Car, Plane, Truck, Hotel, Van: Amsterdam to Jinja

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Marco was kind enough to drive me to the airport; no traffic on an early Sunday morning so it was a breeze. Cleared through, met up with Heather and Diane and met Jodaye at the gate. Our flight was almost an hour late as the plane needed a part (I’m SO OK with staying on the ground until things are fixed J…) so overall a very long day.

I had an aisle seat and the lady sitting next to Diane was willing to switch with me (aisle for an aisle) so I got to sit next to her, watching movies while she slept. We had an almost 9 hour leg to Kigali, 1.5 hour change over there and then another hour all told to Entebbe. Very odd landing a plane on a runway with almost no lights! You know your in Africa when…….. Clearing customs was easy, got our bags and went outside for our pre-arranged transfers.

Due to the change in my flight; they were not expecting me, so the vehicle they had was only good for 3 people, so they tried to split us up to 3 in one vehicle and one in the other, which I put a stop to. So we did 2 and 2. Jodaye and I went together and it was close to an hour drive, in the dark, with very little lights. Then we were on a side road, in pitch dark conditions and you could tell our driver was lost (this was the ‘spare’ driver). He pulled into a parking lot, again pitch dark, and got out of the vehicle, which made my spidey senses tingle. So I asked him where he was going, and it turns out that there was a guy sitting in the dark by one of the stores. Even creepier, I won’t lie. Next thing this guy is getting into the vehicle with us, and I will admit it’s the first time in a long time I really worried about traveling as a single female in a foreign land.

The second guy (who was a stranger to everyone) knew where the hotel was, and took us down this even darker, dirtier, creepier road (if that’s even possible) and found the hotel. That was a bit of confusion getting settled, but finally we did, Heather and Diane had made it a few minutes ahead of us, and we all crashed out, exhausted from the flight and long day(s).

March 14^th

The Red Chili Hideaway earned that name, to say it was hidden away is an understatement. I will admit the grounds are beautiful, with a lovely large pool and plenty of green space (which the girls took advantage of yesterday given the red hue to their Canadian skin), but coming in so late in the pitch dark down a side road of a side road was unnerving. They made up for it with a delicious French pressed coffee, the way to my heart!

We had our morning group meet and greet, then hit the highway to head from Entebbe to Jinja, about a 2.5 hour drive. The roads were pleasantly smooth, and with 2 vehicles of 4 people each we had lots of room to spread out, perfect given the only AC we had was the windows. Hot and sticky is the best way to describe the weather here. Hot and sticky. Welcome to Africa!!

We arrived at the Nile River Camp, a somewhat basic backpacker style accommodations, with permanent tents with small cots in them and a wide range of activities to do. White Water Rafting (class 3-5 along the way), kayaking, rope swings, horseback riding, quading etc. Definitely an adventure seekers paradise. I, given my gentle state of my head and neck had to cancel the white water rafting, but 6 of the girls were still signed up and Sahara and I decided to go kayaking and SUP’ing the next day instead. Gentle and relaxing.

We all sat on the balcony overlooking the Nile river with lush green foliage, monkeys playing in the trees, birds singing their songs and cicadas screaming away in the heat feeling very lazy. It was a great opportunity to sit, relax and chat, catch up with old friends (I hadn’t seen Rhonda in person I think in over 5 years) and get to know the others better to.

Soon someone commented "oh what are we doing this afternoon", looked at her watch and said, "OK nothing it is!" Perfect for everyone. I think the highlight was drinking a cool beverage, and looking for whatever form of breeze we could get on our overly heated bodies, and we slowly rotated around the resort in the shade.

Our sunset cruise was scheduled from 5-7pm with unlimited beverages and Cathy and I stayed on the lower deck (fully shaded) to become little mini national geographic wanna be photographers. I couldn’t believe how many photos I snapped off; reminded me of when I first got my SLR and would take a zillion photos. Now I try to ‘control myself’ and if I can’t see through the view finder what I see through my eyes, I don’t take the photo. Nope. Not today. My vodka sat in the sun getting hotter and hotter while I took photos of everything.

Fisherman, children playing in the waters, ladies doing laundry; birds, logs, greenery, smoke, and of course, eventually the sunset. What a glorious way to spend a couple of hours, cruising along the Nile with friends, enjoying the unique scenery, seeing even birds of prey! There was an Eagle with a fresh kill sitting on a log looking regal and I wished I had brought the zoom lens with me!

Back to camp, tipsy, happy, cooler from the boat breeze and we played a game that G has to get to know one another. Questions from if you could have your own personal ground hog day what would it be, or travel memories that are most precious etc. It was a really great way to talk even more and open up conversation.

Shortly after dinner I retired to my tent with my roommate Cathy and sorted through some of my photos. Wasn’t long before I found myself overly sleepy and curled up hot, happy and content. I was in Uganda, country #55. MORE PHOTOS BELOW

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