Uganda

Two days after arriving back in Africa, I traveled to Uganda for AIM's Central Region Conference. That first week of travel was spent on the shores of Lake Victoria near the mouth of the Nile, in the relatively modern town of, Jinja.

Fisherman on Lake Victoria at the, "Source of the Nile"

Weaver Birds

Lake Victoria Egret

A crazy Ugandan fruit tree - the fruit emerges from the tree trunk - not my favorite

I really enjoyed my time at the conference. I was greatly encouraged by stories from fellow missionaries, especially those who have been on the field for more than thirty years!!! What an inspiration. The week was also filled with plenty of opportunities to catch up with old friends and many chances to make some new, like Johnathan and Lauren Ramirez, the couple whom we will be working with in Nagishot.

Me, Zilla, Lindsay, Elly, Tianne, Lauren and Johnathan

We also had some time to play tourist. The day after the conference ended, a few of us took the plunge and rafted the NILE. I love to raft and couldn't pass up the opportunity to raft a river as famous (or, is it infamous?) as the Nile. Many of my friends had rafted the river, and most, if not all, brought home, "I Rafted the Nile" t-shirts and heroing stories of near death experiences.

I have rafted a bit in the States and had one close call kayaking the Snake. I figured that most mzungos probably wouldn't raft the Nile if it wasn't "safe" or at least, not more than once! With that in mind, I did what I could, convincing Elly, Tianne, Zilla and Lindsay to come along.

The day turned out to be one of my favorites. I'd heard that the river was comprised entirely of class 5 and 6 rapids. Which is, sadly, not true. However, there were four class 5 rapids, one class 6 and a slew of class 4. A 8/9 foot waterfall is also part of the fun however, our boat sadly missed this bit (real tears of disappointment came to my eyes when we did).

They made us portage the second to last rapid, the class 6. This one was, in a word, BIG! The whole day had been pretty overcast, but it did not start to pour until we stepped out of the boat to walk around the ominous Bid Daddy of a rapid. The class 6 drowning monster was only surpassed by the partnership between the deafening thunder that was so close it seemed to rattle the muddy ground we walked upon and the surprisingly bright set of lightening bolts hitting the ground on the opposite side of the river.

The irony of the situation was not lost on Zilla or me. We could only imagine the headline: "Sudanese missionaries struck by lightening while portaging a class 6 Nile rapid."

With the whitewater swirling around our boat and thunder crackling in our ears, Tianne abruptly changed her mind about rafting the Nile. In a seated fetal position, in her best third grade girlie voice she repeated one time after the next, "I don't want to do this anymore." However, as the boat was pushed away from the rocky shore and into the final class 5 rapid, she neither cried or tried to escape. She was a real trooper and I dare say she had almost as much fun as I did.

Ready to raft the Nile: Me, Zilla, Elly, Tianne and Lindsay

The life.
Zilla and I relaxing on the shores of the Nile.

I also had the chance to visit Susan Tabia, the Sudanese woman I spent the summer of 2006 with. She has almost single-handily started and run three orphanages for Sudanese orphans in both Uganda and Sudan. What a special lady!

It had been almost four years since I had been in Kampala, surely one of the craziest cities I have ever been to. However, I was pretty confident that I could find my way back to Susan's house. Jumping on two boda-boda's (motorcycle taxis) Elly, Tianne and I headed across town. Going by what I felt was "right" we eventually found the house. Unfortunately, Susan had moved the week before.

My favorite form of African travel, the boda-boda.

The rest of the afternoon was classically African. While I was renegotiating the boda price, Susan was unknowingly called and summoned by her former neighbors. About an hour and a half later, a car arrived taking us way out of town to Susan's new house.

What fun to see her and all of the children again after all of these years. I remembered many little faces and was quite delighted when they remembered mine. I learned that Duku, the wee one who stole my heart that first summer in Sudan, is now a healthy, vibrant first class student.

As I had not been able to contact Susan through email about arrangements and didn't know the long distance that separated her new house from her old, we were unprepared to spend the night (we had already paid for a room in town). So, after dark we jumped back in the car and set off for the city. After almost thirty minutes of travel, while we were stopped in traffic, our car was lightly rear-ended. Wanting to check the damages, the driver and eventually Susan and another young woman with us (all Sudanese), got out of the car. It didn't take long for an angry crowd of Ugandan men to surround the right and backsides of our car. With Sudanese plates and insignias on the vehicle, our companions identities were easily revealed. Under the crowds protection, the car which had caused the accident, quickly sped away. Without a working police force or reliable insurance company, nothing could be done about the damages. To the mocking shouts of our Ugandan accusers, "Sudanese are not welcome here!", we sped away.

We traveled to and from Uganda on the Akamba bus, a gem of an African machine. Probably as nice, if not nicer, than an American Greyhound. Sure the trip was long (14+ hours of travel) and hot (sitting over the engine is never a good idea), but also really a great way to see the countryside. As our bus steadily climbed, I rested in a perpetual state of near to restful sleep. Then after maybe 10 hours of sunburned landscape, our eyes were blessed by the sight of the lovely Kericho tea plantations. The temperatures receded as the heat was replaced by a cool springlike breeze.
Oh, what a true sight to behold! Simple breath-taking.

Tea fields in Kericho, Kenya
BEAUT-I-FUl!!!