Hello friends and family of Nkula!!
I am sitting in an internet cafe in the lovely town of Kabale, Uganda. We took a nine hour bus ride to get here, through some of the most beautiful mountains most of us have ever seen. We’re nestled in between a couple of them, enjoying the fresh, mostly unpolluted air, blue sky, and chilled weather. It’s nice to wear sweatshirts for a change!
The past few days have been nothing less then exciting. We had hard times, fun times, relaxing times, and definitely stepped out of our comfort zones more then once.
We arrived around 4 pm in Jinja, Uganda on Saturday evening, and immediatly our hearts were stolen by the charming little tourist town. We caught up on some internet, drank too many milkshakes, and shopped a little, before having a group dinner and then retiring to our hostel and falling asleep to the sounds of the Nile. Crazy.
Sunday morning bright and early we were picked up by Nalubale Rafting, and brought to their headquarters, where we got the lowdown on rafting, fitted for life jackets and helmets, and then drove for about an hour to reach the river. Rafting was intense, we learned what the commands meant and how to control the raft, and then were on our way. Needless to say we all flipped on the first rapid!
While it was scary, we couldn’t help but marvel that we were in the Nile River, white water rafting, and we had to smile. We jumped back on the horse (or raft) and paddled down the river more. Of course with a few swimming breaks along the way. After three more morning rapids, which were just as big, we stopped on the shore for lunch. We climbed up a really steep hill to a beautiful little spot and ate the delicious lunch the company had prepared for us, and spent some time just sitting and looking down at the incredible view.
After lunch we hopped back in and did it all over again, this time some of us with the resolve that we would. not. flip., and some who were itching to do it again. We went through four more rapids, before ending our journey with some sodas and a ride back to the headquarters. We stayed the night at another hostel on the river, and after an exhausting day we were ready for food and bed.
The original plan had been to spend two days getting to know the capital city of Kampala, by exploring and getting lost in its intriguing markets. But after stepping off the bus in the craziness of the congestion, we all agreed that we would rather have one more day in Jinga.
So we did. Monday was a wonderfully calm day of internet, overpriced western food, and again, milkshakes and smoothies. Carpe Diem right?
We left Jinja that night, and came to a hotel in Kampala late, where we crashed, ready to go get lost the next day.
We all woke up with positive attitudes on Tuesday morning. We wanted to find the happiness and love in the hectic and congested city of Kampala. And after some morning meditation set out to the local market to start our day with fresh faces.
The market proved overwhelming for most, and after a draining morning we reconsidered being out all day and most of us came back to the hotel for some rest.
After a few hours we again ventured out with all but four of our group to a Ba’hai Temple. There are only seven of these temples in the world, so we wanted to seize the opportunity to learn about such an amazing religion. The beautiful temple was on top of a hill, and completely quiet. Exactly what we needed to rejuvenate after our morning. We spent a couple hours meditating and relaxing in the grass around the gardens, before jumping back in the car to head to the Mosque a few blocks from our hotel to watch the sunset from the tower.
The Mosque was beautiful. While we didn’t make it up in time to watch the sun go down, we had an awesome experience being dressed in Hijabs, (except Colin of course) and then climbing the 15 flights of stairs to see the city from above. It was with open eyes and minds that we saw the city in the most beautiful way any of us had seen it yet. We felt at peace, and also very hungry, when we left.
We were spread out along the road on our way back, some towards the front, a few towards the back checking out a restaurant when there was a boda boda (the public transport: a motorcycle that weaves through traffic to get the locals places fast) accident right in front of our eyes. We were all very shaken up and scared, and as our brave leader helped out those hurt, we regrouped before some of us went back to our rooms to breathe, and others filled our stomachs and tried to talk about lighthearted things. It was a hard night, we held each other close and tried to keep spirits up, and we’re still working on processing the events. Needless to say we were all ready to hop on the bus the next morning and get out of the city. We did not feel like it was for us.
After the before mentioned nine hour bus ride yesterday, we are finally in Kabale. Rejuvenating and breathing in the clean air and smiling faces. We will be a while recovering from the things some of us saw, but together as a group we have had many open discussions about it and we will pull through with the love and support we all provide for each other.
Today will be spent enjoying small town life, and tomorrow we will head to SNEC (Special Needs Education Center) for five days of painting and working with the children. We’ll be off the map, but I’ll be sure to post more when we return!
Much love from all of us to you,
Grey
