B(end) in the Road

Well, I think this has been the longest hiatus from blogging since I first started at the beginning of this adventure. And to truly put into perspective how long it’s been, I’ve since left Uganda. Visited England. Returned home. And left home again. And here I am now, in Toronto, not exactly where I started this journey with ACTS back in August of last year; but it’s where I’m going to end it, blogwise anyway.

When I left off several weeks, almost a month ago, I was still at Canada House (the ACTS Ugandan HQ) in the town of Mbarara, the closest home I had while away from home. After leaving Mbarara, I spent my remaining time at Another Hope in Kampala, just trying to squeeze a few more days in with the kids before I had to go.


And I had a wonderful last few days with the kids. Most of them had just finished their term end exams, thus marking the end of the spring term and even better, the beginning of a two week break (slightly different than the North American system, they have a few several week breaks rather than the two month summer break we have). This meant that, like my first visit at Christmastime, the orphanage was once again all hustle and bustle with twenty plus kids doing their best to, well, hustle and bustle from before dawn until after dusk. =D

The Monday following my arrival, exam marks came back and report cards were ready for the picking from two of the schools where combined, the majority of the kids attend. Namutebi, one of the oldest girls, and at senior six, the highest level of schooling among all the kids, went to the schools to pick up the reports. Now, as a kid, I remember report card day – the anticipation and excitement, or perhaps it was the anxiety and fear. =D Either way, report card day was kind of an important day, especially if your parents went to each and every parent teacher conference that always followed the report cards, as did mine. Point is, like it or not, report cards are kind of a big deal.

And so it was as Namutebi arrived back with the fifteen plus report cards in hand and we all sat down in the living room to read them. All the kids crowded around, the ones who were most excited trying to squeeze to the front while the ones who know they didn’t doing as well understandably lingering in the back. For most of the kids, it was their first report at their respective schools. Many of them had been switched from a different school that wasn’t as reputable, and for the little ones, it was because it was the first time they’d been to school! And as we went through the reports, one by one, the general trend was that nearly all of the kids had improved in at least some of their subjects, some very markedly so even! And I guess I the feeling that came over me as we looked at each report was that of what a parent would probably feel when their kids brought home a good report card - pride, delight, overall satisfaction.

For the most part in Uganda, teachers are undertrained, understaffed, and under resourced. It’s totally understandable, expected even, for them to write generic comments in the report cards. So it’s all the more exemplary when they do have something different to write. For me, the ones that stand out the most were for Moses, in P3, which said something along the lines of ‘displays a good potential for leadership, with some time, who knows what could develop?’ And for Jackie, in P2, who is regularly attending school for the first time because her step mother didn’t allow her to when Jackie was living with her, ‘one of the brightest and positive students in her grade’. How could you not be proud of these kids?


Other parting memories with the orphanage focus more on the food. Back at Christmastime, me and another volunteer, Julia from Arizona, had decided to teach the kids to make Smores (melted chocolate and marshmallows sandwiched between two graham crackers, for those of you who may not know). Well, that led me to think of other treats that kids back in Canada would normally have that these kids would enjoy. So, I sent a request to the other engineer, Chris, who was returning to Uganda, for some Jell-O. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to actually make it with them and see them eat (and probably also play with) the Jell-O. Still, it was amusing trying to get them to understand how they simply had to mix the Jell-O powder with boiling water, and then put it in the fridge where it would automatically solidify, but not like ice.


Then, Jono and Jana, the couple from Urban Systems who had come to see the water projects, had also brought some soup mix that their church makes and distributes to food shelters and such. Now, I hadn’t yet seen the kids eat something that they didn’t like, but they met their match in this instant vegetable soup mix. Even worse, I guess everything else that I had introduced to them would fall under the ‘sweets’ category, so naturally, there probably was some assumption that the soup was also something similar. The kids got all excited that we were having “SOUP!” as they said it, that ‘Uncle Wesley’ had brought. Well, that excitement disappeared pretty quick when they tasted the stuff. In a way, it was kind of disappointing to disappoint them, but it was also funny to see them trying to eat (in a ginger nibbling manner) something that is so ordinary in our culture, but yet, so foreign to them. I may have been the only one who enjoyed dinner that night. The only thing I have seen them dislike more was when one of the Korean volunteers generously made spicy chinese-onion-pancake-like things for the kids. I’ve never seen them so generous and quick to feed the cat. ><

Anyway, it was definitely sad to leave the orphanage and Uganda as a whole. The whole time as we were checking in at the airport, boarding the plane, and as we were lifting off, with the ground under us rapidly disappearing, I was in quite a cheerless mood. Plus, we’d had to wake up before dawn to get to the airport in time, so part of that can also be attributed to lack of sleep. But still, it was tough to watch Uganda fading off, as we headed off to England, to the ‘1st World’, to civilization as some might even say.

There are so many things that the people in Uganda have better than us in Canada and the other western countries. They may not realize it, and we westerners most definitely don’t recognize or even know it, but they are there. And as the plane headed back to this ‘other’ world from where I had come from eight months earlier, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was headed towards, not departing from, a deprived and destitute place, as comes to mind for many when you mention Africa. (bad grammar, I know, I hope you get the picture though.)


I’m going to speed this along a little bit for the sake of brevity. So, I arrived in London, England for a brief one week stay. England was, not surprisingly, very English. Just picture red double-decker buses, London bridge, everything you might have glimpsed on that CBC show, Coronation Street, and of course, those all too distinctive English accents. To my surprise, I very much enjoyed London. The history, the architecture, the extensive subway system, the overwhelming grandness of the buildings was no doubt all very impressive. And I think the critical factor was that it was, thankfully, different enough from North America that I felt as if I was in yet another new culture, discovering things anew. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I played tourist for a week, aimlessly wandering about, taking too many photos of really non descript things. However, it was an effective and necessary break between my departure from Africa and my reintroduction to Western society.


Then, it was back on a plane, destination this time, Vancouver, Canada, Home. But, not for long. A few stunted nights of sleep thanks to jetlag, a long time friend’s wedding (congrats, Jim and Brittany!!), and a few days trying to recover from the few sleepless nights, and then, yet again, it was back on a plane. My grandma in Toronto had apparently fallen and broken a few bones, and since I had already thought about visiting them once I returned to Canada, it wasn’t a hard to decision (plus, I had a Westjet credit that was already past expiration =p).

And so it was off to Toronto where, upon arrival, my cousin told me that my grandma was already much improved and walking. Sure enough, when we arrived at my grandparent’s home, there was my grandma, walking, and wanting to go for Dim Sum. But although I was somewhat misled into rushing off to Toronto, it’s been great to get to see my grandparents, my cousins (a few who are also here after fielding the same distress calls! =D), and friends!

I will be returning to Vancouver (hopefully for a little longer this time!) on Monday morning. From there, the road is a little less defined. I’ve been away from Canada for the last eight months, but I’ve essentially been away from Vancouver for much longer than that, not having spent more than three consecutive weeks there in the past six years. Jobwise, I may have a position with Lecor, the engineering and construction company that funded my internship to Uganda. Otherwise, there is a lot that remains to be determined. So, I guess it leaves me in a little bit of a similar situation as my first post, back in August, just prior to my departure to Uganda: ready to embark on a new adventure.

And I think that is where I will end off. If you’ve been keeping up with the various work and things that I’ve been doing over the better part of the past year, thanks. If you’ve been praying for the work in Uganda, the Ugandan people, or the various things associated with those, thanks, and keep it up. And if you’d like more information about the work that I was involved in, the places that I visited, or anything of the sorts, please, don’t hesitate to ask.

There’s always a great need for more workers, more volunteers, more people to go abroad. Whatever your thing may be, there’s almost definitely a role for you in places such as Uganda, just as much as there is a role for you wherever you are now. So, if you haven’t considered it before, I’d urge you to start now; if you have thought about it but haven’t done anything yet, take those convictions and put them into action; and if you’ve been involved with missions and/or aid work before, by all means, keep it up, you know better than anyone the need! Once again, thank you for all the support, encouragement, and prayers over my time abroad. I do hope that I’ll have the chance to support you in the same way that you have me!

Wes

Mr. Bakyondoza (from wayyy back...)

On our last official night in camp back in Feb, (yes I’m already reminiscing a bit…) Bern generously bought a goat from the market, and we all had roast goat for dinner. Nancy organized some games, a campfire with some good traditional Ugandan tribal dancing, and of course, farewell speeches from the Canadians. Then, as is tradition, the Ugandan crew gave each of us a Ugandan name. Me, I was tagged with Bakyondoza (pronounced, Ba-Chee-on-Doza), or, since many of the crew refer to us with Mr. or Ms., it’s Mr. Bakyondoza. Translated literally, it means Mr. Investigator. Haha, and it’s not too difficult to guess how they came up with that name. But to spell to it out, the crew knows that, between me and Mike, we were the engineers who were in pursuit of the projects that the crew would be constructing over the next few years. During our time, we climbed more hills than I think anyone had anticipated. In retrospect, perhaps we were too willing to climb so far to find a source because it would be a logistical nightmare for the crew to transport materials to those far off sources. But anyway, that’s the story, and the reason why all the Ugandans now call me Mr. Bakyondoza.

And, of course, that isn’t the only nickname that I’ve picked up during my time here. In October, basically when we started roving, I kind of stopped shaving. So, by the time we returned back into camp in late November, I’d managed to accumulate enough facial hair for some to classify as a goatee or small beard. Many of the construction crew thought it was the funniest thing, and a couple of them couldn’t resist touching it. Gordon, one of the crew, accurately labeled me, Carigou, or, man with small beard. He told me that if I keep growing it, the next time I saw him I might become a Marigou, or man with big beard. Unfortunately, I think my “beard” is destined to never be much more than a small goatee. Nevertheless, Ugandans still think it’s the oddest thing and I often get comments on the street or in restaurants about how smart my beard is.

So, to add onto the list of names that people here often refer to me with (re: Who am I? blog) I will now also respond to Carigou and Bakyondoza. haha, just one of those things I've learned in Africa!

** Internet's not fast enough to post any pics right now but I'll soon be back in Canada so I'll upload pictures then!

Just Random Signage (also from wayyy back...)

Here in Uganda, you can find quite the assortment of signs. Many are small, handpainted signs but you can easily find signs from all across the spectrum, from funny labels on your food containers right up to catchy phrases on the huge, corporate billboards. And, many of them are entertaining, for one reason of another (among the top reasons are misspellings and awkward word choices). So here are a bunch of these signs that I happen to have pictures of and have also found amusing. Many of these were from the grounds of a local primary school and have a strong common theme...

Always remain smart. (and in the background: I’m punctual and smart.)

Be cool, Abstain from Sex…

Cross Generational Sex stops with you.

Life is Precious, Guard it well.

Speed Skills (you mean, Speed Kills??)

What have you achieved today?

African Woman on sale here! (African Woman is the name of a magazine in case you were wondering.)

You Rush, You Crash. Avoid HIV to stay safer.

…Shall not ferment or unless it is adulterated… unique, medical and nutritious...

Coming Full Circle

After a somewhat long journey back down the Kenyan coast, and then from the eastern seafront to western border, we've arrived back in Uganda. It involved three bus rides, the shortest of which was over eight hours, and the latter two, which were overnighters that we did back to back. So, it was quite a relief when we finally arrived back into the smog-filled, noisy, and considerably less than organized streets of Kampala. Haha, home isn't always the nicest or cleanest place, but it's still home; and I guess that's kind of the way I feel about Kampala, and Uganda as a whole, in comparison to the other countries we've visited over the past few weeks.

The return back to Uganda also completes our loop through all of the East African countries. It’s hard to believe that it’s already coming to an end, and yet, it’ll be nice to stop and stay in one place for awhile (which won’t actually happen until I get back to Canada in a couple of weeks). I’ll expand on that in a later post but first, a rundown of the last two weeks of our travels, basically since we left the Lamu Archipelago.

Looking back, they have probably been less eventful than some of the previous others, with fewer highlight-reel-worthy stories to tell. And I guess there are a few reasons or explanations that come to mind. One is that Lamu marked the final new destination on our trip, all travel thereafter brought us closer to our final, and also beginning point, Uganda, as well as, for the most part, covered road that we`d already travelled. Next, one of the things that I`ve been able to avoid is shopping for souvenirs. And I think that is also one of the reasons that we`ve had such a good time thus far, and have had so much time to do other things like partaking in incredible and, sometimes, crazy adventures. But unfortunately, one of the stipulations to not doing much shopping during the majority of the trip was that we would do it all at the end. Well, the last two weeks have been, well, the last two weeks, and thus, the time for shopping had inevitably arrived. So, somewhat reluctantly (for me anyway), we trudged through the countless craft stalls, almost all of which sold nearly exactly the same items and featured shopkeepers using exactly the same selling points. Haha, now it wasn`t all that painful, regardless of how I make it sound, I`m sure it would actually be quite enjoyable for some of you, maybe even highlight worthy you might say.

Also, while traveling can be, and has been, wonderfully rewarding, it also can take a lot out of you. This is especially true in Africa, where public transport varies wildly between less than luxurious to `unbelievable that it still runs.` And, over the past number of weeks, as the miles traveled piled up, I think we’ve slowly been worn down a bit too.

So, we didn’t really do a whole lot, other than shopping and sitting on buses, between Lamu and Kampala. But we did spend a good few days once we reached Kampala, just seeing the sights and meeting new people, including a couple of crazy Israeli’s (that’s just what they call themselves), and even a couple we’d already met before. So Kampala has two popular places that caters to travellers, particularly budget travellers. We`d decided to check out the Red Chili, a friendly, European owned and operated place that attracts a lot of younger travellers as well as aid workers on holiday. And as soon as we stepped in the door, who did we see sitting in the corner, but the two girls from Canada who had been working in Ethiopia and who we`d met during one of the more memorable nights in Lamu. And that was the start of yet another memorable night, this time, in Kampala. Among the new cast of people we met on the night are a couple of guys from South Africa, here to set up the infrastructure for a new cell phone network; a girl from Victoria, BC, just travelling all over Africa; members from the reggae band that were on stage that night; the in house DJ; Robert, a national rugby player who graciously gave us all a lift back to Red Chili at the end of the night; and, Yotham and Yael, two Israelis who are midway through a long tour through pretty much all of the African non-muslim countries (Muslim countries are not recommended for Israeli citizens for obvious political reasons). We ended up spending the next day chilling with the two Israelis who, among other things, are hilarious both when telling their impressive collection of outrageous jokes, and pretty much just in their normal interactions with others. If it were not for their accents, we would have guessed them to be Americans by their blunt, and borderline rude (but hilarious) manners. For the record, while I know that obviously this is a stereotype does not fit all Americans, it happens to have rung true with the majority of the Americans we`ve met in our travels.

Continuing on, we spent a couple of days back at Canada House, which might as well be my home now, just to do a little packing but otherwise, a lot of nothing in particular. And then, it was back to Kampala, and the final adventure of the trip, white water rafting on the Nile river. Advertised as among the most intense rafting locales anywhere, and confirmed by many who have gone to be one of the most intense activity they’d ever done, we were expectedly pumped in anticipation for a crazy ride. Well, on the first big rapids, we lost our guide, as well as the one girl in the boat who hadn’t wanted to flip (ironic). But other than that, the Nile River wasn’t quite as wild as I’d expected it to be. I’d even say that the white water available in Alberta is comparable to the Nile. So, for all you adrenaline seekers, you don’t have to venture all the way to Africa to get your taste of intense water rafting, it’s pretty much right in our own backyards as well! Overall, It was a great day despite me not getting scared for my life (as others had described it); as always, we met some new people, some travelling, others volunteering, most doing a mix of the two. So, a little excitement, mixed with new friends, and it reads pretty much like the trip as a whole, suiting way to wrap it up I guess.


So, and sorry that this is long, and getting longer by the minute, and also very not concise... I realize that I haven`t updated in awhile and I have a computer right now while I`m at Canada House so I`m trying to string some words together in a somewhat coherent manner.

I went back to camp yesterday to visit the crew one last time and to see the progress that they`ve made on the current project. When we finished working back in February, the crew was still working on the protecting the source, where the water for the project originates. Now, just over two months later, they`ve protected the source, built the sedimentation tank, laid the pipe from the source all the way to the place where the reservoir will be, and are about to begin constructing five big reservoir tanks. It`s pretty impressive considering that the reservoirs are about ten kilometres downstream from the source! And it seems like the whole project is ahead of schedule and Tim even expects it to be completed by July, which is fantastic because it means that the Bwesumbu project that me and Mike designed may begin as soon as later this summer! Anyway, it was great news for me to hear, especially as it was as we left camp for the final time. Talk about leaving on a positive note! So yea, it was kind of my second good bye because we`d all said our good byes back in February when we officially stopped working. But nevertheless, it was still tough to say good bye again, even tougher I guess, because this time, I know that I wouldn`t be back, at least in the near future. But I have a lot of the faith in our Ugandan crew, I think they work really hard, and they`re so welcoming and friendly to whoever happens to show up from Canada. So, while it`s tough to go, I know that we can only stay a certain amount of time in order to allow for another team to come and continue the work. And, I`m eager for them to meet the crew, to see this beautiful country, and just to experience all the awesome things that I have during my time here.

I`ll be taking the morning bus back to Kampala tomorrow and heading straight to the orphanage, where I`ll have just five more days with the kids that I`ve grown to love before I fly out of Uganda on Wednesday. So I don`t know when I`ll be able to update again, I expect to be tied up with the kids as much as I can be; so maybe the next entry will be from a different country, or even a different continent! But yes, just in case, farewell from Uganda!

Blast from the past: Travels along the Kenyan coast

So after finally making our way out of Nairobi, we headed toward the coast.

First stop was Mombasa via an overnight trip on the train, billed as one of the remaining true British colonial-era experiences. And, although the food was a little disappointing (read: small portions and unbelievably bland), it was still cool eating the meals in a old style dining car, with tables still adorned with the original silverware from a hundred years past. We made a brief one day stopover in Mombasa to see Fort Jesus, supposedly the first building built in East Africa by foreigners and shaped to resemble Jesus on the cross; and the historic, and still incredibly Muslim 'Old Town' (complete with banners reading "Muslim Army for the Gaza Strip...").

Next stop was the town of Malindi, overrun by an incredible amount of Italians, with seemingly more restuarants serving pizza than local food. Main attraction there was the excavated (partially excavated anyway, the Kenyan government is still waiting for more international donors to help complete the considerable task) Gede Ruins, the remains of virtually an entire village from the fourteenth(?) century.

The whirlwind tour of the Kenyan coast continued with Lamu,the furthest we would reach along the coast, as well as on our trip as a whole. As is becoming normal, we ended up staying longer than planned, discovering more things to see and do as we, well, saw and did things. A thirty minute ride away from the mainland, on an incredibly overloaded (both with people and goods, as is the norm in Africa) of dubious strength, the island of Lamu has retained much of its history and culture to this day, making the city in itself one of the foremost reasons to visit. At first glance, the buildings appear to be just a seemingly random assortment of oddly designed, ramshackle buildings. But up close, with a little attention, you'll quickly (we did anyway) come to appreciate the intricate and unique designs of each building. Walking the narrow roads within the town is honestly, like nothing I've ever seen. The closest resemblence I can make to the town is something that I would imagine from one of the old Jesus films, or something similar that would have taken place in Biblical times anyway. One of the most unique, and quirky but oh so refreshing differences on Lamu, is that there are no cars, or motorised vehicles at all. Almost. We saw two small three wheeled vehicles labelled ambulances, as well as a tractor used for garbage collection, and a couple of motorcycles (which totally takes away from the ambience of Lamu) but other than that handful of vehicles, Lamu is a car free zone. The alternatives, walk, cycle, or, (no joke) ride a donkey. =)

Anyway, just wandering the streets aimlessly (sometimes on purpose, other times because we were just hopelessly lost in the maze of misalligned streets) was truly like taking a step back in time. It got even cooler when we were walking down the main street at night and the power went out (a clear indication that while Lamu is like nowhere else we've visited, it is still a part of Africa), plunging the town into near pitch black. Despite it being a full moon, the streets were too narrow to allow any light to get through. Just seconds passed though, before shopkeepers were lighting candles, or, for the slightly more technologically advanced, oil lamps, illuminating the shops, the street, and all the people in the welcoming gentle glow that light bulbs just can't provide.

Other highlights on Lamu include an overnight trip on a dhow, a traditional Swahili style sailboat. Although we didn't think the trip was all that it had been hyped up to be, it was still a cool experience sailing in one of the very unique dhow boats, that are only to be found on along the east coast of Africa.

The best day on the island may have been the day we found camels, or rather, we were found by camels. You see, we'd spotted four camels just lounging on the beach on the first day we went to the beach. Turns out that they're there for hire, imported from Somalia to give those who want, a chance to ride a camel. We weren't all that interested in riding the camels, but we'd chosen one of the only shady spots on the beaches and the camels weren't afraid to come and settle down right next to us. A short time later, we ended up befriending Fiki and Juma, the guys in charge of the camels, and we spent the afternoon just chatting, sharing a couple of beers, while using the resting camels as our backrest. We then stopped by their village on the way back to town for some fresh locally brewed coconut wine (really more just like coconut juice becuase it hadn't yet fermented, but still pretty good stuff, especially at just a dollar a bottle =p), taking the scenic route through some massive sanddunes (I don't remember the ones in Oregon even being as big as these) with Fiki teaching us how to do backflips down the sandy hills (I didn't quite master this one though).

And, as is always a highlight and one of my favourite parts of traveling, we met a bunch of really cool people on Lamu. From Juma and Fiki, the two backflipping, camel riding beach boys, to the crew on our dhow trip (we never did catch all their names), to Ali Hippie and his singing family (one of the most random nights on the island, but definitely one of the most memorable), we made a number of really cool and hospitable Lamonians (I think that's how you spell it..). Then, the long list of other travellers and aid workers that we met in various places, each of them with their own stories, experiences and reaons for being there. From a bunch of German medical students (there are an unbelievable number of them serving in East Africa!), to a couple of peace corps workers from California and their teacher friends, to a British guy who biked all the way to Kenya from England to raise money for an NGO (yea, crazy!), to a couple of Canadians who were working in Ethiopia until, thanks to Stephen Harper's new policies, CIDA cut their project's funding. I can't list all the people we met, mainly cause I can't recall all of them right now, but it really is one of the reasons to travel. And, for me anyway, it was really encouraging to see so many other people, some who had sacrificed substantial financial and other gains, working to improve the lives of others.

Good times in the Kenyan Capital

Well, our original plan was to skip Nairobi. Then we planned on staying for a day or couple days, max, once we arrived in town. In the end though, we've been here a week... The last few days have been amazing though, and the past week may have been the best yet on the trip. (I wrote this wayyy back, when it was actually somewhat recent but just before I was able to publish it, the power went out in typical African style so I wasn't able to post it, and lost a good part of the post in the process as well... so this is what was saved... I'll try and give a better update in the next few days..., especially since this past week, as in the first week of April's been pretty memorable as well!)

Highlights in and around Kenya's capital city include:

*Hitchin rides all over the place, from English NGO workers, to a few Kenyan guys, to a Coke truck (yep, that's right! =D)

*Watching probably one of the most demanding and talented acrobatic acts ever as part of a Kenyan cultural presentation.

*Kissing a giraffe, haha... yea, really.

*Close encounters with baby elephants and a baby rhino.

*Feasting on crocodile, ostrich, and a bunch of other meats at Carnivore, supposedly one of the best restaurants in the world. (not sure if I'd rate it that high, but it was still an awesome experience!)

*And, of course, going to the World Cup Qualifier soccer game between Kenya and Tunisia. Unfortunately (but not all that unexpectedly), the home team lost; but it was still a pretty exciting time, and an experience that would make anyone a soccer fan.

Nairobi!

Writing from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya and the largest city in the East Africa region. We just arrived late Monday night, delayed by a two hour stop to fix the gear box, which wouldn't shift out of first... nothing too unsual for Africa, but a little unsettling nonetheless.

So last post, (which I realize was over two weeks ago, sorry) we were headed down to Zambia. Well, due to a missing customs officer who was less than efficient when he was finally tracked down, we missed the boat down from Burundi to Kigoma, Tanzania. The following twenty four hours are another adventure that I don't have the time to write about here, but we ended up arriving in Kigoma almost exactly one day after we'd hoped. Unfortunately, this also means that we missed the ferry destined for Zambia. With our limited time and the next ferry not leaving until the following week, we made a snap decision and hopped on the "express" train for Dar Es Salaam the following morning. So, following a somewhat grueling and less than luxurious 40 hour ride, we arrived on the East coast of Tanzania and saw the Indian Ocean for the first time. For the records, it looks a lot like the other oceans... After nearly going on a safari due to being offered a really great deal , we opted instead to hop on the next bus for Arusha, more than a eight hour ride (ended up being over 10 after the brakes failed around the halfway point, again, nothing too unexpected). We ended up spending Nearly a week in Arusha, making a visit to the base of Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa), swimming under a waterfall fed by waters from Kili, and of course, going on a short safari (got an even better deal on it, not even completely sure that the operator made a profit but oh, well). And with just a day left on our Tanzanian visa, we caught a shuttle (essentially a bus, but called a shuttle) to Kenya, the fifth, and most likely, last country on the trip.


Anyway, all the reviews we've recieved, both from guidebooks and from other travellers, have been consistently less than complimentary. However, and maybe it's just because we had the absolutely lowest of expectations for this city, we've been nothing but impressed by what we've seen in the past two days. As we approached the city, I was treated to the refreshing sight of divided highways, street lights, pedestrian crosssings, and proper street signs (all things that I can't really say exist in the other countries within the East Africa region.

Gotta end off here as we're heading off to a campground just outside town tonight (near a giraffe sanctuary that we plan on visiting tomorrow) and we'd like to get set up before sundown. I'll pick this up when we get back to town!

Chimps!

As we'd hoped, we were able to arrange a chimp trek in the Vyonda National Forest Reserve over the weekend. Again, the chief responsible for the parks in the region accompanied us to arrange a guide for the following day. And when he found out that we hadn't yet tried Ugali, (the Burundian staple food made from cassava flour), he even took us out for beer, brochettes, with a little Ugali on the side! So, many thanks to Mercule, the best example of Burudian hospitality that we've met!

Anyway, we set out for the park at 630 the next morning, eager and excited to see these chimps that had already eluded me in Uganda thus far. After more than four hours of hard trekking(/bushwacking) and almost turning back in defeat at one point, we finally heard their cries. Around an hour later, we spotted one of the chimps across the valley from us. And another thirty minutes later, we were a stone's throw from them. These chimps, unlike ones in parks in other countries, are not at all habituated to humans. And as we approached, they almost suddenly appeared in a semi circle around us, making some pretty intense cries (probably equavalent to war cries, I imagine) to try and scare us off. But, as our guide assured us, they were a lot fearful of us than we were of them. And then, after a few minutes, and a few attempts to try and scare us off, they disappeared. We saw a few trees rustle as they ran off, but other than that, these human sized animals disappeared even more suddenly than they appeared. Overall, it took over seven hours from the time we entered the park to when we made it back, but it was an awesome day, and totally worth the pain of trying to walk the next day! =D

In other news, we're (finally) on our way out of Burundi today. It's been a really great time and in my opinion, as beautiful as Rwanda may be, Burundi is even better! We'll be boarding a cargo ship this afternoon destined for Kigoma, Tanzania. After we arrive tomorrow, we'll have a few hours to explore the town before boarding a ferry for Mpulungu, Zambia, at the very end of Lake Tanganyika. So, hopefully the next post will be two countries from now, and after we've travelled down the longest lake in the world!

Bujumbura!

Salut from Burundi!

It's been a quick two weeks since Jenn arrived in Uganda. So far, we've split the time between the orphanage in Kampala, Canada House in Mbarara, and the capital cities of three different countries.


We left Uganda last Wednesday morning, catching the early bus from Mbarara to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The better parts of Wednesday and Thursday were spent just venturing around town and eating, a lot. Chris, the remaining engineer joined us in Kigali on Thursday night on his month end break, and we left the following morning for Bujumbura, where we currently are. Similar to the country of Burundi, Bujumbura is smaller than most capital cities, less developed, and has fewer Western amenities than are available in Kampala or Kigali.

We’ll be moving on this weekend towards the Tanzanian border, after a week in Burundi. But first, we’ll try to visit the Parc Nationale de Bururi to see some chimps and for our last stop in the country, to camp out on the shores of Lake Tanganyika at Nyonza-Lac, which supposedly has one of the nicest beaches in the country, and also happens to be on our way to Tanzania.

And a bit about this beautiful, yet little known, country. In an almost constant state of political upheaval and civil war over much of the past two decades, the country has only recently stabilized enough to really begin the long process of rebuilding an economy that is evidently lagging behind those of its neighbours. Often overshadowed by the genocides which took place in Rwanda in 1994, the atrocities that occurred in Burundi around the same time period are much less publicized, yet were of near the same scale.

However, similar to Rwanda, it is difficult to see the effects of the recent troubles in the people of Burundi as they are incredibly warm and friendly. Although the country still has much to work to do to catch up with its neighbor to the north, it must already be much improved from where it was just a few years ago.

Oh yea, I'll be writing all entries on this blog from random internet cafe's that we find along the way. So with limited time, scattered thoughts, and intermittent internet connection, expect posts to be a little less refined with a lot more grammatical errors than on my other blog.

Anyway, here are some of the Burundian highlights that we’ve experienced this past week, also the top reasons, from our personal experiences, to visit this awesome little country in the heart of Africa:

1. Obviously, a given, but it couldn’t be any more true, is the warmth and friendliness of the people. By chance, we met a pastor at a guesthouse that we were trying to find lodging at. It turned out to be full, as did the following four guesthouses that he kindly drove us to. In the end, we found a Christian youth centre (I'm still not entirely sure what exactly it is) that we're now staying at for less than three dollars Canadian a night! The Burundi section of the Lonely Planet is a lot thinner than the other countries in the book, probably because it wasn’t secure enough for the authors to have spent much time in the country at the time that it was published. Thus, we’ve often found ourselves having to ask the locals for directions, suggestions, and other forms of advice. And it is always the case that they are more than willing to help out, often even walking with us right to the place that we are looking for.

2. The fact that we’re staying in place in the heart of the capital city for about the same cost as writing this post! Did I mention we pretty much have two rooms to ourselves as well as double doors that open onto a huge balcony? Pretty Awesome! One of the main reasons that we’ve staying in this city so long is because of this place.

3. The beaches just outside of town are incredible. Set on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the longest freshwater and second deepest lake in the world, our guidebook wasn't lying when it said these were some of the best inland beaches in Africa!

4. The tourist industry, or lack thereof. We visited the National Tourist Centre today, finally finding it open after two failed attempts over the weekend. It's both amusing, and sad, to be handed promotional brochures and maps, all dating back to 1993. Basically, the country hasn't had any notable tourism industry in the past fifteen years. But, that's good news for the tourists who are here, since with fewer tourists comes much less inflated prices.

5. On Tuesday, we received a private tour of one of the national park reserves, and from the chief of all the parks in the whole southern region of the country no less! All for the price of less than three bucks each! Unfortunately, none of the hippos, crocs, or baboons that live in the reserve crossed our paths, but it was still a surreal experience to be able to visit these places, where most people would never have the chance to see.

6. Transport: Slow and uncomfortable at times (most of the time, really), it can be a frustrating experience but also a rewarding one too! Due to a lack of vehicles on the road to the park reserve, we had no other choice but to hire our own taxis, in the form of men on their bicycles. So, for two hundred francs (twenty cents), we made our way on the backs of a few rickety bikes, through the pouring rain down one of the main (read: only) tarmac roads to the park reserve. Also, at the request of the chief who had guided us through the reserve, the minibus we took on the way back to Bujumbura made a special stop at the monument marking the location where Livingston and Speke supposedly met; a seemingly trivial fact to me, it is oft recommended by the guidebooks and tourism offices alike. Although it was just a few minutes down a dirt path off the main tarmac road, it was still out of the way for the bus, and all of its passengers. But, we are learning to expect from the kind and easygoing Burundians, no one seemed to mind!

7. Wednesday, we went to a park just out of town known for its hippos and crocodiles. After walking into a rather unassuming park entrance, we were met by a man who turned out to be the park guide. Five minutes later, accompanied by him as a guide, and an AK-47 bearing police officer for security (although it was supposedly totally safe...) we set off in search of hippos and crocs. Turns out that the crocs aren't commonly seen in the wet season, which it is now, but we did see a baby one, as well as several groups of hippos. But the highlight came just outside of the park entrance, where, on our way out, we spotted a few more hippos sleeping near the shore just a few hundred metres upstream. So we followed a dirt path down from the road towards the group, where we found a single local man perched on a rock, as if waiting for us to join him in observing the sleeping creatures. So, for a good fifteen minutes we stood and watched the hippos, not more than 10 metres from us, far closer than we'd ever get to them in any national game park elsewhere, and probably a lot less than the distance that any guide would recommend. By the end of it, a number of other locals had joined us at the river's edge, although I'm pretty sure they were attracted more by the visitors than the hippos.

8. Yesterday, we went to visit one of the national tea making factories. Supposedly closed to visitors, according to the factory manager, he nevertheless permitted us in (probably because so few tourists would venture out to these places), and even provided us with a guide! So, as has become the norm in most of our adventures in this country, we received a private tour of the factory by the factory’s chief technician, probably mainly because he was one of the only staff capable of speaking in English.

9. The final highlight came on our trip back from the tea factory last night. As we rounded the corner along the incredibly winding road back into town, we caught a magnificent view of the whole town of Bujumbura before us, bordering the lake, with the mountains of the Congo filling the sky in the background. Oh, it was just as the sky was finally clearing following quite an intense torrential downpour interspersed with periods of hail, just in time for us to catch the sun setting over the lake. So there we sat (squished) in a bus full of Burundians eager to get home for dinner, with the Eagles playing Hotel California over the stereo.

And that, is what Africa is all about!