So after a food poisoning delay and expensive replacement flight, I just landed in Sydney. I keep getting upset when I think back to my friends in Uganda. I can’t believe I won’t be sitting chatting with them, riding the boda bodas through villages on the way to construction sites or clubs, or even running around doctors. It feels like I will be back again tomorrow but I know I won’t and it’s really upsetting.
Even eating the food on the airplane was upsetting. It just feels so strange to be amidst this amazing luxurious food, and having the means to fly. It feels crazy that somehow because I was born in a different place I get to live like I do. They are amazing, friendly and hard working people. I am still totally shocked that nobody mugged me for my phone (and camera) as I probably would have considered it in their shoes. It hurts that that they live such different lives no matter how hard they work. Yet they are still happy so I don’t know what to feel.
I am really happy that I met everyone I did, good or bad. I’m glad for everything that happened too, good or bad. It was an amazing, meaningful and very fulfilling adventure. I’m not ashamed to say I keep tearing up when I think about it. Only a very special adventure could do that.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Jinja Adventures
9-5 Quad Biking
This was the activity I was looking forward to most. It was a bit of a let-down but still really fun. I liked the ride and the various sceneries I came across though a lot of it was similar to what I had already seen. I forgot to put on sun-screen so I got really burned too. I was hoping for more difficult terrain but most tracks were quite fine, especially when going through villages. This in itself was uncomfortable for the first 1-2 hours as driving in a quad bike past children who are busy carrying water or working the land just felt really bad. Like I was parading my wealth around…
It was nice overall though and I really liked going for a dip in the Nile at one point.
9-5 White Water Rafting
This was incredibly awesome. Great mix of exercise, relaxation, scenery and extreme fun. We flipped twice and both time I was wearing Alina’s GoPro (head mounted camera) which recorded my struggle to breathe. Everyone seemed to fall out fine but I had bad luck which made it more fun in the end.
The first flip I went under the boat but instead of coming up underneath it to breathe, I got stuck in between some part of it and kept getting pushed down to the point where I started to breathe in water. The second flip was a bit better but as soon as I emerged from under the boat, I felt someone grab me and pull me under the water. I was able to avoid breathing in water but the entire struggle lasted 20 seconds. It turned out that a girl on my boat was really scared and grabbed on to me in a panic which pulled me under the water until one of the kayakers pulled her off me.
It was really fun and the Ugandan couple on our raft were able to buy the photos for $40 instead of $100. They gave me the photos and I will send them the videos when I return to Australia. I would say that this was my favourite activity.
Safari
Alina and I went on a 3 day safari which is really a must when you go to Africa. We were mostly really lucky as we saw all the animals including a lion which is rare. There were countless antelope, warthogs, buffalos, giraffes and hippos (when on the boat ride). There were even warthogs staying around our camping site! We got to see an elephant really really close at one point. It was really amazing and he was huge. We also saw rhinos and chimpanzees although the latter were high up in the tree.
At one point we also went for a hike to the top of a waterfall which was great. I opted to do it barefoot which turned out not too hard although I was apparently the first person the guide had seen do it this way.
It was a really good 3 days. We both liked the authentic safari jeep with the open top and our guide was pretty good too. And so concluded my week of tourist activities.
This was the activity I was looking forward to most. It was a bit of a let-down but still really fun. I liked the ride and the various sceneries I came across though a lot of it was similar to what I had already seen. I forgot to put on sun-screen so I got really burned too. I was hoping for more difficult terrain but most tracks were quite fine, especially when going through villages. This in itself was uncomfortable for the first 1-2 hours as driving in a quad bike past children who are busy carrying water or working the land just felt really bad. Like I was parading my wealth around…
It was nice overall though and I really liked going for a dip in the Nile at one point.
9-5 White Water Rafting
This was incredibly awesome. Great mix of exercise, relaxation, scenery and extreme fun. We flipped twice and both time I was wearing Alina’s GoPro (head mounted camera) which recorded my struggle to breathe. Everyone seemed to fall out fine but I had bad luck which made it more fun in the end.
The first flip I went under the boat but instead of coming up underneath it to breathe, I got stuck in between some part of it and kept getting pushed down to the point where I started to breathe in water. The second flip was a bit better but as soon as I emerged from under the boat, I felt someone grab me and pull me under the water. I was able to avoid breathing in water but the entire struggle lasted 20 seconds. It turned out that a girl on my boat was really scared and grabbed on to me in a panic which pulled me under the water until one of the kayakers pulled her off me.
It was really fun and the Ugandan couple on our raft were able to buy the photos for $40 instead of $100. They gave me the photos and I will send them the videos when I return to Australia. I would say that this was my favourite activity.
Safari
Alina and I went on a 3 day safari which is really a must when you go to Africa. We were mostly really lucky as we saw all the animals including a lion which is rare. There were countless antelope, warthogs, buffalos, giraffes and hippos (when on the boat ride). There were even warthogs staying around our camping site! We got to see an elephant really really close at one point. It was really amazing and he was huge. We also saw rhinos and chimpanzees although the latter were high up in the tree.
Baboons were quite common and we got pretty close during one stop while waiting for a ferry. They are quite aggressive if you have food and often pull people’s bags off. They can apparently even open car doors!
At one point we also went for a hike to the top of a waterfall which was great. I opted to do it barefoot which turned out not too hard although I was apparently the first person the guide had seen do it this way.
It was a really good 3 days. We both liked the authentic safari jeep with the open top and our guide was pretty good too. And so concluded my week of tourist activities.
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| A huge moth I saw at our camp site |
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