Well, HELLO, everyone!
I am sitting in the archives right now on a straw mat on the stone floor, listening to the rain pour outside. It's the end of the rainy season here in Uganda, so we usually have one big downpour each day that lasts for about an hour...and it comes down in buckets. The racket it's making on the roof sounds like a waterfall--literally--right outside the door. I don't mind too much, as the rain is what makes this country so wonderfully green, but it also makes the dirt roads muddy and virtually impassable by boda.
This weekend was incredible, people. Absolutely incredible. The rain held off for Saturday and Sunday, so Saturday I went to the Semliki National Park with Jonathan and his family. They have hot springs there, much like those at Yellowstone, although here you're allowed to walk on them. Quite the contrast to the throngs of tourists packing the boardwalks at the latter...we went with a friend, Maurice, and his little friend Ian (the son of his manager). (Maurice is a local ex-pat Brit who has been here for 20 years and owns a guesthouse; if you look at the pictures you can sort of see his quintessential British-ness--socks up to the knees, shorts up to the belly button, handkerchief constantly being wiped across the sweaty forehead).
We boiled eggs and sweet potatos in the hot springs, aided by our guide, Theodoro, and had a funny lunch of those two, avacado, and biscuits. We then set off for a trek through the jungle--and yes, it is the second largest jungle in the world!--which was hot, muggy, beautiful, mysterious, everything you'd expect. Saw some major bugs, namely a very fat and very gross millipede, as well as a very furry caterpillar. Also many monkeys.
Ahhh, the monkeys. We saw several different kinds--baboons, blue monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabeys. The latter two were sitting and swinging around in the trees, but the baboons were just chillin'...a whole pack of them. Their butts are pretty funny; it's like two shiny, hairless cheeks topped by a tail that rises straight in the air when they walk. Like, "HEY! Look at my junk!" Anyway, I got some good pictures, and it was a really lovely day, overall. Spent that night at Ciaran's bar (it's got a tv) with the rest of the ex-pat mzungus and many locals watching the Football World Championships (Barcelona killed Manchester U.).
Sunday: Went to the Kyaninga Lodge, the most beautiful place that I've seen in quite a long time, for lunch and a swim in the crater lake. The lodge is built out of olivewood--took six years to build, no machines--and perches atop a hill overlooking the pristine blue crater lake (an old volcano). The view was--no words--and I forgot my camera! No worries, however, I'm sure I'll be back. It's the most expensive place to lunch in Fort Portal (about $15 for a rather gourmet, 3-course meal), but it was a really relaxing Sunday. Went with Felix and two locals and a Danish guy, and saw some other FP mzungus there as well--Jonathan and co., Brede and Brandon (Irish couple). Went swimming, and as I floated on my back in the middle of the lake surrounded by jungle greenery and hills and banana trees and shrieking monkeys, I felt like I was in the middle of a postcard.
I am so, so lucky.
Off to a staff meeting...check in with y'all later.
<3 N
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