One thing I didn't expect to gain from my experience in Uganda is a newfound appreciation and love for outdoor activities. I'm going to work to prioritize time outdoors when I'm home, especially once I'm back in California this fall. 

A friend from work mentioned his kayaking hobby the first week I was here. After I saw some of the photos on the Kayak the Nile website I knew I had to try it. Kayak the Nile is owned by a British couple, Sam and Emily Ward. Sam is Great Britain's Freestyle Team Coach, so I felt incredibly lucky that he coached my lesson this past Sunday. They've done a great job building well-paced but challenging lessons where you can really feel your own progression day by day. Compared to other rivers, you don't have to worry as much about rocks or shallow water. Also, most rapids will end in a deep, calm pool so if you flip or swim (fall out of your kayak), you can float down and just wait at the bottom. Just like the rafting, there's always a crew of safety kayakers who will help you out right away, so I've always felt really safe. 

After just four lessons, I'm able to roll and am starting to feel much more comfortable on the rapids. While I still have a lot to learn in terms of reading the water, I'm eager to find a way to get on some white water when I'm back stateside. 

Also...right outside the entrance to Kayak the Nile, you can get the best rolexes in the country. My recommendation is to get one with avocado, chips (freshly fried potatoes), and green peppers. You can't go wrong. Plus, I'm told it helps your rolling technique :)

​Ready for some R&R, Liz and I decided to skip out on Genocide Museum and hit the road for Uganda. We'll have to come back another time, I've heard the museum is incredibly powerful and well-designed. 

Lake Bunyonyi was exactly what we needed. Byoona Amagara was the cherry on top. Don't question it. Just book a geodome, order the rumballs for dessert, and enjoy yourself!

Thank you Liz for doing all the work when "we" rowed for an hour to get to Byoona Amagara (you can also pay 25k UGX to take the motorboat which we did on the way back. 

​Although we wished we had more time at Byoona Amagara, we met Isma, our driver for the rest of the trip, and set off for Queen Elizabeth National Park. Isma does a lot of driving for CHAI and my parents graciously subsidized the cost of hiring him for the second half of our trip. Since Liz and I don't know anything about cars really, we didn't feel like it was the best idea driving ourselves around a part of the country we had never been with the risk of car troubles. Plus, Isma has the greatest mix CD of anyone I've ever road tripped with and makes friends with everyone (except matoke merchants trying to rip him off). 

My biggest regret of the trip was not driving through the Ishasha sector of the park. This is where the famous tree-climbing lions are. I did talk to a friend who was there around the same time and she went on a game drive in Ishasha and said that they didn't see any lions because it's been so hot so they've been hard to find...that made me feel a little better. 

Anyways, we made it just in time for the 3pm Kazinga Channel Boat Tour. It's an official UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) tour and it was well worth the $30 (plus park entry fee of $40). The park ranger was really informative, spoke great English (yay back in an English-speaking country!!), and humored our many questions. The boat has two levels which means you have shade!! You're guaranteed to see lots of interesting birds, hundreds of hippos, and some buffalo. If you're lucky, you'll find herds of elephants drinking and spot a croc or two. 

We stayed at Pumba Safari Lodge which was okay. Not sure it was worth the $120 we paid, especially when you compare it to our $30 geodome, but the food (included in cost) was delicious and there was plenty of hot water for our showers. 

How many people does it take to bring two muzungus hiking? More than we'd like to admit...

​While it's a national park, the trails are maintained by RTS and you can't hike in this area without a guide. If you're ambitious and fit, you can do the 8-day trek to Margherita Peak, the third highest in Africa after Kili and Mt. Kenya. It's a glacier up at the summit so you'll be making your way with crampons and an ice pick if you head up...good luck!

​Our 3-day trek allowed us to explore the lower region of the mountains. We passed through small farming areas, a bamboo forest, and a heather forest. Our guides, Hannington and Remegio (yes, their real names), did a great job explaining all the biodiversity - from the sausage fruit to the various types of lobelia plants. 

While you don't go about 3,500m on this shorter trek, I did start to feel the altitude. It didn't help that we also had to wear rainboots most of the second day because of how muddy it could get in some areas. 

Fort Portal is known for its crater lakes and views of the Rwenzoris. It's a popular weekend getaway for those living in Kampala. We stayed at Yes Hostel which is super cheap - proceeds from your stay go to support an orphanage for HIV+ children in the community. The hallway is super creepy, but the staff is friendly, there's hot water, wifi and cheap food. 

Fort Portal also boasts some crazy, high-end lodges. We had dinner the night before at Kyaninga Lodge. They have a beautiful pool that overlooks a crater lake you can walk around. While we definitely couldn't afford to stay there (their helicopter landing pad may give you a sense of their clientele), we did decide to treat ourselves to a 70k UGX three-course meal. There was no one staying or eating when we showed up, so we had the place to ourselves which made for a weird, but tasty, dining experience. They must be doing pretty well though because they look to be undergoing an expansion project to build new rooms. 

​So, in an effort to continue to treat ourselves and not do too much physical activity, we drove to Ndali Lodge for lunch. In addition to having their own crater lake, they also produce vanilla and coffee on their land. They export all their coffee to Waitrose in the UK, but you can buy beans at the lodge. Dad, hope you're looking forward to some delicious coffee!

​Accompanied by one of the lodge's several rhodesian ridgebacks, we went for a nice walk around the lake before lunch. I believe rates at Ndali are $300+ a night. Isma, busy chatting it up with the staff, says that the owner is really proud and instead of decreasing prices, would just rather break even by filling the lodge for ~2 months a year. The lodge owner's wife is Ugandan so I think they already had the property which would cut down on costs. Isma said that Putin also stayed there once...not sure if I believe that but who knows...
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​We had dinner at The Dutchess since we read some great things about their pizza. They also sell these cute boda / bicycle figurines which make for an awesome Ugandan souvenir. 

I'll let these photos speak for themselves...

Liz's flight out was around 9pm, but we left Kampala around 3pm to beat the usual Kampala-Entebbe jam that was likely only to get worse given the proximity to the long Easter weekend. We had afternoon drinks and an early dinner at Protea Hotel, which is 5 minutes away from the airport. It has a bar right on Lake Victoria. If you eat, ask them to make the curry but with fish. You won't regret it. 

I'm so happy that Liz was able to make the trip out here. Not only was the trip incredibly unique and probably one I won't need to repeat again...ever...it was awesome to have someone from home see Uganda and East Africa. Now, I feel like when I go back (in a month, ahhh), it won't feel like this experience happened in a vacuum. There's someone else that will know what I'm talking about when I try to explain how bad the roads are, how red dust seems to get everywhere all the time, and of course, how beautiful it is here. 

I've been back for a full week now, but my body seems to still be recovering from an extreme and unique trip. Here's part one of the trip repot!

Liz and I met at Kigali International Airport in Rwanda. It's clean, modern, and efficient. Plastic bags are banned in Rwanda and Liz had to carry the cheese she bought in Amsterdam in her hands as she walks out of customs! People follow traffic rules and the roads were nicely paved with lane markers. The contrast with the constant chaos in Kampala was immediately evident. I felt relaxed already. 

We had dinner at Repub Lounge which was walking distance from Katharine's apartment in Kimihurura. Rwanda is the safest country in East Africa and we felt really comfortable walking in the dark. Katharine described the food to be nicer local food. We had some amazing kebabs, ginger rice, and curried vegetables. The food was full of flavor which is really different from Ugandan cuisine. 

*Note: there is no wifi in the airport, but if you exit to your left, there's a nice coffee shop that has free wifi and lots of outlets. They take credit card. There are ATMs in the parking lot if you want to get some local currency before hopping in a cab. We didn't prearrange a ride and felt safe taking a cab from the airport. A cab to Kimihurura cost us $10 without any bargaining.

After a sleepless night for Liz (welcome to hot nights on foam mattresses), we headed to breakfast at Shokola (not to be confused with Shokola Lite which has the wall of kitenge that you may have seen photos of). Katharine works remotely from this cafe a lot and I can see why! It's like a library, cafe, and treehouse all in one. The wifi is good and the smoothies / juices are even better. 

At 11, we met up with Tresor from Kasitu Eco Tours and set off for the Gisenyi - Goma border. It was a beautiful 3ish hour drive to Gisenyi. There's one pit stop where you can use the bathroom and buy snacks.

The border crossing was pretty seamless. They took our temperature on the DRC side and checked for our yellow fever cards. Tresor had our visas already and interfaced with the immigration officers on our behalf. It took like 20 minutes for them to process everything and I've heard that sometimes they'll give you a hard time if you don't speak French. 

We said farewell to the paved roads and neatly manicured gardens of Gisenyi and embraced the roads of Goma filled with motorcycles, chukudus, and white UN Land Cruisers. We spent the rest of our day reading and enjoying a relaxing dinner at Lac Kivu Lodge. The bed there had a spring mattress and I got the most comfortable night's sleep since coming to East Africa. 

I can't say enough good things about the gorilla trekking experience. It's not cheap but we all walked away feeling like the experience was well worth it. On top of getting to be up close and personal with these mountain gorillas, the park seems really well run and part of your fees to go support the local schools and communities that live within the park. 

A bit about Goma...a lot of the kitenge (traditional printed fabrics) in the region is exported from the DRC, so we made a stop on the way back to buy some fabric. 6 square meters goes for about $10. My Ugandan colleague asked me to buy her some from there because they usually have a bigger and higher quality selection that when we can get in Kampala. 

There is also a small crafts market where you can get cool wooden masks like the one Liz is holding above. The vendors were pretty aggressive and started with prices 3-4x what Liz and Katharine ended up paying, so get ready to bargain! If you don't speak French (and maybe even if you do), don't both trying to ask what the meaning / story behind each mask is. All we could understand is that pregnant women can receive a "message" from the bird on Liz's mask...

After volcano boarding in Nicaragua last fall, I think I've had my fair share of spending time on / around active volcanoes for awhile. Nyiragongo has been really active and we were waiting for the park rangers or tour company to tell us they've shut down the trek. They didn't...so up we went! 

I couldn't walk normally for two days after this trek. Hanging out above the clouds comes with a price. ​The descent was easier physically, but still taxing on your ankles since you're walking on unstable rock for most of the way. We hit the round around noon and were back in Kigali in time to make it to Monday night trivia (better known as quiz here in East Africa) at Sol e Luna. 

We were surprised to see Howard Buffett's name around the DRC. We first saw his foundation on a billboard at the border and then again further into the park. It turns out, he produced (along side our friend Leo DiCaprio and others) the Oscar-nominated documentary Virunga (it's on Netflix) which spotlights the park rangers' fight to protect the park from poachers, M23 rebels, and large corporations looking to tap into the natural resources. While it looks like he is a well-intentioned environmentalist, we were interested in figuring out why he was building infrastructure at the border. Katharine did some quick googling and we found our answer. Hydropower. I don't know enough about it to understand what the long-term implications are or what local sentiment is like towards him, but at least in the short-term, it sounds like he's creating jobs and pumping money into an area that most others don't want to go near. 

More details to come about a crazy adrenaline-filled two weeks with Liz, but in the meantime, head on over to the new DRC page.  While I highly recommend this unique experience in Virunga National Park for yourself, If you can't make the trip, there are videos of our gorilla trekking and Nyiragongo volcano experiences so you can pretend you were there with us!

I'm off to Rwanda today to meet up with Liz and Katharine!! I'm so excited that I couldn't sleep! JK I was up until 3am working and then obviously hadn't packed...typical.

​We are visiting Virunga National Park in the DRC where we'll hang out with mountain gorillas and sleep on the side of a very active volcano. Then, Liz and I will head by car back up north through western Uganda. Our first stop will be a relaxing day at Lake Bunyonyi, then we'll do a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Once we're hopefully rested, we will set off for a 3 day trek in the Rwenzori Mountains (there's an 8 day one to the summit where there are glaciers...but we don't have time and also it's way higher than the Salkantay Trek in Peru and my body didn't love the altitude there). Last but not least, we'll do some hiking in Fort Portal before coming back to Kampala. If that's not enough, we're wrapping it up with some white water rafting on the Nile!

*Fun fact: Liz will soon become the friend that I've traveled to the most countries with! Sorry Melissa...

Election day is tomorrow and things have been getting crazy in Kampala, so I have retreated to nearby Kenya. 

I am hanging out at Diani Beach for a few days and it's beautiful and so relaxing. There's nothing like falling asleep to the sound of crashing ocean waves. I'm getting some dives in and will try my hand at kite surfing before I head to Nairobi for the weekend. Updates and photos will come on the soon-to-appear Kenya page!

Another highlight of the Sipi trip was brewing our own coffee. While I’m not a coffee drinker, I was excited to see the local coffee production process and the end product was actually really good! I drank the whole cup, Zea would’ve been proud. :)
 
We started in Mangusho’s garden where he grows coffee beans. They’re Arabica which means they have 2 beans per berry (is it a berry?) instead of 3 beans, which would be Robusta and apparently not as good. Once the plants grow in his garden, he replants the seedlings in little bags for each to grow on their own. They grow in the shade of banana trees which is perfect for them because it keeps them out of direct sunlight. The elevation at Sipi is also ideal for good coffee plants. Melissa may have to help jog my memory on this, but I think they then grow for another 9 months before they’re ready to be planted in the soil to grown into larger trees. Mangusho showed us a coffee tree that his grandfather planted years ago – he’s carrying on a family tradition. Legend goes that that was the first coffee tree in Sipi!

​It takes 4 weeks to dry the beans, so we jumped over that part of the process. Once you have the dry beans, you need to remove the husk. While you can do this by hand, as you can imagine, that is very tedious and time consuming.  So we used a wooden mortar and pestle. It’s important that the mortar is really deep so the beans don’t escape. Once our arms were too tired to continue, Mangusho took a plate and artfully separated the beans from the husks. 

​We’re now ready to roast the beans! I had no idea that the difference between light, medium, and dark roast is simply how long you roast them for…so self-explanatory haha. At Mangusho’s suggestion, we decided on a medium roast. The beans crackle a little kind of like the early stages of cooking popcorn on the stove. It smelled great! Once they were ready, we let the beans cool on a banana leaf. Mangusho had us try the beans – they were pretty tasty. Definitely really flavorful. I feel like describing the taste of coffee is similar to describing the taste of wine, so I’ll continue to steer clear of both. 

Ina, Melissa, and I took my car, yet to be named, on a little road trip to Sipi Falls in January. Without traffic and with good roads, it would probably be a 4 and a half hour drive. But, the 190 mile journey took us about 6 hours on the way there and 8 on the way back because we hit some bad traffic coming back to Kampala. We stopped at Mbale Resort Hotel for a late lunch on our way up. There’s a nice pool that you can eat by and the food was pretty good, and cheap by Kampala standards. The roads to Mbale are pretty nice (just need to keep an eye out for all the speed bumps) and it’s just the last 45 mins or so from Mbale to Sipi that are full of potholes. 

Crow’s Nest is a really popular budget option and has a great view of the falls. But Lacam Lodge, where we stayed, includes all meals (and they're great) so once you factor in food costs, at $25 a night, I would highly recommend it. We stayed in their dorms, but they also have nicer bandas that have their own bathrooms and outdoor seating area. You can also arrange all your activities through the lodge.

Our amazing guide, Manugsho “Steve” Martin took us on a 4-5 hour hike of the three main falls in the area. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. The following morning, we checked out Mangusho’s favorite waterfall before hitting the road and heading back to Kampala. ​

Mangusho (which means “elephant”) is half Kenyan and half Ugandan. His dad was a Masai warrior but unfortunately killed by poachers when Mangusho was young. Soon after, Manugsho, his mom and brothers moved back to Sipi, the home of his mom’s tribe, the Sabine. 

Before he turned 18, Manugsho participated in the male circumcision ceremony which is a pivotal right of passage. In Kenya, this ritual is done in private with only males present, but in Uganda, the ceremony is a huge public gathering and celebration. Teenage males will spend the year prior to their circumcision building themselves a home close to their parents. Once they have “proven themselves” they will live on their own, but it’s important to still be closely their families. 

As a well educated son of a warrior, Mangusho was chosen to go first. During the ceremony, the males are not supposed to flinch or cry - their faces are even painted so it’s very obvious if they do. Those that don’t make it through the circumcision are publicly shunned (I think they’re actually given slashes on their arm so it’s visible to everyone) and likely will never have a family. We asked Mangusho what he would do if he had sons - would he circumsize them in the hospital or have them endure the same pain he went through? He said that for safety, he would prefer the hospital but because the male circumcision ceremony is such a big part of Sabine culture, he would want them to participate in the ritual. We loved learning about Mangusho’s life and would highly recommend him as a guide!! 

Sipi is beautiful and relaxing - perfect for a 3 day weekend getaway. With more time, I would have loved to climb Mt. Elgon which we could see in the distance. Wanale Ridge in Mbale is also supposed to be really great.

​This blog has been a fun way for me to not only document my time here, but also stay engaged with all of you back home. So, thanks for reading! So far, I haven’t had any zero page view days which is a great incentive for me to keep writing and posting! According to the statistics that Weebly provides, I’m getting about 5-10 unique visitors each day.

A few shout-out to my loyal readers out there…Mrs. Thompson wins for having my blog linked as its own icon on her iphone home screen and Mia comes out on top for most blog comments!

​I’ve started adding “categories” which are essentially tags for each of my posts. For those new to the blog, this can make it easier to sort through posts so you don’t have to read from the beginning. I’m looking forward to traveling more within Uganda and the region, so stay tuned for more “travel” posts and photos with my real camera. On the radar…Sipi Falls this weekend, Jinja and the Nile next weekend, and then a big trip to DRC / Rwanda / TBD with Katharine and Liz in March!

See below for a map of Uganda. Emily and I were brushing up on our East African geography yesterday over Skype so I realized it might be helpful to share a map here as well! Entebbe is where the airport is - the drive to Kampala is anywhere from 1-4 hours which means you have to leave well in advance of any flights. Jinja is the big hot spot for kayaking and rafting - there's a big Nile River Festival this weekend so a lot of people are heading there for the weekend. Then, Sipi Falls, where I'm going this weekend is just northeast of Mbale. I recognize a lot of these other cities through the data analysis I've been doing, so it's nice to be able to get an understanding of where our work is being piloted / implemented as well!