Day Four-Crossing Lake Mutanda
So my last blog left off when we were still in Nkuringo, with half of our trek still to be completed. As much as I did not want to leave the Nkuringo campsite, and all of the beauty that surrounded it, it was time to move on. And I really was looking forward to the remainder of the trek.
We set out nice and early because we had a lot of kilometers to cover. The first leg of the day took us through the countryside, which consisted of hills upon hills of farmland. Whereas crops in the U.S. are grown in the flatlands, farmers here just plant their crops on the sides of hills or mountains. The road we traveled upon wound in and out of mountains that were covered in cornstalks, bean sprouts, heads of cabbage, and many other crops. Since we were there during the rainy season, everything was incredibly green and many of the crops were ready to be harvested. The walk to the lake took us through 19km of countryside and back down to sea level. It was my favorite part of our journey and surprisingly, I found it to be more beautiful than any other hike we went on over the course of our hike.
After our long walk, we finally reached the lake and the canoe in which we would be traveling across it. It was a dugout canoe whose holes had been patched up with aluminum from old soda cans, and while I wasn't entirely convinced that it would deliver us safely to the other side, a three hour trip away, I climbed in, figuring that I could swim ashore if necessary. Well, the canoe did float, although Evarest spent half the time scooping water out of the hull as we glided across the lake. Adam opted to paddle, along with Evarest and the canoe guide...I just chilled in the front and let my hands dangle over the sides of the canoe, enjoying the feel of the cold water slipping through my fingers.
The ride was hot, but uneventful. After a long three hours we reached the other side and completed the final four km that took us to our final destination of Kisoro. I was tired from the long day of walking and we had a very early start the next morning for our volcano climb, so it was an early night for us at the hotel.
Day Five-The volcano
There is a string of seven volcanoes along the borders of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda that is called the Virunga Chain. We left for Mgahinga National Park early the next morning to climb Sabinyo, which everyone had said was the most difficult to climb due to its three separate peaks. We were excited for the challenge! And what a challenge it was! I consider myself to be a reasonably fit person, and I was dying. For some reason switchbacks had been eliminated in favor of a straight ascent up the mountain, which meant we were basically climbing stairs for four hours straight.
It was a beautiful climb which took us through three different types of vegetation. The bamboo forest at the beginning was beautiful, as we were shrouded amongst huge stalks of bamboo and a gurgling brook wound itself alongside our path. We finally reached the first peak, and after a short break for lunch, continued our climb, determined to reach the third peak. Peaks one and two were somewhat uneventful, we were just glad to have made it that far. We ditched our walking sticks for the last leg of the climb up to the third peak because we had to climb up makeshift ladders that had been fastened in the side of the volcano. They were basically vertical, and a slight rain had started to fall, so it was a bit daunting climbing these ladders for forty minutes, knowing that one slip up would send you tumbling straight down for a long time. But, the tough and dangerous aspect of the climb also made it the most exciting part of the trek, and the ladders were definitely the highlight of the day for me.
Finally, we reached the third peak, where the corners of Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC all meet. I lay down and spread myself in such a way as to be in three countries at once, pretty cool! It was really misty when we finally reached the top, so we waited for about an hour for the mist to hopefully clear so that we could get a good view of the valleys below. Unfortunately we had no such luck and since we were cold and wet we decided to just head back down.
We made it back down, soggy and tired, and determined to find a way to get back to Kampala without having to take a bus the next morning. Luckily for us, there was a couple staying at the hotel whom we had met the day before and was willing to split a private hire with us back to Kampala. So, not only was it a phenomenal trek, but I didn't have to risk my life again by getting back on one of the dreaded buses!!! Not only was it enjoyable to ride back with other travelers and get to hear some of their stories, but I also got to enjoy the beautiful scenery as we passed it by because my eyes weren't clamped shut, trying to ignore the speed at which we were traveling.
So, now life is back to normal in Ndejje. As much fun as it was to visit western Uganda, I missed the kids a lot and am happy to be back with them again. Now that school is out for the semester, kids are over at our house constantly, and we have a lot of fun playing with them or doing arts and crafts, or running around with our landlord's puppy. A bit of a vacation was nice, but there is much to be appreciated about normality as well.
The SWB girls' team from Ndejje, Uganda
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Trekking Through Western Uganda
Well, I made it to and from western Uganda all in one piece, which following the bus ride out there, I was not convinced would happen. The trek was incredible, we covered 51 km by land and I'm not sure how many by dugout canoe. Western Uganda is the most beautiful place I have ever been (even more beautiful than my home state of Washington, as hard as it is to believe!). As opposed to presenting my jumbled thoughts all over the place and out of order, I will summarize the experience day by day to provide some sense of order and continuity.
Day 1-4:30 am
Adam and I arrived at the bus park in Kampala 30 minutes prior to our scheduled departure that we had been assured would be leaving at, "exactly 5 am." So, at promptly 5:31 the bus finally rolled out of the bus park and we were headed to Kihihi! About two hours in, I was dozing with my headphones in when I was jolted awake by our bus hitting something and then swerving back and forth across the road. Adam and I had no idea what had just happened and as the bus continued to speed down the road, we asked the other passengers what was going on. One of them replied, "Oh, we just hit a car." The bus was still speeding down the road and everyone on it was completely unperturbed that we had just hit another car going in the opposite direction!! Needless to say, Adam and I were a bit shaken up. Thirty minutes later we pulled over in front of a police station and everyone got off the bus. The entire front of the bus had been smashed in and the driver's side window had completely shattered. As we waited for four hours in a small village in the middle of nowhere for another bus to come from Kampala, we learned that everyone in the car we had hit had been killed. I wanted to throw up.
The other bus finally arrived and with great trepidation, we climbed back on. We figured that since a fatal accident had already occurred that day, this second bus driver would be a bit more cautious than the first had been. Wrong. So, so wrong. As we covered the hilly, mountainous terrain of western Uganda, the bus careened around corners and up and down hills at breakneck speed, trying to gain as much speed going down the hills as possible. I spent the next six hours praying that we would arrive in one piece in Kihihi, and trying to come to peace with the fact that this could be my last day on earth. Adam spent that time picking out the most likely spots of where the bus would land should we indeed crash, and determining whether or not the landing would indeed be fatal. I just assumed that any crash would lead to death. Oh, and when we asked the driver to please slow down, he and all of the passengers in front just laughed at the request. There is very little value placed on life here.
Finally, we turned off the tarmac roads and onto the dirt roads, which forced the bus driver to proceed at a more sane pace. There were a handful of high school kids on the bus who had enjoyed seeing Adam's and my discomfort for the entire ride, and they started talking about this dangerous bridge that was coming up soon. I was freaking out of course and contemplating getting off the bus and walking across. As we neared the bridge, we started our descent into this huge gorge that was surrounded on all sides by steep hills. The bus was soon skirting along the edge of the cliff where the road had been carved out of the hills. I was terrified, and at first just closed my eyes in order to wait it out. But, I forced myself to open them eventually because as scary as it was, it was also the most beautiful part of our journey thus far. We eventually approached this "scary" bridge. It was made out of steel, only a few feet above the river below it, and was the sturdiest piece of infrastructure we had encountered all day. I breathed a sigh of relief and wondered why the kids had felt they should warn me about the bridge, yet failed to mention the cliffs we had been traversing.
Fourteen hours after we had started our adventure (the guidebook was sooooo off in stating that the trip only took about 5-6 hours) we reached Kihihi, just as dusk was setting in. Since Buhoma was only about 35 km away, we hired a boda to take us there, figuring it would be nice to ride in the open air after the long bus ride. It was very nice for the first thirty minutes of the ride. Twilight was descending over the landscape, with a full moon lighting our path. Mist had settled into the folds of the mountains that surrounded us and it was all rather picturesque and lovely as we drove on through the expansive Ugandan countryside. Well, an hour and a half later it had gotten quite cold, we were battling mud in spots where the rainy season had destroyed the road, and all we wanted was to reach the first campsite. We finally did, cold, hungry, exhausted, and emotionally drained from all of the events of the day.
Day 2-Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
The first hike of our trip took us through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home of the mountain gorillas. Although we didn't see any gorillas, we did see three different types of monkeys, lots of birds and butterflies, and our guide even found a chameleon that we held (apparently chameleons are a sign of good luck!). Bwindi was beautiful, a lush forest that was so thick you could barely see what kind of weather was actually present outside of the canopy of trees. We hiked for 14 km, the way down was rather easy, but the climb up to Nkuringo during the latter part of the day was quite difficult and definitely had us sweating. The scenery was incredible though, and we had lucked out that it was cloudy and raining intermittently after we emerged from the forest.
Our guide was awesome! His name was Evarest, fittingly, although I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't spelled the same as the actual mountain. We also had a porter whose name was Adolf. He was a big Manchester United fan, so we hit it off immediately and he made sure to point out the chicharitos (little peas) when we reached the farmland later in the day, in honor of Javier Hernandez, aka Chicharito, on Man U.
Our day concluded when we reached the Nkuringo campsite, which was situated on the top of a mountain with a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounded hills and mountains. You could look back over Bwindi forest and the Rwenzori Mountains on one side, the Virunga chain of seven volcanoes on another, and then down into the Congo Basin on the third side. It was incredible! One of the volcanoes was still active too, so at night you could see the glow of the spitting lava off in the distance against the backdrop of the night sky.
Day 3-Rest Day, Nkuringo
On the third day we rested and explored the small town of Nkuringo which was nestled between two peaks on a mountain. The weather was crisp and cool and the townspeople were friendly and I wished that this was where I was living for the next ten months of my life, I had fallen in love with Nkuringo! Adam wasn't feeling too hot, so he rested while I went with Evarest and Adolf to the other peak called the "Top of the World View." There is a makeshift soccer pitch cresting the top of it, and the local guys play pickup there every evening. I jumped in and played, and the soccer was even more chaotic there than it is in Ndejje. Half the time was spent chasing the ball down the sides of the mountain when it would get booted out of bounds. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and the guys were pretty inclusive after I had proved I could actually play during the first ten minutes or so. I ended up scoring a goal, a nice left-footed shot into the upper-90 of the far post and my teammates went crazy! They were whooping and hollering and running over to hug and high-five me. I wasn't sure if they were more impressed because I was a mzungu, or because I was a girl...probably a combination of both factors. Evarest was hilarious during the pickup game. He is the only African I have met who doesn't like to play football, and so he insisted on commandeering my camera and running around the pitch, dodging the ball and trying to snap shots of me playing soccer. He was the typical American soccer mom, it was quite entertaining.
After the match, we went back to the campsite and had dinner. There were a lot of travelers staying that night which made for lively dinner conversation. Following a delicious meal, two other American, two Germans, an Italian, a Brazilian, a Swiss, and Adam and I huddled around a campfire while one of the Americans played a guitar and sang and we all chatted intermittently between the songs. The moon was nearly full and cast light on the beauty of our surroundings, and as I sat there, listening the the guitar and in the presence of new found friends, I wondered, does life really get much better than this?
As much as I wanted that night to last forever, I eventually had to drag myself away from the fire and music and head to bed, we starting the second leg of our trek early the next morning and I knew that I would need my energy for what lay ahead.
...Well, I have used up almost all of my internet time, so I will have to describe the second half of the trek another time, hopefully at the beginning of next week. Hope everyone at home enjoys a great Thanksgiving!!
Day 1-4:30 am
Adam and I arrived at the bus park in Kampala 30 minutes prior to our scheduled departure that we had been assured would be leaving at, "exactly 5 am." So, at promptly 5:31 the bus finally rolled out of the bus park and we were headed to Kihihi! About two hours in, I was dozing with my headphones in when I was jolted awake by our bus hitting something and then swerving back and forth across the road. Adam and I had no idea what had just happened and as the bus continued to speed down the road, we asked the other passengers what was going on. One of them replied, "Oh, we just hit a car." The bus was still speeding down the road and everyone on it was completely unperturbed that we had just hit another car going in the opposite direction!! Needless to say, Adam and I were a bit shaken up. Thirty minutes later we pulled over in front of a police station and everyone got off the bus. The entire front of the bus had been smashed in and the driver's side window had completely shattered. As we waited for four hours in a small village in the middle of nowhere for another bus to come from Kampala, we learned that everyone in the car we had hit had been killed. I wanted to throw up.
The other bus finally arrived and with great trepidation, we climbed back on. We figured that since a fatal accident had already occurred that day, this second bus driver would be a bit more cautious than the first had been. Wrong. So, so wrong. As we covered the hilly, mountainous terrain of western Uganda, the bus careened around corners and up and down hills at breakneck speed, trying to gain as much speed going down the hills as possible. I spent the next six hours praying that we would arrive in one piece in Kihihi, and trying to come to peace with the fact that this could be my last day on earth. Adam spent that time picking out the most likely spots of where the bus would land should we indeed crash, and determining whether or not the landing would indeed be fatal. I just assumed that any crash would lead to death. Oh, and when we asked the driver to please slow down, he and all of the passengers in front just laughed at the request. There is very little value placed on life here.
Finally, we turned off the tarmac roads and onto the dirt roads, which forced the bus driver to proceed at a more sane pace. There were a handful of high school kids on the bus who had enjoyed seeing Adam's and my discomfort for the entire ride, and they started talking about this dangerous bridge that was coming up soon. I was freaking out of course and contemplating getting off the bus and walking across. As we neared the bridge, we started our descent into this huge gorge that was surrounded on all sides by steep hills. The bus was soon skirting along the edge of the cliff where the road had been carved out of the hills. I was terrified, and at first just closed my eyes in order to wait it out. But, I forced myself to open them eventually because as scary as it was, it was also the most beautiful part of our journey thus far. We eventually approached this "scary" bridge. It was made out of steel, only a few feet above the river below it, and was the sturdiest piece of infrastructure we had encountered all day. I breathed a sigh of relief and wondered why the kids had felt they should warn me about the bridge, yet failed to mention the cliffs we had been traversing.
Fourteen hours after we had started our adventure (the guidebook was sooooo off in stating that the trip only took about 5-6 hours) we reached Kihihi, just as dusk was setting in. Since Buhoma was only about 35 km away, we hired a boda to take us there, figuring it would be nice to ride in the open air after the long bus ride. It was very nice for the first thirty minutes of the ride. Twilight was descending over the landscape, with a full moon lighting our path. Mist had settled into the folds of the mountains that surrounded us and it was all rather picturesque and lovely as we drove on through the expansive Ugandan countryside. Well, an hour and a half later it had gotten quite cold, we were battling mud in spots where the rainy season had destroyed the road, and all we wanted was to reach the first campsite. We finally did, cold, hungry, exhausted, and emotionally drained from all of the events of the day.
Day 2-Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
The first hike of our trip took us through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home of the mountain gorillas. Although we didn't see any gorillas, we did see three different types of monkeys, lots of birds and butterflies, and our guide even found a chameleon that we held (apparently chameleons are a sign of good luck!). Bwindi was beautiful, a lush forest that was so thick you could barely see what kind of weather was actually present outside of the canopy of trees. We hiked for 14 km, the way down was rather easy, but the climb up to Nkuringo during the latter part of the day was quite difficult and definitely had us sweating. The scenery was incredible though, and we had lucked out that it was cloudy and raining intermittently after we emerged from the forest.
Our guide was awesome! His name was Evarest, fittingly, although I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't spelled the same as the actual mountain. We also had a porter whose name was Adolf. He was a big Manchester United fan, so we hit it off immediately and he made sure to point out the chicharitos (little peas) when we reached the farmland later in the day, in honor of Javier Hernandez, aka Chicharito, on Man U.
Our day concluded when we reached the Nkuringo campsite, which was situated on the top of a mountain with a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounded hills and mountains. You could look back over Bwindi forest and the Rwenzori Mountains on one side, the Virunga chain of seven volcanoes on another, and then down into the Congo Basin on the third side. It was incredible! One of the volcanoes was still active too, so at night you could see the glow of the spitting lava off in the distance against the backdrop of the night sky.
Day 3-Rest Day, Nkuringo
On the third day we rested and explored the small town of Nkuringo which was nestled between two peaks on a mountain. The weather was crisp and cool and the townspeople were friendly and I wished that this was where I was living for the next ten months of my life, I had fallen in love with Nkuringo! Adam wasn't feeling too hot, so he rested while I went with Evarest and Adolf to the other peak called the "Top of the World View." There is a makeshift soccer pitch cresting the top of it, and the local guys play pickup there every evening. I jumped in and played, and the soccer was even more chaotic there than it is in Ndejje. Half the time was spent chasing the ball down the sides of the mountain when it would get booted out of bounds. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and the guys were pretty inclusive after I had proved I could actually play during the first ten minutes or so. I ended up scoring a goal, a nice left-footed shot into the upper-90 of the far post and my teammates went crazy! They were whooping and hollering and running over to hug and high-five me. I wasn't sure if they were more impressed because I was a mzungu, or because I was a girl...probably a combination of both factors. Evarest was hilarious during the pickup game. He is the only African I have met who doesn't like to play football, and so he insisted on commandeering my camera and running around the pitch, dodging the ball and trying to snap shots of me playing soccer. He was the typical American soccer mom, it was quite entertaining.
After the match, we went back to the campsite and had dinner. There were a lot of travelers staying that night which made for lively dinner conversation. Following a delicious meal, two other American, two Germans, an Italian, a Brazilian, a Swiss, and Adam and I huddled around a campfire while one of the Americans played a guitar and sang and we all chatted intermittently between the songs. The moon was nearly full and cast light on the beauty of our surroundings, and as I sat there, listening the the guitar and in the presence of new found friends, I wondered, does life really get much better than this?
As much as I wanted that night to last forever, I eventually had to drag myself away from the fire and music and head to bed, we starting the second leg of our trek early the next morning and I knew that I would need my energy for what lay ahead.
...Well, I have used up almost all of my internet time, so I will have to describe the second half of the trek another time, hopefully at the beginning of next week. Hope everyone at home enjoys a great Thanksgiving!!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals
It's been a while since my last post, and we've been making strides here. Yesterday, Heather and I visited the program in Nsambya to run a workshop on goal-setting. We were told that we would be starting the workshop promptly at one, following the conclusion of Rafael's church service that morning since the church building was the venue we would be using for our workshop. We arrived in Nsambya at ten, figuring we would just attend the church service with Rafael prior to our workshop. Well, five hours and two church services later, we finally got up to present our information on goal-setting. I have had enough African church to last me for about six months. There is only so much singing and dancing and praying and preaching (all in a language I can't understand) one can take in a day (or month). So, that was a bit rough to sit through, but fortunately the workshop was a success...
We had decided to use the acronym "S.M.A.R.T" to convey an appropriate way to set and evaluate goals. S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Achievable/Attainable, R-Realistic, and T-Timely. Whereas we had been expecting between about 15-20 people to attend, we ending up presenting to 87 people ranging from 18-30 years of age. Although a bit daunting at first, we proceeded slowly, trying to explain the acronym and it's meaning in English, which Rafael then translated into Swahili. The community in Nsambya is composed largely of Congolese refugees, so they speak a mix of French-Swahili. The most satisfying part of the workshop was when we asked for volunteers from the audience to come up and share goals they either had for the future, or had already met, and to evaluate them using the S.M.A.R.T. framework. There were about four people who came up to share, and they did a great job at sharing their goals and walking everyone through the S.M.A.R.T. steps. It was so encouraging hearing these refugees talk about their goals, many of which had to do with education. And, I think that hearing from their peers within the context of the information which we had presented was much more powerful than us simply talking at them the whole time. A success all in all!
Since both Arsenal and Chelsea had games Sunday night, we decided to head to Kagalagala with Rafael and Jasiri to find a spot to watch the games. We went to a Congolese restaurant where I had my first taste of Congolese food, so delicious! In my opinion, way better than Ugandan food, much more flavor. We also got into a heated argument with the restaurant staff after they overcharged Rafael and Jasiri without serving them everything they had ordered. It ended up going nowhere, but it was pretty funny watching the argument unfold, especially skinny Rafael who couldn't stop smiling and laughing if his life depended on it, getting in the face of the waiter. We ended up leaving to watch the game elsewhere when the power shut down anyways.
So, we relaxed at this really great, very chill bar on couches to watch the Chelsea match. I was happy to see that Fernando Torres is finally starting to resemble his old form, as Liverpool pulled off the surprise win against Chelsea, 2-0. It was a great weekend of results for Manchester United, as they moved into second place in the standings with losses from both Chelsea and Liverpool. Unfortunately, they are faced with a tough mid-week contest against Man City on Wednesday. I am hoping for the best! All in all, a great day spent with friends, capped off by Premier League games and listening to a great artist from Cote d'Ivoire playing on speakers in the background. Doesn't get much better than that in Uganda!
We had decided to use the acronym "S.M.A.R.T" to convey an appropriate way to set and evaluate goals. S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Achievable/Attainable, R-Realistic, and T-Timely. Whereas we had been expecting between about 15-20 people to attend, we ending up presenting to 87 people ranging from 18-30 years of age. Although a bit daunting at first, we proceeded slowly, trying to explain the acronym and it's meaning in English, which Rafael then translated into Swahili. The community in Nsambya is composed largely of Congolese refugees, so they speak a mix of French-Swahili. The most satisfying part of the workshop was when we asked for volunteers from the audience to come up and share goals they either had for the future, or had already met, and to evaluate them using the S.M.A.R.T. framework. There were about four people who came up to share, and they did a great job at sharing their goals and walking everyone through the S.M.A.R.T. steps. It was so encouraging hearing these refugees talk about their goals, many of which had to do with education. And, I think that hearing from their peers within the context of the information which we had presented was much more powerful than us simply talking at them the whole time. A success all in all!
Since both Arsenal and Chelsea had games Sunday night, we decided to head to Kagalagala with Rafael and Jasiri to find a spot to watch the games. We went to a Congolese restaurant where I had my first taste of Congolese food, so delicious! In my opinion, way better than Ugandan food, much more flavor. We also got into a heated argument with the restaurant staff after they overcharged Rafael and Jasiri without serving them everything they had ordered. It ended up going nowhere, but it was pretty funny watching the argument unfold, especially skinny Rafael who couldn't stop smiling and laughing if his life depended on it, getting in the face of the waiter. We ended up leaving to watch the game elsewhere when the power shut down anyways.
So, we relaxed at this really great, very chill bar on couches to watch the Chelsea match. I was happy to see that Fernando Torres is finally starting to resemble his old form, as Liverpool pulled off the surprise win against Chelsea, 2-0. It was a great weekend of results for Manchester United, as they moved into second place in the standings with losses from both Chelsea and Liverpool. Unfortunately, they are faced with a tough mid-week contest against Man City on Wednesday. I am hoping for the best! All in all, a great day spent with friends, capped off by Premier League games and listening to a great artist from Cote d'Ivoire playing on speakers in the background. Doesn't get much better than that in Uganda!
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