We went to Ethiopic last night to rehash the trip.
Ten things I'll remember...
Getting off that Ethiopian Airlines plane and seeing that air base, knowing we were in Africa, thousands of miles away from home. And it not looking so different. But also completely different.
Narrating to myself as we drove down the streets to the safari, seeing the barefoot children, seeing the women carrying parcels above their heads, the soccer teams, the school children in uniforms, the fresh produce we could not eat, the livestock at the side of the road, the boda boda riders with three passengers and sometimes a baby.
It was not nearly as hot as we thought. Lots of rain. We didn't use much sun block.
The women hanging out at the gas station. They were over-employed. The vendors, frantic to make a sale. The desperation to make a sale.
The colorful dresses worn by the wedding. Culturally significant, maybe. The Buganda culture. The Luganda language.
The mosquito nets over all of the beds.
The many, many bottled waters consumed. Washing our face, brushing out teeth, taking out the contacts. The nasty yellowed water.
The Waragi and the Bell and the Nile. All cheap drinks.
The excitement when we had wifi access.
Seeing those volunteers in the airport and being slightly uneasy, maybe more like disturbed, by their volunteer t-shirts, the saving the orphans. I almost felt like it was a bit patronizing, advertising their "look at me do-gooderness" good service. Is that silly?
Seeing three college friends together, two decades later and all of them grown up and married and so far from where they started. Good times.
Showing posts with label Uganda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uganda. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Uganda Part V
On Sunday, N & I decided to wrap up the trip with a tour of Kampala. Husband stayed at the hotel,
A bulk of the day was spent touring the Anglican and Catholic memorials at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine, Namugongo. It took a little longer than we anticipated...anyway, we learned a lot about the heroic, yet tragic story of the young martyrs and St. Charles Lwanga. Our tour of Kampala also took us to the Anglican cathedral. We also passed mosques and even a Mormon church. I was actually very struck by the religious faith of our tour guide. I will also remember an aside by the Catholic guide who mentioned that "gays never were in Africa until the Asians came." The Uganda anti-homosexuality bill has certainly been in the news, though I admit I didn't know a great deal about it before our trip.
We also visited the Kasubi Tombs. What was striking was the cemetery, where Christians and Muslims were buried side by side. The tombs are the site of the burial grounds for four kabakas (kings of Buganda).
We also briefly stopped by a market, and I picked up a cheap turquoise elephant purse and some jewelry. We also stopped at the market on Monday, our last full day. After one final dinner with the whole group on Sunday night, we were about to make our way home...
A bulk of the day was spent touring the Anglican and Catholic memorials at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine, Namugongo. It took a little longer than we anticipated...anyway, we learned a lot about the heroic, yet tragic story of the young martyrs and St. Charles Lwanga. Our tour of Kampala also took us to the Anglican cathedral. We also passed mosques and even a Mormon church. I was actually very struck by the religious faith of our tour guide. I will also remember an aside by the Catholic guide who mentioned that "gays never were in Africa until the Asians came." The Uganda anti-homosexuality bill has certainly been in the news, though I admit I didn't know a great deal about it before our trip.
We also visited the Kasubi Tombs. What was striking was the cemetery, where Christians and Muslims were buried side by side. The tombs are the site of the burial grounds for four kabakas (kings of Buganda).
We also briefly stopped by a market, and I picked up a cheap turquoise elephant purse and some jewelry. We also stopped at the market on Monday, our last full day. After one final dinner with the whole group on Sunday night, we were about to make our way home...
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Uganda Part IV
The wedding was one of the most beautiful, unique ceremonies we have been lucky enough to witness. Cardinal Wamala, the bishop, and a dozen priests participated, along with a beautiful choir and music in both Lugandan and English. And some Latin, too. Yes, the dress was traditional. Of course, I don't know what I was expecting.
The reception featured 1500+ bottles of beer. Nile, Bell, Guiness, different varietals of each, etc. Lots of beer. And some boxed wine. Food was plentiful--traditional foods like matooke (eh, tasteless, I guess you need peanut or groundnut sauce), chicken, beef goulash, yams, rice. There was always a bit of an Indian influence.
The toasts were plentiful full, and the guys did a classy job. I thought the Kenyans one was a bit over the top. That Kenyan crew was great, and I wish I had gotten a picture of them. They bought us Bourbon and we tried to finagle details from them on the newlyweds.
Music was traditional for the most part, though we had more dance music at the end of the very long reception. We danced a bit, talked to family members and friends, and circulated. It was everything a wedding reception should be.
We wrapped up the evening when we talked to Pete's brother as we were leaving. Uganda is a beautiful country, but its governance presents problems and an impediment to progress. More on that...
We had another couple of days left to tour Kampala in Part V...
The reception featured 1500+ bottles of beer. Nile, Bell, Guiness, different varietals of each, etc. Lots of beer. And some boxed wine. Food was plentiful--traditional foods like matooke (eh, tasteless, I guess you need peanut or groundnut sauce), chicken, beef goulash, yams, rice. There was always a bit of an Indian influence.
The toasts were plentiful full, and the guys did a classy job. I thought the Kenyans one was a bit over the top. That Kenyan crew was great, and I wish I had gotten a picture of them. They bought us Bourbon and we tried to finagle details from them on the newlyweds.
Music was traditional for the most part, though we had more dance music at the end of the very long reception. We danced a bit, talked to family members and friends, and circulated. It was everything a wedding reception should be.
We wrapped up the evening when we talked to Pete's brother as we were leaving. Uganda is a beautiful country, but its governance presents problems and an impediment to progress. More on that...
We had another couple of days left to tour Kampala in Part V...
Friday, August 3, 2012
Uganda Part II
We left Entebbe and then headed to Humura Resort, where we stayed our first night. The room was comfortable, with the requisite mosquito net covering the bed. We took much-needed showers and then went to the bar to have the first of many Ugandan beers and to meet with Peter. We then went to the Serena Hotel for burgers. It felt a little surreal being there, like--are we really here? And we were all so tired. I don't even remember what we talked about. The wedding, maybe, and the safari. But it was good to be there. And we all slept well.
We left for the safari around 9am on Wednesday morning. We were all so relieved to be able to sleep past 6am. Michael picked us up and we made the 5+ hour journey to the Paraa Safari Lodge. So much to see. We stopped a few times, including once to buy some bananas from some aggressive sales ladies, and another time at a beautiful fruit stand. We had lunch in Masindi at the New Court View Hotel. I had tilapia, the first of many seafood meals.
The scenery was amazing, both looking at the shacks and the soccer fields and the school children. We finally made it up to Murchison Falls. Wow, what a view. The only damper (no pun intended) was that we got drenched after only a few minutes of exploring the top of the Falls and looking down upon the beautiful Nile River. Crazy to think we saw that, we were present there.
Afterwards, we headed up to the ferry crossing, though we missed the 5pm departure by only a few moments. We hung out along the south bank and watched the birds, the warthogs, and the baboons, who were quite playful. Loved the mama with baby riding on her back, and the "siblings" who chased each other on the roof of the park ranger site until they were shooed off. Apparently they were sneaking in food!
Once we crossed, we changed and then went to dinner. We had an abundance of Indian food on the trip. We also opened up a bottle of port, hung out for a while chatting, and then got to bed early for our 6:30 a.m. game drive. More on that to come...
We left for the safari around 9am on Wednesday morning. We were all so relieved to be able to sleep past 6am. Michael picked us up and we made the 5+ hour journey to the Paraa Safari Lodge. So much to see. We stopped a few times, including once to buy some bananas from some aggressive sales ladies, and another time at a beautiful fruit stand. We had lunch in Masindi at the New Court View Hotel. I had tilapia, the first of many seafood meals.
The scenery was amazing, both looking at the shacks and the soccer fields and the school children. We finally made it up to Murchison Falls. Wow, what a view. The only damper (no pun intended) was that we got drenched after only a few minutes of exploring the top of the Falls and looking down upon the beautiful Nile River. Crazy to think we saw that, we were present there.
Afterwards, we headed up to the ferry crossing, though we missed the 5pm departure by only a few moments. We hung out along the south bank and watched the birds, the warthogs, and the baboons, who were quite playful. Loved the mama with baby riding on her back, and the "siblings" who chased each other on the roof of the park ranger site until they were shooed off. Apparently they were sneaking in food!
Once we crossed, we changed and then went to dinner. We had an abundance of Indian food on the trip. We also opened up a bottle of port, hung out for a while chatting, and then got to bed early for our 6:30 a.m. game drive. More on that to come...
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Uganda: Part I
I have much to recap, but let's start from the very beginning...
We had a crazy start to the trip. We barely made our flight. We loaded up in Brownsville after South Padre and the reunion, and then we got on the plane to get to Houston.Every flight that day had left on time, of course. And as we taxied out, the pilot announced there were bad thunderstorms in Houston, and we'd be stuck on the tarmac for a while. And then we turned back to the terminal. Of course, we freaked out and began making all sorts of contingency plans. Maybe fly to BWI. Or head to Newark.
After a couple of hours of delay, we finally left. And thankfully, our next aircraft had been diverted to San Antonio. So we barely made the flight. Maybe ten minutes to spare. But it meant we were getting in two hours later, at 1am, so we didn't get home and in bed til after 1:30 am. Fun, fun. Four hours of sleep, laundry to do, and then packing in the morning.
So we go up, literally threw some stuff in suitcases, and then Shea and Shannen arrived to pick us up. We got to IAD in plenty of time, met up with N, and then we headed to breakfast.
Thirteen hours on our first flight. Ethiopian was not very bad, actually. Lots of entertainment options, though the new release movies were not great. I did watch the Sound of Music. And Runaway Jury. We landed in Addas, and we immediately searched for wifi. We are news nerds. None of us slept. But leaving at 11:15 am was good, in a way. After a few hours in the decrepit older terminal, we flew on to Kampala.
And in early afternoon, we landed. We were in Africa.
We had a crazy start to the trip. We barely made our flight. We loaded up in Brownsville after South Padre and the reunion, and then we got on the plane to get to Houston.Every flight that day had left on time, of course. And as we taxied out, the pilot announced there were bad thunderstorms in Houston, and we'd be stuck on the tarmac for a while. And then we turned back to the terminal. Of course, we freaked out and began making all sorts of contingency plans. Maybe fly to BWI. Or head to Newark.
After a couple of hours of delay, we finally left. And thankfully, our next aircraft had been diverted to San Antonio. So we barely made the flight. Maybe ten minutes to spare. But it meant we were getting in two hours later, at 1am, so we didn't get home and in bed til after 1:30 am. Fun, fun. Four hours of sleep, laundry to do, and then packing in the morning.
So we go up, literally threw some stuff in suitcases, and then Shea and Shannen arrived to pick us up. We got to IAD in plenty of time, met up with N, and then we headed to breakfast.
Thirteen hours on our first flight. Ethiopian was not very bad, actually. Lots of entertainment options, though the new release movies were not great. I did watch the Sound of Music. And Runaway Jury. We landed in Addas, and we immediately searched for wifi. We are news nerds. None of us slept. But leaving at 11:15 am was good, in a way. After a few hours in the decrepit older terminal, we flew on to Kampala.
And in early afternoon, we landed. We were in Africa.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Uganda Reading
I finished The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget by Andrew Rice over the weekend. The disappearance of Eliphaz Lak during the idi Amin reign of terror is the subject of the book, which details his son's Duncan's search for justice. The tale doesn't have a happy ending in some respects--no conviction--but somehow closure and a form of justice and accountability is found. The themes of forgiveness and accountability resound in the book. I feel like I know the country a bit better and I understand how people want to just move on. A significant part of Uganda's population was born after 1979, anyway, and anyone younger than I am would have very few if any memories of that era.
I am getting excited as we approach two weeks. And a part of me just wants to get to the "after" part of the trip. But an adventure does await...
I am getting excited as we approach two weeks. And a part of me just wants to get to the "after" part of the trip. But an adventure does await...
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Uganda
Come July, we're going to Uganda. And I ordered some books to prepare. As if anything can prepare me.
Yeah, I am a bit nervous. It seems so far away. And it'll be so hectic. And I'm worried about sleep deprivation and bickering with the husband and getting sick. But it's a whole new world. And while I am a bit apprehensive, I am also excited about going somewhere big. Somewhere completely new.
Yeah, I am a bit nervous. It seems so far away. And it'll be so hectic. And I'm worried about sleep deprivation and bickering with the husband and getting sick. But it's a whole new world. And while I am a bit apprehensive, I am also excited about going somewhere big. Somewhere completely new.
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