Eastern Uganda

So I was pretty burnt out after working on our children's camp at the end of Aug. Lucky for me, I was able to get away from Kampala for a few days to visit some friends that are working in Soroti, which is in Eastern Uganda. Early Saturday morning, I jumped on a bus to Soroti. I arrived at around 11 am to a much quieter environment than I'm used to. Kampala is the only real city in Uganda. The rest are just small towns. It's almost like going back to the days of the ole West. The town center was just a few blocks long; definitely not as many cars or motorcycles crowding the streets; on the other hand, there were plenty of bicycle taxis.

We spent Saturday resting for half of the day and then borrowed some bodas (motorcycles) to go to a lake down the road. I didn't know how far the lake was so I thought a short trip...like maybe 15-20 minutes. My friends didn't know the distance either. On the way, the boda I was on got a flat so we had to wait for it to get it fixed. When we finally arrived it was about 2 hours later and the sun was setting. Beautiful across the lake, but bad for us as nighttime brings trouble many times in Uganda so we raced home in like an hour. BTW, we looked pretty amazing after our ride...no helmets = lots of dust on our faces and in our hair. Finally, we ended the day with dinner at a pastor's house. This pastor, James, was much like Pastor Dongo. He lived on a compound and was caring for about 20 children not his own.

Sunday we woke for church and then rode bicycles there. Again a lot farther than I had thought, but only about a 20 minute ride. The church was small, but beautiful (didn't bring my camera for any pics though). I love the people of Uganda. They are pretty much the same throughout the country. Then we rode back as I gave one of the kids a ride on the back...uphill most of the way! Let's just say I got my workout for the day.

Monday we left on a bus for Mbale. I don't think they've changed the shocks in the bus in a long time as we hit many bumps that caused us to leave our seats. One made me knock my head on the overhead above. The bus dropped us on the junction for Sipi Falls and after waiting about an hour, we finally got into a taxi...made for 8 but with 14 packed into it. Not the most comfortable ride I've taken in Uganda. We arrived at Sipi and began hiking when we encountered our first obstacle. A man claiming that we needed to pay an entrance fee. There were no signs talking of this and he didn't seem legit, but we paid him and were on our way. Hiking was beautiful, but it had rained recently so mud was a challenge as we climbed down to the bottom of the lower falls. Apparently last time my friends were there, they crossed the river to the other side, but Sarah was a little worried that she might fall in because of the increase in the amount of water and lack of places to walk across safely. So we got pummeled by the spray of the waterfall and backtracked up to go around a different way. We were constantly followed by people who wanted money from us. Probably the one thing that I dislike the most about Uganda...the idea that white people are rich and therefore they should beg us for money. At one point, we asked some kids to leave us alone and they picked up stones to throw at us.

After relaxing at a lodge by the upper falls, we finally made our way to where we were staying for the night. A campsite near a different waterfall down the road. Again we took bodas for this long journey, but arrived to a beautifully landscaped campsite with our tents ready for us with mattresses and everything we needed. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner, a campfire and the sounds of the waterfall and nature. In the morning, we had an incredible breakfast with a view of the falls.

It was a great few days to relax with friends, but now it's time to work. Kids are back and the last term of the year has begun.

For more pics go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122035&id=697366716&l=a2a69ccca6