad, and four cubs. So fascinating, beautiful, and an absolute privilege to see. We were able to watch them for quite a while, the cubs were adorable and playful and I was lucky enough to get quite a few good pictures. Then, as we were leaving, we saw no less than 10 elephants right on the side of the road. Again, a stunning experience.
Another amazing experience- seeing the source of the Nile River and taking a boat ride on it. The Nile originates from Lake Victoria, which borders Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. We were, obviously, on the Ugandan portion of the lake, and then the river flows out through Uganda, through Sudan, and ultimately to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Pretty incredible.
On our last day, we were back in Kampala and we had a lecture on Northern Uganda (where a lot of the political tension and conflict are) and then in the afternoon we saw traditional Acholi dancers, which was really neat. They had dozens of different instruments, and it was a really nice way to spend an afternoon. We also got to go and see the second largest mosque in Africa (the largest is in Casablanca, and Kampala quite randomly has the second largest), and we were even allowed to go inside after being covered head to toe. It was a stunning mosque. I didn't have my camera, but some of my friends did- I am definitely going to have to steal those pictures later. It had a huge balcony type area that looked over all of Kampala. The inside of the mosque had extremely intricate decorations and a beautiful dome. We also got to climb to the top of the spire, which gave me both a headache (I CANNOT stand spiral staircases) and an astounding view of the city.
So, even though I know I'm forgetting things, I'll go ahead and wrap this up. Bottom line is, we had a great trip. Uganda is beautiful- so green, and lush and with rolling hills and mountains. I was surprised at how different from Kenya it felt when both countries together are relatively small- Uganda is roughly the size of Oregon state. Anyway. Definitely a successful trip. And now we're back in Nairobi and getting ready for our independent study projects, which start on Wednesday- yikes!!
A part of our study abroad program is an 8 day trip to either Tanzania or Uganda, and we each get to choose which trip we would like to go on. Just based on the itineraries, I chose to go to Uganda, and I am so glad I did. I'm sure I'm going to forget a lot of what we did, but here are the highlights.
We left really early last Saturday morning and drove the hour and a half or so to the town of Nakuru, which is in the Rift Valley. We had a gorgeous early morning drive through the Rift Valley, but it got even better when we got to Nakuru, because we got to go on a tour of Nakuru National Park. The National Park is home to a ton of different animals, but we were lucky enough to see pelicans, flamingos, impalas, giraffes, a rhino and a hippo, zebras, buffalo, and lots of other smaller animals. It was a beautiful morning and part of the drive led us up a big hill that gave us a stunning view of the valley below. We could have stayed there all day, but we had a long drive ahead of us, so we had to move on.
We reached the town of Kisumu in Western Kenya by evening and settled into our hotel for the night. We had a very short and informal lecture with a professor in Kisumu about the development issues facing the western part of Kenya and had dinner with her. Then, after a long day in the car, we went to bed.
Early the next morning we got up and back in the van and drove to the Busia border checkpoint. We had to cross the border on foot, but what is interesting is it is not a simple border crossing. We had to fill out forms in order to leave Kenya, and then we walked through an area known as "limbo" which is neither Ugandan or Kenyan in order to reach the Ugandan border checkpoint. After paying our $50 with relatively little hassle, we were in Uganda. We met another van and loaded up all of our bags, and then we once again began driving. We only had to go a couple of hours to reach the town of Sipi, which is home to Sipi Falls.
We had a little time to settle into our absolutely beautiful cabins in Sipi before beginning afternoon activities. The lodge-type place that we stayed in Sipi was on a steep hill, and the eight students stayed in two 4-bed dorms with a gorgeous view of a valley and Sipi Falls. After changing into comfy clothes, we went down and had a delicious lunch in the dining hall (after having what more-or-less amounted to a lunch in the van on the way- oh well). We were completely stuffed, and that naturally meant it was time to go on a hike.
When I say hike, I'm not exactly sure how to accurately convey the nature of this little excursion. Well, first, we thought we were driving to the hiking site from where we were. Nope. We walked the whole way. We reached the little trailhead, and I thought they were joking. It was probably a 70 degree incline, going down into the jungle. The dirt path was barely wide enough to put both feet side-by-side, and it was wet. Awesome. They handed us all walking sticks, and I really didn't want one, but based on how the hike actually went, I am so thankful I had it. Anyway. Here's the scene: There is a valley with two steep slopes on either side. We are on the side opposite Sipi Falls, and so we are supposed to hike down one steep slope to the base of the falls (which is 100 meters tall) and then hike back up the other side. So we started. And it was slipper and narrow and each side of the path was more or less a sheer cliff. So given my history with gracefulness, I was a little concerned about plummeting to the bottom of the valley and crashing through all the coffee and banana trees. But somehow, with the help of some local children, I managed to only fall twice on the way down, and I luckily stayed on the path. The falls were beautiful. When we reached the bottom, we were getting soaked by the mist of the falls, so I didn't take too many pictures because I didn't want to ruin my camera. But it couldn't go completely undocumented either- I mean, there was a rainbow for crying out loud.
Anyway. After taking in the view for a few minutes, we turned around to start walking back. It got really steep really fast. And because now we were soaking wet, the path was getting even slipperier, so naturally, I fell again. But this time I also twisted my ankle (which I have had problems with since I was 15 or so), which slowed me way down as we climbed back up. By the time we reached the top, my ankle was pretty swollen, but we had some stunning views. Completely covered in mud and drenched, we all climbed into a car which drove us back to our little cabins. An exhausting, but successful afternoon!
That evening was very low key, we had dinner at the lodge. The high point (or maybe it could be considered the low point) of that evening was trying home-brewed millet beer. First, let me just say that it was being served out of a gas can. Awesome. And there was a hose in it, which we were just supposed to suck on to drink the beer. I'm not sure I've ever tasted something so disgusting. It was warm, thick, and gritty. Not exactly my beverage of choice. But it was an experience! And then what added to that, was one of the locals that was sitting around the fire with us, informing us that this is a traditional circumcision brew, and then he asked us if any of us wanted to be circumcised. After awkwardly explaining that female genital mutilation is not a part of American cultural practices, we changed the subject and started telling scary stories, and then went to bed pretty quickly.
The next day we went and visited TASO (The AIDS Support Organization) in the town of Mbale. This is one of the most effective organizations in Africa at combating AIDS, largely because of their signature counseling program. We also had the privilege of seeing their drama group perform. This group consists of all HIV positive clients of TASO who sing and dance and put on shows and tour local communities teaching about prevention and management of HIV/AIDS.
After this point, the days kind of blur together, so here's a not-at-all chronological account of what we did on the rest of the trip...
We spent a night in Kampala (the capital and largest city) and had a lecture by a former member of parliament about the history of Uganda. He was actually forced into exile during Idi Amin's regime in the 1970's, so he was a very interesting person to meet and talk with. The next day, as we were leaving Kampala, we had traditional Ugandan food for lunch. Big mistake. I'll spare you the details, but lets just say I've never been that sick, stomach wise- luckily it was over within 24 hours or so.
We travelled to Western Uganda and spent the night and visited Queen Elizabeth's National Park. We went on a boat ride during which we saw buffalo, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, lizards, and tons of other amazing animals- besides, the boat ride and the landscape were beautiful, on their own. We spent the night in the park, and the next morning we got up quite early and went on a game drive. Oh man. We saw lions. A whole family- mom, dad, and four cubs. So fascinating, beautiful, and an absolute privilege to see. We were able to watch them for quite a while, the cubs were adorable and playful and I was lucky enough to get quite a few good pictures. Then, as we were leaving, we saw no less than 10 elephants right on the side of the road. Again, a stunning experience.
Another amazing experience- seeing the source of the Nile River and taking a boat ride on it. The Nile originates from Lake Victoria, which borders Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. We were, obviously, on the Ugandan portion of the lake, and then the river flows out through Uganda, through Sudan, and ultimately to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Pretty incredible.
On our last day, we were back in Kampala and we had a lecture on Northern Uganda (where a lot of the political tension and conflict are) and then in the afternoon we saw traditional Acholi dancers, which was really neat. They had dozens of different instruments, and it was a really nice way to spend an afternoon. We also got to go and see the second largest mosque in Africa (the largest is in Casablanca, and Kampala quite randomly has the second largest), and we were even allowed to go inside after being covered head to toe. It was a stunning mosque. I didn't have my camera, but some of my friends did- I am definitely going to have to steal those pictures later. It had a huge balcony type area that looked over all of Kampala. The inside of the mosque had extremely intricate decorations and a beautiful dome. We also got to climb to the top of the spire, which gave me both a headache (I CANNOT stand spiral staircases) and an astounding view of the city.
So, even though I know I'm forgetting things, I'll go ahead and wrap this up. Bottom line is, we had a great trip. Uganda is beautiful- so green, and lush and with rolling hills and mountains. I was surprised at how different from Kenya it felt when both countries together are relatively small- Uganda is roughly the size of Oregon state. Anyway. Definitely a successful trip. And now we're back in Nairobi and getting ready for our independent study projects, which start on Wednesday- yikes!!
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