We started out the day at the Namugongo Martyrs Shrine, built in the 70s after a visit by Pope John Paul. I was told that Catholics from across East Africa walk hundreds of miles to celebrate Martyrs' Day each June, remembering the 30 baptized Christians who sang as they were burned alive in 1886. Similar to my experience attending Mass in Kampala the previous Sunday, the crowd at Mass far exceeded the capacity of the church and so overflow seating was set up outside. The service itself was very similar to Mass in the States--even more similar than I remember of Mass in the UK. The music was upbeat, accompanied by both organ and drums, and each mass included at least one hymn that I knew.
Our next stop was at the Mabira Forest Reserve, central Uganda's last old-growth rainforest that hasn't been cut down for charcoal or to make room for sugarcane. An ecotourism organization runs a nice camp that offers guided tours. The highlights: within our first 10 minutes in the forest, I saw 3 red-tailed monkeys and no snakes! Though we made it there before the daily rain, the red-mud path was EXTREMELY slippery. Not wanting his musungu charge to wind up covered in mud, the guide held my hand for about half of the journey and made an extraordinary save as I slid on a particularly mucky section. In the end, my feet were covered in mud and he insisted he "run an extra mile" (his words) by washing our feet and shoes; another hubmling experience that continues to make me uncomfortable.
Our journey then took us to Jinja, Uganda's second largest city and largest tourist destination, known for white-water rafting and its grid-patterned streets. Jinja sits on the Nile River, just as it exits Lake Victoria and begins its 4ooo mile journey through central Uganda, the length of Sudan, and Egypt. There are a number of musungu hangouts along the river, where 20-something Americans, Europeans, and Australians come to kayak and raft the Bujagali Falls. Rather than taking to the river ourselves (being rather accident-prone and 100 miles from good medical treatment dissuaded us), Francis and I instead took in the views and some lunch from one of the resorts. We then headed to the "Source of the Nile"--think Niagara Falls tourist trap in Africa--where a dance troupe performed for us and a guide tried to get us into a boat to go out and see the now-submerged spring that early British explorers and Ugandans claim as the Nile's source (the real headwaters are somewhere in Rwanda or Burundi, flow into Lake Victoria, and then flow out into the Victoria Nile). Anyway, ominous clouds and choppy waters served as a sufficient excuse for not getting in the boat, and instead we headed back home.
An overturned truck blocking the Jinja-Kampala road turned our 90 minute journey into 4 hours. As we sat in traffic, I was very thankful to be sharing the backseat of a Land Rover with Francis rather than squished shoulder to shoulder in one of the 4 benchseats of the minibus taxis. Listening to the country music on the radio also made me smile.
On the road back, I spotted a USPS box at a vegetable stand on the side of the road!
hi you two - my friend heidi and also a couple of people in yosemite that i follow on twitter have blogs on this, so you have made it soooo easy for me. this will be easier to keep everyone updated and give you a 'journal' so to speak of your travels for the future. i am amazed at some of the pictures. guess i did not expect it to be so civilized.
ReplyDeletePLYGLR - thinking of you both always. oh by the way - your christmas present is at shana's.......take good care aunt faith & uncle john