Hello family and friends of Carpe Diem students. I’m Kylie and I’m our group’s first “blogger”! I’m writing from an awesome Internet cafe in Jinja, Uganda to update you all on our adventures.
We began our trip with a laid back orientation in Entebbe. We split into groups for a scavenger hunt, ate authentic Ugandan cuisine, and even made friends with some locals. Most importantly, we got to know each other and the trip itinerary. We visited the botanical gardens which was on the shore of the beautiful Lake Victoria and had a run in with DOZENS of monkeys that wanted our jackfruit!
We said goodbye to Entebbe on Saturday and piled ourselves and all of our packs into a dala-dala (taxi van). After about four hours we arrived at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. In awe of our beautiful rooms and comfy beds, we unpacked for a five day stay tracking rhinos. Everything about Ziwa was excellent: the director, the guides, the food, and, of course, the rhinos! Many of us took selfies (from a safe distance) with Obama, a five year old rhino with a mother from the US and a father from Kenya. Aside from rhino tracking, we painted planters and flower pots, lounged by the pool, went out on night patrol, and spent more time getting to know each other. It’s safe to say that it feels like we’ve been together way longer than 11 days. As an extra bonus we also bird watched and canoed in the nearby swamp.
Yesterday we visited the primary and preschool that is on Ziwa’s property. Everyone loved performing a puppet show and a song for the kids and playing a bit of “stop, go” and freeze tag! We were sorry to only have an afternoon to spend there, but I think everyone is quite excited to volunteer at more schools as we continue on our adventure.
Today we took two long rides in order to reach Jinja. We love this town already and can’t wait to go rafting on the Nile river tomorrow! Keep checking in on the blog and we’ll talk to you soon.
-Kylie