This is our backyard...

Ok, so backyard is a bit of a stretch.  One of the bonuses of Nikhil’s visit is that it gave us a little push to get out on weekends and enjoy what Uganda has to offer. After our weekend away in Jinja, Nikhil headed down south to check out the gorillas.   After his return, the two of us jumped into ‘Zuki and headed up to Masindi and Murchison Falls National Park.  After five hours and a couple wrong turns (we ended up on a 45 km stretch of horrible potholed road rather than fresh tarmac) we ended up at the park. 

We were instantly met by baboons, warthogs and birds.  These animals were literally on our doorstep, porches and tables.  The attraction of this national park is Murchison Falls which is the end of the Victoria Nile and the beginning of the White Nile, heading up through Sudan to Egypt, and the game drives.  

The waterfall is spectacular 100-foot drop.  Most impressive is the power of the Nile powering through a 20-foot gap. This area is ecologically important as it is one of the last homes of the enormous Nile Perch (I definitely need to get back up here for a fishing trip).  It is also home to many Nile crocs, hippos, elephants, waterbucks and hundreds of birds.

Our adventure in search of game started early with a 7am ferry across the river.  On the way we picked up Jimmy, our guide for the game drive.  Having not been on a game drive before, I have nothing to compare to.  However, the game driving up here is truly wild.  Not only do you drive your own car (the guide is in the back to help you spot animals), but you also get to go looking for the animals anywhere in the park.  

We set off on our drive and were interrupted by a traffic jam of antelope on our road.  We soon had seen so many antelopes that we no longer stopped to have a look at them.  We must have seen hundreds of them in the first 20 minutes.  We continued to drive and saw herds of giraffes, buffaloes and kob.  After about an hour, Jimmy asked us what we wanted to see.  Not knowing what to answer, we told him to take us to all of the best stuff.

Jimmy promptly decided that we should then take a sharp right and drive to find the lions.  I stopped the car to make sure I heard correctly.  There was in fact no road to the right and the savannah was covered with trees and shrubs.  Jimmy told us not to worry and that if we wanted to see a lion, that is where they were.  On we drove on, we couldn’t find anything.  Then, Jimmy asked me to drive towards the pile of dirt about 100m away to see what it was.  It turned out to be a giant male who had just finished breakfast!!!  Then to our left, we noticed two more females.  We had hit the jackpot! We stayed in amazement for more than 30 minutes, just staring at these giant beasts.  We were even lucky enough to see three cubs with females.  It was absolutely amazing how close we were to these wild animals and how few other people would be see them today.

After our time with the lions, we drove on and saw hundreds more animals including schools of hippos and elephants watering themselves by the river.  We even got to see the incredibly rare Shoebill Stork (apparently people travel to Uganda just to see them… and other than this time, hardly ever seen in pairs).   

After the fabulous game drive, we jumped on a boat for a four-hour cruise up to the mouth of the falls.  The trip was a wonderfully relaxing way to enjoy the Nile, see the animals and birds and have a knowledgably guides teach you about the ecosystem.  

 By the end of our trip, hippos, antelope and warthogs had become the norm.  We hardly even stopped for many animals.  It is amazing that this is hear and so untapped.  I can’t wait to come back and see what else hiding up hear.

I haven’t been able to put all of my photos on the blog.  If you want to see the rest of my photos, they are available here http://picasaweb.google.com/114379842904288416190/MurchisonFallsAug2010?feat=directlink.

Back to the whitewater

So after our wonderful three-week sojourn in Italy, we thought we needed a vacation on our return so we headed back to Jinja with Nikhil to try our hands at some whitewater kayaking.  After our rafting trip we swore that we would come back to try our hand at some more paddling.  What a better way to spend a weekend then paddling in 25-degree water.  The best part is that getting dumped is a pleasure.  There is none of the shock from the water that we have in Canada.  

 We thought that we better get some lessons before we jumped into the big stuff and joined up with a kayak school run by a Scot.  Our instructors are worldclass paddlers who really know what they are talking about (check out one here…. http://vimeo.com/4665426).  We quickly went over the basic paddle strokes and began learning how to role.  Being that the water is so large, it is pretty important to know how to get back up.  The real question is not whether you are going to flip but rather how much.  After a couple of hours of practicing we headed out onto the water to try our hand at some grade ones and twos.  Along the way we practiced what we had learned in the morning.

Frustratingly, although I feel perfectly comfortable upside-down, I couldn’t quite get my boat back over on my own.  We definitely needed another day of practice so we headed out on Sunday to try our hand again.  We were joined by David, one of our instructors from the previous day, and Deborah’s new best friend.  We played around in for the first couple of hours and practised our roles and then headed off to the river to try our hands and some bigger stuff.

Although we are still very much beginners, we had a great weekend away.  I can’t wait for the next one when we can really start to feel comfortable in our boats.

The bed and breakfast is open…

We are frequently jeered for running a bed and breakfast out of our apartment because of how many visitors we have come and stay with us.  Needless to say, we are happy to take all the jokes because we just love having our friends around.  Although Uganda is a bit more inaccessible than Toronto or London, we have already had two visitors and have more coming in September. 

Our friend Nikhil decided to come and visit for two weeks before he started a new job in Amsterdam.  We were happy to play hosts and loved the many dinners and BBQs (Nikhil is a PRO!!) we got to share.  It is always so nice to have friendly faces around to share our world with.  

Sojourn in Tuscany

Tickets…check

Passports…check

Tuscan villa…check….whoa, wait a minute!  Tuscan villa?  Yes, Tuscan villa!  As July ended, we headed off to Italy for a three-week adventure that was to take us through many parts of Tuscany.

The idea of this trip started about 18-months ago when our friend John Schram bid on a week at the villa during a charity auction.  We had committed to joining in Italy but never really thought it would happen.  Yet here we were, on our way from Kampala to Cortona.

We were sharing the villa with John, Ashley, Josh and Julia.  We could not really imagine something more lovely.  To make matters more interesting, the week we picked for our visit happened to be when Cortona was hosting the Tuscan Sun Festival, a celebration of food, wine and music.

We could not have asked for a better week.  We got to relax and enjoy with some of our best friends, drink copious types of wine, cheese and pastries and enjoy all that Tuscany has to offer.  We participated in several of the organised activities including cheese making (which included an amazing 6 course cheese menu), winery tours and a ‘competition’ between Australian and Tuscan San Giovese wines.  

Aside from stuffing ourselves at the Tuscan Sun Festival, we also visited Lake Trasimeno for a visit to some ruins and a boat trip, Arezzo for an incredible antic market (think middle ages and then include original Rembrants and Dalis!), and of course the local area. 

The best part of the week must have been the food.  The restaurants were amazing.  However, we spent most nights in our place cooking with fresh vegetables and trying out wine from wineries we had visited or had been recommended.  Our wonderful chefs kept us stuffed to the brim.  We rapped up the week with a visit to a great restaurant in the countryside and got treated to some modern Tuscan.  All in all, we could not have asked for anything more.  It truly was a week to remember.  Highlights from the week are here http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/Cotona#

The end of the week did not mean the end of the trip.  After our stay in Cortona, we rented a car and drove through some of the top wine regions.  We took in tours in Montalcino, Montalpulciano and several days in the Chianti region.  We tried many wines we liked and many that were not so good.  The drives though were spectacular.  The scenary in the region was so beautiful it was a pleasure to just drive around.  Of course, visits to restaurants that serve a seven-course meat menu (http://www.dariocecchini.com/solo_ciccia_eng.html) are not too bad either.  Along the way, we also visited several medieval towns including Voltara and San Gimingnano, the medieval Manhattan (so named because of the 14 towers surrounding the town).  Photos from our road trip are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/TuscanRoadTrip#

Sadly after four days, we had to say goodbye to Josh and Julia and were on our own in Florence.  Deb has been trying to get me to Florence since she visited with her sisters ten years ago.  The most amazing thing about Florence is the architecture.  Every building you look at is steeped in history.  It is not hard to imagine what life would have been like there 500 years ago with the Medicis.  We stayed in a small apartment outside of the downtown about 250 meters from the Arno.  The apartment was perfect for us.  It has a nice kitchen (and Deb loved cooking with all the fresh Italian food stuffs!), had a coffee shop nearby and was close enough for us to walk into town.

We spent four days leisurely touring around visiting the many churches and squares, a byzantine synagogue (very unique), and of course the art galleries.  Florence is known for the Academia and the Ufizi, two of the most famous art museums.  Even though neither of us are really into renaissance art, we had to visit.  As they say, when in Rome…. It did not disappoint.  Seeing the best of the best is so much different than the rest of the renaissance work.  The pieces here are really in a class of their own.  Photos from Florence can be found here http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/Florence.

Having taken in more art than we had seen in the past 5 years, we headed south to Siena to visit Lucia (a friend from my Masters in Brighton) and take in Palio (this is the horse race at the beginning of the last Bond movie).  Palio is a spectacular event that is hard to explain and whose continued existence is difficult to comprehend outside of those who live in Siena.  For the Sienese, life stops for five days, twice a year for this 700 real old ritual.  The race itself is a 90 second bareback race around the central square.  For the winner: a coveted silk banner (the palio), for the losers: utter humiliation. 

Siena is divided into 17 town districts or contrades (there use to be 42), each with their own traditions, symbol and colours, and its own church and palio museum.  The streets are lined with the various flags and plaques clearly drawing battle lines for the different quarters.  For five days, the contrades come together to protect their horse, their jockey and their pride. 

We were inducted in to the Valdimontone (mountain goat) contrade and stayed with them for most of our time there.  There are specific rituals and practices that happen leading up to race itself.  The horses are allotted to districts by lot, there are four trials to race and of course the festivities.  There are three feasts in each contrade honouring the horse and jockey.  We attended the final feast, a six-course meal fed to over 2000 people dining in the street!!!

The day of the race is a stressful one.  The contrade march in their horses to singing at the top of their lungs.  The largest men stand at the front, chests pumped out, protecting their horse and jockey just as footmen going to war.  It is truly a freighting affair.  The order of the horses is in an ancient ritual of lots.  After which, the horses are called one by one to the starting line, a rope hung across the dirt track.  The jockeys all poke and prod each other and the horses trying to ensure that their enemies horses will be too agitated to focus on the race.  It can take up to an hour to get all of the horses in the right place.  Our race must have been reset almost 10 times.

When the horses are told to leave only to be called back in order, the jockeys give and take bribes of up to $500,000.  The bribe may be to start slowly, to bother an enemy or even to purposely loose.  The only rules that exist during the race is that a jockey can not touch another jockeys reins.  It is an all out war with horses and anything goes.

Although Montone didn’t win, neither did their enemy so it was not a complete loss.  This years winner was Tartuca (turtle), Lucia’s unlce’s (and frequently our tour guide) contrade.   After the race, we retreated to the district for some consolation drinks and to watch the race again (the locals can watch each race 100 times and it was on loop without commentary for 24 hours).

Sadly, we were off on an early train to Rome for our flight back the next day.  Our three week tour had come to a triumphant ending.  We were back to Kampala and a life of matoke, Tusker  and pork.  Some times you don’t know what you miss until it is gone.  Siena photos are here http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/Siena02#