Safari

Last weekend I went with six other girls to Murchison Falls National Park on a safari.  The first thing we did was stop at a Rhino sanctuary and trek some rhinos.  It was really fun to see rhinos in the wild just doing what they do.  I don't even really like rhinos so it got me excited to see the animals that I really like.

Our Guide

Accommodations for the night

The next day we went on a game drive early in the morning,  we saw elephants, giraffes, Ugandan kobs and a bunch of baby animals. 

Ugandan Kobs--the national animal

Warthogs

Buffalo

Andrea and Me

Can you see the lion?  (look on the left)

A tower of giraffes

With our guide on the Nile River--can you see the hippos in the background?

 
We took a boat cruise on the Nile where we saw a crocodile and some elephants drinking from the river. 

Hugging the world

Baboon!

Crocodile

We got out of the boat and hiked to Murchison Falls- a waterfall on the river Nile.  I have never seen a waterfall so powerful and out of control.  It reminded me a bit of the blowhole in Ensenada Mexico.  We sat on a rock for a while and just enjoyed being there. 

The trail

Enjoying the waterfall

We spent the night in huts with grass roofs.  it was so peaceful and quiet.  I loved it and it was just what I needed.

On Sunday we drove to a rain forest where we went trekking for chimps. We saw about seven and got to hear them all yelling and screaming.  It was amazing!  We were just deep in the forest looking for chimps.  At one point my foot got tangled in a vine and someone had to help me get loose.  I also tripped over a branch and fell straight onto my knee.

 It was a fantastic experience, even though there are no zebras in Murchison Falls National Park.  I am really going to try to take a day trip somewhere to see zebras but I am running out of time and it is pretty much all accounted for.  

Sorry this post if so brief, I will add more details and pictures once I get home.

Things I Look Forward to When I Get Home

• Hug my family
• Wear a seatbelt
• Take a long, hot shower with no one rushing me
• Eat a steak
• Eat an apple
• Have a sleepover with my sister
• Get a pedicure
• Give and hug my doggies
• Sleep in my own bed
• Have my own room and space
• Step on American soil :)

I'm sure there is more but this is what I can think of off the top of my head

Two More Weeks

I can't believe that I will only be in Uganda for two more weeks, it has gone by so quickly!  I feel like I have not accomplished anything.  I will be going on a safari this weekend and heading out to the Islands again for a few days next week.   This time we will be going to three different villages to do some HIV testing and pass out condoms.  I think there will be a doctor or someone from a clinic accompanying us.  The eye camp will be on Saturday.  Maybe a day trip to Jinja and another trip to the African craft market to get a few more things and then I will be flying home.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Last night a group of us went to the American Recreation Association for a fourth of July picnic.  I got to have a hamburger and some popcorn.  They even had face painting and cotton candy.  There were African dancers and an African children's group sang and danced.

Some United States Marines presented the American Flag and a woman sang the national anthem.  It was really cool to see and hear our national anthem all the way in Africa.  I felt so proud to be an American.  I hope that I never again take that for granted.  I am so lucky to have the right to go to school, have running water and clean clothes, and even to have somewhere to put my trash.

Upcoming this week:

• HIV day at Kyombogo village--about forty minutes outside of Lugazi
• Meeting with Bernard tomorrow
• Safari this weekend

Half Way Finished!

I have been in Uganda for three weeks and that means that I will be back home in another three weeks.  For the most part I would say that it has gone by pretty quickly although I don't feel like I have done much.  It takes a while to accomplish things here, they seem to be on a totally different time schedule.  It was really cool to go the Buvuma Islands and meet some people there.  It is so sad to see children without shoes and little or no clothes.  Just sitting in the dirt with their naked butt can't be sanitary.  There are so many things that they need help with but we can't do it all, although I wish we could.  

Yesterday some of us took the day off and went to Kampala--the capital city.  It is much bigger than Lugazi and the traffic scares me.  I am very weary of traffic and cars in general and it is worse than anything I have ever seen before.  There are no traffic lights or anything and we just have to dodge the traffic as we run across the street trying not to get hit by a car.  And don't even get me stated on the taxis, they drive way to fast and don't stop or even slow down for anything.  I have been afraid for my life a few times.  I have had to ride boda bodas (basically a mix between a motorcycle and a scooter) a few times and that is always an experience, they weave in between the cars and sometimes get really really close to another car or person.  One Sunday when we were waling to church I got hit my some lady the was riding one side saddle.  I was told that more people in Uganda die of traffic accidents than die of AIDS.  I don't know how true that is considering that AIDS is a big problem, but it is interesting.

Taxis

Boda Bodas

The craziness of Kampala

I have been meeting with a guy names Bernard who runs a school and is trying to improve literacy.  I am trying to do some research and figure out how exactly I can help him.  It sounds like children are taught in English before they even know their native language and he wants to try to maybe teach some lessons in Lugandan and start English a bit later.  Only twenty five percent of people who start school actually finish.  That is a terrible drop out rate so he want to help improve that number by keeping things interesting so that kids enjoy it.  I am looking into other countries to see how they do id.  Maybe even what the United States does with Spanish immersion.  He is such a good guy and I would really like to help him out.

This Saturday we are going to the African craft market in Kampala to buy "African" things.  I am really looking forward to that and will probably spend way to much money.   But who knows when and if I will be in Africa again so I gotta do it...

Craft Market--I wanted to buy everything!

I'm not sure what my plans are for next week, maybe more meetings with Bernard and with Richardson, the guy we went with to Buvuma Island, help with teacher trainings and hopefully a safari next weekend.  I am in the process of researching prices at the moment.

The next weekend after that will be the eye/dental camp. I think we are going to be doing checkups and referring people to the hospital if they need surgery.  I think I will relate to this project the most and am excited that they were able to do it while I am here.

Then I will be coming home just in time for my sisters birthday.  I am looking forward to being home where it is familiar and comfortable. I've got a list of things I want to do when I get home in my journal.  I think I will share that on my next blog post.

I have really come to appreciate all the things that I have or have access to.  I am so lucky to have born in the United States!   I have the right to go to school and to learn to read.  There are so many opportunities that I have in a day that will take some of these people a lifetime to have.  No wonder so many people want to come to America.  It truly is better than what they have.  I am so thankful and lucky to have my birth certificate say that I am an American and no one will ever be able to take that away from me.  I was grateful of that fact previously but I think now even more so that I have actually experienced first hand how some people in this world live.  I'm sure that it will change me and the way I do some things but I'm not sure how yet.  I'm interested to see what happens when I get home.