Thursday, July 22, 2010

Uganda Adventure: Day 2; Bujangali Falls

Long night.

bug netI awoke at one point at one point all sweaty. It was hot and stuffy in the room without the AC. The bug net made it feel even more closed in. I thought that the dawn is almost there, so I figured I’d be fine if I’m uncomfortable for a bit longer. After a while I looked at the watch, and it was 1.40 am!

I could not get myself cool enough to fall back a sleep. Even without the pajamas I was very warm. At around 3 am I was fully awake and decided to do some writing. I got up, took a battery, and then realized that the window was closed. Opening it, immediately brought fresh air in. But my eyes were wide open at that point. I didn’t got any real sleep afterwards either. My room was across the communal bathroom and next to the hallways, and the building echoes with every sound, so when people started walking around at the crack of dawn, I could hear everything. I finally got up at 9.30, took a cold shower and a quick breakfast and coffee. We packed our stuff and were on the road by 10.30.

road-side market in Jinjamud house in Jinjahouse in JinjaBujangali FallsBujangali FallsBujangali FallsAfter a short ride, we came to the Bujangali Falls. Those are 5A rated rapids, where some very adventurous tourist tried their balancing skills on the powerful falls. Some tumbled over into the water, some made it through. We just watched in amazement of all that beauty. We also met some campers out there from the Nederland’s who were also into rafting. Unfortunately, these falls may not be here for much longer. Just down the stream, they are building a second dam that will make this area into one big lake. The Ugandans had to negotiate for five years with some echo-groups from the western counties (i.e. US) to get a green light to build this second dam that would bring electricity to 2% more Ugandans.



Jinja Nile ResortJinja Nile ResortJinja Nile ResortFrom there we went to Jinja Nile Resort up stream. It is a beautiful place up on a hill, owned by an Indian businessmen. They have cottages for renting, large pool and a restaurant around . We set under a teepee overlooking the river Niles, and just soaked in all that serene surrounding while sipping on Ugandan beer (Bell and Club). Fr. JC shared some of his amazing experiences during his 9 years as a missionary in Zambia. It felt food to cool our dirty feet in the pool, too! I even got to play on the swing (one of the things that make me happy:)) just above the Nile!

monkey at Jinja Nile Resortmonkeys at Jinja Nile Resortmonkeys at Jinja Nile ResortFor dinner, I had Tilapia, fish from the river again. It wasn’t too long before the monkeys started coming down from the trees and checking out our food. Since nobody from the restaurant stopped us, and I certainly wanted to see the monkeys up close, we started feeding them our fries. It seemed that wasn’t the first time for them, because some of the came co close to even eat out of our hands! These are wile monkeys! How crazy is that?! We saw few mom monkeys with their babies clinging to their stomachs and long tails wrapped around their mothers’. It was obvious who was the dominant male in the group. And on little monkey was an outcast because all the others were chasing him away. The animal kingdom. :)



I could have stayed there for another hour, but we had to leave around 5 to make our way to Kampala. We went back to the sisters’ house to pick up our bags and say our goodbyes. The sisters were so nice and accommodating. We visited for a bit over tea and coffee while the storm that started just as we got there has let up for a bit. I was happy to find my malaria medicine was in my suitcase, as I forgot to take it in the morning and was afraid I might have left it in Entebbe. I’d really like to avoid catching malaria if it is possible.

The drive to Kampala seemed faster than on the way from there yesterday. It was raining pretty hard and I didn’t see that many cars and security patrols on the road. I am glad I got to take some pictures yesterday of this region, as today the rain would make it impossible.

We were again avoiding downtown Kampala because the African UN Conference is still in progress, but the streets were very crowded. The last 1.5 miles on the main road in the city took us 1 hour! No kidding. We would move 15 yards and then stop for 5 minutes. The dust, heat, and exhaust fumes really trained us down. We were staying at the Bishop’s residence, where they had the meal all ready for us when we arrived and for another group staying there. Hot shower and some laundry duty, and I was in bed little after 10. Hopefully, I’ll catch up on sleep.

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