Jinja and a Move

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As I am writing this blog entry, I am sitting on the patio of a nice “resort” called “Gately On the Nile” in Jinja. I think that’s the name of it. Anyways, the sun has just gone over the covered portion of the patio and I am no longer getting blinded by it (okay, it wasn’t that bad, only slightly annoying). The weather is not too hot yet and birds are chirping. I think that I am able to discern about 15 or more distinct bird calls. My table is facing Lake Victoria. Although slightly blocked by some large trees, it is nonetheless a great view. The view is also slightly deceiving because the way it is set up right now, the lake seems to come to the very edge of the resort’s property.

I went to investigate the view yesterday and found that the water is still over 100 yards away from the back of the property. In the process, I met a guy named Emmanuel whose parents were from Rwanda and fled back during the genocide to come to Uganda. His mother died when he was young and at about the age of 14 his father told him that he had to go find a job. So, he didn’t finish high school and has been working as a boat guide ever since (which is about 7 or 8 years). If you are in a town called Rippon while in Jinja, ask for him. He told me some other interesting things pertaining to the history of the area.

First of all, he said that the guy who named the Nile got the name from the word the local people kept using. However, none of them understood the other. The locals were actually saying (in their local language), “I don’t understand this guy” or something like that, and it sounded like “nile.” So there you go. Second, he told me about how the water used to be a lot further inland than it currently was. He pointed off towards this hotel on the lake that services a lot of boating tourists. The hotel built a dock, which now was 50 feet or more above the water. That is how high the water level used to be. Then he pointed to a house and said that just 8 years ago they fished off of it. I wish I had a picture of it, but you certainly could not fish from it now. They (the proverbial whoever did it) built the Owens Fall Dam a while back and that is most likely the cause. The government is also in the process of building another large dam. It is a project funded by the World Bank, and it is supposed to do a lot of damage, I think, to the water where I was and to other places around.

For instance, we went rafting yesterday down the Nile. There were a total of 6 rapids through which we rafted, and none of those will be around when the dam is built. I should say though that there are more rapids further down and so the rafting companies will still be able to do trips. However, there are some really cool things that will be gone. The only one that I can actually remember right now is about an old man called Bujagoli. He is basically the spiritist in the area who was said to be able to walk on water. Anyways, the government tried to kick him off of his little island in the middle of the Nile, but he refused and they just decided to leave him alone. He died a while back and his son (who’s in his 80s) is still around. We passed by the father’s gravesite on the island. All of that to say that development is tough work. Even though it could bring a lot of good things to the area/country, the dam is going to probably negatively affect others first.

So Jinja. We left Kampala around 10 in the morning and got into Jinja shortly after noon. On the way there we passed by these very small towns where people would come from out of nowhere (slight exaggeration…they were visible prior to us stopping) and bombard the taxi with all sorts of food and drink items (chicken of liver on a stick being some of the options to which one could avail themselves). The ride there was pretty cramped and I had my backpack lying across my lap. There were some really nice areas though in regard to the landscape. The downtown area was nice and quaint. It had a really old look to it. Many of the buildings did not seem to be kept really well. There are also much fewer people in Jinja than Kampala. Kampala has about a million five (hundred thousand), but Jinja has much less than 100,000.

Our first day in Jinja we went to see the Source of the Nile. This is where Lake Victoria begins to form the “longest river in Africa” (don’t worry about my quotation marks, they are only there for the purposes of an inside joke). We walked out about one fifth of the way out onto the river. Whoever built the tourist trap laid down some steel bars onto which you can walk. It was pretty neat and then we sat down to a nice tilapia meal at a restaurant there. There were a ton of craft shops at the Source and we stopped by a few of them. I feel bad sometimes because you walk into one of the stores and when you come out the next vendor says, “Now you come into my shop.” It just gets tiring all the time to have someone trying to sell something to you. I understand their position, but it doesn’t help me to deal with the situation.

After the Source we went to this place called Bujagali Falls. It was pretty amazing. There were a couple of water falls in the area, and to be honest they are nothing like Victoria Falls or even our own (plus Canada) Niagara Falls. Nevertheless, it was a spectacular place. After walking around for a while and grabbing a Coke, we went for a boat ride into the area. The guide took us to many places. We stopped in this little corner of the river where there were tons of bats. Go figure, it’s 4 in the afternoon and bats are out and about. We then crossed over to the other side of the water where our guide took us up onto a hillside to show us where they were going to be building the new dam that I mentioned earlier. He wasn’t too excited about it either. It was a beautiful river basin/valley. Soon it will be underwater. After that stop we went over to the island on which the old man Bujagali used to live and we got to see a couple of nice views of some waterfalls. We ended up being out for close to 2 hours on the boat and around before finally getting back to where we started. The guide told us he would get a special hire for us and so we went with him. But it turned out that he was trying to get us to buy stuff around. He said that our driver wouldn’t be there for a few minutes and that to pass the time we should go to this one shop. But, we saw the driver walking by us and knew he was fibbing. It was certainly annoying, but we made it back. Then it was on to dinner and sleep.

The second day we spent doing a half-day rafting trip. It was pretty great and I think that I only flipped out once or twice through the 6 rapids. There was one that was absolutely frightening, but somehow or another I stayed in. I think that the initial drop into the rapid was about 20 or 30 feet, and once at the bottom, there is a wall of white water 15 feet high that meets you. From that point on there were a couple more walls of the same size. It was kind of funny because one girl that was in the raft fell out before we even met the first wall of water. We all made it out though relatively unscathed. I got smacked on my hand by someone’s oar. It doesn’t feel too good at this current moment. All in all it was a great time. The rafting company is situated at this money spot way up on a hill overlooking the river. They also have bungee jumping, but I decided not to do it. Missed opportunities!!!! I was exhausted and headed back to the hotel to kick it and try to work for a little while. I decided to walk around the premises of the hotel and surrounding area and that’s when I met Emmanuel who I mentioned above.

Today we just walked around town a bit and made our way back into Kampala. I am now back in my new house. Valerie and I moved into this new house last Saturday. Our previous living arrangements just got a little uncomfortable, and this other place became an option for us. It’s really nice. The lady who owns and lives in the house is a doctor with husband and kids. Her husband lives and works in Tunis and her children are at school in Kenya. So she is by herself a lot. I would say that the house is actually pretty large even for US standards. We are pretty happy. We even have hot water now. It is supposed to be cheaper as far as getting to work as well (although I haven’t seemed to figure out the route just yet). The first couple of nights I stayed there I was a little unsure about how I would like it. First of all, I heard mosquitos buzzing around my head all night even though I was under a mosquito net, but in all fairness, I don't think that I tucked it in properly. Then when I woke up that next morning, I awoke to a cockroach dangling over my head (slight exaggeration). The next night there were cats who were meowing and fighting. It sounded horrible and I began to hear it around 3 or 4 in the morning, continuing until 6 or so. The next night I heard dogs howling from 4 in the morning and on. Though all in all, its a nice place. Fortunately and unfortunately I must go back to work tomorrow. I have much work and my time keeps flying by…

Whoops, I forgot to mention to interesting things. First, my living arrangements while in Jinja. Valerie and her family stayed in a room and then I got a room by myself. Well, when we came back towards the end of the first day, there was an ant infestation in my bathroom. I mean, covered. The staff came in and sprayed some kind of bug killer (I think the whole can). The place was filled with the fumes of the spray, so they ended up moving me to one of the only rooms inside of the main building. And it was certainly a step up from the other room. To my knowledge, I didn’t have to pay extra for the new room. Score.

The other thing had to do with our trip over to the island in the middle of the Nile. Well, when we went on our rafting trip we told our guide that we did that…rather that we took the guided boat tour. He told us that another group went about 4 days before us with a similar company to do the same tour that we did and the motor for the boat gave out and the boat went over one of the bigger waterfalls and everyone on the boat died. I think that you could have run a semi truck through our mouths they were so wide open. The lesson: when you go to Bujagali Falls, do not take the wooden boats out on the water even though they only charge you $5 for a 2-hr boat ride.

That was what I wanted to say…

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