Hello all,
First blog post since returning to the UK. I've been back a little over a week now and am already missing Africa. Life over there is such a different experience to the modern western world that we live in, where we take such things as electricity and running water for granted. Although looking at the way things work I couldn't help but think that the western world could learn a few things. An excellent example is the way that nothing goes to waste and I really mean nothing. Me and Ben saw old car wheels being used as barbecues and grills being made out of old banding wire. One story Bob told us was about a guy whose scooter's front panel had been smashed. Instead of getting it replaced (cause there is little chance of him being able to afford it) he simply sewed it back together. Really wish I could of gotten a photo of that (Bob did say he had one, not sure if it was in the photos that Ben got off him). Ben used the example of his old car, it had a fault with it that caused it to be written off, but there wasn't really much wrong with the car itself apart from this one fault. In the UK the car was scrapped, in Africa it would of been fixed. Of course this is all driven by the lack of income that the majority of Africans have, but it was interesting to see how they dealt with life with very little income. One of the kids who came with the mission in Hoima said how happy all the children looked despite the fact that they had nothing and how kids in America simply weren't like that. But I ramble.
Tomorrow marks an extremely important day. My first day in my graduate job. I've been looking forward to this day for almost 6 months. I can quite clearly remember getting the phone call informing me that I got the job and remember with the fondness the feeling of elation as well as my celebration that evening and in fact the next day (dinner and a movie with Laura and then watching the final day of the 6 nations when Ireland got the Grand Slam, despite the rather large amount of work that still needed to be done at that point). Hopefully this job will make the last four years worth all the hassle, stress and pain. Althought the work for real won't start until I go to Chicago. One thing I have to stop doing is writing down Student as my occupation.
Well those are my thoughts for the moment and if any of you are interested in seeing some photos here are some links to the albums that Ben has put up.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/KibbuseVocationalSchoolUganda#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/LakeAlbert#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/WellDrillingInHoima#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/KampalaToQENP#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/MurchinsonFallsNationalPark#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/JinjaKisumu#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Benjamin.P.Riddle/MasaiMaraNairobi#
Till next time,
Monday 31 August 2009
Friday 21 August 2009
Final Days in Africa
Well it's been a great few days since my last post in Jinja but this will be my last post in Africa. Currently sitting in a internet cafe in Nairobi reflecting on my time in the Dark Continent.
Last blog post I was in Jinja, having been white-water rafting me, Ben and 3 others from our group when quad-biking. The course was around an area just outside of Jinja. We biked through many villages which was great fun but then a little off-putting because I couldn't help feeling like I was being a public disturbance. I reckon some of the fee we paid for the quad-biking went to the villagers (at least I hope it did). The evening was fairly uneventful, just packing and getting ready to leave Jinja.
Sunday we left Jinja and Uganda and went to Kisumu in Kenya. We didn't have transport like in Uganda so we caught a public bus. However we weren't sure how we were getting to the bus station. Next thing an entire fleet of boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis) arrived, one for each person and a car to take our luggage. So there was us on 11 boda-bodas riding along to the bus station a few minutes outside of town. Was quite a sight. When we arrived at the bus station we waited for the bus to arrive. However when it did we were told that there wasn't enough space for all our luggage. The solution being to wait for another bus a few minutes behind and load our luggage onto that. We were a little worried about that but we went along any way. We then had to deal with the border crossing which was a fairly painless affair. Just a bit of waiting around for those who hadn't sorted their visas beforehand, then it was off to Kisumu. After arriving in Kisumu (thankfully our luggage made it as well) we checked into the hotel and went on a tour of the market (Kisumu means place of bargaining). Very interesting tour of the market which wasn't directed to tourist so it was a genuine place. We did get hassled by someone constantly trying to befriend us and get money of us but he left when he realised that we were heading toward the police station (according to our guide he could get 30 years prison for hassling us, have to say I didn't believe that). The evening was spent chatting in the hotel restaurant.
Monday morning was spent on a boat tour around Lake Victoria. We were told a lot about the local fishing villages and even got to visit one. We also went through some swamps and saw more wildlife. We had lunch at a local restaurant which was a very nice place but they often ran out of things. Ben didn't receive anything he initially wanted, the funniest example being when the waitress misheard his request for Lasagne as Tanzanian Fish Curry. He wasn't best pleased when his dish arrived. In the afternoon me and Ben wondered round Kisumu but to be honest there wasn't much there so we went back to the hotel and relaxed there. In the evening the group went out for dinner. Had a fantastic waiter who was very funny (he pretended that he'd misheard my order).
Tuesday was spent driving to the Maasai Mara. After some very interesting roads (I say roads) which resulted in us fishtailing many times and one truck getting stuck we arrived at our campsite. We had lunch and went out for a game drive. We managed to see our first Lion of the trip but it was slightly ruined by some of the other tourists (there were a total of 25 safari vans around these Lions, there were 7 of them). Still managed to see loads of animals.
Wednesday was a full day spent in the Mara. We left our campsite at 6.30 for an early morning game drive and spent 6 hours out in the park. The afternoon we visited a Maasai village and were shown around and shown the traditional dances etc. The evening we went on another game drive. We then had dinner with another tour group that had arrived. New animals we saw in the Mara included Impala, Lion, Thompson's Gazelle, Topi, Eland, Black-Backed Jackal and Bat-Eared Fox.
Thursday morning we had another game drive which was made memorable by two things. First we spotted two Lions and managed to get extremely close without having any other vans around. The second was seeing two ostriches mate. One of the funniest things I've seen. Can't really describe it here so contact me if you want me to. We then departed the Mara and drove on to our final destination, Nairobi. After a few stops including a church built bu Italian POWs we arrived at our hotel at around 4. We then showered etc and prepared to go out for our final dinner. Destination - Carnivore.
For those of you who don't know Carnivore is a restaurant that predominantly deals in meat. You go in and for a set price can eat as much meat as you can. Usually they have lots of exotic and different meats but the government is clamping down on people illegally providing game meat so the choice was a little limited. At the final count we had 6 different animals. The price also included soup starter and dessert. The restaurant itself is huge with an awesome atmosphere and we all had an incredible time there. We then said our goodbyes to the people who were leaving early the next day.
That brings us to today. Me and Ben are spending the next two days in Nairobi before flying back home tomorrow evening. It's been a great trip and we've met loads of people. Unfortunately we've also had to say goodbye but these things happen.
Just realised how much I've written. Hope you enjoyed it and till next time.
Last blog post I was in Jinja, having been white-water rafting me, Ben and 3 others from our group when quad-biking. The course was around an area just outside of Jinja. We biked through many villages which was great fun but then a little off-putting because I couldn't help feeling like I was being a public disturbance. I reckon some of the fee we paid for the quad-biking went to the villagers (at least I hope it did). The evening was fairly uneventful, just packing and getting ready to leave Jinja.
Sunday we left Jinja and Uganda and went to Kisumu in Kenya. We didn't have transport like in Uganda so we caught a public bus. However we weren't sure how we were getting to the bus station. Next thing an entire fleet of boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis) arrived, one for each person and a car to take our luggage. So there was us on 11 boda-bodas riding along to the bus station a few minutes outside of town. Was quite a sight. When we arrived at the bus station we waited for the bus to arrive. However when it did we were told that there wasn't enough space for all our luggage. The solution being to wait for another bus a few minutes behind and load our luggage onto that. We were a little worried about that but we went along any way. We then had to deal with the border crossing which was a fairly painless affair. Just a bit of waiting around for those who hadn't sorted their visas beforehand, then it was off to Kisumu. After arriving in Kisumu (thankfully our luggage made it as well) we checked into the hotel and went on a tour of the market (Kisumu means place of bargaining). Very interesting tour of the market which wasn't directed to tourist so it was a genuine place. We did get hassled by someone constantly trying to befriend us and get money of us but he left when he realised that we were heading toward the police station (according to our guide he could get 30 years prison for hassling us, have to say I didn't believe that). The evening was spent chatting in the hotel restaurant.
Monday morning was spent on a boat tour around Lake Victoria. We were told a lot about the local fishing villages and even got to visit one. We also went through some swamps and saw more wildlife. We had lunch at a local restaurant which was a very nice place but they often ran out of things. Ben didn't receive anything he initially wanted, the funniest example being when the waitress misheard his request for Lasagne as Tanzanian Fish Curry. He wasn't best pleased when his dish arrived. In the afternoon me and Ben wondered round Kisumu but to be honest there wasn't much there so we went back to the hotel and relaxed there. In the evening the group went out for dinner. Had a fantastic waiter who was very funny (he pretended that he'd misheard my order).
Tuesday was spent driving to the Maasai Mara. After some very interesting roads (I say roads) which resulted in us fishtailing many times and one truck getting stuck we arrived at our campsite. We had lunch and went out for a game drive. We managed to see our first Lion of the trip but it was slightly ruined by some of the other tourists (there were a total of 25 safari vans around these Lions, there were 7 of them). Still managed to see loads of animals.
Wednesday was a full day spent in the Mara. We left our campsite at 6.30 for an early morning game drive and spent 6 hours out in the park. The afternoon we visited a Maasai village and were shown around and shown the traditional dances etc. The evening we went on another game drive. We then had dinner with another tour group that had arrived. New animals we saw in the Mara included Impala, Lion, Thompson's Gazelle, Topi, Eland, Black-Backed Jackal and Bat-Eared Fox.
Thursday morning we had another game drive which was made memorable by two things. First we spotted two Lions and managed to get extremely close without having any other vans around. The second was seeing two ostriches mate. One of the funniest things I've seen. Can't really describe it here so contact me if you want me to. We then departed the Mara and drove on to our final destination, Nairobi. After a few stops including a church built bu Italian POWs we arrived at our hotel at around 4. We then showered etc and prepared to go out for our final dinner. Destination - Carnivore.
For those of you who don't know Carnivore is a restaurant that predominantly deals in meat. You go in and for a set price can eat as much meat as you can. Usually they have lots of exotic and different meats but the government is clamping down on people illegally providing game meat so the choice was a little limited. At the final count we had 6 different animals. The price also included soup starter and dessert. The restaurant itself is huge with an awesome atmosphere and we all had an incredible time there. We then said our goodbyes to the people who were leaving early the next day.
That brings us to today. Me and Ben are spending the next two days in Nairobi before flying back home tomorrow evening. It's been a great trip and we've met loads of people. Unfortunately we've also had to say goodbye but these things happen.
Just realised how much I've written. Hope you enjoyed it and till next time.
Saturday 15 August 2009
A Nile on the Nile
Hello All,
Last post I was in Kampala about to meet up with our tour with whom we would be spending the next 2 weeks. Saturday evening we met our group which consisted of 3 Canadians, 4 Brits (including me and Ben), 2 Germans and 2 people from Singapore. Out of the group me and Ben are the youngest by a fair amount. Sunday was spent driving to Queen Elizabeth National Park. We stopped off at the equator and did the usual tourist things like take pictures and do the water experiment (water flows down a plug in different directions depending on which side of the equator you are and goes straight down on the equator). Afterwards we continued on our way stopping for lunch. We arrived at QENP at around 5.30 and set up our tents. We then had dinner in a building than reminded me of an old scout hut before heading to bed.
Monday we were up at 5.40 and had a quick breakfast before heading on an early morning game drive. It was a fairly disappointing game drive as we didn't see much. Afterwards we had another breakfast and me, Ben and a few others went on a game walk, which was brilliant. Our guide seemed to know just about everything. He also proved to be very very good at spotting and identifying different bird species from a great distance away having only seen the bird for a split second. He showed us the various different species of birds (for instances the many different types of Weaver Bird) and showed us the subtle differences between them. How he could spot these differences considering that he bearly saw them for more than a second remains a mystery. We spent the afternoon in our tents hiding from the sun and in the evening went on a cruise along the river. We saw lots of different animals including Hippo, Elephant, Waterbuck, Kob, African Fish Eagle and more.
Tuesday was spent driving to Murchinson Falls. A fairly uneventful day with the only real highlight for me and Ben was passing through Kiziranfumbi and Hoima again. We arrived at our rest camp after dark and managed to spot some Hippos wandering through the camp.
Wednesday morning was spent on another game drive which proved to be a lot more successful than QENP. We saw many animals including our first Giraffe and Jackson's Hartebeast (not quite sure on the spelling there). On the way back our truck got stuck in the sand and we had to dig a track and lay cardboard down to get out. The afternoon was spent on another cruise down the Albert Nile down towards the falls themselves. On the way back me, Ben and a newly wed couple from London sat on the top of the boat with a Nile beer (Hence the post title). Evening was spent in the rest camp bar and packing.
Thursday was spent driving to Jinja with very little of interest happening. The exceptions being seeing the falls up close (we could understand why they are the most powerful in the world, the 50 metre wide Nile gets squeezed through a 3 metre gap) and our first hot shower in almost a week at the hotel in Jinja.
Friday was spent on the Nile. We went white water rafting with a fair amount of our group. It was a great deal of fun. Our guide (an international kayaker) was very funny and extremely good at what he did. Highlights included someone falling off on the very first rapid (the tamest one of the day), floating through a rapid out of the boat, being overturned and having to float down a rapid alone, the jokes told by our guide ("What do you call a black man flying a plane?" - "The pilot you racist"), seeing someone in the boat ahead of us getting catapulated a few feet in the air and the final rapid which was quite simply mad (no one stayed in the boat and Ben got thrown a few feet into the air) the only downside of the trip being the nasty sunburn many of us got. The rafting company also provided a BBQ and a few free drinks afterwards (all for $125). In the evening me, Ben, Tim and Amy (the newly weds) went to a "bar/casino" in Jinja. The casino was frankly crap but the bar was really funny. There was a live band playing and all the seats were arranged facing the bar instead of in clusters. The bar also had the best entrance policy ever. Instead of paying an entrance fee you had to buy a drink.
Today me and Ben went to the source of the Nile and will be Quad-biking this evening before leaving Uganda tomorrow to head to Kisumu in Kenya. Little sad to be leaving Uganda I've loved my time here but am looking forward to Kenya especially the Masi Mara game reserve.
Hope you are all well and till next time.
Last post I was in Kampala about to meet up with our tour with whom we would be spending the next 2 weeks. Saturday evening we met our group which consisted of 3 Canadians, 4 Brits (including me and Ben), 2 Germans and 2 people from Singapore. Out of the group me and Ben are the youngest by a fair amount. Sunday was spent driving to Queen Elizabeth National Park. We stopped off at the equator and did the usual tourist things like take pictures and do the water experiment (water flows down a plug in different directions depending on which side of the equator you are and goes straight down on the equator). Afterwards we continued on our way stopping for lunch. We arrived at QENP at around 5.30 and set up our tents. We then had dinner in a building than reminded me of an old scout hut before heading to bed.
Monday we were up at 5.40 and had a quick breakfast before heading on an early morning game drive. It was a fairly disappointing game drive as we didn't see much. Afterwards we had another breakfast and me, Ben and a few others went on a game walk, which was brilliant. Our guide seemed to know just about everything. He also proved to be very very good at spotting and identifying different bird species from a great distance away having only seen the bird for a split second. He showed us the various different species of birds (for instances the many different types of Weaver Bird) and showed us the subtle differences between them. How he could spot these differences considering that he bearly saw them for more than a second remains a mystery. We spent the afternoon in our tents hiding from the sun and in the evening went on a cruise along the river. We saw lots of different animals including Hippo, Elephant, Waterbuck, Kob, African Fish Eagle and more.
Tuesday was spent driving to Murchinson Falls. A fairly uneventful day with the only real highlight for me and Ben was passing through Kiziranfumbi and Hoima again. We arrived at our rest camp after dark and managed to spot some Hippos wandering through the camp.
Wednesday morning was spent on another game drive which proved to be a lot more successful than QENP. We saw many animals including our first Giraffe and Jackson's Hartebeast (not quite sure on the spelling there). On the way back our truck got stuck in the sand and we had to dig a track and lay cardboard down to get out. The afternoon was spent on another cruise down the Albert Nile down towards the falls themselves. On the way back me, Ben and a newly wed couple from London sat on the top of the boat with a Nile beer (Hence the post title). Evening was spent in the rest camp bar and packing.
Thursday was spent driving to Jinja with very little of interest happening. The exceptions being seeing the falls up close (we could understand why they are the most powerful in the world, the 50 metre wide Nile gets squeezed through a 3 metre gap) and our first hot shower in almost a week at the hotel in Jinja.
Friday was spent on the Nile. We went white water rafting with a fair amount of our group. It was a great deal of fun. Our guide (an international kayaker) was very funny and extremely good at what he did. Highlights included someone falling off on the very first rapid (the tamest one of the day), floating through a rapid out of the boat, being overturned and having to float down a rapid alone, the jokes told by our guide ("What do you call a black man flying a plane?" - "The pilot you racist"), seeing someone in the boat ahead of us getting catapulated a few feet in the air and the final rapid which was quite simply mad (no one stayed in the boat and Ben got thrown a few feet into the air) the only downside of the trip being the nasty sunburn many of us got. The rafting company also provided a BBQ and a few free drinks afterwards (all for $125). In the evening me, Ben, Tim and Amy (the newly weds) went to a "bar/casino" in Jinja. The casino was frankly crap but the bar was really funny. There was a live band playing and all the seats were arranged facing the bar instead of in clusters. The bar also had the best entrance policy ever. Instead of paying an entrance fee you had to buy a drink.
Today me and Ben went to the source of the Nile and will be Quad-biking this evening before leaving Uganda tomorrow to head to Kisumu in Kenya. Little sad to be leaving Uganda I've loved my time here but am looking forward to Kenya especially the Masi Mara game reserve.
Hope you are all well and till next time.
Saturday 8 August 2009
Don't Wait Until You're Thirsty!!
Hello All,
Slightly shorter time between updates this time so I can write a little more.
Last time I had just arrived in Hoima to spend two days helping with a mission group from the States. Wednesday afternoon was spent lazing around the pool and chatting with the group. Although the first thing we did was have a shower as there were no showers in Kiziranfumbi so me and Ben had gone 4 days without showering. The shower in the hotel was pretty poor by our normal standards but by that point it felt awesome. Even if there was no holder for the showerhead. A few members of the mission group had arrived a few days earlier and the rest had arrived in Entebbe that morning and were driving over. As we were standing around talking we heard a brass band playing. It turned out to be the rest of the group being led along the Hoima streets by this band. They entered the hotel compound and proceeded to play whilst everyone was saying hello. It was quite a welcome and reminded me and Ben of our welcome to Kibbuse a few weeks before. After our lazing round the pool and me Ben went and met with the well drilling team to introduce ourselves and get an idea of the process involved following that was dinner. Following dinner there was a entire group meeting where we met more people. We then spent the evening at the hotel bar. Was a pretty relaxed and luxurious day which felt a little odd after the last few weeks but was a good laugh. It took some of the younger members of the mission only around 3 hours to come up with nicknames. I was Willy Wonka because of my apparent resemblance to Gene Wilder in the film, which led to Ben being called Charlie (predictably) although I preferred those nicknames to Brit 1 and Brit 2 which is what we were called by the well drilling team (I was Brit 2).
Thursday started at the unpleasant hour of 6.30. We were slightly lucky cause one of the older guys on the mission tends to knock on everyone's doors at 6 to wake them up. We were saved from that because the guy didn't know which room me and Ben were in. We then had our final breakfast with Bob. Following a few delays with transport we were off for our first experience of well drilling. We arrived at the site and started to set up the drill at around 10. The drill rig consists of a wide base to which a vertical bar with the section for the drill bit is attached. The base has to be anchored into the ground using these long metal poles with two bits of screwed threads attached. However as we discovered there was a large rock about a foot under the topsoil. Me and one other guy succeeded in breaking one of these things (they're about 1.5 inches in diameter and made from steel). Eventually we started drilling. The drill bit is attached to the mechanism by a series of 5 ft metal pipes. So you drill down 5 feet then disconnect the mechanism and put another pipe on. After drilling down to about 45 feet we hit a rock and couldn't continue so packed up (I managed to get hit in the head during this process the first of many times) and went back to the hotel. Had dinner, a team meeting and then played cards at the pool.
Friday was much the same as Thursday. We drilled two sites before hitting rock, neither times reaching water, so fairly successful. The afternoon was made interesting by a large rainstorm which at first had us hiding under trees to try and kept dry then under a hut in a nearby village. I also got accidentally got punched in the face, A pump had cut out and we were trying to start it up again. The guy trying to start it was having trouble so I reached over and put the choke on. He then tried again (the pump was started by a pull string like an old lawnmower) and resulted in his hand colliding with my nose (the third time in two days I'd been hit in the head). By the end of the day we ended up so dirty that people were taking photos of us when we arrived back.
Both days we had audiences of up to 50 children watching us. We had taken so much water with us (one of the team leaders kept on saying that we have to keep drinking "Don't wait until you're thirsty, because you're already a quart low on water by then") so we had loads of empty bottles. We ended up throwing these into the crowd of kids which almost resulted in a riot. I actually saw a kid crawl over another one to get to a bottle. I was quite an interesting sight. During the team meeting that evening I spoke to the group and thanked them for having us. We apparently really impressed the well drillers with how hard we worked especially after being hit in the head so often. We spend the rest of the evening chatting people from the group. Me and Ben were a little sad to be leaving cause we really enjoyed the company and the experience of drilling wells. But we were heading to Kampala to start our tour (the holiday part of the trip now that the work section had finished).
Saturday morning was spent travelling to Kampala via taxi. The trip in total took a little over three hours. We checked into our hotel, said goodbye to Rev. James who had accompanied us and then went to Garden City (a shopping centre). However as we were going into Garden City we ran into Spencer and Mandy again (the Peace Corps worker and her boyfriend from Karaguza). Slightly amazed at this chance encounter we had lunch with them at this amazing Thai restaurant before saying goodbye and heading back to Garden City to write this blog entry.
Well despite only having two days of things to write about I've still managed to write far too much. Tomorrow we leave for Queen Elizabeth park in the south of the country (over 500 kms away so it's gonna be a long day)
Till next time,
Slightly shorter time between updates this time so I can write a little more.
Last time I had just arrived in Hoima to spend two days helping with a mission group from the States. Wednesday afternoon was spent lazing around the pool and chatting with the group. Although the first thing we did was have a shower as there were no showers in Kiziranfumbi so me and Ben had gone 4 days without showering. The shower in the hotel was pretty poor by our normal standards but by that point it felt awesome. Even if there was no holder for the showerhead. A few members of the mission group had arrived a few days earlier and the rest had arrived in Entebbe that morning and were driving over. As we were standing around talking we heard a brass band playing. It turned out to be the rest of the group being led along the Hoima streets by this band. They entered the hotel compound and proceeded to play whilst everyone was saying hello. It was quite a welcome and reminded me and Ben of our welcome to Kibbuse a few weeks before. After our lazing round the pool and me Ben went and met with the well drilling team to introduce ourselves and get an idea of the process involved following that was dinner. Following dinner there was a entire group meeting where we met more people. We then spent the evening at the hotel bar. Was a pretty relaxed and luxurious day which felt a little odd after the last few weeks but was a good laugh. It took some of the younger members of the mission only around 3 hours to come up with nicknames. I was Willy Wonka because of my apparent resemblance to Gene Wilder in the film, which led to Ben being called Charlie (predictably) although I preferred those nicknames to Brit 1 and Brit 2 which is what we were called by the well drilling team (I was Brit 2).
Thursday started at the unpleasant hour of 6.30. We were slightly lucky cause one of the older guys on the mission tends to knock on everyone's doors at 6 to wake them up. We were saved from that because the guy didn't know which room me and Ben were in. We then had our final breakfast with Bob. Following a few delays with transport we were off for our first experience of well drilling. We arrived at the site and started to set up the drill at around 10. The drill rig consists of a wide base to which a vertical bar with the section for the drill bit is attached. The base has to be anchored into the ground using these long metal poles with two bits of screwed threads attached. However as we discovered there was a large rock about a foot under the topsoil. Me and one other guy succeeded in breaking one of these things (they're about 1.5 inches in diameter and made from steel). Eventually we started drilling. The drill bit is attached to the mechanism by a series of 5 ft metal pipes. So you drill down 5 feet then disconnect the mechanism and put another pipe on. After drilling down to about 45 feet we hit a rock and couldn't continue so packed up (I managed to get hit in the head during this process the first of many times) and went back to the hotel. Had dinner, a team meeting and then played cards at the pool.
Friday was much the same as Thursday. We drilled two sites before hitting rock, neither times reaching water, so fairly successful. The afternoon was made interesting by a large rainstorm which at first had us hiding under trees to try and kept dry then under a hut in a nearby village. I also got accidentally got punched in the face, A pump had cut out and we were trying to start it up again. The guy trying to start it was having trouble so I reached over and put the choke on. He then tried again (the pump was started by a pull string like an old lawnmower) and resulted in his hand colliding with my nose (the third time in two days I'd been hit in the head). By the end of the day we ended up so dirty that people were taking photos of us when we arrived back.
Both days we had audiences of up to 50 children watching us. We had taken so much water with us (one of the team leaders kept on saying that we have to keep drinking "Don't wait until you're thirsty, because you're already a quart low on water by then") so we had loads of empty bottles. We ended up throwing these into the crowd of kids which almost resulted in a riot. I actually saw a kid crawl over another one to get to a bottle. I was quite an interesting sight. During the team meeting that evening I spoke to the group and thanked them for having us. We apparently really impressed the well drillers with how hard we worked especially after being hit in the head so often. We spend the rest of the evening chatting people from the group. Me and Ben were a little sad to be leaving cause we really enjoyed the company and the experience of drilling wells. But we were heading to Kampala to start our tour (the holiday part of the trip now that the work section had finished).
Saturday morning was spent travelling to Kampala via taxi. The trip in total took a little over three hours. We checked into our hotel, said goodbye to Rev. James who had accompanied us and then went to Garden City (a shopping centre). However as we were going into Garden City we ran into Spencer and Mandy again (the Peace Corps worker and her boyfriend from Karaguza). Slightly amazed at this chance encounter we had lunch with them at this amazing Thai restaurant before saying goodbye and heading back to Garden City to write this blog entry.
Well despite only having two days of things to write about I've still managed to write far too much. Tomorrow we leave for Queen Elizabeth park in the south of the country (over 500 kms away so it's gonna be a long day)
Till next time,
Wednesday 5 August 2009
Paint, Earthquakes, Coffee, Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Hello all again, Been another busy week with lots to write.
Wednesday the 29th July was spent by me and Ben working on the playground that we started a few days previously. However this time it was only me and Ben working. This was a source of great amusement to the local kids. Two Mzungu (Westerners) doing physical labour is clearly a rare event (considering that there aren't many around anyway this is hardly a surprise). One of the teachers was amazed that we were going out to work at around 2pm saying to Ben "Ben you are going to become an African". We also watched a bricklaying practical exam and was very impressed with what the students made.
Thursday was spent preparing metal brackets for reinforcing drying racks at a coffee farm a few hours away. This involved filing the metal so that it was smooth and then painting them. We managed to pull another crowd of local kids who were clearly amazed by us. The afternoon was made slightly memorable by a minor earthquake. Me and Ben were in our room when the whole place started to shake. We thought something had run into the building but when it stopped we went outside to ask if anyone else had felt it. Idah simply stated it was an earthquake and they happen around once a year there. The whole thing lasted bearly 10 seconds in total.
Friday was spent painting the rest of the metal brackets. In total there were around 400 brackets that were painted and hung in a classroom to dry. Again we had our crowd but that was partially due to the huge rainstorm that occurred halfway through the afternoon. Many local kids used the storm to have a shower. The rain only lasted for around 30 minutes but a lot of rain fell to the relief of many as the school collects rainwater to use for washing, drinking etc. Following the storm I gave a guitar lesson to Richard one of the teachers. The evening was spent playing Hearts with Bob and Brenda where I successfully managed to pick up the Queen of Spades in every round apart from 2. If you don't know the game, that card is the worse card to pick up.
Saturday morning was spent doing washing. Again to the amusement of Sarah (Bob and Brenda's housekeeper). In the afternoon we walked up a nearby hill. Bob reckoned it would take us around 2 hours to reach the top. 40 minutes later we were there and admiring the view. The path ended around halfway up so we had to scramble up rocks to reach the summit. We were joined by two students who had never made the climb. We also found a large rock that was hollow. But we couldn't find a place into the rock to find out why.
Sunday was our last day in Kibbuse. We started the day by being taught to make american style pancakes with Bob. We then went to the church and got a photo of all the churchgoers with us outside after the service. We then went to lunch and then prepared to leave. At around 3 we left Nyamarwa for Kiziranfumbi around 2 hours north. We arrived and checked into our hotel (equivalent of $4 a night but had no showers) and went to a local restaurant for dinner. This restaurant like all the restaurants we had been to so far had no menu and in this case only one dish. Beef and rice, it wasn't that bad a meal thought and only cost around 3 pounds. Afterwards we met some locals who had just come back from a town council meeting and then chatted with Bob for a while before heading to bed.
Monday and Tuesday morning was spent at the Wombabya coffee farm installing the metal brackets that me and Ben had prepared earlier in the week. Initially we had planned on spending the whole two days there but we worked so quickly we managed to finish early on Tuesday (including a break to see two birds who had managed to get stuck in the truck and to get some photos). Tuesday afternoon was spent at Lake Albert which forms part of the border between Uganda and the Congo. After a fantastic lunch we sat around and relaxed in the afternoon and then went for a game drive at dusk. Me, Ben and Faith (the daughter of Jessica who owned the Wombabya farm) stood out on the back of the truck during the drive and saw many different animals including Kob, Waterbuck, Warthog and the Great Crested Crane (the national bird of Uganda). We then returned to Kiziranfumbi for dinner.
Finally today we left Kiziranfumbi and went to Hoima. Here we will be working for 2 days with a mission group from the states. Hopefully we will be helping out with the well-drilling team before returning to Kampala on Saturday to start our tour.
Thanks for reading and once again I haven't written everything as there is to much to write.
Till next time.
Wednesday the 29th July was spent by me and Ben working on the playground that we started a few days previously. However this time it was only me and Ben working. This was a source of great amusement to the local kids. Two Mzungu (Westerners) doing physical labour is clearly a rare event (considering that there aren't many around anyway this is hardly a surprise). One of the teachers was amazed that we were going out to work at around 2pm saying to Ben "Ben you are going to become an African". We also watched a bricklaying practical exam and was very impressed with what the students made.
Thursday was spent preparing metal brackets for reinforcing drying racks at a coffee farm a few hours away. This involved filing the metal so that it was smooth and then painting them. We managed to pull another crowd of local kids who were clearly amazed by us. The afternoon was made slightly memorable by a minor earthquake. Me and Ben were in our room when the whole place started to shake. We thought something had run into the building but when it stopped we went outside to ask if anyone else had felt it. Idah simply stated it was an earthquake and they happen around once a year there. The whole thing lasted bearly 10 seconds in total.
Friday was spent painting the rest of the metal brackets. In total there were around 400 brackets that were painted and hung in a classroom to dry. Again we had our crowd but that was partially due to the huge rainstorm that occurred halfway through the afternoon. Many local kids used the storm to have a shower. The rain only lasted for around 30 minutes but a lot of rain fell to the relief of many as the school collects rainwater to use for washing, drinking etc. Following the storm I gave a guitar lesson to Richard one of the teachers. The evening was spent playing Hearts with Bob and Brenda where I successfully managed to pick up the Queen of Spades in every round apart from 2. If you don't know the game, that card is the worse card to pick up.
Saturday morning was spent doing washing. Again to the amusement of Sarah (Bob and Brenda's housekeeper). In the afternoon we walked up a nearby hill. Bob reckoned it would take us around 2 hours to reach the top. 40 minutes later we were there and admiring the view. The path ended around halfway up so we had to scramble up rocks to reach the summit. We were joined by two students who had never made the climb. We also found a large rock that was hollow. But we couldn't find a place into the rock to find out why.
Sunday was our last day in Kibbuse. We started the day by being taught to make american style pancakes with Bob. We then went to the church and got a photo of all the churchgoers with us outside after the service. We then went to lunch and then prepared to leave. At around 3 we left Nyamarwa for Kiziranfumbi around 2 hours north. We arrived and checked into our hotel (equivalent of $4 a night but had no showers) and went to a local restaurant for dinner. This restaurant like all the restaurants we had been to so far had no menu and in this case only one dish. Beef and rice, it wasn't that bad a meal thought and only cost around 3 pounds. Afterwards we met some locals who had just come back from a town council meeting and then chatted with Bob for a while before heading to bed.
Monday and Tuesday morning was spent at the Wombabya coffee farm installing the metal brackets that me and Ben had prepared earlier in the week. Initially we had planned on spending the whole two days there but we worked so quickly we managed to finish early on Tuesday (including a break to see two birds who had managed to get stuck in the truck and to get some photos). Tuesday afternoon was spent at Lake Albert which forms part of the border between Uganda and the Congo. After a fantastic lunch we sat around and relaxed in the afternoon and then went for a game drive at dusk. Me, Ben and Faith (the daughter of Jessica who owned the Wombabya farm) stood out on the back of the truck during the drive and saw many different animals including Kob, Waterbuck, Warthog and the Great Crested Crane (the national bird of Uganda). We then returned to Kiziranfumbi for dinner.
Finally today we left Kiziranfumbi and went to Hoima. Here we will be working for 2 days with a mission group from the states. Hopefully we will be helping out with the well-drilling team before returning to Kampala on Saturday to start our tour.
Thanks for reading and once again I haven't written everything as there is to much to write.
Till next time.
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