Day 4 - Lunch on the Nile

Ethiopia Trip Day 4 – Lunch on the Nile

What another incredible day! It started by us figuring out why we are getting a good deal on this hotel. Cold showers are not something I tend to CHOOSE to do! It is quite funny – after the fact.

For the day we hired a car and driver (with a 4x4 Landcruiser) to take us to Jinja. This drive can be anywhere from 1-2 hours. Ours was closer to the latter. Again, we saw incredible poverty, but also fantastic beauty. At several points along the road there are rows of stands where people sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to gorgeous wooden furniture and metal doors to roasted chicken or beef. Also on the road to Jinja are sugar and tea plantations. Right next to one another – because you just can’t have tea without sugar! :) This from our driver, Fred. (Fred is a very nice gentleman from the middle of Uganda. He has a wife and three children – he thinks that is enough wives and children for one him!)

Along the way I also noticed several women and some children bent over in such a way as to be in half, doing something on the ground with their faces almost touching their knees. THAT is a lifetime of working to be flexible. Even if it is done by necessity, it is quite impressive. The other thing I noticed a lot of are small motorcycles/mopeds that serve as transportation for one. First, this just seems folly on such pothole prone roads, (Fred apologized for “dancing without music” through all the potholes and told us the speed bumps are “sleeping policemen”) but the other interesting part is that all women ride behind the driver sideways. I thought maybe this was to preserve modesty if wearing a skirt, but I have seen women in all manner of dress riding side-saddle. I fear that my lack of balance would cause a serious wreck were I to ask for the services of one of these! Two interesting vehicles were on the road to Jinja. One was one of the many minivan-sized busses we see everywhere. Many have signs in the back window, much like our bumper stickers. This one gave me great pause: “The rich also cry.” The other interesting one was a very large truck labeled UN World Food Program. We have seen many vehicles (including airplanes) labeled as UN. Not something I would have even considered. So many things just don’t occur to me.

Another thing we talked about with Fred was the schools. It seems every other minute there is a sign for a school – nursery on up to college and trade. Turns out, these are all private schools. The state schools are not well funded and not much care is given to them. So, up pop these schools, many of which are run by all manner of religious organizations. Schools have become a business here. Fred says if you want to earn money here in Uganda, come and open your own education center.

When I asked our guide what he wanted people to know about his home country, he said he wants them to know how friendly Ugandans are. They will wave and talk to you everywhere. He also said that many people don’t find work in the cities, so they do something to become self-employed. Which I think explains many of the little shops along the side of the road. Fred also said Ugandans and Africans in general have a relaxed attitude – they walk leisurely and don’t adhere to strict timetables. Seems to me I know a few non-Africans like that! 

So, the reason for heading to Jinja is that it is the “Source of the Nile.” There is a spot we went that you can look across the river and see the spot that the Englishman who “discovered” this place stood and stared at the river for a few hours. From this point, the river travels north 4,000 miles through Uganda, Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean. It takes 3 months for the water to make it that far. Kind of a trip to think about. A panorama of the view north from this point is below. At this little area we also saw a bust and monument to Gandhi. (We took a picture for our friend Travis!) I didn’t realize that he had his ashes scattered in the Nile. While standing at this monument we also saw monkeys. I got a few pictures.



From this point we went to the Bujagali Falls. This is further up the Nile, on a REALLY bumpy dirt road. People go white water rafting here when the water is higher. We didn’t realize that it is the hottest and driest time of the year here. So, business was slow. Still, it was amazingly beautiful. There were young men who called themselves the Bujagali Swimmers and Divers there who would go to the start of the falls and swim/dive down them while doing acrobatic-like moves for a small fee. We didn’t take them up on it! We did take several pictures, including the ones to make the panorama below. We also watched people fill their water jugs from the river, fish and boat. (The gathering of water here at least seems somewhat more sanitary than several of the other places we saw people filling their jugs. One place had three trucks in the water with a guy rinsing the motor off. Ugh.) Brian also laughed at me because I worked at getting a picture of one of the cranes landing on the water.


We then trekked to a very nice luxury resort for a fabulous lunch while watching the Nile flow by. What beauty. After lunch we took a few pictures and then decided to leave – right behind a police escorted convoy that had been greeted by the Ugandan Olympic Committee. Hhhmm….going to have to look up if Uganda is going to make a bid for an upcoming Olympic Games. At this point we were pretty tired and just headed back to Kampala. Lots to process about what have seen today – and lots of pictures to go through!

Until tomorrow,

Lori

Postscript – Last night before we headed to bed, Brian and I were talking when I was startled by a little visitor! A harmless little dude came to check us out for a little while. Then, this morning we have been awakened by a most incredible rainstorm. We don’t get rain (and just the little bit of lightening) in Colorado like it is doing here – and this isn’t even the rainy season! I love the sound of it, but hope it quits before too long so we can go do a bit more exploring. Hope you like the pictures.




p.p.s. - The Blogger was not playing nice today and did not let us upload any more than the one image. Keep checking back, we will try again later to upload them.

p.p.p.s - The blogger is working today, so we added the images we had thought to add the other day.