Marie and Carol's Adventure----- - --------Lake Bunyoni, Uganda

Dear Friends
The next couple of Blogs will be a follow up of my first week with Carol, which she wrote about so well in the previous Blog entitled “Marie and Carol’s Ugandan Adventure”. So put away your reading glasses and your “thinking cap” and re-live the memories as I am doing.,
--------Marie-----------------------------------

This little Weaver Bird was one of many we saw at Lake Bunyoni(which apparently means "Land of Little Birds")
Marie and Helimah enjoying the sunshine-Lake Bunyoni

Tree House -side view. I could live there--- as long as they brought me jerry cans full of wood heated hot water, every day. Yes-sir-ey!!!

View of Lake Bunyoni from near the top!

Within hours both Carol and Sheba had sprained their ankles. Mary Johns: All those years at Sunshine Acres Childrens Home, wrapping kids ankles, finally paid off (smile)

Marie and Carol's Ugandan Adventure

--------Eating At Red Chili Campsite--Sheba (Tour Guide Deluxe), Helimah(learning the ropes) Carol and Marie---at the start of their Ugandan Adventure!!!

Dear Friends
This may be a bit of plagiarism but Carols letter to her family and friends spells out our first week together so well, it has become this weeks blog. Enjoy!

Dear Family and Friends,

I have been in Uganda now for 10 days and am having a wonderful time! Marie and our wonderful guide Sheba picked me up at the airport in Entebbe on Tuesday night and we spent the night in a very nice cottage. The next day, we drove across the country to one of the national parks—Murchison Falls. Lake Victoria at Entebbe is the source of the Nile River, and Murchison Falls is a very powerful waterfall not too far from the source. We camped in tents the first two nights, but the campground did have a bathroom (with flush toilets) and showers and a restaurant that served both African and European style meals. The first morning there we took a ferry across the river and went on a game drive through the savannah. We saw giraffe, water buffalo and several types of antelope, as well as elephants and ,of course, warthogs! -----------------------------

Above photo of: Carol learning to drum from Sheba, while Helimah dances---Red Chili Camp-Murchison Falls

I got a video of a lioness stalking prey (a young antelope), making the kill, and carrying it back to her lair, where I presume she had young to feed. Many thanks to my friends at Social Security for the video camera—my first few videos weren’t great, but I’m getting better! The zoom allows me to capture pictures that I would never be able to get with my regular camera.

That afternoon we took a boat trip up the Nile to see Murchison falls. On the way, we again saw many animals coming to the water to drink, hundreds of hippos in the water, crocodile, and many birds, including the African fish eagle, which looks very much like our bald eagle. The following morning we left Murchison Falls and drove back to Kampala (the capital) , which is near Entebbe. On the way out of the park we encountered several troops of baboons just hanging out in t he road!

We spent our third night in Kampala at a nice hotel with a swimming pool. They had internet , but the Suddenlink server was down, so I was unable to get any emails out. We were able to swim in the pool, and also had wonderful massages, which cost $20,000 shillings (the equivalent of about $12 US). We paid $30,000 and thought we got a tremendous bargain! Our big mistake was in having our clothing laundered while there. We did not inquire about prices—Marie just assumed it would be cheap, since everything else was so cheap—when they were delivered to us the next morning we were presented with a bill for $84,000 shillings (over $50!)

We spent the morning shopping in Kampala which has the only shopping mall in the country. Marie wanted to buy food and other products that she cannot get here in Kisoro and Sheba needed to have his van worked on. We left around noon and drove to another national park, Lake Mburo. There are five lakes in the park which is also mostly savannah. This park had many zebra, antelope and other grazers, as well as the ever-present warthog and hippos. We spent the night in tents that were large enough to have 2 twin-size beds in them (we had slept on mats on the ground at Murchison Falls). We went on a game walk the next morning with a rifle bearing warden (you are prohibited from walking alone for safety reasons), but unfortunately did not see a lot of game. We saw a great deal more just driving down the road on the way in and out of the park!

I so wish the mini videos would have downloaded, as Murchison Falls needs to be seen and heard to be believed!

-------Three Beauties on a boat trip to Murchison Falls.
---------------Helimah-Marie-Carol

The next day was spent driving to Lake Bunyoni, a beautiful crater lake with 24 islands that
actually resembles Greers Ferry Lake. We spent two nights on Bushara Island—the resort provided motorboat transportation to and from the island, but motorboats are very expensive so the locals hire someone with a dugout canoe to take them back and forth from the islands (many of which are inhabited) to the mainland. One morning we saw a group of about 10 students rowing from the mainland to their school which was on one of the islands. This part of Uganda gets sudden and frequent storms (the kind that would prompt small craft warnings on our lakes). The canoes, if they cannot reach shore, have to just ride the storms out and hope for the best. There was one such storm our first day there, and we heard that a canoe had overturned and a pregnant woman drowned. Very few Ugandans can swim as there are few safe waters in which to swim.

We stayed in a “tree house” on Bushara Island—a one room cabin with three beds, a table, two nightstands and a couple of chairs. The electricity on the island consisted of a few light bulbs at the restaurant that were powered by solar energy. We used flashlights and kerosene lanterns for light. The restaurant had an extensive menu, but you had to order your next meal as you finished a meal in order to give them time to prepare. Marie had a roast chicken, which she said was the first tender chicken she had eaten since she has been here! I have been trying to eat local fare as much as possible, although restaurants serve meals with meat (beef, goat or chicken stew) which locals rarely get to eat! Meals cost from $3000-$5000 shillings for breakfast and $6000-$8000 for dinner (all under $5 US)

Our tour guide Sheba has been an absolute treasure. Everywhere we stop he knows someone—every time he stops to talk to someone, we joke that he is “networking”! He is one of those people who has never met a stranger—when you meet him, he is immediately your friend! He sings and drums, and will entertain us in the evening with local songs and drumming and will also sing and drum for us on the drive. He charges $200 a day for transportation and his services—I thought this was high at first, but now see that it is well worth it. Driving here is not for the faint of heart—they drive on the left side of the road, and roads are barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass. In addition, there are many walkers, bicycles and motorcycles to look out for! Sheba made all arrangements, and obtained comfortable and inexpensive lodging for us. We were accompanied on the first part of the journey by two apprentices in his tour business—a very quiet man in his 30s named Onisimus (who assisted in the driving) and a young girl named Halimah, who I think became quite attached to us.

I am amazed at the Ugandan people, and admittedly somewhat ashamed of how spoiled we Americans are. We have so many things that we take for granted—flush toilets, hot and cold running water, refrigeration, cars, grocery stores, and jobs! There are almost no flush toilets in this country—they use latrines with a hole cut in a cement floor called a “squatty potty”. Almost no one has electricity or running water. They carry their water long distances in jerry cans—either on top of their heads or if they are lucky, on bicycles. They cook on small round charcoal burners called sigiris. Almost no one owns a vehicle. Transportation is mainly on foot—often for many miles carrying heavy loads. Some have bicycles, but the hills are too steep to ride up, so they push the bikes up the hills, laden with heavy loads of bananas, potatoes, even beds! When they must go distances too far to walk, they hire a bicycle (you sit on back and someone pedals you) or a motorcycle (called a boda boda) or for very long distances a taxi (which is a mini-van) and which are very unsafe, or a bus (which is very crowded and subject to frequent breakdowns).
I asked Halimah how much a laborer might expect to earn in a day, and she said from $1000 - $2000 shillings ($.58 to $1.16), but that farm laborers earned less. Women carry their babies on their backs and heavy loads on their heads. It is amazing to see them walking up hills balancing a large basket on their heads and not using their hands to keep it in place!

After leaving Lake Bunyoni, it took us 3 hours to drive 24 miles to Marie’s home in Kisoro. Up until that day, we had driving primarily on tarmac roads, but the mountainous road from Kabale to Kisoro is a dirt road, and it was raining! Not a trip for the faint of heart! I noticed on the way that I was chilled and a little nauseous, but attributed it to the rainy day and being a little car sick. When we arrived at Marie’s I discovered that I was running a temperature and the diarrhea began soon after. Was I ever grateful to be somewhere with a bed and a flush toilet! Today is the 3rd day, and I am feeling better. The fever has been gone for 24 hours, but the traveler’s diarrhea persists!

We plan to make a trip to town to use the internet and I am hoping for the best!

Baby Michael is a real prince—at 7 months of age, he is about the size of a newborn, but he can now focus his eyes, laugh, and grip a rattle with his hands. It is amazing to think that for the first 3 months of his life, he was fed boiled cows milk, and when that was unavailable, glucose water. It killed me to not be able to hold him for the first few days, but I did not want him to pick up my “bug”. Marie has a friend (one of the recently graduated nursing students from the hospital here) who is caring for Michael while we are “on holiday”. Her name is Robina, and she is a sweetheart. She is very much enjoying watching the movies that I brought over on the laptop computer that Amy and Sebastian donated to Marie!

We have another week to spend here before our next “safari”, which will be the trip to Rwanda to pick up Marie’s friend Bill from Nashville, then on to trek gorillas!. That will just be a 3 day trip, then back here to Kisoro for another week before leaving on our final safari to Queen Elizabeth Park where we will get to track chimps. That trip will end (for me) in Entebbe, as I will leave for home on March 21st. Then Marie and Bill will have another 5 days of enjoying this beautiful country before Bill leaves from Rwanda on the 26th..

I guess this summarizes the trip up to now!
Just for you Cousin George--crocodiles deluxe

A wonderful family of Elephants with baby nursing--Murchison Falls

Much love to everyone, and thanks again to my friends at Social Security for the wonderful camera, especially to Carolyn and Jan for the extra battery and car charger (which has been invaluable!) and to Amy, Sebastian and David for the computer, hard drive and software.

I will correspond as often as possible, but getting “on line” is VERY hard!

Love you all!

Carol
Light filtering thru the trees on Lake Bunyoni--doesn't get more beautiful than that!

Lake Bunyoni-Bushara Island

We stayed at an ecological camp on Bushera Island , one of the 27 Islands of Lake Bunyoni. We had an outdoor shower that was filled with hot water on request and a compost toilet.
Carol and I both enjoyed swimming in the lake.
Lots more soon
Marie

----And the Beat Goes On -La La---

Dear Friends

Last Saturday we had a large group of Swedish students come to our AIDS Orphans Program to meet the children and educate the older ones on Human Rights for Children per the United Nations. I was so impressed with these beautiful energetic young people who offered their message in song and dance., particularly with a song written by Fredia Andersson(pictured on right with bottle on her head) and Alfred Strand entitled ”The Convention of the Rights of a Child” The children caught on very quickly as we sang the verse which went--------------- “Every Child on this earth.-----------------is of equal worth -Whoever, wherever------------------------------------The Conventions on the rights of the Child,-----

Then we repeated after the leader;--“I have the right to eat----------------------------------right to eat------------------------------------Right to sleep--------------------------right to sleep------------------------------Right to go to school for free-----------------------right to go to school for free”----

---------------------------------------“I have the right to Privacy--------------------------------Privacy-------------- --- - ---------- Family---------------------------------------------Family---------------------------- Whatever the best for me.----------------------------------Whatever is the best for me---
I have the right to to play-----------------------------------------Right to play-----------------------------Right to say whatever I want------------------------------------------------Right to say whatever I want.

I keep humming the tune all week in hopes I can continue in these wonderful
young footsteps and keep on reminding the children in song about their Rights per the United Nations----

,They invited me to a party that night at Mgahinga Community Lodge right outside the National Park and since I could not afford the trip to get there, Sheba , the Tour Guide Deluxe for Uganda, sent his driver to pick me up and take me home!-

What a great party with the visiting Swedish group, many Ugandans and Sheba had invited the entire local community which consisted of a couple hundred children and their parents, all fed African fare before we started the adult “partying”. Enclosed some pics of me (the lone American) having a good ‘ol time (I even had two cokes, instead of one, that night-Ha)

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