Aaaahhhh, Ugaaahhhhnda!

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The trip was long to Kakamega but we made it in one day and stayed in a hotel before the ride to the National Forest. It was a very solitary place, green and lush. Monkeys were everywhere! We did one night of camping before a rainforest tour with our guide, Solomon. This is one place I'd come back to, no question. It's actually the most appealing part of Kenya I've seen yet.


Another full day of travel, hopping matatus and having the misfortune to encounter the most unpleasant immigration officer ever. Since I was compliant with the requirements he barked out, the only thing he had to gripe about was that I came to Uganda overland through Ethiopia. "Very unusual", he said suspiciously. As soon as the painful immigration process was over we were allowed to walk across the border where the first thing we saw was..... a bar! Well, more like a shack with two benches, but they sold beer, so we were there!


Every local we encountered in Kenya had asked us for something - money, cigarettes, beer, passage to the U.S. But in this welcome little border town beer shack, the local guys said to us, "Hey, let us buy YOU a beer." How civilized, and a preview of the type of character we'll find in the citizens of Uganda. Hey, there are actually people SWEEPING here! Whoa! After a matatu ride in the first van that was not busting at the seams with passengers, we've got jelly for brains but we made it to Jinja. Lost and dropped off at a restaurant, we ate and then must have looked pathetic enough for the owner to offer us a ride to the guesthouse! A bit noisy, but we decided to crash in the dorm room. Sensing that we were wary, the manager said, "There's only one other guy staying here." But the funny thing is that it's a German guy we met in the hotel in Nairobi, Sandy.


After a cold shower and a good sleep, the helpful staff fed us, offered to change money for us, do our laundry, have our gear sent to the campsite and store our valuables while we went rafting on the Nile! We rode the truck to the river. Then we got instructions and gear and were split up into two teams. Our boat had five - us, Sandy and a couple from Indiana, now living in Kampala, Gail and Chris. Along the river, they pointed out a posh resort where they stayed for one night. "If you want to spoil yourselves, try it!" We said,"At $65 a person, we're spoiling ourselves now, going rafting." But it was absolutely worth it - a great rush.


Our guide, Henry, explained things clearly and went over safety guidelines repeatedly. There's nothing that compares to paddling into and riding one of those vicious-looking class 5 rapids. My favorite rapid was "surf city" where we were able to repeatedly torture ourselves by returning up to the waves and surfing then backwards. It was the first time we flipped the boat unintentionally. One poor girl took an oar above the eye and had to go get stitches. So Mike changed boats and was one of the first people dumped and then rescued flawlessly.


What an amazing day... We were fed BBQ and beers and then dropped at the scenic campsite overlooking Bujagali Falls. We were not too completely exhausted to help a nice British couple smoke their ganga - a great evening! One quick night here and then on to Kampala. I think Sandy's gonna follow us there.

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