So Long Africa

I arrived back in Oregon today and it feels good to be home. I cant really think of anything that I missed in particular while I was away, so its not as though I was anxious to get back...but it still feels good to arrive home after such a long journey. I think this flight home (40 hours give or take) was more difficult than the flight there. Im pretty tired.

My entire trip was wonderful. All of the people, the sites, the events, the frustrations, and the discomforts came together to make this a fantastic journey. I value the most exciting experiences of the trip as equal to the most miserable ones and would not change anything given a chance. Everything that happened was perfect.

I'm sure this trip has changed me although I could'nt begin to tell you how. I learned so much in a short time and it will take a while to process it all. One thing I am sure of however, is that I will continue to be entrigued by Africa for some time to come...entrigued and baffled. There is just too much going on (cutluraly, socially, econimically, historically, etc.), both in Uganda and Rwanda, to even begin to understand in a short 2 months.

Thank you all for your comments and prayers. Hearing from friends and family while away is always a treat for a solo traveller.

my bungee jump (im unable to rotate this for some reason)

Lake Bunyonyi

I finally got my laundry back after the fish incident and traveled almost an entire day east towards Lake Bunyonyi…but only made it as far as to Kabale, which is the fist major town in Uganda if you are just coming north from Rwanda. Again I had some transportation issues and the trip took longer than expected. This time the rear door of the mini van I was traveling in fell off about 30 minutes outside of Kabale. I waited as the driver arranged for myself and the remaining passengers to catch rides with special hire taxis into town. So that makes the total number of days in transit from the Ssese Islands to Lake Bunyonyi four…instead of the one day I had anticipated.

I spent the night in Kabale and got up early feeling strong and rested. I decided I would walk the 9km to the lake instead of hiring the motor bike to take me. The initial 5km was uphill and was actually pretty tough but I was rewarded with some great views. I also had a local school boy walk with me and we chatted the entire way up. He make the same walk everyday to and from school. I arrived at the lake shore and hired a dug out canoe to take me to the island hostel which turned out to be 1 hour of paddling away. By the time I reached the hostel I was pretty tired. I stayed two nights at this place and had a good time relaxing and reading and even swimming in the lake. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the few East African lakes that is free of hippos, crocs, and parasites.

At this point in my trip I was pretty uncertain what I should do next. I had less than two weeks left in Africa and only a limited amount of money. I had wanted to travel to Tanzenia, which wasn’t part of my original plan, but had to give up on that. Its too bad because I would have really liked to get to Zanzibar as well as the Ngorongoro Crater National Park. I thought about returning to Kampala and hanging out at the hostel and doing day trips and hanging out with the different people who pass through…but decided against that as well. Instead I decided to return to Kigali and spend some time with the new friends I had made at Wellspring…Jeff, Jody, Ian, and Carla.

Before returning to Rwanda though I had one more stop in Uganda…the small town of Kisoro. Kisoro is pretty much the south eastern most town in Uganda and home of Mgahinga National Park. This town and park served as the backdrop for the film Gorillas in the Mist. Three volcanoes dominate the skyline just to the south of the town with the largest looming directly overhead. When I first arrived I thought there is no way I’m going to try to climb that big one…but after I thought about it some more I decided it would be a waste of time to climb either of the two smaller ones with that big one being so near. So with a 6 am start the morning after I arrived in town I was on my way up to the 4100 meter summit. Total elevation gain was just about 1800 meters. I made the climb in 4 hours 10 minutes which the ranger said was well below average amount of time tourists take. It was terribly difficult and by the time I reached the top clouds had totally obscured any view. None the less, it was a great experience and I’m glad I took the time to visit the area. I is an incredibly beautiful area just covered with volcanic craters. The National Park is an amazing bit of land totally preserved for the endangered mountain gorillas.

lake bunyonyi below

dug out canoe

me at lake bunyonyi

big volcano

me at the top...crater lake beyond

Murchasin Falls

The trip to Murchasin Falls National Park was great! I was with a fun group of people from all over Europe. We spent an entire morning driving the park and spotting animals. Uganda has many more animals than Rwanda. There were lots of elephants and we were even able to watch a pride of lions (with cubs) feed on some unlucky animal not more than 10 yards away. It was really good stuff. In the afternoon we did a 3 hour (much too long) boat ride up the Nile to Murchison Falls. The water ride allowed us to see hippos up close and even a few crocs up to 9 feet long. Those crocs really made me uncomfortable...they look so mean. The following morning, before the drive back to Kampala we hiked to the top of falls and stood next to the Nile as is funneled down a little shoot and dropped 49 meters. It was very impressive to stand next to that much power.



I decided I had had enough of Kampala so the morning after returning there I hopped on a ferry boat and headed to the Ssese Islands which are a group of Islands in Lake Victoria with white sand beaches. Unfortunately you can't swim unless you want to risk taking on a parasite. Even with the water looking so inviting, I stayed out. I stayed at a small campground run by a German couple who I think qualify as hippies. I could smell alcohol on them as soon as I met them (at 5pm) and that night as we sat and talked at the bar they smoked weed the entire time. What a life. The camp was very relaxed (as could be expected) and I had a good time. I think perhaps the best food I've had so far was at that camp.



After two nights on the islands I thought I'd get a little crazy and try taking an 'off the beaten path' way to my next destination...Masaka Town. I got more than I could have bargained for. I left camp at around 9am to find a ride to the dock 35 minutes away. I finally found a ride at noon. The 3 o'clock ferry never came so we waited for the 5 0'clock. It finally showed up so it was just a quick 45 minute crossing to the mainland. The taxi driver managed to pick up additional passengers at some point during the crossing so when we reached the far side there were 4 adults and 1 infant in the front and 5 adults and 1 infant in the back...of his Toyota Corolla. And the trunk was full to overflowing. We sped down a dirt road that was riddled with pits and holes. The driver seemed happy to miss 65% of them. We all felt the remaining 35%. Twenty five minutes in the front tire blew and we sat for an hour on the side of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere waiting for the driver's friend to bring a new tire. We finally pulled into Masaka at 10pm. As I unpacked and prepared for a hot shower (it had been 3 days since a hot shower) I noticed a strong fish smell. It turns out someone had fish in the trunk of the taxi and it leaked all over my bag. Nearly every bit of clothing and bedding I had in my bag smelled of dirty fish. I almost threw up several times as I scrubbed my bag with soap and water. This morning I sent everything out to be cleaned...hope it works. Oh yeah...turns out there was no hot water either. What a day.

group at murchasin falls

me at the beach with my new maystache

the beach at ssese island

i forgot to mention the scorpion in my tent at murchasin falls. awesome.

The White Nile

After three days at the Backpackers in Kampala, I decided to change things up a bit and head to the Red Chili on the other side of the city. The best decision I had made in days. Backpackers is a dump compared to Red Chili and man was it infested with mosquitoes. During the few days I was sleeping there I got more bites than my whole trip combined so far. Anyway, as soon as I arrived at the Chili I booked a white water rafting trip on the Nile with a company called Adrift. They picked me up the following morning at 8 and we drove east for about an hour to the source of the Nile near Jinja town. We spend some time learning basic safety then went at it for the entire day. We ended up hitting 10 major rapids including three or four class 5 rapids! It was an incredible trip and I am so happy I did it. A photographer on a river kayak accompanied us and took a bunch of high quality digital pictures that I now have on disc. I cant post any here…but I’ll definitely show them off when I get home.

I had such a good time with the group I was with that we decided to stay the night at the Adrift camp instead of returning to Kampala and do the 44 meter bungee jump in the morning! I know its not the highest bungee out there, but it was so sweet. I was the first of three to go and elected to ‘dip’ in the Nile below. That means the jump master adjusted the cord to allow me to dip in the water up to my waist at the bottom of the drop. What a rush…it was one of the most fun things I have ever done. I would totally do it again but I would like to do a longer drop! One of the girls was nice enough to shoot some video on my camera while she watched so I have the whole thing on video.

I’m back in Kampala now and just booked a 3 day safari to Murchison Falls starting Monday. I’ve pretty much given up finding another volunteer opportunity at this point. I just didn’t plan that portion of my trip well enough. Truth is I didn’t really plan anything at all! But I’m having a good time none the less. Right now my plan for the remainder of my trip looks a little something like this: Murchison Falls National Park, Queen E National Park, Return to Kigali Rwanda for a day or two, head to Tanzania and hit up the Serengeti safaris.

dorm at the Red Chili

Nile just below the source

orange fanta at lake kivu

couple of boys with logs on their heads

Kampala

I arrived in Kampala yesterday afternoon after an 8 to 10 hour bus ride. It really wasn't such a bad trip. Its been pretty rainy since I arrived though...it seems like it has more of a Northwest USA drizzle type of rain here compared to the tropical downpour in Kigali. I preferred the downpour because it usually ended within an hour. Now that I'm here I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I thought I would have my next volunteer stint lined up by now, but I don't. I hope to hear something by later today or tomorrow at the latest. In the mean time I'll try to get a safari in at Murchison Falls National Park.

My trip to Lake Kivu was a memorable one. The bus ride there was pretty crazy...maybe I'll write something about that later. The lake itself was amazing...I think it could be described as paradise as far as the natural beauty. I manly just hung out lake side drinking orange Fanta and ready a novel. The trip home was a bit of on adventure as well. I'm unable to post pictures this time around so I'll try to get another post with more details and some pictures.

My brothers have been encouraging me to grow a maystache for the month of May. I think that they will be happy to know that I have begun the process of growing the maystache and will be a proud representative of the East African Maystache in a few short weeks. Stay tuned for more maystache news and updates.

Akagera National Park

Sunday I went on safari and had a great time. Jeff’s sister in law and her friend were in the country visiting and they invited me to join them on a day trip to Akagera National Park which is located on the east side of Rwanda and borders Tanzania. The trip to the park gave me my first look at the countryside and it is incredibly green and lush with vegetation. There are small towns every so often and in between the towns are small farms which literally continue right up to the boundaries of the national park. There doesn’t seem to be a bit of land that is not used for some purpose.

From what I understand Rwanda is not known for its parks and wildlife, but I, none the less, enjoyed myself. We outfitted the Land Cruiser with a bench seat on top of the roof rack and from the moment we entered the park to the time we left I road up top. What a great way to safari…it was so much fun up there. I think being able to drive a Land Cruiser on safari might be reason enough to be in Africa…those trucks are so cool.

The wildlife wasn’t abundant, but there was enough to keep us happy. We saw some big mammals such as Zebra, Giraffe, Water Buffalo, and Hippo. There were huge troops of Baboons roaming the savanna and they looked like they were up to no good. I’m glad they didn’t seem too interested in us because those guys could cause some damage. We also saw Vervet Monkeys which are pretty cute compared to the baboon. Warthogs are fun to see…as soon as they spot us they put their skinny little tales straight up in the air and run the opposite way. And of course there were an abundance of Impala and other Antelope. Even though I was in the lookout position up top the entire day, I was the first to spot only one creature the whole time…and it was a Dung Beatle…actually two of them. They had found something of interest and had made it into a ball and were rolling it along the side of the road. The animals in their natural environment are so much more spectacular than in any zoo, and I really enjoyed the undisturbed savanna that rolled from one hill to the next…it was wonderful to be out there. Of course I took a lot of pictures, but my camera just isn’t good enough to capture the animals from a distance so I’ve included some landscape shots. Anyway I had a great time and am looking forward to the bigger game parks in Uganda.

I’m heading into town tomorrow to buy my bus ticket north to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. I’ll be leaving here on Sunday. I’m also going to buy a ticket for a local bus taxi that will take me to a small town called Kibuye which is located on Lake Kivu on the west side of Rwanda. I plan to leave on Friday and stay one night at a hotel out there. I’ll return on Saturday afternoon. The area is supposed to be very beautiful and peaceful and I hear the lake is good for a swim. I’ll probably do a bit of reading too.

This trip to Kibuye will kind of usher in the next phase of my trip where I will pretty much be on my own for the rest of my stay in Africa. Jeff and Jody have been such wonderful hosts and I have had more fun spending time with them and working along side them then I imagined I would. It will be sad to part ways but I’m too excited to get into Uganda to remain here.

on top of the Land Cruiser in the park

rolling savanna

country side speeding by

me, Freddy, and Benjamin

local lunch...so good

Genocide Museum

I took a half day on Friday and headed out to the genocide museum in Kigali. Ian was nice enough to give me a ride in the Land Cruiser, but I was on my own as far as finding my way back home. I didn’t go directly to the museum though, instead I had Ian drop me off at the local wood market. I had heard that the day to day goings on were quite a spectacle so I thought I’d check it out. I intended to take pictures, but once I was there it just didn’t seem appropriate. I’m a little bit embarrassed to say it, but for the first time since being here I felt uncomfortable. The wood market is where hardworking men go to work long hours to support themselves and their families…it wasn’t a tourist destination for foreigners to stroll through snapping pictures. From the moment I arrived it was obviouse that I was there for the wrong reasons and that’s what made me feel uncomfortable. That being said…it was nonetheless a spectacle. These guys where operating industrial table saws and planers with all of the safety equipment stripped off leaving massive blades exposed. They would grab large pieces of lumber and just slam the things through the saws. There was no sense of safety or any urgency towards precaution. I would hate to spend any amount of time there for fear of witnessing some gruesome accident. So I left.

The museum was just down the road so I hopped on a moto gari, motor bike taxi, and was there in 5 minutes. Entry into the museum is free but donations are accepted. I donated. Camera’s are not permitted so I have no photos, but there really wasn’t much to photograph anyway. Instead I made my way around a circuit of displays that told a very complete story of the events leading up to the genocide, the genocide itself, and the aftermath. I won’t even bother explaining the genocide here, but I will say that the two hours I spent there was well worth my time. The exhibition was very well done…very matter of fact. It did not attempt to excuse, blame, or downplay the event. I have visited some other significant memorial sites…holocaust concentration camps and the Hiroshima memorial…and I remember them being quite graphic. This memorial did not rely on graphic images but was none the less sobering and impacting. Watching videos of survivors give their testimonies and hearing stories of individuals who risked their lives to save others was powerful. I cried. There are mass graves within the grounds of the museum and I’ve included pictures below. The grave markers are simple…just concrete slabs on the ground.

I’ve also included a picture of what could be described as nearly downtown Kigali. Its nearly downtown because the actual city center is actually the next hill beyond, but it does give you a sense of the urban development. From the same spot that shot was taken, I turned 90 degrees to my left and took a picture of a less developed portion of the city. I’ve noticed around town that the higher on the hills you go the bigger and grander the homes. The poor live in the valleys. I finished my day riding the motor bike taxi back to the guesthouse. It took about 15 minutes and cost about $1.00. Yes mom, I wore a helmet.

mass graves outside the museum

example of a survivor's quote

urban developement in Kigali

crowded housing

completed shelf