Here are a couple news articles for your enjoyment:
Make the Western women wear Islamic attire....
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=299782&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16
Get water from my home state of Washington (real sustainable...ship it by BOAT (AKA via water) from halfway around the world)...
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_aberdeen_water.html
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Less than two weeks!
This time in two weeks I will be HOME!
I am sooo excited, but now I am starting to get a little sad (and of course a bit freaked out because I will be jobless). I will absolutely miss several people. And I think it is always a little sad to close one chapter.
So now I am starting to pack (for some reason I have put all my stuff in my bedroom, the smallest room in my apartment...). I still need to sell the stupid Jeep (bane of my existence). And I am going to places I like one last time. And there are other formalities I gotta take care of, but I will not elaborate because they are boring.
So there you go.
Hi Maha. :)
I am sooo excited, but now I am starting to get a little sad (and of course a bit freaked out because I will be jobless). I will absolutely miss several people. And I think it is always a little sad to close one chapter.
So now I am starting to pack (for some reason I have put all my stuff in my bedroom, the smallest room in my apartment...). I still need to sell the stupid Jeep (bane of my existence). And I am going to places I like one last time. And there are other formalities I gotta take care of, but I will not elaborate because they are boring.
So there you go.
Hi Maha. :)
A few more pictures from the trip
Here are some additional pictures that are not on the photo site. Most were taken by others and then posted to Facebook. A couple others belong to me, but I did not post them with the others because they would have spoiled a Father's Day surprise for my pops.
The pushing the van up a hill next to a crater in Uganda moment caught on film. Thanks, Tanya (since she had a manky foot, she was relegated to sitting in the other van (that we also had to push up the hill), but she was put to work holding a wine bottle and three glasses of wine)!
On the channel cruise at QE2. Ros, Tanya and myself taking life way too seriously as usual...
I have no idea what I was doing in this photo. Probably being pestered by some bug.
Our dirty, dirty feet after the trek...but it was so worth it!
And these next two photos are from my Father's Day project for my dad. Perhaps I am biased, but it might be the best Father's Day gift ever. Or at least one of the most original.
This was the main photo I used to make a collage on Shutterfly (mad props) for him. Cost to see gorillas: $500, amount of time spent trekking through the dense, muddy and hilly jungle to see them: about 4 hours, amount of time spent making sign: maybe 3 minutes during a bumpy pre-dawn car ride, cost to make collage on Shutterfly: a little over $7, his reaction: priceless (happiness and love all around).
Explaining what I was doing to the others in the group. Also, I would like to add that these photos were taken by a dude in the Rwandan military with a massive gun.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Just a little over 3 weeks to go...
...and then I am out of here!
I am not counting down at all. :)
But my anxiety level is increasing almost daily since this time in a month I will have no idea where I will be or what I will being doing. In other words, homeless and jobless. Lovely. And I do not like it. I crave normalcy and a routine after feeling like I did not really have it this past year.
Anyway, life right now is rather uneventful. I work. And there is not much going on on that front. Then I work out with my friend, Gary. And then I go to bed. That is it. And I am starting to pack and such a little too (I hate packing and thus I just do like five minutes at a time before I feel like I want to stop).
And I am trying to sell the stupid and dumpy Jeep. I hate that thang so much and I cannot wait to be rid of it! I plan to go as long as possible without owning a car when I return to the States. Granted I think that will be difficult since a car is the main mode of transporting people and goods around the vast majority of the United States, but I am going to try my damn hardest. I hate car ownership. It equates to a leash and not freedom in my eyes. Plus, I do not like responsibility and thus wherever I can cut corners regarding being a responsible adult, I do.
I am not counting down at all. :)
But my anxiety level is increasing almost daily since this time in a month I will have no idea where I will be or what I will being doing. In other words, homeless and jobless. Lovely. And I do not like it. I crave normalcy and a routine after feeling like I did not really have it this past year.
Anyway, life right now is rather uneventful. I work. And there is not much going on on that front. Then I work out with my friend, Gary. And then I go to bed. That is it. And I am starting to pack and such a little too (I hate packing and thus I just do like five minutes at a time before I feel like I want to stop).
And I am trying to sell the stupid and dumpy Jeep. I hate that thang so much and I cannot wait to be rid of it! I plan to go as long as possible without owning a car when I return to the States. Granted I think that will be difficult since a car is the main mode of transporting people and goods around the vast majority of the United States, but I am going to try my damn hardest. I hate car ownership. It equates to a leash and not freedom in my eyes. Plus, I do not like responsibility and thus wherever I can cut corners regarding being a responsible adult, I do.
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Epic Trip Pictures...And My Bungee Video!
Here is the link to ALL of pictures:
http://adventuresofjade.shutterfly.com/
They tell the real story!
And video of my bungee jump at the source of the Nile (for some reason the kid who used my camera to video my jump did something to mute it...):
But still. Evidence that I tested death!
http://adventuresofjade.shutterfly.com/
They tell the real story!
And video of my bungee jump at the source of the Nile (for some reason the kid who used my camera to video my jump did something to mute it...):
But still. Evidence that I tested death!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The dish on Egypt and Jordan
5/31 The journey to Egypt and Jordan started around midnight in Uganda. I had to take a midnight taxi to the airport since my flight left at the lovely time of 4:30 a.m. It was honestly a bit unsettling taking a taxi in the middle of the night (the ride takes about two hours) in a foreign and frankly not so stable country, especially when you factor in the numerous (I stopped counting at around eight) checkpoints we had to go through. And then when I got to the airport I learned my flight was delayed over two hours... I was a bit peeved because I was so tired...and soon realized I was going to miss my connecting flight to Luxor from Cairo. Errr. So I was not off to a good start, but my mood was still good (I had just experienced an amazing adventure and I am truly thankful that I get to do the things I do...even if that means being stuck at random airports.). But I quickly realized I was going to have a rough week when I finally arrived in Luxor. Being a single female traveler in these parts is just not easy. You are constantly hassled or had...and you know it...and there is nothing you can do about it. I know I am generalizing, but nearly all of the men I encountered here today have been horrible to me. So after a very long day of traveling and a fear of being harassed, I secluded myself in my hotel.
6/1 Day to explore Luxor. Went on a tour of the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, etc. and frankly I was underwhelmed. Maybe coming here directly from East Africa was not a good move... But I must admit the River Nile is a damn cool river. The guys are still jerkfaces. LEAVE ME ALONE! NO, I DO NOT WANT AN EGYPTIAN HUSBAND! Even dudes in a funeral procession harrassed me. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.
6/2 I headed for Cairo today. It is not much better than Luxor. Out of the likely hundreds of people I have interacted with these past couple days, mostly men since frankly this is the Middle East, the vast majority have honestly been scum. I have never been to place that I painfully do not like as much as Egypt. Egypt is lucky it has the pyramids and such because there really is no other reason to come here... After I got to Cairo, I went to the Egyptian History Museum. It has a lot of cool stuff, but at this point I am over it. And no going out once it is dark out of fear of being persistently bothered.
6/3 Today was my explore Cairo day. There was security everywhere because Obama is coming to town tomorrow. I went to the pyramids (best part of Egypt so far) and had a guy (he actually was extremely nice, but I also created an elaborate story that I recently married a spy-like guy who would severely hurt another man if anything happened to me and thus I think he realized he needed to stay in line) drive me around Cairo to see the sights from the safety of a car. Cairo is a loud city. LOTS of horns. And I think I am sort of getting used to being had because there is nothing I can do about it. And my driver guy recommended I eat koshary. So I did and it was rather delicious. But of course I got it to go and then ate it in my hotel room.
6/4 Off to Jordan...and out of Egypt! Yalla! The drive to the airport was interesting due to the immense amount of security for Obama's arrival. And it was quite cool to see United States of America planes at the airport. Air Force One was parked right next to the building I was in (but you could not see it very well since it was sort of hidden away). I am staying in Madaba for my first night in Jordan. The hotel I am staying at is so pleasant and the owners are extremely helpful. They hooked me up with transportation for my entire trip. In the afternoon after I arrived I went to Mt. Nebo (where Moses saw the promised land) and the Dead Sea (you float crazy well and it is so good for your skin and body...and it is the lowest place in the world). But what is with all the pictures of King Abdullah and the Jordanian flags all over the place AND all the old Mercedes cars? Quite amusing.
6/5 My driver buddy drove me to Petra today with a couple cool stops along the way to check out some great views, see true Bedouin life and play in the castle at Karak (one of the coolest I have ever been to and I had the whole place basically to myself). We also lunched at a restaurant across the street from a mosque and thus I finally was able to observe a Friday service (something I have never been able to do in Doha due to all the barriers, fences, etc.). Today was my first good day since I left Africa. Very little hassling...except sort of for the hotel reception kid in Petra ("We have a lot in common. I go to university, you work at a university. Do you want to smoke shisha later?").
6/6 My last day of my big trip... I am rather sad, but somewhat relieved too since my time this past week, especially in Egypt, has been stressful. But Petra was amazing! It is an ancient city built into rocks and is just beautiful. I walked so much (well over six hours in the hot sun) and thus kind of zoned out on the drive back to Madaba (but my driver friend at this point knew I really liked ice cream and thus we stopped a couple times for me to get some).
6/7 Back to Doha I go! I flew Etihad Airlines via Abu Dhabi. Nice airline and nice airport (but it sort of smelled like nail polish remover). Looking forward to a great shower, a big comfy bed and a washer and dryer. But what a great few weeks! Really. I will never ever forget this trip! Now it is back to reality...
6/1 Day to explore Luxor. Went on a tour of the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, etc. and frankly I was underwhelmed. Maybe coming here directly from East Africa was not a good move... But I must admit the River Nile is a damn cool river. The guys are still jerkfaces. LEAVE ME ALONE! NO, I DO NOT WANT AN EGYPTIAN HUSBAND! Even dudes in a funeral procession harrassed me. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.
6/2 I headed for Cairo today. It is not much better than Luxor. Out of the likely hundreds of people I have interacted with these past couple days, mostly men since frankly this is the Middle East, the vast majority have honestly been scum. I have never been to place that I painfully do not like as much as Egypt. Egypt is lucky it has the pyramids and such because there really is no other reason to come here... After I got to Cairo, I went to the Egyptian History Museum. It has a lot of cool stuff, but at this point I am over it. And no going out once it is dark out of fear of being persistently bothered.
6/3 Today was my explore Cairo day. There was security everywhere because Obama is coming to town tomorrow. I went to the pyramids (best part of Egypt so far) and had a guy (he actually was extremely nice, but I also created an elaborate story that I recently married a spy-like guy who would severely hurt another man if anything happened to me and thus I think he realized he needed to stay in line) drive me around Cairo to see the sights from the safety of a car. Cairo is a loud city. LOTS of horns. And I think I am sort of getting used to being had because there is nothing I can do about it. And my driver guy recommended I eat koshary. So I did and it was rather delicious. But of course I got it to go and then ate it in my hotel room.
6/4 Off to Jordan...and out of Egypt! Yalla! The drive to the airport was interesting due to the immense amount of security for Obama's arrival. And it was quite cool to see United States of America planes at the airport. Air Force One was parked right next to the building I was in (but you could not see it very well since it was sort of hidden away). I am staying in Madaba for my first night in Jordan. The hotel I am staying at is so pleasant and the owners are extremely helpful. They hooked me up with transportation for my entire trip. In the afternoon after I arrived I went to Mt. Nebo (where Moses saw the promised land) and the Dead Sea (you float crazy well and it is so good for your skin and body...and it is the lowest place in the world). But what is with all the pictures of King Abdullah and the Jordanian flags all over the place AND all the old Mercedes cars? Quite amusing.
6/5 My driver buddy drove me to Petra today with a couple cool stops along the way to check out some great views, see true Bedouin life and play in the castle at Karak (one of the coolest I have ever been to and I had the whole place basically to myself). We also lunched at a restaurant across the street from a mosque and thus I finally was able to observe a Friday service (something I have never been able to do in Doha due to all the barriers, fences, etc.). Today was my first good day since I left Africa. Very little hassling...except sort of for the hotel reception kid in Petra ("We have a lot in common. I go to university, you work at a university. Do you want to smoke shisha later?").
6/6 My last day of my big trip... I am rather sad, but somewhat relieved too since my time this past week, especially in Egypt, has been stressful. But Petra was amazing! It is an ancient city built into rocks and is just beautiful. I walked so much (well over six hours in the hot sun) and thus kind of zoned out on the drive back to Madaba (but my driver friend at this point knew I really liked ice cream and thus we stopped a couple times for me to get some).
6/7 Back to Doha I go! I flew Etihad Airlines via Abu Dhabi. Nice airline and nice airport (but it sort of smelled like nail polish remover). Looking forward to a great shower, a big comfy bed and a washer and dryer. But what a great few weeks! Really. I will never ever forget this trip! Now it is back to reality...
The dish on East Africa - Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda
5/15 Off to Nairobi! I gotta admit I was (I needed some reassurance during my ride to the airport) and still am a little freaked out. But I think the only way you really grow is by challenging yourself and thus here we go... A fella by the name of Smilely picked me up from the airport for the drive to Karen Camp. He is called Smilely because he laughs so much...and it is absolutely contagious. A perfect welcome! He also showed me around Nairobi a little - I gotta see Maasai people in the city with their cows and many slums (including kids living alone in shacks)... It was truly humbling, but I loved it. I am in Africa. When I got to Karen Camp I met nearly everyone who would be on my trip with me. There are about a dozen of us, mostly young professionals from Australia, NZ and the UK. I am the lone American and thus I gotta represent! We then went for dinner at Carnivore, a Nairobi institution where you eat all kinds of crazy meat!
5/16 A chill day around Karen, a suburb of Nairobi. Went to the grocery store. I like venturing to grocery stores in places I visit because you can learn quite a bit about a place by the grocery stores (the people who shop there, what they buy, the organization of the store...). And it is so lush here - beautiful flowers everywhere! But there is also a lot of security, particularly dudes with big guns. Not sure how I feel about that...
5/17 Drive day to Nakuru. I gotta see some amazing views of the Rift Valley, but also saw more poverty... Yet people are so friendly. They, especially kiddies, love waving and smiling at us. And it costs me nothing to wave and smile back. And there sure are a lot of churches in these parts. We ended our day at a campsite just outside of Nakuru called Kembo Camp. It is rather rural, next to a dairy farm, and so I am in my element. And I, a person who sorta of lacks kitchen skills, made the best stuffing ever for dinner tonight.
5/18 Game drive in Nakuru National Park. One of the best $90 ever spent for over 12 hours of driving around and seeing so many animals up close - rhinos, water buffalo, baboons, lions, lots and lots of birds including flamingos, zebras, giraffes...and more pretty flowers...and crazy weather that changed basically every ten minutes. Just a great day! I am totally blessed.
5/19 Drive day to Eldoret...and thus more beautiful countryside and happy people. And we did our first cross of the Equator today (I guess we are going to go back and forth a bit over the next couple weeks). And Kenyans love Obama...and thus they love me since I am from his country. :) I also believe these smaller cities and towns we travel through kind of look like they belong in the Wild West (see fences, unpaved roads and such in photos). We finished our day with a visit to Ken Knit, a clothing factory with hints of a sweatshop (saw clothing and blankets made from start to finish - I learned a lot), and then parked it at the beautiful Naiberi River Camp and proceeded to stuff our bellies with some wondrous Indian food. Favorite Brendon (he is our tour driver) quote of the day: "It is as simple as shitting in your bed and then kicking it out with your feet."
5/20 What? I actually have some bug bites. I never get bug bites! Anyway, today was another drive day. This time to Kampala, UGANDA! I cannot get enough of these drives. This part of the world is absolutely stunning. And here are a couple observations (these drives provide me with a lot of time to think): 1. You see a lot of aid organizations here, particularly U.S. Aid, UN, Red Cross and World Vision. They really are here... 2. The border crossing was a bit maddening, but very much a cool cultural experience and frankly not much more painful than crossing between the U.S. and Canada. 3. I might be wrong, but Uganda seems poorer than Kenya. Why do I think this? People seem dirtier, for a lack of a better word, here and wear more mangled clothes than in Kenya and there seems to be more children out of school (this totally saddens me and makes me think about why I am in my position...)... We also got pulled over by the police (they let us go) AND in a car accident (not bad) and subsequently caused a bit of traffic jam. Favorite Ros (fellow traveler) quote of the day (but she says it at least once a day): "Close your flaps!" Favorite Brendon quote of the day: "Shut the fuck (sorry...) up, PLEASE!" Home for the night was the Red Chilli.
5/21 Drive day to QE2 National Park. We left Kampala EARLY (but we are up most days around sunrise)...and as a result we gotta see an absolutely beautiful sunrise and watch everyone else wake up with it. Today was also Malaria Thursday for me. I take my malaria meds once a week at lunch and usually the night after I take the pill I have some pretty wicked dreams. So tonight will likely be full of gnarly dreams. Caz, the wife of Brendon and our tour leader (they make a great team), filled us in on Uganda's nutty history. The people of Uganda are wonderful yet they have had a lot of shitty shit (sorry...) happen to them, particularly at the hands of horrible leaders (like the stellar Idi Amin). You feel for them. The current leader is supposedly better (but really how much so since he has been president for over two decades and I guess corruption is still rather common). However, Uganda does have one of the lowest HIV/AIDS infection rates in Africa due to measures taken by the government and aid organizations to combat it. Also, Islam is surprisingly common here (I would understand its presence along the coast of East Africa due to its proximity to the Middle East, but here in more inland Africa?)...thanks to Amin and his ties to Gaddafi. Anyway, I SAW MY FIRST AFRICAN ELEPHANT TODAY. I love elephants. I want one. And there was the most amazing sunset (we finished our day at Hippo Hill...it is called Hippo Hill because hippos tend to graze there at night...ummm...yeah...we will see how tonight goes...). So I started the day with an amazing sunrise and finished it with an amazing sunset. I love Africa. LOVE. IT.
5/22 T.I.A. Day. T.I.A. stands for This Is Africa. T.I.A. basically means anything and everything will likely happen. I did not sleep much last night due to the hippos outside (I was definitely a bit scared to hear them literally right outside the tent...but the funny thing is that I initially thought I was dreaming all the noise due to my malaria meds) and a hippo inside (my tent buddy is a loud sleeper...). We then went on a chimp walk...but we did not see any chimps. But I still had loads of fun trekking through the forest. We then went on a bumpy ass and rather rushed drive. And at one point we had to push the vans up a steep hill. But I thought it was brilliant because I was in Uganda pushing a van up a hill. We then finished our day with a great channel cruise to see hippos and other animals (including a pooping elephant...the kid in me loved it) at sunset. It was an action packed and hectic day...and I loved every minute of it. QE2 is a park with so much potential (Idi Amin did quite a bit of damage to it during his time of terror and it is only starting to flourish again). Favorite Ros quote of the day: "On top from start to finish. No other place I would rather be." She always finds a way to take things (such as talking about sitting on top of the boat during the cruise) that are not sexual and make them slyly so... Favorite Brendon quote of the day: "Fuck (sorry..) the fucking (sorry...) fuckers (sorry...), aye?" And Kampala's 88.7 is a fantastic radio station. They even played my jam "Here Comes the Hotstepper."
5/23 Drive day to RWANDA...and MORE absolutely beautiful countryside (however, power lines and trees ruined a few amazing photo opportunities...). I never get tired of it! Plus, the people here seem to just love us...and I love them! And I loved playing the part of an obnoxious American a little bit today because I did not have to pay for a visa when I entered Rwanda when most others had to. Neener neener neener! I even did a little "U.S.A! U.S.A!" chanting. And tomorrow I GET TO SEE ME SOME GORILLAS!
5/24 I WENT GORILLA TREKKING TODAY! Never thought I would do such a thing. I gotta cool life, y'all! And gorilla trekking for us involved hours of some serious marching through dense jungle, mud almost up to your knees... It was exhausting, but spectacular! We spent nearly two hours (only supposed to be one, but they kept playing sort of a game of tag/hide and seek/follow the leader) with them. You are supposed to stay seven meters away from them, but that does not mean they stay seven meters from you. A mother and her infant at one point literally walked right by me (I could feel her hair graze my leg...and it took my breathe away literally). It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never EVER forget.
5/25 Today was a free day to just kick back in Rwanda. We decided to take a drive to Lake Kivu and check out the Congo border (now in hindsight, probably kind of dangerous...)...and along the way we saw more beautiful countryside, but also some refugee camps. In the afternoon, Ros and I explored the town of Musanze (this is where we were based). While this is not so much my favorite quote of the day, Duncan, a kid from NZ who looks sort of like Jesus right now, likes to say things will cost someone a dollar, but with his Kiwi accent it sounds like "dolla" and I just find it funny. For example: Me: "Duncan, can you pass me a napkin?" Duncan: "Dolla."
5/26 The agenda for today was to drive to Lake Bunyonyi back in Uganda via a stop at a genocide memorial in Kigali. The Kigali Memorial Center was intense. I have read up a bit about the genocide (one of the best books ever is We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families), but I now want to learn even more about it after visiting. The memorial did an excellent job stating what happened (from the world doing basically nothing (except the French who actually seemed to help supply the Hutus...) to the fact that thousands of people were likely involved in killing a million people yet have never been brought to justice and thus there is a good chance I interacted with many people who had some level involvement in the genocide) and presented personal stories at the same time (the photos provided by families were particularly powerful). It reminded me of my visits to similar sites in Bosnia and Poland. Why is it that such beautiful places can be the sites of such horror? Anyway, we made it to Lake Bunyonyi (a super deep, remote and beautiful lake in Uganda) around dinner time. And after a day like today I was drained. And I get to sleep in an actual bed (no tent) for two nights!
5/27 Free day to kick back around Lake Bunyonyi. Ros, Maree (Aussie girl), Kylie (another Aussie girl) and I walked to the top of this big hill in the morning. It was quite the trek, but the pay off was great (a light breakfast, some jumping on a trampoline and a fantastic view at the top) as well as we got to interact with several locals (they love to talk to us, are so welcoming and are very thankful to have us visiting their community) who live in rural Africa. I then spent the afternoon basically napping, reading and walking around a bit more. It was just an immensely pleasant day...in AFRICA.
5/28 Today was sort of a rough day. We got a late start because you cannot leave Lake Bunyonyi when it is raining since the basically one lane dirt road is impossible to navigate when wet. So we had to wait out the storm for a couple hours. But getting back on the main highway did not relieve our troubles since it was so bumpy due to lots of construction and just a shitload (sorry...) of potholes everywhere else. And then we hit some insane evening rush hour traffic in Kampala. You definitely feel for Brendon on days like today...and Caz too because she has to put up with him.
5/29 Holy shit (sorry...), I bungee jumped today at the source of the Nile! I never thought I would ever bungee jump until about a week ago. And even then it was just a distant idea. But Ros basically talked me into it by talking repeatedly about it (for example: "I had dreams about bungeeing last night") and why we should do it at the source of the Nile ("Why SHOULDN'T we when so many others have?"). I told her while I could not guarantee I would do it, I would at least try. And I more than just tried. I DID. And I did it beautifully (I was told I looked extremely composed and swan-like...and I supposedly cracked a smile right before I jumped)! It was one of the most surreal experiences ever because your mind is thinking you are about to die. "Oh fffffuck (sorry...), what are you doing?!" is what was going through my head and I hardly remember anything the guys hooking me up told me. But I do remember asking them if it was safe and going "THAT IS IT?!?!" when they finished hooking me up. It was scary (but it should be), but strangely I think I would do it again...but only somewhere just as beautiful as there. Yo, folks, I bungee jumped at the source of the Nile in Uganda!!! HA! And then everyone (not just Ros and I) celebrated the event with a good amount of alcohol... It was a glorious day! Oh! We got pulled over again today...by the same Ugandan cops that pulled us over for speeding last time ("Remember us? We were the ones that arrested you last time.")...but at least they were just as nice (we just had to pay like $50 to go on our way).
5/30 And then I decided to defy death on the Nile two days in the row. How? By whitewater rafting the Nile today! The rapids were fantastic (including several Class 5...but I felt mad safe due to the many safety measures in place) and the scenery was of course stunning (I especially liked being able to watch people along the river's edge). And I was proud of the fact that even with some serious rapids, I only fell out once. And I must admit that pineapple is not too bad when you eat it on a boat floating down the Nile in Uganda (I normally do not like it)! Overall, what a great day to have to end such an amazing, wonderful, super trip! I have had so much fun in East Africa and do not want to leave! This places feels like home (even though I am one of the whitest people I know). I cannot wait to come back to Africa and explore it further. Of course I cried when I said goodbye to my travel buddies and now new friends. But I gotta go to Egypt and Jordan... Tough life...I know.
BTW If you are wondering what tour I went on, I went on Tucan's Mountain Gorilla Safari. I highly recommend them and definitely will consider Tucan for future travel.
5/16 A chill day around Karen, a suburb of Nairobi. Went to the grocery store. I like venturing to grocery stores in places I visit because you can learn quite a bit about a place by the grocery stores (the people who shop there, what they buy, the organization of the store...). And it is so lush here - beautiful flowers everywhere! But there is also a lot of security, particularly dudes with big guns. Not sure how I feel about that...
5/17 Drive day to Nakuru. I gotta see some amazing views of the Rift Valley, but also saw more poverty... Yet people are so friendly. They, especially kiddies, love waving and smiling at us. And it costs me nothing to wave and smile back. And there sure are a lot of churches in these parts. We ended our day at a campsite just outside of Nakuru called Kembo Camp. It is rather rural, next to a dairy farm, and so I am in my element. And I, a person who sorta of lacks kitchen skills, made the best stuffing ever for dinner tonight.
5/18 Game drive in Nakuru National Park. One of the best $90 ever spent for over 12 hours of driving around and seeing so many animals up close - rhinos, water buffalo, baboons, lions, lots and lots of birds including flamingos, zebras, giraffes...and more pretty flowers...and crazy weather that changed basically every ten minutes. Just a great day! I am totally blessed.
5/19 Drive day to Eldoret...and thus more beautiful countryside and happy people. And we did our first cross of the Equator today (I guess we are going to go back and forth a bit over the next couple weeks). And Kenyans love Obama...and thus they love me since I am from his country. :) I also believe these smaller cities and towns we travel through kind of look like they belong in the Wild West (see fences, unpaved roads and such in photos). We finished our day with a visit to Ken Knit, a clothing factory with hints of a sweatshop (saw clothing and blankets made from start to finish - I learned a lot), and then parked it at the beautiful Naiberi River Camp and proceeded to stuff our bellies with some wondrous Indian food. Favorite Brendon (he is our tour driver) quote of the day: "It is as simple as shitting in your bed and then kicking it out with your feet."
5/20 What? I actually have some bug bites. I never get bug bites! Anyway, today was another drive day. This time to Kampala, UGANDA! I cannot get enough of these drives. This part of the world is absolutely stunning. And here are a couple observations (these drives provide me with a lot of time to think): 1. You see a lot of aid organizations here, particularly U.S. Aid, UN, Red Cross and World Vision. They really are here... 2. The border crossing was a bit maddening, but very much a cool cultural experience and frankly not much more painful than crossing between the U.S. and Canada. 3. I might be wrong, but Uganda seems poorer than Kenya. Why do I think this? People seem dirtier, for a lack of a better word, here and wear more mangled clothes than in Kenya and there seems to be more children out of school (this totally saddens me and makes me think about why I am in my position...)... We also got pulled over by the police (they let us go) AND in a car accident (not bad) and subsequently caused a bit of traffic jam. Favorite Ros (fellow traveler) quote of the day (but she says it at least once a day): "Close your flaps!" Favorite Brendon quote of the day: "Shut the fuck (sorry...) up, PLEASE!" Home for the night was the Red Chilli.
5/21 Drive day to QE2 National Park. We left Kampala EARLY (but we are up most days around sunrise)...and as a result we gotta see an absolutely beautiful sunrise and watch everyone else wake up with it. Today was also Malaria Thursday for me. I take my malaria meds once a week at lunch and usually the night after I take the pill I have some pretty wicked dreams. So tonight will likely be full of gnarly dreams. Caz, the wife of Brendon and our tour leader (they make a great team), filled us in on Uganda's nutty history. The people of Uganda are wonderful yet they have had a lot of shitty shit (sorry...) happen to them, particularly at the hands of horrible leaders (like the stellar Idi Amin). You feel for them. The current leader is supposedly better (but really how much so since he has been president for over two decades and I guess corruption is still rather common). However, Uganda does have one of the lowest HIV/AIDS infection rates in Africa due to measures taken by the government and aid organizations to combat it. Also, Islam is surprisingly common here (I would understand its presence along the coast of East Africa due to its proximity to the Middle East, but here in more inland Africa?)...thanks to Amin and his ties to Gaddafi. Anyway, I SAW MY FIRST AFRICAN ELEPHANT TODAY. I love elephants. I want one. And there was the most amazing sunset (we finished our day at Hippo Hill...it is called Hippo Hill because hippos tend to graze there at night...ummm...yeah...we will see how tonight goes...). So I started the day with an amazing sunrise and finished it with an amazing sunset. I love Africa. LOVE. IT.
5/22 T.I.A. Day. T.I.A. stands for This Is Africa. T.I.A. basically means anything and everything will likely happen. I did not sleep much last night due to the hippos outside (I was definitely a bit scared to hear them literally right outside the tent...but the funny thing is that I initially thought I was dreaming all the noise due to my malaria meds) and a hippo inside (my tent buddy is a loud sleeper...). We then went on a chimp walk...but we did not see any chimps. But I still had loads of fun trekking through the forest. We then went on a bumpy ass and rather rushed drive. And at one point we had to push the vans up a steep hill. But I thought it was brilliant because I was in Uganda pushing a van up a hill. We then finished our day with a great channel cruise to see hippos and other animals (including a pooping elephant...the kid in me loved it) at sunset. It was an action packed and hectic day...and I loved every minute of it. QE2 is a park with so much potential (Idi Amin did quite a bit of damage to it during his time of terror and it is only starting to flourish again). Favorite Ros quote of the day: "On top from start to finish. No other place I would rather be." She always finds a way to take things (such as talking about sitting on top of the boat during the cruise) that are not sexual and make them slyly so... Favorite Brendon quote of the day: "Fuck (sorry..) the fucking (sorry...) fuckers (sorry...), aye?" And Kampala's 88.7 is a fantastic radio station. They even played my jam "Here Comes the Hotstepper."
5/23 Drive day to RWANDA...and MORE absolutely beautiful countryside (however, power lines and trees ruined a few amazing photo opportunities...). I never get tired of it! Plus, the people here seem to just love us...and I love them! And I loved playing the part of an obnoxious American a little bit today because I did not have to pay for a visa when I entered Rwanda when most others had to. Neener neener neener! I even did a little "U.S.A! U.S.A!" chanting. And tomorrow I GET TO SEE ME SOME GORILLAS!
5/24 I WENT GORILLA TREKKING TODAY! Never thought I would do such a thing. I gotta cool life, y'all! And gorilla trekking for us involved hours of some serious marching through dense jungle, mud almost up to your knees... It was exhausting, but spectacular! We spent nearly two hours (only supposed to be one, but they kept playing sort of a game of tag/hide and seek/follow the leader) with them. You are supposed to stay seven meters away from them, but that does not mean they stay seven meters from you. A mother and her infant at one point literally walked right by me (I could feel her hair graze my leg...and it took my breathe away literally). It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never EVER forget.
5/25 Today was a free day to just kick back in Rwanda. We decided to take a drive to Lake Kivu and check out the Congo border (now in hindsight, probably kind of dangerous...)...and along the way we saw more beautiful countryside, but also some refugee camps. In the afternoon, Ros and I explored the town of Musanze (this is where we were based). While this is not so much my favorite quote of the day, Duncan, a kid from NZ who looks sort of like Jesus right now, likes to say things will cost someone a dollar, but with his Kiwi accent it sounds like "dolla" and I just find it funny. For example: Me: "Duncan, can you pass me a napkin?" Duncan: "Dolla."
5/26 The agenda for today was to drive to Lake Bunyonyi back in Uganda via a stop at a genocide memorial in Kigali. The Kigali Memorial Center was intense. I have read up a bit about the genocide (one of the best books ever is We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families), but I now want to learn even more about it after visiting. The memorial did an excellent job stating what happened (from the world doing basically nothing (except the French who actually seemed to help supply the Hutus...) to the fact that thousands of people were likely involved in killing a million people yet have never been brought to justice and thus there is a good chance I interacted with many people who had some level involvement in the genocide) and presented personal stories at the same time (the photos provided by families were particularly powerful). It reminded me of my visits to similar sites in Bosnia and Poland. Why is it that such beautiful places can be the sites of such horror? Anyway, we made it to Lake Bunyonyi (a super deep, remote and beautiful lake in Uganda) around dinner time. And after a day like today I was drained. And I get to sleep in an actual bed (no tent) for two nights!
5/27 Free day to kick back around Lake Bunyonyi. Ros, Maree (Aussie girl), Kylie (another Aussie girl) and I walked to the top of this big hill in the morning. It was quite the trek, but the pay off was great (a light breakfast, some jumping on a trampoline and a fantastic view at the top) as well as we got to interact with several locals (they love to talk to us, are so welcoming and are very thankful to have us visiting their community) who live in rural Africa. I then spent the afternoon basically napping, reading and walking around a bit more. It was just an immensely pleasant day...in AFRICA.
5/28 Today was sort of a rough day. We got a late start because you cannot leave Lake Bunyonyi when it is raining since the basically one lane dirt road is impossible to navigate when wet. So we had to wait out the storm for a couple hours. But getting back on the main highway did not relieve our troubles since it was so bumpy due to lots of construction and just a shitload (sorry...) of potholes everywhere else. And then we hit some insane evening rush hour traffic in Kampala. You definitely feel for Brendon on days like today...and Caz too because she has to put up with him.
5/29 Holy shit (sorry...), I bungee jumped today at the source of the Nile! I never thought I would ever bungee jump until about a week ago. And even then it was just a distant idea. But Ros basically talked me into it by talking repeatedly about it (for example: "I had dreams about bungeeing last night") and why we should do it at the source of the Nile ("Why SHOULDN'T we when so many others have?"). I told her while I could not guarantee I would do it, I would at least try. And I more than just tried. I DID. And I did it beautifully (I was told I looked extremely composed and swan-like...and I supposedly cracked a smile right before I jumped)! It was one of the most surreal experiences ever because your mind is thinking you are about to die. "Oh fffffuck (sorry...), what are you doing?!" is what was going through my head and I hardly remember anything the guys hooking me up told me. But I do remember asking them if it was safe and going "THAT IS IT?!?!" when they finished hooking me up. It was scary (but it should be), but strangely I think I would do it again...but only somewhere just as beautiful as there. Yo, folks, I bungee jumped at the source of the Nile in Uganda!!! HA! And then everyone (not just Ros and I) celebrated the event with a good amount of alcohol... It was a glorious day! Oh! We got pulled over again today...by the same Ugandan cops that pulled us over for speeding last time ("Remember us? We were the ones that arrested you last time.")...but at least they were just as nice (we just had to pay like $50 to go on our way).
5/30 And then I decided to defy death on the Nile two days in the row. How? By whitewater rafting the Nile today! The rapids were fantastic (including several Class 5...but I felt mad safe due to the many safety measures in place) and the scenery was of course stunning (I especially liked being able to watch people along the river's edge). And I was proud of the fact that even with some serious rapids, I only fell out once. And I must admit that pineapple is not too bad when you eat it on a boat floating down the Nile in Uganda (I normally do not like it)! Overall, what a great day to have to end such an amazing, wonderful, super trip! I have had so much fun in East Africa and do not want to leave! This places feels like home (even though I am one of the whitest people I know). I cannot wait to come back to Africa and explore it further. Of course I cried when I said goodbye to my travel buddies and now new friends. But I gotta go to Egypt and Jordan... Tough life...I know.
BTW If you are wondering what tour I went on, I went on Tucan's Mountain Gorilla Safari. I highly recommend them and definitely will consider Tucan for future travel.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
How in the world am I going to do this???
I am back from the epic trip and it was definitely epic. I LOOOVVVEEED East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda), Egypt sucked to be completely honest, and Jordan was good, but not as good as Africa. I am going to try to post what went down and a link to photos by the end of this weekend. Inshallah. I just have to figure out how to do it without it taking forever and being absurdly long.
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