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.