Laurie is Pondscum and this post was a very very tasteless joke.

Below is the incredably stupid April Fools Joke I tried to play. I am truly sorry for worrying the people I love. It was juvenile and stupid, and not at all funny. I am sorry.


I'm not sure how to start this post as I realize it will come as a shock to all of you. I wish that I was at home and could talk to all of the people I love face-to-face about the important decision I have made. However, that is not possible now, nor will it be for some time, I fear.

So I realize that this is not the most sensitive way to make this announcement, but it is the most efficient means at my disposal. But I am truly sorry that I cannot tell all of you this in person. I hope that you will forgive me.

While in Nkozi I have been exposed to and experiencing Christianity in a way I never did in Canada. I was very impressed by the sisterhood of the nuns, and very drawn to it as well. For the last several months I have been seriously considering the path my life has taken to this point, and the changes necessary for me to be a happy person, and to be of some benefit to the world around me.

I have come to a conclusion that will come as a shock: I have decided to become a nun. I have discussed this with various Sisters at length, and have decided that I will be join the Sisters of Eternal Mercy. They have a convent in Jinja, I will be joining them as a novice in four days time. I wanted to join as soon as my contract ended, but they encouraged me to take this short trip to have time to be sure that the call was truly in my heart. It is.

I am saddened that this decision will keep me away from friends and family for many years, but I truly believe that I am following my true path, and I hope that you will all support me in this.

The wonder of it all!

You know how as a child you live in daydreams, and expect an extraordinary life, but then life teaches you to accept less, to accept a boring 9-5 job, a life like every other, even, dare I say it, like your parent’s life? Well, it came to me in Kakamega Forest, the last stand of tropical rainforest in Kenya, that this is how I had been living, without intending it. And as I sat in my room in the canopy, with only the cries of night birds and insects as company, that this is what I had been doing, living an average life. But by a strange set of impulsive decisions I have escaped. And found myself climbing rickety ladders to the top of waterfalls in Sipi Falls, Uganda, and waking in the predawn hours to watch the most perfect sunrise of this forest. And I am learning the art of happiness, and I am determined not to loose this when I return to Canada.

Practical Junk: It’s been a lot of traveling from place to place, and some very long matatu rides. I left Kampala on Saturday and spent all day traveling to Sipi. The campsite there was occupied by a group of students from American Christian Colleges; let’s just say that they are having very, very different college experiences than I did! Still, they were friendly, and their occupancy of all the dorm beds led to me getting a good deal on a single cabin, always nice. Sunday morning they left, and I went on a hike with Karin, an Australian cardiologist who was staying at the same site. Though I didn’t know she was a cardiologist at the time, I was reassured after the fact that there had been someone with me who would have known what to do if my heart had given out on the crazy climb to the top of the falls. Still, it was worth it, the view from the top was amazing!

Spent the afternoon and evening recovering, then spent Monday traveling to Kakamega in Kenya. It was gorgeous, and I had it all to myself! Got there at dusk, then woke up early (before 5 am!) for a sunrise walk. Climbed another hills, went to a bat cave, and saw Blue and Columbus monkeys playing in the trees on the way back. Then stopped in Kakamega Town to by a SIM card (I now have a Kenyan phone number, and I can send text messages!) then another long travel day to arrive in Kitale. I am spending the night here, then tomorrow I will go walking in Saiwa Swamp, then head for Nakuru.

Miss ya’ll tons, but loving the travel.

Setting Out

I'm in Kampala, taking advantage of what may well be the last internet access I'll have for a while, certainly the last free email access. I'm a bit late setting out, meant to be in Sipi by now, but I decided to save some cash by staying in Nkozi last night instead of heading for Kampala, then I was busy with errands till afternoon, at which point it was a bit late to set out, as I don't like arriving in new towns after dark. So I had a nice lunch with Alexis and stopped at Aristotle (nice bookstore in Kampala) and bought Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela's autobiography, which looks very interesting, and also, being as it was a long walk, a good read for a long journey. (By that I mean it'll take a while to read, a good thing when bookstores are few and far between.)

So tommorrow I head to Sipi, then into Kenya. See below for more detailed plans. And I have asked my parents to post in the comments here when they hear from me, so if I'm away from the internet too long you'll all know that I haven't been eaten by a hyena!

Two weeks To Nairobi - Great Rift Valley, Here I Come!

So here is the plan: After hanging out for a few days at Sipi Falls in Uganda, I will cross the border on Sunday at Malaba in Kenya, then head to Kakamega Forest. I will stay overnight, do some walking in the forest, then head to Saiwa Swamp just north of Kitale for a couple of hours walking in one of the smallest parks in Africa. I will then head to Nakuru; I should arrive there around the 29th. I will explore the nearby Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site, and arrange a short safari into Lake Nakuru National Park, then head up to Lake Bogoria for a day or two with the flamingos. I will probably spend around 4 days in Nakuru and the surrounding area. I will then head for Naivasha around the 2nd of April. I will hang out at the lake, see the game reserve, go biking in Hell’s Gate, and hiking on Mt. Longonot. I expect to spend around 4 or 5 days in Naivasha and surrounding. On my way from Naivasha to Nairobi I will stop at Thomson’s Falls for a short hike, likely won’t stay overnight. I should be arriving in Nairobi sometime around the 8th. From Nairobi I may head to Arusha in Tanzania, or I may skip Tanzania and head for the coast. I'll let ya'll know when I do.

So there is a rough outline of my first two weeks or so of traveling. This itinerary is subject to change, but gives some idea of the route I will be taking.

Maps and stuff - where I've been in Uganda

You may notice that a couple of "map" links have been added on the sidebar. I have added maps of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania that you can look at to see where I am. I am also experimenting with messing with the maps in Paint to mark the places I have been or am going to. Below is the map I have made of where I have been in Uganda. The black squares are places I have been, the ones with red dots inside are places I am going. The thick blue lines are my proposed route. I will do the same with my planned route through Kenya, if ya'll find this to be a helpful way to get a sense of where I am at. And I can update as I go, since most computers should have paint. So please post in the comments section if you think such maps will be useful. (Or if anyone has an idea of how I can convery this information more elegantly, I'm not so good with paint.)

So the plan for getting out of uganda (shown on the map below) is as follows: I will be going to Kampala Thursday evening, staying overnight so that I can do some errands (changing money into Kenyan Shillings, shopping) and have one last nice meal before hitting the road. I'll be meeting Alexis and Sister Harriet in Kampala, and travelling with Sister Harriet as far as Mbale on Friday, then Alexis and I will continue onto Sipi Falls (Northernmost black square with red). We will stay there for a few days, then Alexis will return to UMU and I will cross into Kenya at the Busia border post.

Mpanga Forest Reserve Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures I took in Mpanga.





I got two nice shots of butterflies






And here a my "butterfly ghost" pictures!

Another Crazy Night in Kampala

Friday night Alexis and I were invited to go dancing with some students. Here is how it works – a matatu is booked to drive to Kampala around 11pm, and return around 5 or 6am. Because a big group goes, no one has to pay cover. So the van was supposed to go at 10pm… then at 11… then we waited for everyone to show up until after midnight.

Following a somewhat scary drive (no headlights doesn’t rule out night driving in Uganda), we arrived at the basement, were ushered into the VIP room, and danced till around 5:30. The club was very hot and sweaty as the AC wasn't working, so we were very very glad to hang in the more comfortable VIP room! And again, I have to say that african women can really dance! I have to learn how they do that with their hips!

Then Alexis and I went to a friends apartment to crash, then we woke up, had a huge, HUGE Indian meal (mmmm… curry!) and went shopping, then back to Nkozi again.

I’m busy planning my itinerary for my trip now, and I’ll post it as soon as I’m done so ya’ll can have some idea where I’m at.

Lake Bunyonyi

I spent last weekend at Lake Bunyonyi in the southwest of Uganda. It is easy to get to, just outside Kabale, which is Uganda’s highest town. The lake is the third deepest in the world, second deepest in Africa, and the absolute deepest in Uganda. It was indescribably beautiful, but I’ll try to describe it anyway!

The lake is surrounded by terraced hills, a dotted with more than 20 islands. The play of shadow and the depth of the greens on these hills is amazing; I was frustrated by my inability to capture it with my camera. No number of mega pixels can record what the eyes see and the soul feels in this setting.

I arrived late Saturday afternoon, got set up in a tent, then spent the evening relaxing by the lake, though it was too cool by that point to go swimming. At night they had a campfire, and with the high altitude, it was the first campfire I been to in Uganda where people actually wanted to sit close and feel the heat!

Here is a picture of the view from my campsite




The next morning I had a leisurely breakfast followed by a trip around the islands in a dugout canoe. We passed by the site below where an NGO teaches practical skills to local children, such as swimming (most of the locals do not know how to swim).



These dugout canoes are the main form of transportation among communities around the lake (even though most of the people in the can't swim!)


Here I am in the canoe, Bushara Island behind me.



We stopped on an island that used to be a leper colony, but is now used as a school and took a walk around.

Church on the Lepers Island


Crested crane in the fields


Walking back down to the boat the views were gorgeous


Then we sailed past Punishment Island, a very small island where women who were pregnant and unmarried were left to die. (Most perished while trying to swim for shore). This practice ended about 50 years ago.

Punishment Island


Me, sailing towards Punishment Island.


Then I arrived back at the campsite and spent a wonderful afternoon swimming and relaxing by the lake.





That evening we had a campfire again, and I played drinking games with a truck tour. The next morning I hung around waiting for it to get warm enough for a swim (it didn’t before I had to leave) then walked back to Kabale and got a bus.

View on the road to Kabale


I could easily have spent much more time in Lake Bunyonyi, just chilling out and not doing much except lying on a lounger and taking the occasional swim.

More pics from Murchison!

After the morning game drive we went back to the red chili campsite and spent a couple of hours sprawled across the wicker furniture of the bar. Under its thatched roof we at least had shade, though the heat was still intense, the air still and heavy and hot. We had lunch and chatted languidly; sweat pooling in-between legs crossed for even a moment. It was one of the hottest days of the year, and we were in one of Uganda’s hottest areas!

This little guy ran by while we were lounging



Then in the late afternoon we went on the launch trip up the Nile from Paraa to the falls.

Here I am on the boat.



Along the way we saw lots of animals coming down to the river to drink, such as elephants and waterbucks.







And then there were the water based animals. We saw hundred of hippos







And crocodiles, including some crocs with their dinner (poor baby hippo!)





We also saw some cool birds



And then we reached the falls, where we anchored by a rock and everyone climbed out to have a picture taken with the falls as a background.





The next morning we were up very early to go chimp trekking in the forest. The forest was gorgeous to walk through, but the chimps, when we found them, were very far away and hard to see. Here is the best of the (not so great) pictures.





And lastly, a very blurry picture of me in front of a giant tree!



Then we went back to Kampala, lounged around Red Chili for a while, and then celebrated our trip with a huge feast of Indian food and dancing till the wee hours at Ange Noir Nightclub.

Dancing, singing, drinking, and getting lost in the forest!

It has been a nice week here. Friday night Alexis and I went into Kampala, feasted at Kraal Thai, saw North Country at the cinema, and then hooked up with some UMU students at a club called The Basement and danced till the wee hours. Slept in the next day and had a big breakfast by the pool before doing a spot of shopping and heading back to Nkozi. It was a very nice trip to Kampala; for once I came back refreshed instead of feeling all stressful.

Then on Sunday I went to Mpanga Forest for a walk. It’s a forest reserve gazetted in the 1930s that is known for birds, butterflies, and monkeys. A guide led me to the trailhead, then I was free to explore on my own, stalking butterflies through the woodland. Except I couldn't find my way off of the trail! The trail is a loop; I was literally walking in circles. At one point I thought I had found my way out, then the trail became overgrown, then there was a stream that I forded by balancing precariously on a fallen tree (thanks for the ballet lessons go out to my folks, that stuff is useful, balance and all that) then the trail disappeared and I had to do it again in the opposite direction. All the same I had a pleasant walk, stalking butterflies and exploring the forest with the calls of birds and chatter of monkeys in the canopy above. And I felt quite the competent woodswoman when I found my way out.

Sunday night I was back in Nkozi, and Alexis and I decided to open up a bottle of wine I had purchased a few weeks ago in Kampala. After a minor mishap (we set the mat down in the path of biting red ants which led to a couple of bites) we settled into getting pleasantly drunk and singing. Once the bottle was gone we went to the Eucalyptus and talked politics with Ivan, one of Alexis’s classmates.

Then yesterday was Women’s Day, and a public holiday. They also celebrated “Cultural Day” on campus. Lots of people were dressed up in traditional outfits, at lunch different groups made their traditional foods, and in the evening there was an exhibition of traditional dances and songs. Man, can those African women shake their booties! I’ve got to get someone to teach me, when they dance its like their hips aren’t attached to the rest of their bodies, and shaking like crazy!

So all around it has been a pretty good week. I think I might go to Lake Bunyoni this weekend, I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes.

And I’ve only two weeks left, then Kenya!

Murchison Falls

Ok, so I'm finally getting around to putting up some of the Murchison pics. I would have done it sooner, but the internet has been horrid! (I miss chatting on MSN!)

So, we set out friday morning from Kampala, two vans filled with at least 6 nationalities, mostly women, for Murchison Falls. The vans were hot and the drive was long, but at least we weren't in a matatu. We all had a whole seat to ourselves, there were only 8 passengers plus a driver in each van! (A matatu which is of the same size often hold more than 20 people!)

We stopped for lunch in Masindi, and arrived in Murchison in the late afternoon. First up was a hike around the top of the falls. There are actually two falls, Murchison Falls, which is natural, and another (I can't remeber the name) which was created by blasting because Murchsison had a tendancy to flood.

Mrchison Falls



Manmade falls


The hike was hot and sweaty, but then we got to a viewpoint under the falls where we could feel the cool spray from the falls, and get a clear veiw over the permanent rainbow it creates.



And here am I, standing at the top of the falls.



After our hike we headed to camp for dinner and relaxtation. The next day started very early, the sun wasn't even up!

Here is the campsite at dawn



We went on an early morning game drive and raced around seeing lots of antelope, buffalo, hartbeasts, and two giraffes. Unfortunatly, my camera died, so I only got this buffalo picture



Luckily one of the women in my van had extra batteries, and my camera started working again, just in time for the highlight of the drive, we were tracking some lions, lost them in the bushes, but instead saw a leopard in a tree!



This was really special because leopards are one of the hardest of the cats to see, as they are very shy, and well hidden by their spots.

On our way back there were guys fishing on the Lake George.



Our guide stopped and bought fish



And we saw a hartbeast!



And another giraffe!





Stay tuned, to come are elephants, hippos, and chimps, oh my!

New Template

Ok, some of you might have noticed that my blog has been down for a few days. It seems that I somehow destroyed the template while teasing Joe by making his link "old codger". So I guess it's kind of karmic that I've had to totally change templates, loosing all my customizations in the process. Anyway, I'm going looking for the links that have been lost, if you wish to be linked, please leave me a message here.