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Published: November 30th 2009
hello! i hope everyone had an amazing thanksgiving, ate lots of turkey, and had fun shopping! last thursday for thanksgiving, this guy in bungoma invited us to his restaurant for his thanksgiving buffet he fixes every year for any americans that are in the area. i did not have my hopes set high for this meal, so i was very pleasantly surprised when the food was delicious!! i was expecting the same food i've eaten everyday for the last 6 weeks. but NO it was gooood. he even killed a turkey for us =) he also tried to make his versions of stuffing and pumpkin pie. close enough for me! so there ended up being like 12 or so of us that absolutely stuffed ourselves with food and wine. it was a very fun night 😉
THIS weekend was WOW. REALLY the COOLEST thing i have EVER done. i know i'm not that cool...but you will think i am after i tell you what i got to do. =) hehe...
so i made a last minute decision thursday night while i was enjoying my food and wine, that friday (the next day) i would go on a trip with a group of people that were going to Uganda for the weekend. i have already been to Jinja on the white water rafting trip, and i heard that this trip to Sipi Falls was even better. so off we went friday to Sipi Falls, which is on Mt. Elgon. After a long, interesting drive (blew a tire, tried forever to flag down someone who might possibly have a jack, took forever at the border, finally found an overcrowded matatu to drive us the rest of the way while stopping every 5 minutes to pick up another passenger...their favorite thing to think is "we can still fit one more!" even though someone is already sitting on your lap with a chicken in their lap). hilarious.
anywho...we finally had to get in a small taxi car to actually go up the mountain (another scary story). we finally got to where we were staying for the weekend and i was blown away. the place was called Lacam Lodge Sipi Falls. it was set on the side of this mountain overlooking miles and miles of lush green. it looked like we were overlooking an ocean, it stretched out so far to the horizon. i tried to take tons of pictures of the view, but as you know cameras don't really capture distance and views like that too well. the lodge itself was just adorable. since we were on such steep terrain, all of the buildings were on stilts. this wasn't like a one building hotel. it consisted of a restaurant/bar, bathrooms, and bandas(which were the huts we stayed in). if you have ever seen swiss family robinson, this place really reminded me of that! tons of fun platforms and walkways, all made out of the trees around us. =)
the hotel also overlooked a beautiful waterfall...Sipi Falls.
SO saturday, the small group i was with decided to go on an excursion...REPELLING DOWN THIS 300 FT. WATERFALL. oh my gosh. i have never been so scared/anxious for something in my life. picture a 30 story building, only turn that height into a cliff. with a massive waterfall crashing down that whole way. i swear it seemed like 1000 feet instead of 300. we had 2 guide/instructors with us. one who stayed at the top and one at the bottom. they gave us a short lesson on what we were supposed to do and then we watched them tie all the fancy knots and stuff. the first guide who would be waiting for us at the bottom went down first. as soon as he leaned over that thing, i about died. the 2nd step he took, you couldn't see him anymore because he went straight down...there was no incline to this cliff except for inward. each person had to go down one at a time and then they would pull the rope back up to get ready for the next person. i went 3rd. i was at the top preparing myself for at least an hour before it was my turn.
when i finally got to go, rob, the guide at the top, strapped me in. i made him make sure everything was tight enough and in its proper place like 1000 times. he probably thought i was crazy. he walked me over to the very edge and thoroughly explained to me where to place my feet for the first few steps. here i was, standing on the edge of a mountain cliff and he tells me to just lean back! my body was saying NO WAY! the first few steps were so hard. after slipping a little bit and freaking out, i gave myself a little pep talk and was like 'you can do this!' i finally started inching may way down this cliff and just remembering what the guide told me...'lean back.' after about the first 5 steps down, i started to relax a little bit and get the hang of it. you pretty much have control of how fast you go because you are feeding your own rope through while you go down. about the first 60 feet, you're feet are actually touching and walking down the cliff. but for the remaining like 240 ft., the cliff goes inward and your feet can't reach it. so you are just dangling in the air...by a ROPE. once i finally relaxed, i tried to take in everything that was going on. this beautiful, massive waterfall was just yards away from me and the mist of the water was blowing in my face. when i looked out i could just see miles of beautiful green forest, and when i looked down...it seriously looked like i was as high as a plane. i tried to go slow, take my time and enjoy the moment. it was indescribably amazing. i was still obviously quite nervous the whole way down and gripped onto the rope so tight. =) the whole thing lasted around 15 minutes, but seemed like an eternity. i got to the bottom and the other guide unhooked me and sent the rope back up for the next person.
it was such a rush thinking about what i had just done, especially looking up at the top from the bottom to see how stinkin high it really was...geeze. luckily one of the guys who went before me took down my camera, so i have some pretty cool pictures of me coming down. =) after everyone made it down, we hiked back up the mountain. this was very hard for me, considering just the week before i was laying in a hospital bed. but i made it. =) we saw a couple other beautiful (smaller) waterfalls on the way, one that we got to walk behind. it was just such a beautiful area. any place that is similar to this back in the U.S. would be crawling with tourists. but here, it felt like we had the whole mountain to ourselves.
on sunday, i just relaxed in my banda, reading a book and looking out over the mountain. this place had amazing food and our banda's were even complete with our own bathrooms. i took 3 HOT SHOWERS over the course of the weekend. i felt so spoiled. hehe...
we got back last night after a much smoother ride home. this week, since school is now out, i am planning on getting involved in a women's clinic. we will have a seminar each day where women in the community will come and we get to teach them about their bodies and their rights as women. i'm excited because this is something that is so needed here. women can believe the craziest stuff here and it will be neat to educate them.
i believe that's all for now. =)
xo
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Veronica
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Golly, gee whiz!!!!
Love reading your story. What a fantastic trip. A once in a lifetime event!!!. Glad to hear you are recovering.