Sunrise on the NileI just got back to Jinja from Murchison Falls yesterday and now I am trying to enjoy my last few days with my family and around Jinja Town. I was hoping to get in a little R & R by the pool, but it’s looking more like I’ll be scrambling to finish up work. I got to work this morning to discover that my supervisor is out for yet another week, which means I will not be able to complete all the tasks I wanted to finish before leaving. It is pretty disappointing because I really wanted to ensure that the group had everything they needed before leaving and I do not like the idea of leaving my final tasks in the hands of my supervisor who is often times absent without warning or explanation. I hoped to be able to get the new mold for the soap welded and finished, along with a Village Savings and Loans Kit made before I left. I still plan to get the pan made (but it will be much more difficult without my supervisor because I constantly have to find random people to talk to welder since he only speaks Luganda, and I will have to transport the 1x2 meter pan on the back of a boda to the village-large objects on long motorcycle rides is no fun). I also am going to try to find a different welder to make the savings box for the group, since the welder I am currently working with does not make boxes, which again will be incredibly difficult without someone who speaks Luganda assisting me. I hope to go through town and find places where I can get the bookkeeping and business supplies the group will need, but it’s looking like I’ll have to leave the making of the box to my unreliable boss, which is not ideal.
Enough with work, on to Murchison! It was mind blowing. Very hard to comprehend, seeing giraffes and elephants in their natural habitat, it was surreal, but amazing nonetheless. We stayed the night in Red Chili Hideaway near Kampala before heading to Murchison Falls first thing on
Thursday morning, we spent the night in the Red Chili Camp. On Friday we were in the car by 6:30am, ready to go for the game drive. We took a ferry with the car across the Nile, and watched an amazing sunrise. We drove all throughout the park for the first half of the afternoon looking at all the amazing animals and plants. We saw tons of giraffes, gazelle type animals, along with elephants, hippos, baboons, and birds. We pulled up to the dock to wait for the ferry, and there were baboons hanging out, so I took some pictures. I had saved some chapatti from my packed breakfast for a snack after the game drive, so I decided I'd pull it out after taking some pictures and while waiting for a ferry. Within seconds of leaving the van with my tinfoil wrapped chapatti, I heard an animal galloping towards me and next thing I knew I was face to face with a baboon mama (baby on back), aggresively staring at me and my chapat. So, I hesitate because I had saved that chapatti all morning (not easy for a real chapat lover like me), but Ithe baboon was not letting up. I was unsure how concerned I should be about her possibly attacking me, until the guide ran over yelling how she was preparing to jump on me. I threw the chapatti away from me and ran, while turning around just in time to watch the mama down my breakfast. Here's the theif's photo- I hope she enjoyed it as much as I w
ould have. Then we went back to the camp for some lunch before heading out on the boat cruise for the second half of the afternoon. From the boat we saw a bunch of elephants getting their afternoon drinks, crocodiles sun bathing and hippos surfacing in the water. The boat took us up the river to get a view of the falls, before heading back to camp for dinner. The last morning of the safari we hiked to the top of the falls, which was amazing. Since it was morning, the falls were covered in rainbows and the cool mist was a more than welcome break from the heat. After the hike we got back in the car for the 6-7hour trip back to Red Chili Hideaway, where we stayed the night again. In the morning, Bethany, Caroline and I parted ways as I went back to Jinja, and Bethany and Caroline headed out on their trek to Fort Portal-Kibale National Forest. I call it a trek because they were taking public transportation-I hope they made it there alright! I’ll be meeting back up with them on the 12th at Entebbe Backpackers before we fly out on the 13th. Since our cell phones are from FSD we have to give them back, so we have no way to communicate-just hope to see them when I arrive to Entebbe on the Thursday.
Thursday morning, we spent the night in the Red Chili Camp. On Friday we were in the car by 6:30am, ready to go for the game drive. We took a ferry with the car across the Nile, and watched an amazing sunrise. We drove all throughout the park for the first half of the afternoon looking at all the amazing animals and plants. We saw tons of giraffes, gazelle type animals, along with elephants, hippos, baboons, and birds. We pulled up to the dock to wait for the ferry, and there were baboons hanging out, so I took some pictures. I had saved some chapatti from my packed breakfast for a snack after the game drive, so I decided I'd pull it out after taking some pictures and while waiting for a ferry. Within seconds of leaving the van with my tinfoil wrapped chapatti, I heard an animal galloping towards me and next thing I knew I was face to face with a baboon mama (baby on back), aggresively staring at me and my chapat. So, I hesitate because I had saved that chapatti all morning (not easy for a real chapat lover like me), but Ithe baboon was not letting up. I was unsure how concerned I should be about her possibly attacking me, until the guide ran over yelling how she was preparing to jump on me. I threw the chapatti away from me and ran, while turning around just in time to watch the mama down my breakfast. Here's the theif's photo- I hope she enjoyed it as much as I w
ould have. Then we went back to the camp for some lunch before heading out on the boat cruise for the second half of the afternoon. From the boat we saw a bunch of elephants getting their afternoon drinks, crocodiles sun bathing and hippos surfacing in the water. The boat took us up the river to get a view of the falls, before heading back to camp for dinner. The last morning of the safari we hiked to the top of the falls, which was amazing. Since it was morning, the falls were covered in rainbows and the cool mist was a more than welcome break from the heat. After the hike we got back in the car for the 6-7hour trip back to Red Chili Hideaway, where we stayed the night again. In the morning, Bethany, Caroline and I parted ways as I went back to Jinja, and Bethany and Caroline headed out on their trek to Fort Portal-Kibale National Forest. I call it a trek because they were taking public transportation-I hope they made it there alright! I’ll be meeting back up with them on the 12th at Entebbe Backpackers before we fly out on the 13th. Since our cell phones are from FSD we have to give them back, so we have no way to communicate-just hope to see them when I arrive to Entebbe on the Thursday.
I think I’m officially in denial about returning home. I don’t know if it’ll really hit me until I’m in Dubai…maybe not even until I’m back in the States. I think it’s because home still seems very far away-I have such a beast of a flight to get through before I’m back in SF. 8 hours from Entebbe to Dubai. Then an 8 hour layover, before a 16 hour flight from Dubai to San Francisco. 16 HOURS, on a plane, no stops…ROUGH. But not as rough as realizing that I’ve actually left Uganda will be.