12/04/12
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| Garth's welcome sign |
Ashleigh and I decided that after two months of exploring
the city of Kampala ,
it was time to discover what other gems were to be found in the ‘Pearl of
Africa’. After completing our placement
and volunteer work we decided to spend the Easter holidays travelling around Uganda . Personally, I have been eagerly anticipating
the Easter break for many weeks because my boyfriend Garth was due to arrive in
Uganda
to spend Easter with us. I was very
excited as I stood in the arrivals lounge at Entebbe airport with my homemade sign ready to
welcome Garth to my new home. I was
interested to find out what Garth would make of my life here in Uganda and how
he feels I have adapted to this different environment. I also wanted to share with him a glimpse of
my experience of African culture thus far.
We didn’t waste much time easing Garth into the African way
of life as we decided to take a trip to Jinja the following day after his arrival. Jinja is a small town situated beside the Source
of the River Nile and has become a popular destination for travellers wishing
to experience the power of the Nile ’s famous
white water rapids. In order to make the
two hour journey to Jinja we needed to catch a matatu from the ‘Old taxi Park’ in
Kampala . This soon gave Garth a glimpse to what the
public transport system is like in Africa; We weaved our way through the web of
matatus, and eventually found one bound for Jinja, after waiting twenty five
minutes for other passenger to arrive we eventually left Kampala
to begin exploring the rest of Uganda .
The breathtaking scenery of the River Nile was situated
right on the doorstep of our hostel at Bujugali falls and it certainly did not
disappoint. While Garth rested following
his previous days’ travelling, Ashleigh and I decided to visit the source of
the River Nile. It was very interesting
to take a guided boat trip to the underground springs found in Lake Victoria
which mark the beginning of the 3 month journey which the river takes from Uganda to Egypt . This relaxing afternoon coasting along on the
sun soaked Nile also gave me a chance to
prepare myself for the adrenaline pumping activity which Garth and I were to
embark on the next day.
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| View from our hostel |
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| Ashleigh and I at the source of the Nile |
The grade five white water rapid rafting experience offered
on the Nile is marketed as a thrill not to be
missed. Garth and I were both really
excited to see what the “adrenaline capital of east Africa ”
(Fitzpatrick, 2009) had in store for us.
I grew quite apprehensive during the safety precaution lecture as the
guides explained how to avoid serious injury and minimise the risk of potential
‘drowning.’ However, after venturing
down our first eight metre waterfall I knew that this was going to be an
exhilarating day which I was not going to forget. As our rafting adventure continued we soon
grew accustomed to being either submerged under water or floating down the
river Nile waiting to be rescued by the
extremely talented kayakers who coursed through the rapids with ease.
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| Garth and I rafting on the Nile |
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| Our quading adventure |
After spending a few
days showing Garth around Kampala
we decided to travel further a field. We
took an eight hour coach in order to reach Kabale the centre of the much
desired tourist destination of Lake
buynoni Uganda .”
(Fitzpatrick, 2009) In order to reach
our guest house we opted to travel to the secluded island ‘Byoona Amagara’ in a
“Pocahontas Style” dugout canoe. These
canoes, carved from the trunk of a eucalyptus tree, are a typical mode of
transport for the Batwa tribe which inhabit the islands of Lake Bynoni
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| A view of lake Bynoni |
Upon spending a night in our eco friendly, no frills
accommodation with only candle light and African style toilets to submerge us
in the simplistic life which many Africans still adopt today, Garth and I
decided to experience the Batwa mode of transport for ourselves while Ashleigh
enjoyed the African sunshine. As we
started to paddle away from shore in a hired dugout canoe we soon discovered that
the people of the Batwa tribe make steering these canoes look incredibly
easy. We spent first half an hour of our
canoe trail going around in circles, a technique which the local people
commonly recognise as “the mzungu corkscrew.”
To our relief, a friendly Ugandan man taught us a few much needed
paddling tips which soon got us on our way to exploring some of the islands of Lake Bynoni island of Akampeine
Overall, I feel that the experience of visiting a gem like Lake Bynoni
has helped me to appreciate how diverse Uganda can be as a country. There was a stark contrast from the chaos of Kampala to the secluded bird paradise of the islands in Lake Bynoni Uganda has provided Ashleigh and I with a great
enthusiasm for exploring more of Uganda
and beyond as we embark on a brief period of travelling in East
Africa once our university placement has concluded. We are eager to embark on this next leg of
our adventure to discover what sights, smells and experiences this tremendous
continent has to offer. After all, “we
live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can
have, if only we seek them with our eyes open.”(Nehru, 1952)
References
Fitzpatrick, M, (2009) Lonely Planet;East Africa, Lonely
Planet Publications Pty Ltd, London .
Nehru, J, (1952) How to plan and survive safaris, camping
trips and expeditions in Africa , FRGS.
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