The Mighty Nile...home at last!

So it has been a while since our last post. We have had a pretty exciting last couple of weeks. Life here is becoming more routine. We have finally fitted our house out with (most of) our furniture and we should have a car by the end of the week. In typical Deb and Stu fashion, we have already played host to friends from around the world. The bed and breakfast is officially open!

Kampala lies about five kilometres from Lake Victoria, which would seem like a dream for water-minded folk like us. However, despite being taunted daily with view of the lake from our apartment, we cannot swim in the lake because of Schistosomiasis. This little parasite caused by water snails has meant no swimming for fear of getting ill.

This weekend we may have found the solution to all of our woes. About one hour from Kampala is a small town called Jinja that has tried to become an outdoor hotspot in Africa. It is host to the equally important source of the legendary Nile (although this is still academically disputed by some geographers) and the largest brewery in Uganda, the Nile Brewery (as a side note, Uganda has a depressingly high level of alcohol consumption. Some studies have put alcohol consumption per capita in Uganda as the third highest in the world) Jinja has recently had a huge zipline and bungee jump installed. However, we went to experience some of the biggest white-water
in the world. The mighty Nile has some amazing class 5 rapids that are easy to access and provide HUGE water.

We have rafted in some pretty big water before but it was nothing like this. The Nile is a great place to raft because the water is warm (around 25), there are few rocks and the scenery is amazing. A great Ugandan named Henry guided us down the river. He has been paddling this stretch of the Nile for almost ten years and seems to know the water inside and out. As we started, he asked us how we liked it "mild or wild". We opted for the wild and boy did we get it. We started off with some small class 1 and 2 water involving a lot of swimming and enjoying the lazy-river styles. It was great to just lie back and float. There were many birds and flowers along the bank to enjoy as we meandered closer to the big water. We could hear the rapids before we could see them. As we approached the first section with bigger
water, the guide remarked that we sure like to be in the water. The next
thing we knew, we were upside down in an infuriated patch of the Nile River, a ceiling of white water above us, all those tranquil birds and flowers along the banks a violently disappeared memory. We emerged with huge smiles and joy of the water we had been looking for.

And that was just Round one. During the trip our raft flipped several times. We went flying off waterfalls. We got twisted around rocks. The whole experience was like riding a bouncy castle through a tsunami. In some places, the water seemed to defy the laws of physics, with giant, green frothy waves crashing into one another at impossible angles. The guides were careful about the crocs - which, yes, do bite, and in the few known crocodile hang-out spots, we weren't allowed in the water.
Every once in a while we'd pass fishermen paddling along in log canoes.

As we approached the last set of rapids (aptly named 'bad place') we were sad to be ending the day. It had been such a blast paddling around with friends and enjoying the outdoors. It was such a break from the chaos of Kampala. Before we entered the last set of rapids, our guide instructed us that if we fell out of the boat on this run, don't hold on to the boat; just let go or it could get hairy. As we entered the last set, the raft smacked into a torrent of white water, and in milliseconds, our bouncy castle was swamped. The river was actually swirling inside the raft, trying to yank us out. We clenched the safety rope along the edge with all our strength. Our hearts were pounding. Our grips were slipping. And then, poof! It was over, and we were floating through flat water again minus to of our friends who
had panicked and followed the guide's instructions not to hold onto the boat should we flip. They were calmly returned to the boat by rescue kayakers and we spent the rest of the evening rejoicing in our adventure, enjoying some beers while overlooking the river.

When we left on Sunday afternoon, one thing was for sure - we would be back. We had decided to join a kayak course on the Nile and hope that before long we will be bouncing through the rapids on our own and enjoying the beauty and power of the great Nile. Who could think of a better way to enjoy our weekends?

The Royal 'We'

I thought it might be worth explaining that in the previous post, the 'we' Stu refers to is not 'we' as in Deb and Stu, but rather 'we' as in Stu and Paul (Stu's friend from MA days in Brighton). I (Deb) was at work on Saturday when Stu was off exploring. And I was working on Sunday as well. Oh and I was also working 14+ hour days Monday to Friday! Needless to say, it's been a hectic few weeks with work. 'We' as in my team at work, have many deadlines to hit by June so we are working around the clock. The good thing is that today I submitted abstracts to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, so maybe I'll get accepted to the conference in November. Actually, I don't think this will happen, but I'm excited to have submitted some work based on my MSc thesis (finally!). So, apologies for not emailing or calling, but, 'we' are doing great! Miss you!

May Day

Last weekend was May Day in Uganda (I don’t know why we don’t celebrate in Canada).  We were planning on going to Jinja (about an hour away) to do some paddling and whitewater rafting.  The Nile starts at Lake Victoria and actually has a couple runs of class 5 rapids and even a couple of class sixe rapids.  As it turns out, things got really busy at the end of the week so we ended up staying around Kampala.

We decided to hit up this place called the BBQ lounge.  One of the things that has really surprised us in Uganda has been the variety and quality of food.  Before we arrived, everyone told us to be sure to get our fill (and we definitely did!) of good meet.  We were anticipating a lot of beans and goat.  Although Uganda does love their beans and goat, there is also plenty of other meats.  In fact, it seems as though the favourite Kampalan meal is BBQ pork.  I can’t say we are complaining.  It is pretty great to get pork on a stick wherever you turn.  BBQ lounge provided all kinds of other meats as well and reminded us of the Argentinean parrillada we loved so much in Buenos Aires.  The meat is cooked to order on a charcoal BBQ and we eat outdoors in 25 degree weather.  Not too much to complain about.

On Saturday, Stu headed to Lake Victoria and checked out Gaba and Munyoyo, two traditional fishing ports.  It is amazing to see how much the introduction of the Nile perch has impacted on the local fishing industry (check out Wikipedia if you need more details).  These areas are known as the places where Kampala picks up the fish from the local fisherman.  However, there seemed to be very few fishermen and no infrastructure to support fish export.  Instead, each town had a small market with stalls selling the cooked fish.  It is hard to believe that much of the catch gets to Kampala any more.  We couldn’t leave without trying the local foods.  This part of Lake Victoria fries the tilapia whole.  I wasn’t really sure if I would like the whole fish, especially deep-fried, but it was delicious.  It is amazing how good fish tastes when it is so fresh.  We definitely need to try to get more of the fresh fish into our diet.

While dinning lakeside on our fresh fish two birds that represent the polar opposites of the ornithological spectrum joined us.  The pleasant and very beautiful Ugandan crested crane (above), the Ugandan national bird, and the grotesque Marabou Stork (below).  Uganda has an amazing variety of birds with over 1000 species.  Even in urban areas, it is possible to see a wide variety of ducks, herons, hawks, eagles, kingfishers, magpies, and all sorts of birds I have never seen before.  However, around Kampala it is the stork that is king.  They scavenge all over the place.  The locals call them pterodactyls as they are frequently gliding in packs over the city.  They can grow up to five feet tall and have a wingspan of over 10 feet.  They are truly terrifying beasts.  What makes them even worse is that they are some of the ugliest things.  Their heads look like they have been in a fire, their head and neck is covered with grey hair that looks like they are balding, they have a pink neck ruff that looks like a brain, and their gular sack grows as it eats.

 It is nice to see some local fauna but we can’t wait to see some of the big game Africa is famous for.