On Thursday morning at 5am, the 17 of us hopped on a "coach bus" to Uganda. Total, it took us about 12 hours to arrive in Kampala, Uganda. Along the way, we had to stop at the boarder and pass through a check point with the Rwandan government and then walk across no man'a land before paying for a visa into Uganda. Part of our reason for leaving Rwanda was so that we could renew our visas. Our visas that we got upon arrival here in Rwanda only last for 90 days, so we needed to leave and come back so that we could have a visa for the remainder of our stay. It cost us $50 dollars for a visa into Uganda, but the price of a visa varies depending on your citizenship. For US citizens, it does not cost anything to enter Rwanda and for Irish citizens, it does not cost anything to enter into Uganda. I am not sure the rhyme or reason behind this. Well, it is always fun to get a new stamp in the passport, especially from places that I have made such incredible memories in.
So eventually after a very hot, 12 hour bus ride, we reached Adonai Guesthouse in Kampala, Uganda. Not only was I antsy to get off the bus, but a special someone was waiting at our hotel for us to arrive. LISA WINGARD! I think I texted her at least 20 times on our bus ride because I was so excited to see her. Seeing her was so refreshing! After coming off a very draining month at New Life Christian Academy, seeing her was just what I needed :) We were able to catch up, eat dinner together, and go out to get some ice cream in the city. Seeing her was rejuvenating and got me ready to carry on with my Africa experience; but, at the same time, it was such a tease! It was like the rest of MWS should pop out of somewhere, but that didn't happen. That being said, I will be on my way to Costa Rica with them in about 5 weeks! 
On Friday, we woke up and spent the day walking around Kampala. We were paired with a tour guide that was a friend of Go-Ed's who took us to the market, the main university, a craft market, and a mosque. The market was much larger than our market in Kigali and much more disorganized. The mosque was beautiful, and the craft market was inspiring. As we walked around the craft market, artisans were sitting working on their pieces and proud to show off their artwork. Uganda is much, much cheaper than Rwanda. In Rwanda, with francs, we multiply the price of something by 2 and that gives us the approximate price in USD. In Uganda, with shillings, we divide the number by 2 and that gave us the approximate price in USD. After a day walking around Kampala, we headed out to a Mexican Restaurant which was absolutely incredible! After eating beans and rice for a month, it is nice to have some different flavors. Kimmie and I shared an avocado chicken burger and a chopped salad. SOOOO GOOD!
After an incredible dinner, we headed to see a show of traditional music and dances. The show was a compilation of dances to represent different regions in Uganda. Depending on the region of the country, the style of dance varies slightly, but each dance has its meaning behind it. For example. when the women bend over and reach their arm down and then put it up behind their back, that represents agricultural processes of women picking goods and placing them in a backed on their back. The show was full of colorful costumes, various drum rhythms, booty shaking by the women and comedy from the announcer. At the end, we all went up to the stage and danced with the dancers. A few of us were handed sticks to beat the drums and we just went at it while everyone danced around. It was an experience where all people were filled with joy. The audience was in awe and appreciation of the art for being performed in front of us and the artists were smiling ear to ear because they were able to not preserve their culture by sharing it with outsiders. |
| Hardcore booty shaking! |
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| The whole group after the performance |
WHITE WATER RAFTING! On Saturday morning, we headed out with a company called The Nile River Explorers to get ready for our Nile rafting adventure. We met at their center where we got suited up with helmets and life vests then we hopped on a bus to drive to the Nile. They fed us breakfast with consisted of a rolex and some fruit. What is a rolex you may ask? It is scrambled egg with vegetables rolled in chapati. It is BOMB!
Well now that I officially survived the experience, I can tell you my survival story of drowning down the Nile (not really!). There were 14 from our group that went, so we filled two boats of 7 people in each boat and then a guide. As they explained the river, they told us that our boats needed to decide whether we wanted to go light, medium, or hardcore. Of course we chose HARDCORE! So, we sat through the "safety" instructions, which consisted of a 5 minute briefing (safe right?) and then we went out onto flat water and practiced our paddling, tipping the boat, getting back in, and all that jazz. Let me just say that I was the only girl in my raft who could get in by myself on the first try. Those toothpicks on the side of my body that look like arms…they have MUSCLE!
So, my boat consisted of Arley, Ryan, Mikaela, Nicoya, Rae, Kimmie, Myself, and our guide, Davey D. We started out on our adventure and upon reaching the first rapid, we had to get out of our boat and walk around part of the rapid because the rapid had turned into a waterfall due to high water. Dying on the first rapid wasn't really on our to do list. The rapids range from level 1 being the lightest to level 6 meaning hospital/death. The second of 8 rapids that we reached was a class 3 rapid. Level 3 rapids=guide tips you because you want to go hardcore! So, we are going down the rapid and they tell us to duck which means to squat in the boat and hold the rope with you paddle under your arm. Well as we tipped, I somehow managed to go flying like 15 feet away from our boat and was under water for a good minute. They tell you to tuck in a ball and just stay there because if you fight the rapid, the force will keep you under longer. Well, in my head I was like, "Oh, yea…stay in a ball." But my body didn't listen so I was trying to come up and, well, I thought I was going to die hah. So eventually I came up and was bobbing down the rapid and one of the kayaks came up to me to take me back to my raft. There were about 10 kayaks that are traveling with the pack to grab people when they flung from their boats. They would instruct you to grab the front and link your legs up or grab the back and help kick. So my little kayak friend came up and got me and took me down through a level 1 rapid, safely to my boat. the next rapid we hit was EPIC! As you approach the rapid, it is a level 6 which means we aren't allowed to go down it because we don't want to die/be hospitalized. We got out and walked our boat around. As we looked at the rapid, it was incredible. There was so much force in the rushing water. Davey D, our guide, had been down through it in a kayak and said he got destroyed by it! The guide on the other boat went down it and ended up in the hospital for 3 months. So, we walked around and got to the point where we needed to put our boat back in. There were three options at that point. We could paddle really hard to the left and go down a class 4. Paddle equally hard and go down a class 5 in the middle, or coast down a level 1 on the right side. Well, the HARDCORE mindset kicked in and we took on the level 5. Near death experience number two (that may or may not be a little dramatic). We started to go down the rapid and our guide tells us to just duck and fling our paddles. He tells us to not even try to stay close to the boat because level 5 is a guarantee flip. As out boat is going down front first, all you could see is a white wall in front of you and then the front of the boat just keeps going up and up until it flips completely over. Mikaela lost her helmet, Ryan got hit in the face by a person, and Arley got hit with a paddle. Well, this time I remembered to tuck in a ball and I popped up much quicker :) So then, I was just floating down this class 5 rapid, trying to find my boat/members of my team but somehow I am floating much faster than everyone else. One of the kayaks came up to me and asked me if I was okay and that usually means they are going to help you out, but I responded, "Yea, I'm great, that was so sick!" So he proceeded to paddle away and leave me floating. Eventually when our whole group got back into our boat, we stopped on some flat water and they gave us each half a pineapple and some glucose crackers, which are actually really good. Throughout our whole adventure, we flipped probably 5 of the 8 times, so I got to use my line from The Guardian, "I'm a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, here to save you!" We didn't flip on the last rapid, so as we were in the middle of it, Davey D told us to jump out of0the boat, so we did!
It was honestly one of the most epic things I have done in my life thus far! It was definitely worth my $115 and an experience I will remember for a LONG time. Not many people can say that they have been rafting down the Nile Rive. Well, check, that's off my list :)
Well, since class have started last week, I have been challenge with many new thought provoking questions that have challenge my beliefs and all that stuff so I look forward to sharing them with you in a post soon.
I hope all is well :) and I will see you back in America in a month (TOO WEIRD!) Love, Ali
Well now that I officially survived the experience, I can tell you my survival story of drowning down the Nile (not really!). There were 14 from our group that went, so we filled two boats of 7 people in each boat and then a guide. As they explained the river, they told us that our boats needed to decide whether we wanted to go light, medium, or hardcore. Of course we chose HARDCORE! So, we sat through the "safety" instructions, which consisted of a 5 minute briefing (safe right?) and then we went out onto flat water and practiced our paddling, tipping the boat, getting back in, and all that jazz. Let me just say that I was the only girl in my raft who could get in by myself on the first try. Those toothpicks on the side of my body that look like arms…they have MUSCLE!
So, my boat consisted of Arley, Ryan, Mikaela, Nicoya, Rae, Kimmie, Myself, and our guide, Davey D. We started out on our adventure and upon reaching the first rapid, we had to get out of our boat and walk around part of the rapid because the rapid had turned into a waterfall due to high water. Dying on the first rapid wasn't really on our to do list. The rapids range from level 1 being the lightest to level 6 meaning hospital/death. The second of 8 rapids that we reached was a class 3 rapid. Level 3 rapids=guide tips you because you want to go hardcore! So, we are going down the rapid and they tell us to duck which means to squat in the boat and hold the rope with you paddle under your arm. Well as we tipped, I somehow managed to go flying like 15 feet away from our boat and was under water for a good minute. They tell you to tuck in a ball and just stay there because if you fight the rapid, the force will keep you under longer. Well, in my head I was like, "Oh, yea…stay in a ball." But my body didn't listen so I was trying to come up and, well, I thought I was going to die hah. So eventually I came up and was bobbing down the rapid and one of the kayaks came up to me to take me back to my raft. There were about 10 kayaks that are traveling with the pack to grab people when they flung from their boats. They would instruct you to grab the front and link your legs up or grab the back and help kick. So my little kayak friend came up and got me and took me down through a level 1 rapid, safely to my boat. the next rapid we hit was EPIC! As you approach the rapid, it is a level 6 which means we aren't allowed to go down it because we don't want to die/be hospitalized. We got out and walked our boat around. As we looked at the rapid, it was incredible. There was so much force in the rushing water. Davey D, our guide, had been down through it in a kayak and said he got destroyed by it! The guide on the other boat went down it and ended up in the hospital for 3 months. So, we walked around and got to the point where we needed to put our boat back in. There were three options at that point. We could paddle really hard to the left and go down a class 4. Paddle equally hard and go down a class 5 in the middle, or coast down a level 1 on the right side. Well, the HARDCORE mindset kicked in and we took on the level 5. Near death experience number two (that may or may not be a little dramatic). We started to go down the rapid and our guide tells us to just duck and fling our paddles. He tells us to not even try to stay close to the boat because level 5 is a guarantee flip. As out boat is going down front first, all you could see is a white wall in front of you and then the front of the boat just keeps going up and up until it flips completely over. Mikaela lost her helmet, Ryan got hit in the face by a person, and Arley got hit with a paddle. Well, this time I remembered to tuck in a ball and I popped up much quicker :) So then, I was just floating down this class 5 rapid, trying to find my boat/members of my team but somehow I am floating much faster than everyone else. One of the kayaks came up to me and asked me if I was okay and that usually means they are going to help you out, but I responded, "Yea, I'm great, that was so sick!" So he proceeded to paddle away and leave me floating. Eventually when our whole group got back into our boat, we stopped on some flat water and they gave us each half a pineapple and some glucose crackers, which are actually really good. Throughout our whole adventure, we flipped probably 5 of the 8 times, so I got to use my line from The Guardian, "I'm a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, here to save you!" We didn't flip on the last rapid, so as we were in the middle of it, Davey D told us to jump out of0the boat, so we did!
It was honestly one of the most epic things I have done in my life thus far! It was definitely worth my $115 and an experience I will remember for a LONG time. Not many people can say that they have been rafting down the Nile Rive. Well, check, that's off my list :)
Well, since class have started last week, I have been challenge with many new thought provoking questions that have challenge my beliefs and all that stuff so I look forward to sharing them with you in a post soon.
I hope all is well :) and I will see you back in America in a month (TOO WEIRD!) Love, Ali
YIKES!!!! I am SO NOT brave enough to do that:) Sounds awesome though:0)LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!
ReplyDeleteI would pay to see you booty shake with those African dancers.
ReplyDeleteAnd are you SURE you have muscles on those toothpicks of arms? I heard God gives you strength in times of need ;)