Blogs from Jinja, Eastern Region, Uganda, Africa - page 6

Based on many peoples advice we’ve clogged our bags with loads of junk. Dear friends - thank you very much for your good intention but: - In Africa they do have toilet paper - They do have batteries - They do have cash machines at almost every corner - And they have a lot of food – people here eat all the time, everywhere and a loooooottttt. So Mammy you don’t have to be worry, I will come back looking like the Michelin man!! Ewa ... read more

all is well here in Jinja. I have been unable to update the blog since leaving Dubai has it is hard to find a decent fast internet when you only stay overnight in your tent in each location... As we do all ourselves we end up with not much free time: cooking, cleaning, security, fire starting... and of course setting up tent every night. We went from Nairobi to the great rift: Massai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru where we did some game drives... Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Buffalo, Hyena, Hippos, Baboons... many photos but cannot upload anything using the local internet (think 56kbps dial-up modems...) and the trip has been eventful. We are now in Jinja in Uganda where the Nile takes it source... went rafting and had a blast, this is the cool capital of ... read more

I took a bus from Nairobi to Jinja, Uganda, a town world renown for white water rafting. When I got off the bus I was greeted by about a half dozen guys on motorcycles asking me "Town? Town?" I told them I had my big pack with me that was stowed under the bus as I scanned around for a cab, finding nothing. They just nodded and persisted saying "Town? Town?" I shrugged assuming they came across this situation quite often, and handed one my pack to see exactly what his plan was for getting me anywhere. He just threw it on top of his handlebars and told me to get on. I obliged and told him to take me to Explorers' Backpackers, the hostel owned and operated by the rafting company, and we sped away ... read more

I today I met up with Thanasis and Rachel to hop on a taxi and go to the town of Jinja. Jinja is a small town about 1.5-2 hours away from Kampala along Lake Victoria where they say the Nile River starts. Most of the interns had already been there when they went white water rafting so we thought that we should just go on our own and see it. We went to the taxi park and finally found one that was leaving for Jinja. It was a little bit harder bargaining for such a large distance. After a while the lowest price that they would finally accept was 4,000 shillings. We got on the taxi and headed out. In the beginning there were only a couple of us in the taxi so I was able ... read more

2nd March The alarm clock seems to go off earlier every morning.. Today we woke up in a very pleasant and a very different hotel. Most of the lights are working, we only had three power cuts so far and the air conditioning is happily whirring away. And from our windows we can see the best thing ever - a swimming pool. Looks like 3 days in heaven. Our day started by realising that Scott still can’t beat Rich to the breakfast table and that our new home away from home doesn’t supply country music with the corn flakes, unlike the old one. We arrived at the Mbale Municipal Council Stadium before 9am only to find it full of footballers and police, who were enjoying their morning practice. We were expecting about 30 teachers who would ... read more