Morgan flew out on the 23rd, and has made it safely home, though it sounds as though "home" is a funny term after 6 months living over here. I understand. at the age where you are starting to feel full independant, either after having been at college, or having lived elsewhere, traveled, etc... it isn't easy going back "home" to your parents house, especially when many of the things that made it home, your room, your friends, the things you did there, have changed. i think it can be a bit disorienting, especially for those of us (myself definatley included) who dont have the most concrete plans after college, no really great job or grad school lined up- more take it as it goes, and live out of your car type deal.
But speaking of taking it as it goes... i am fully on to the second phase of my trip here; im no longer 'saving the world' as we jokingly put it, though of course i am keen to offer my services to soft power (soon to be renamed... as and aside... does anyone have any ideas?) whenever they need me. Annie flys out tomorrow to go home for her sisters wedding, and do some serious electronics shopping for all the fulltimers out here- and then jessie leaves soon after as well. two of our volunteers head out at the end of the month, though think a new one should be arriving soon.
as for myself- i have moved out of the banda i shared with morgan, and into another "guide banda" for the time being, which i will probably be kicked out of within the month. after that, im moving into a house in town, to try something a little different. from tent to town in 6-8 months. not a bad deal at all. My visa is being processed, my ticket has been changed to spetember 5, just in time for karl and tara's wedding in jackson hole... crazy.
its still pretty quiet around here, not super busy, but i am picking up work as i go, and hopefully will train to guide rafts out here as well if may is slow. always a good oppertunity to better my kayaking skills as well...The new kayak the nile office has been built and is almost completed, which is exciting as we have been missing our base. Jamie (owner of ktn, my boss) is off in the UK for a couple of weeks, leaving my friend Jared in charge, so things are rolling on.
thats about all for now, hopefully i will have some pictures to post soon... and some scintillating updates on life in bujagali falls.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
traveling man
After a few days back in buj recovering from our rwanda trip, Morgan and i headed up to sipi falls for the weekend, on a last minute motivation thanks to morgan. ( For photos from the rwanda trip- check out my flickr page, username annabruno , the link is on the side)
Sipi is in the east of Uganda, right by Kenya's mount elgon, and is renown for the three massive waterfalls it has, along with many smaller ones nestled in among rockcliffs which supposedly host some really good rock climbing. It is absolutley beautiful up there, and completely different than Bujagali in so many ways.
Morgan and i went up to visit and stay with three friends of ours, fraggle, ian o'dell and will clark- who as i mentioned before just purchased some land and a lodge that they are renovating right at the second falls .After hearing so much about their escapades, it was great to finally get up there and see what they are doing. They have their work cut out for them for sure, but i am excited to see how it progresses and the end result.. but more on them later, once they get things a little more up and running.
it was super easy to get out to sipi, than again, any thing after our epic rwanda busride feels short in comparison- two public transport rides- one two mbale, which looks like a really neat town, and one to sipi- the matatu dropped us off right outside the gate. (apparently there is a bus stop there, who knew)
the weather up at sipi was rainy and cold, which was a refreshing change from buj- it felt good to snuggle up, have hot cocoa, eat some good homemade food, and wear a fleece.
Our first day we went for a long hike up over the ridge behind the boys waterfall... oh, did i mention that the lodge they own looks right out on the second falls, so the boys also now own a waterfall? - it felt amazing to get out and walk a bit, my legs havent had that much use in ages. The view was amazing- and it felt good to come back and relax after- no bar or anything to deal with, though the boys were stressing trying to deal with construction and supervising. The next day will morgan and i went on a walk down to the first falls.. definately impressive, and ended up getting caught in the rain on the way back, hiking up muddy slopes using banana leaves as umbrellas. great fun. best part of the day was coming back to find hot chocolate ready and waiting for us.. yumm..
off to the lemon for a few days to hopefully get some boating in before morgan heads out on the 23rd- weird... it will be different here for sure when she is gone- ill be just about the only girl boater here - hopefully we will get some more coming through soon-
it has been super low water lately, so it doesnt bode well for for good surf sessions... but im hoping we get lucky.
here are some photos from sipi, and there are more on flickr
close up from behind the boys waterfall
view from the lodge at sipi
first falls
stuck in the rain
Sipi is in the east of Uganda, right by Kenya's mount elgon, and is renown for the three massive waterfalls it has, along with many smaller ones nestled in among rockcliffs which supposedly host some really good rock climbing. It is absolutley beautiful up there, and completely different than Bujagali in so many ways.
Morgan and i went up to visit and stay with three friends of ours, fraggle, ian o'dell and will clark- who as i mentioned before just purchased some land and a lodge that they are renovating right at the second falls .After hearing so much about their escapades, it was great to finally get up there and see what they are doing. They have their work cut out for them for sure, but i am excited to see how it progresses and the end result.. but more on them later, once they get things a little more up and running.
it was super easy to get out to sipi, than again, any thing after our epic rwanda busride feels short in comparison- two public transport rides- one two mbale, which looks like a really neat town, and one to sipi- the matatu dropped us off right outside the gate. (apparently there is a bus stop there, who knew)
the weather up at sipi was rainy and cold, which was a refreshing change from buj- it felt good to snuggle up, have hot cocoa, eat some good homemade food, and wear a fleece.
Our first day we went for a long hike up over the ridge behind the boys waterfall... oh, did i mention that the lodge they own looks right out on the second falls, so the boys also now own a waterfall? - it felt amazing to get out and walk a bit, my legs havent had that much use in ages. The view was amazing- and it felt good to come back and relax after- no bar or anything to deal with, though the boys were stressing trying to deal with construction and supervising. The next day will morgan and i went on a walk down to the first falls.. definately impressive, and ended up getting caught in the rain on the way back, hiking up muddy slopes using banana leaves as umbrellas. great fun. best part of the day was coming back to find hot chocolate ready and waiting for us.. yumm..
off to the lemon for a few days to hopefully get some boating in before morgan heads out on the 23rd- weird... it will be different here for sure when she is gone- ill be just about the only girl boater here - hopefully we will get some more coming through soon-
it has been super low water lately, so it doesnt bode well for for good surf sessions... but im hoping we get lucky.
here are some photos from sipi, and there are more on flickr
close up from behind the boys waterfall
view from the lodge at sipi
first falls
stuck in the rain
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
kayak the nile
figured i should put the word out there-
right before i left for rwanda, Jamie Simpson, owner of kayak the nile, (kayak school out here) approached me and offered me a job full time from may through september. After much deliberation- seriously. i know it sounds amazing, and it is... it was a hard decision because there was a lot i was looking forwards to doing and people i was excited to see - and i was just getting excited to come home-- i decided to take the job, which i see as an amazing opportunity, both for my teaching and kayaking skills, and because jamie is a great boss, and i am excited to be working for him.
so its official, at least as of right now- i will be working as a full time kayak the nile instructor this summer, through september when i come home for karl and tara's wedding. i will most likley continue doing a little soft power work on the side as well, esp. trying to put this coloring book in circulation, photos of which i will try and upload soon.
I have decided to keep the blog going as well... so stay posted. plus- it helps me feel a little more connected to you all back home. love and miss you all... and come and visit me!!
a
right before i left for rwanda, Jamie Simpson, owner of kayak the nile, (kayak school out here) approached me and offered me a job full time from may through september. After much deliberation- seriously. i know it sounds amazing, and it is... it was a hard decision because there was a lot i was looking forwards to doing and people i was excited to see - and i was just getting excited to come home-- i decided to take the job, which i see as an amazing opportunity, both for my teaching and kayaking skills, and because jamie is a great boss, and i am excited to be working for him.
so its official, at least as of right now- i will be working as a full time kayak the nile instructor this summer, through september when i come home for karl and tara's wedding. i will most likley continue doing a little soft power work on the side as well, esp. trying to put this coloring book in circulation, photos of which i will try and upload soon.
I have decided to keep the blog going as well... so stay posted. plus- it helps me feel a little more connected to you all back home. love and miss you all... and come and visit me!!
a
Saturday, April 5, 2008
rwanda
spent the weekend in rwanda with annie and morgan. Morgan and i made it to kigali *rwanda's capital city* after a long, but relatively smooth bus ride from kampala, which took about 10 hours. We took the 6 am bus, meaning that we had to wake up super early to make it to the bus station, the plus side of which being that we managed to sleep for the majority of the ride. Fortuante, considering the movie selection on the bus, which consisted of two quality arnold flicks dubbed over in lusoga so that the music also cut in and out, (one of these films may have been conan the barbarian????) The arnold flicks were interspersed with nigerian soap operas about a man cheating on multiple wives, to which the crowd on the bus booed and shouted at appropriately. After the soap opera and the second arnold film was a jackie chan film also dubbed in lusoga. classics all of them.
Rwanda is truly the land of a thousand hills, as they seem to go on forever. Kigali is an absolutley beautiful city, nestled among the lush hills and valleys of the country. Kigali is incredibly clean, well organized, and all in all... amazing, though a bit on the expensive side. the vibe is more like europe than anything i have ever experienced in africa. WE stayed at a hostel called One Love, which is also a japanese based NGO that builds artificial limbs for rwandans injured in the 1994 genocide, it also teaches rwandans how to build tghe limbs, use the limbs, and helps rehabilitate them into society. the staff was amazingly friendly- check them out at www.oneloveproject.org .
We spent our first night at an amazing restaurant called the new cactus where we were able to enjoy a delicious fondue and goat cheese pizza. okay. so this trip was a bit of a splurge.
the next we spent at the genocide memorial in kigali, which was worth the trip out there in itself. The memorial is really well put together, with its focus on education for prevention of future genocides. It gives a lot of information, and makes really good use of multimedia= from documents, quotes from both un officials, rwandan government and western government sources, as well as survivors- photos, articles of clothing, remnants of weapons and survivors, and a documentary film that is segmented throughout the memorial, gathering the experiances of several different survivors, what the experiance was like, and what it is like to keep living after the fact.
It was , as the guide book says, difficult to walk around the streets of kigali and imagine the horrors of the genocide that so recently occured there. Yet, at the same time, it was difficult to be in the city of kigali, or elsewhere in rwanda, and not wonder how many people had been touched by the genocide, how far it reached. In a sense, anyone over the age of 15 living in n kigali was in some way involved with the genocide, as a survivor, a bystander, or even a direct participant. the resulting effect is a that of a ghost town, and i wonder how rwandans will ever be able to fully gain a sense of community and trust for eachother.
after spending the day tooling around kigali, we returned to the memorial that night to hear a survivor speak and to watch the film "shooting dogs".. a hollywoodised version of the true story of several thousand tutsis and many europeans that sought refuge at a school in kigali that was also serving as a un military base. 2 days after the violence broke out, france sent its troops to evacuate all the white/europeans, 4 days later, the Un pulled out, leaving 2000 tutsis behind, trapped, surrounded by interhamwe (hutu extremist ) killers. It was a really powerful film, and i absolutley reccomend it . It is frusterating and upsetting to see how useless the un and the west was, and it blows my mind how you can walk away knowing you are leaving 2000 people defenseless, to a certain death. For more on rwanda, and this check out romeo dallaire's (unamir head in rwanda at the time) memoire, shake hands with the devil.
our second day in rwanda we went out to the beautiful lac kivu up in kiyoge. it was incredible. volcanoes in the backround, crystal clear blue lake, mountains, and a delicious lunch- it felt like switzerland. photos to follow soon.
after the trip, it felt great to head back to uganda (new visa in hand- yes! )- even with all the speed bumps sitting in the far back of a very bumpy bus ride.
We spent Saturday nite in kampala with andy and sarah, two of our volunteers for some last quality time with andy before he headed back to new york on tuesday. Had a delicious Ethiopian meal- my first.
Felt great to home to bujagali for sure- though a very worthwhile trip, for more reasons than one.
Rwanda is truly the land of a thousand hills, as they seem to go on forever. Kigali is an absolutley beautiful city, nestled among the lush hills and valleys of the country. Kigali is incredibly clean, well organized, and all in all... amazing, though a bit on the expensive side. the vibe is more like europe than anything i have ever experienced in africa. WE stayed at a hostel called One Love, which is also a japanese based NGO that builds artificial limbs for rwandans injured in the 1994 genocide, it also teaches rwandans how to build tghe limbs, use the limbs, and helps rehabilitate them into society. the staff was amazingly friendly- check them out at www.oneloveproject.org .
We spent our first night at an amazing restaurant called the new cactus where we were able to enjoy a delicious fondue and goat cheese pizza. okay. so this trip was a bit of a splurge.
the next we spent at the genocide memorial in kigali, which was worth the trip out there in itself. The memorial is really well put together, with its focus on education for prevention of future genocides. It gives a lot of information, and makes really good use of multimedia= from documents, quotes from both un officials, rwandan government and western government sources, as well as survivors- photos, articles of clothing, remnants of weapons and survivors, and a documentary film that is segmented throughout the memorial, gathering the experiances of several different survivors, what the experiance was like, and what it is like to keep living after the fact.
It was , as the guide book says, difficult to walk around the streets of kigali and imagine the horrors of the genocide that so recently occured there. Yet, at the same time, it was difficult to be in the city of kigali, or elsewhere in rwanda, and not wonder how many people had been touched by the genocide, how far it reached. In a sense, anyone over the age of 15 living in n kigali was in some way involved with the genocide, as a survivor, a bystander, or even a direct participant. the resulting effect is a that of a ghost town, and i wonder how rwandans will ever be able to fully gain a sense of community and trust for eachother.
after spending the day tooling around kigali, we returned to the memorial that night to hear a survivor speak and to watch the film "shooting dogs".. a hollywoodised version of the true story of several thousand tutsis and many europeans that sought refuge at a school in kigali that was also serving as a un military base. 2 days after the violence broke out, france sent its troops to evacuate all the white/europeans, 4 days later, the Un pulled out, leaving 2000 tutsis behind, trapped, surrounded by interhamwe (hutu extremist ) killers. It was a really powerful film, and i absolutley reccomend it . It is frusterating and upsetting to see how useless the un and the west was, and it blows my mind how you can walk away knowing you are leaving 2000 people defenseless, to a certain death. For more on rwanda, and this check out romeo dallaire's (unamir head in rwanda at the time) memoire, shake hands with the devil.
our second day in rwanda we went out to the beautiful lac kivu up in kiyoge. it was incredible. volcanoes in the backround, crystal clear blue lake, mountains, and a delicious lunch- it felt like switzerland. photos to follow soon.
after the trip, it felt great to head back to uganda (new visa in hand- yes! )- even with all the speed bumps sitting in the far back of a very bumpy bus ride.
We spent Saturday nite in kampala with andy and sarah, two of our volunteers for some last quality time with andy before he headed back to new york on tuesday. Had a delicious Ethiopian meal- my first.
Felt great to home to bujagali for sure- though a very worthwhile trip, for more reasons than one.
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