I’m writing this from home now because the last few days of my trip were so packed that I didn’t have an opportunity to get to a computer to do any typing.
Saturday July 26, we left Gulu for the last time. We had many adventures away from the town, but we always knew we would be returning at the end of the weekend. This time, however, we had our luggage with us and had already said our goodbyes. Chipotle was now only 4 days away.
After nearly 6 hours of driving, we arrived at Murchison Falls. Although we didn’t get to see the waterfall, we did camp nearby for the night. We stayed in tents at a place that was in the process of building permanent structures, similar to a hostel. They fixed us dinner: chili, fresh fruit, and a vegetable medley that was ravenously devoured before sending us to bed. An early start was needed if we wanted to have a chance to see lions on our safari.
The next morning, we had wonderful American style breakfast before getting on the road by 6am. On our way to the park, we saw hundreds of gazelle and other four legged meals for predators, all of which had our full attention. The other groups who had gone the previous several weeks told us that they had not seen very many animals at all. Eventually, we saw some water buffalo and even a few giraffes outside the park. A handful of primates played on some rocks just prior to entering the park and we all thought, “who needs to actually get a guide and drive around all day?”
By the end of the safari though, we had seen several herds of elephants, each with between 4 and 8 members, a herd of giraffes that in which I counted 24, a few hippos, and countless gazelle, warthogs, and monkeys. All in all, we were very satisfied with the day, but were not looking forward to the 9 hour bus ride ahead of us to get back to Kampala.
After arriving in Kampala, several people showered (I was not one of them) and we hired a driver to take us to the mall. There were 10 of us that went to see the new Batman movie at the only theater in the whole country (I think). We ate pizza for dinner and then went to wait in line for the movie. Apparently, Ugandan’s are very similar to several Scottsdale parents that I’ve seen who are above such petty things as lines, ‘No man-conceived thing such as a queue (as our friends across the ocean say) applies to people of my stature, they are for everyone else to wait in . . . . not people like me.’ The movie was good.
Monday morning we drove 2 hours to Jinga (sounds like ninja) to a white water rafting place. After a few hours of organizing, we were ready to go. There were 10 of us total in our raft and the first 30 minutes down the river was spent going through all the emergency procedures such as people falling out, capsized raft, etc. We had to ride down a small class 3 rapid outside of the raft just so we would have some idea of what was going on if/when we fell out on a class five. At one point, our guide wanted to flip the raft in calm water so we could practice putting it right. I don’t think that him falling off while the rest of us didn’t was part of the plan, but it sure was funny.
I don’t remember the name of the rapid, but I definitely remember falling out. It was awesome. Not many people that I know get to say they rode down a class 5 rapid in the Nile river outside the boat. Once I did surface and got my bearings, I saw that our guide had fallen out of the raft along with me. When I started swimming back to the raft, I noticed 8 paddle handles coming in my direction and everyone on one side of the boat all ready to help me back in. I felt so loved.
Big Brother (or Overdrive, I’m not sure which it was) is another class five rapid, but I got to experience that one from my seat rather than under water. There is a point in the Nile that is only about 20 yards wide and at the time was flowing at 7500 cubic meters per second. Maybe don’t quote me on these numbers, but whatever they were, it was a lot. There is also a 40 foot decline in elevation over a period of about 100 yards which made for a nice ramp to build even more speed. Anyway, we were the only boat that didn’t loose anyone on the four large rapids that followed, but it was very entertaining watching all the boats flip and people fly out and float past us.
Oh, and I had to throw away my contact that morning too. It didn’t start bothering me until we were in the water, but then it just irritated me so much that I had to get it out of my eye. So pretty much the whole time I was on the water, I only had one contact in. It was rather annoying especially when we stopped for lunch and we had to climb up a trail to get to where they set up lunch. I felt like they should have rated the trail: class 3 for normal people, class 4+ if you’re only wearing one contact.
Once we got back to the home base, we got all geared up for bungee jumping. It took several hours to get the guide back, but about 4 o’clock we started. Although I wanted to be one of the first, others wanted to go and so I was contented and ended up going last. Watching everyone jump from the top of the tower was incredible! We saw them free fall nearly a 140 feet and then just dip their head in the water before being hurled back up 100 feet in the air. Kyle and I sat up at the top and did commentary for some of the jumpers; we just entertained ourselves. “I’m not sure if I see the look of determination in her eye that is required to be the bravest, boldest, bungee’er ever. What do you think, Phil?”
“This seems to be very reminiscent of the Smith incident of ’89 that caused the rule change in competitive jumping. I’m not sure she is going to make it.”
We were up there for over 2 ½ hours so. . . what else are you going to do?
Regardless, eventually it was my turn and I ended with a mock Ugandan speech before I jumped, “I am the what. . .the last bungee jumper.” It left my comrades who had already jumped in stitches as Ugandan’s often say “what” in the middle of their sentences.
7/29/08
Our last morning in Uganda there was such excitement that we would not have to sleep with mosquito nets ever again. American food was so close as were real showers, electricity that was always there, and paved roads. I even wrote Jo a note that told how thankful I was to God that I would never have to see ever again after today, that my prayers would finally be answered. (We kind of had a brother/sister relationship from day one.)
Ngamaba island is a chimpanzee sanctuary that was started by Dr. Jane Goodall. One of the girls on our trip was family friends the doc since her family lived in the Congo for nearly 10 years. Apparently, Jen wrote Jane and told her we were in the area and so we got to go out to this island watch the chimps for the morning. Even though it was a 2 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria to get there, we had nothing else to do. We got to watch the chimps be fed and watched them play for an hour and then made the return trip home. It was pretty amazing to see 31 chimps all playing together so close to us.
Because the president was coming soon to the airport, they were taking extra security precautions like setting up metal detectors ½ mile from the airport along the side of the road. We all had to get out and walk through what looked like metal doorway to nowhere. I thought it wasn’t even plugged in, but it went off when one of my friends went through; they just looked at him and told him to keep moving. We didn’t have to take our bags with us or having them search the van. It was a good thing too because I left all my grenades on the bus along with my AK-47. I really dodged a bullet on that one.
The only eventful thing that happened in Uganda was that Amy, our leader, did not make it on flight. Even though her printout said she should be on the that flight that day, the computer for Emirates said that her flight was the next day. Although that really sucked, I think if it was going to happen to anyone, it was probably best for it to be her. She lived in NYC after all and didn’t have a connecting flight. I’m sure that Invisible Children probably paid for her hotel or else put her up for the night in Kampala and arranged for a taxi the next day. I doubt that would have happened if it was someone else.
My flight on a 777 was filled with movies on demand and all the drinks I wanted. Everything was free and the food was good. We received a toothbrush, socks, and eye mask for when we wanted to sleep and the cabin had pinholes for light so when the cabin was dimmed, it felt like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. It was so strange to once again have everything back at my fingertips and someone waiting on my every need with a smile. I also planted a voice recording in Jo’s seat that once again affirmed my hatred for her. The back half of the plane found it quite humorous.
Back in NYC, some friends and I went out to eat at a pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was delicious and then we got some ice cream right next door. While waiting for the car to be pulled around, one of the girls’ cones melted all over my hand, yet I felt like I couldn’t actually lick it because then I’d feel like I was steeling it. After all I was just supposed to hold it while she went to get the car. Instead, I just held it over my mouth and conveniently, most of the cone melted into my mouth before they could make it back to us.
After being dropped off at the airport, I quickly realized I didn’t have my phone on me anymore. I explained the situation to some random lady and asked if I could use her phone. She was reluctant to help and asked me for the number, the person I was calling, who I was, the reason I was calling, if there was any other message to give. . . I felt like I was being interrogated. Eventually, I figured out that she probably thought I was would steal her phone and run away with it if she let me hold it. I am so fast carrying a backpack and a 70lb suitcase. I can understand her reluctance.
When we didn’t find my phone, I thought, “Maybe if fell out of my pocket when I got out of the car.” Sure enough, I could see a small black object in the middle of New York airport traffic and it was still in one piece. I ran out to it, but the cars were coming too fast and one taxi clipped it right in front of me causing it skid 5 feet further away from me. I felt a little like Frogger trying to avoid taxis and enormous logging trucks. Fortunately for me, I had something that Frogger did not: Pedestrian’s right of way. I just stepped out into oncoming traffic and stopped two lanes of cars to get my battered phone.
When my phone didn’t turn on, I was a little distraught. I didn’t have any numbers memorized other than my dad’s, but I didn’t think he had any numbers of people in AZ so that I could actually get picked up at the airport. After thinking of the 5 degrees of separation that were between my dad’s number and Adam’s, I decided to pray about my phone. It hadn’t turned on for the past 15 minutes, what did I have to lose? A short prayer and frustrated shake later and my phone sprung back to life. The cracked screen was ok with me as it meant that I could be picked up from the Phoenix airport on time.
The short 6 hour flight from NYC to Phoenix was a short hop compared to the previous 30 hours. Even with the plane changing gates several times and being an hour and half delayed, I was still as jovial as a child on his birthday. (We did a lesson on similes and metaphors in Uganda . . . I guess I passed). I was in and out of sleep for most of the flight. I was happily dreaming of driving a car and being invincible and flying off a cliff or something like when I realized that my pants were cold and wet. I knew I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t flying at such an altitude that would cause a temperature change. I mean Superman never dealt with cold-crotch while flying. A second later I woke up and saw that the gentleman next to me had gotten up to go to the bathroom and in his haste, knocked over my ice cold cran-apple juice I had been saving. Now I had to ring my call button and get one of those, “Are you 6 and knock stuff over” look along with my napkins to dry my pants. The worst part of this travesty is that the guy never even knew he was the one that wet my pants and woke me from an amazing dream. Grrrr.
Saturday July 26, we left Gulu for the last time. We had many adventures away from the town, but we always knew we would be returning at the end of the weekend. This time, however, we had our luggage with us and had already said our goodbyes. Chipotle was now only 4 days away.
After nearly 6 hours of driving, we arrived at Murchison Falls. Although we didn’t get to see the waterfall, we did camp nearby for the night. We stayed in tents at a place that was in the process of building permanent structures, similar to a hostel. They fixed us dinner: chili, fresh fruit, and a vegetable medley that was ravenously devoured before sending us to bed. An early start was needed if we wanted to have a chance to see lions on our safari.
The next morning, we had wonderful American style breakfast before getting on the road by 6am. On our way to the park, we saw hundreds of gazelle and other four legged meals for predators, all of which had our full attention. The other groups who had gone the previous several weeks told us that they had not seen very many animals at all. Eventually, we saw some water buffalo and even a few giraffes outside the park. A handful of primates played on some rocks just prior to entering the park and we all thought, “who needs to actually get a guide and drive around all day?”
By the end of the safari though, we had seen several herds of elephants, each with between 4 and 8 members, a herd of giraffes that in which I counted 24, a few hippos, and countless gazelle, warthogs, and monkeys. All in all, we were very satisfied with the day, but were not looking forward to the 9 hour bus ride ahead of us to get back to Kampala.
After arriving in Kampala, several people showered (I was not one of them) and we hired a driver to take us to the mall. There were 10 of us that went to see the new Batman movie at the only theater in the whole country (I think). We ate pizza for dinner and then went to wait in line for the movie. Apparently, Ugandan’s are very similar to several Scottsdale parents that I’ve seen who are above such petty things as lines, ‘No man-conceived thing such as a queue (as our friends across the ocean say) applies to people of my stature, they are for everyone else to wait in . . . . not people like me.’ The movie was good.
Monday morning we drove 2 hours to Jinga (sounds like ninja) to a white water rafting place. After a few hours of organizing, we were ready to go. There were 10 of us total in our raft and the first 30 minutes down the river was spent going through all the emergency procedures such as people falling out, capsized raft, etc. We had to ride down a small class 3 rapid outside of the raft just so we would have some idea of what was going on if/when we fell out on a class five. At one point, our guide wanted to flip the raft in calm water so we could practice putting it right. I don’t think that him falling off while the rest of us didn’t was part of the plan, but it sure was funny.
I don’t remember the name of the rapid, but I definitely remember falling out. It was awesome. Not many people that I know get to say they rode down a class 5 rapid in the Nile river outside the boat. Once I did surface and got my bearings, I saw that our guide had fallen out of the raft along with me. When I started swimming back to the raft, I noticed 8 paddle handles coming in my direction and everyone on one side of the boat all ready to help me back in. I felt so loved.
Big Brother (or Overdrive, I’m not sure which it was) is another class five rapid, but I got to experience that one from my seat rather than under water. There is a point in the Nile that is only about 20 yards wide and at the time was flowing at 7500 cubic meters per second. Maybe don’t quote me on these numbers, but whatever they were, it was a lot. There is also a 40 foot decline in elevation over a period of about 100 yards which made for a nice ramp to build even more speed. Anyway, we were the only boat that didn’t loose anyone on the four large rapids that followed, but it was very entertaining watching all the boats flip and people fly out and float past us.
Oh, and I had to throw away my contact that morning too. It didn’t start bothering me until we were in the water, but then it just irritated me so much that I had to get it out of my eye. So pretty much the whole time I was on the water, I only had one contact in. It was rather annoying especially when we stopped for lunch and we had to climb up a trail to get to where they set up lunch. I felt like they should have rated the trail: class 3 for normal people, class 4+ if you’re only wearing one contact.
Once we got back to the home base, we got all geared up for bungee jumping. It took several hours to get the guide back, but about 4 o’clock we started. Although I wanted to be one of the first, others wanted to go and so I was contented and ended up going last. Watching everyone jump from the top of the tower was incredible! We saw them free fall nearly a 140 feet and then just dip their head in the water before being hurled back up 100 feet in the air. Kyle and I sat up at the top and did commentary for some of the jumpers; we just entertained ourselves. “I’m not sure if I see the look of determination in her eye that is required to be the bravest, boldest, bungee’er ever. What do you think, Phil?”
“This seems to be very reminiscent of the Smith incident of ’89 that caused the rule change in competitive jumping. I’m not sure she is going to make it.”
We were up there for over 2 ½ hours so. . . what else are you going to do?
Regardless, eventually it was my turn and I ended with a mock Ugandan speech before I jumped, “I am the what. . .the last bungee jumper.” It left my comrades who had already jumped in stitches as Ugandan’s often say “what” in the middle of their sentences.
7/29/08
Our last morning in Uganda there was such excitement that we would not have to sleep with mosquito nets ever again. American food was so close as were real showers, electricity that was always there, and paved roads. I even wrote Jo a note that told how thankful I was to God that I would never have to see ever again after today, that my prayers would finally be answered. (We kind of had a brother/sister relationship from day one.)
Ngamaba island is a chimpanzee sanctuary that was started by Dr. Jane Goodall. One of the girls on our trip was family friends the doc since her family lived in the Congo for nearly 10 years. Apparently, Jen wrote Jane and told her we were in the area and so we got to go out to this island watch the chimps for the morning. Even though it was a 2 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria to get there, we had nothing else to do. We got to watch the chimps be fed and watched them play for an hour and then made the return trip home. It was pretty amazing to see 31 chimps all playing together so close to us.
Because the president was coming soon to the airport, they were taking extra security precautions like setting up metal detectors ½ mile from the airport along the side of the road. We all had to get out and walk through what looked like metal doorway to nowhere. I thought it wasn’t even plugged in, but it went off when one of my friends went through; they just looked at him and told him to keep moving. We didn’t have to take our bags with us or having them search the van. It was a good thing too because I left all my grenades on the bus along with my AK-47. I really dodged a bullet on that one.
The only eventful thing that happened in Uganda was that Amy, our leader, did not make it on flight. Even though her printout said she should be on the that flight that day, the computer for Emirates said that her flight was the next day. Although that really sucked, I think if it was going to happen to anyone, it was probably best for it to be her. She lived in NYC after all and didn’t have a connecting flight. I’m sure that Invisible Children probably paid for her hotel or else put her up for the night in Kampala and arranged for a taxi the next day. I doubt that would have happened if it was someone else.
My flight on a 777 was filled with movies on demand and all the drinks I wanted. Everything was free and the food was good. We received a toothbrush, socks, and eye mask for when we wanted to sleep and the cabin had pinholes for light so when the cabin was dimmed, it felt like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. It was so strange to once again have everything back at my fingertips and someone waiting on my every need with a smile. I also planted a voice recording in Jo’s seat that once again affirmed my hatred for her. The back half of the plane found it quite humorous.
Back in NYC, some friends and I went out to eat at a pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was delicious and then we got some ice cream right next door. While waiting for the car to be pulled around, one of the girls’ cones melted all over my hand, yet I felt like I couldn’t actually lick it because then I’d feel like I was steeling it. After all I was just supposed to hold it while she went to get the car. Instead, I just held it over my mouth and conveniently, most of the cone melted into my mouth before they could make it back to us.
After being dropped off at the airport, I quickly realized I didn’t have my phone on me anymore. I explained the situation to some random lady and asked if I could use her phone. She was reluctant to help and asked me for the number, the person I was calling, who I was, the reason I was calling, if there was any other message to give. . . I felt like I was being interrogated. Eventually, I figured out that she probably thought I was would steal her phone and run away with it if she let me hold it. I am so fast carrying a backpack and a 70lb suitcase. I can understand her reluctance.
When we didn’t find my phone, I thought, “Maybe if fell out of my pocket when I got out of the car.” Sure enough, I could see a small black object in the middle of New York airport traffic and it was still in one piece. I ran out to it, but the cars were coming too fast and one taxi clipped it right in front of me causing it skid 5 feet further away from me. I felt a little like Frogger trying to avoid taxis and enormous logging trucks. Fortunately for me, I had something that Frogger did not: Pedestrian’s right of way. I just stepped out into oncoming traffic and stopped two lanes of cars to get my battered phone.
When my phone didn’t turn on, I was a little distraught. I didn’t have any numbers memorized other than my dad’s, but I didn’t think he had any numbers of people in AZ so that I could actually get picked up at the airport. After thinking of the 5 degrees of separation that were between my dad’s number and Adam’s, I decided to pray about my phone. It hadn’t turned on for the past 15 minutes, what did I have to lose? A short prayer and frustrated shake later and my phone sprung back to life. The cracked screen was ok with me as it meant that I could be picked up from the Phoenix airport on time.
The short 6 hour flight from NYC to Phoenix was a short hop compared to the previous 30 hours. Even with the plane changing gates several times and being an hour and half delayed, I was still as jovial as a child on his birthday. (We did a lesson on similes and metaphors in Uganda . . . I guess I passed). I was in and out of sleep for most of the flight. I was happily dreaming of driving a car and being invincible and flying off a cliff or something like when I realized that my pants were cold and wet. I knew I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t flying at such an altitude that would cause a temperature change. I mean Superman never dealt with cold-crotch while flying. A second later I woke up and saw that the gentleman next to me had gotten up to go to the bathroom and in his haste, knocked over my ice cold cran-apple juice I had been saving. Now I had to ring my call button and get one of those, “Are you 6 and knock stuff over” look along with my napkins to dry my pants. The worst part of this travesty is that the guy never even knew he was the one that wet my pants and woke me from an amazing dream. Grrrr.
