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 waterfallview from the lodge at sipifirst falls
stuck in the rain

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great pictures. You're so buff.
Love you, Uncle Jon