A Week In Uganda!

Well, I've offically traveled to my second country in Africa now: Uganda. It is a beautifully green country. Monica and I traveled by bus from Nairobi to Kampala overnight, which took only about 10 hours! Usually it takes a lot longer, but traveling at night is much faster. In Kampala we stayed with Monica's friend's parents from Canada who have lived in Uganda for 11 years. Kampala was generally a nice city. It is built on seven surrounding mountains with the center of town seated in the middle. Lots of hills and beautiful views. It was safer and cleaner than Nairobi in my opinion too. We explored the city for a couple days and found our way (well, driven to) to Kasubi Tombs on our favorite mode of public transportation: a motorcycle. Monica and I really enjoyed Kasubi tombs, where we had a guide sit down with us and tell us about the four Bugandan kings buried inside the house. The history of Uganda is quite interesting: the Buganda king actually invited the British to come to Uganda around 1890. Presently there is a king and a president. Descendants of the kings come and stay in the homes and surrounding wives homes for different lengths of time. The first Bugandan king buried there had 84 wives!

After a couple days in Kampala we enjoyed two nights in Jinja. We spend the first day rafting twelve rapids of the White Nile river. The source of the Nile is in Uganda and it flows through Sudan and Egypt. Rafting was a new experience for me and it was a blast. There was one point where we flipped in a class five rapid and I wasn't sure I'd ever find my way to the surface for a breath... thank you life jacket. We went down a waterfall too (probably about 15 foot drop)! I wasn't sure how it'd work out... After rafting all day the company had a cookout for everyone. We stayed two nights at their "campsite." There were hostels, personal tents, and permanent tents on a small property overlooking the Nile. It felt surreal. We spent the day after rafting recovering by laying on the grass enjoying the view, sounds, and breeze.

Our third day in Kampala we enjoyed a bike ride through the surrounding rural area. Two fourteen year old boys who we met, Adam and Alan, led us on a little tour. I'm jealous of those people who live right on the Nile, although unfortunately, despite the abundance of natural resources, many of them are very poor.

Back at school, I've taken four exams in the past three days and I have another tomorrow. I'll have one week of no exams, until the 18th when I take my last. I am going to work on my internship for next semester during that week and roughly plan out the December holiday, which I'll spend with Jen! Monica leaves in two weeks, which I am really sad about. I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I say goodbye to one of my best friends on the 22nd. She heads home to snow and the winter Olympics in her hometown, Vancouver, with an injured foot and one semester of college left. We've shared so many great memories and experiences.