On Christmas Eve, I ventured out with my new friends, Carmen, Lawrence, Kelly, and Simon, who invited me to go to Jinjia. Kelly has lived in Kampala for seven months and has never been out of the city, so she was excited about this big day!
On our way out of the city we had to drop of several things for Simon's job, so it took us a while to get to Jinjia. While we were still in the city, a police officer pulled us over, for no reason at all. He said he pulled us over because we were illegally parked. What was strange was that we were not parked at all, we were driving, but once the police officier pulled us over, we were parked illegally. Do you understand? Unbelievable! The police here are very corrupt and are constantly trying to make money. So we had to pay 40,000 shillings to the bank to be able to get our keys back. Poor, Kelly was so upset, because she had such high hopes for this fun day and she said, satan was just trying to ruin it. We all concluded this insadent as...TIA...after going through many emotions and many "whys?"
A couple more stops for Simon's job...and then we were off to Jinjia. I really love getting out of the city, if only for a day..This is Ugandan countryside!!
We made a stop outside of Jinjia to buy chicken on a stick and get some sodas, as everyone calls cokes here. Yes, that night I did got sick...but it was worth every bite!
It only took us an hour once we got going. There were concrete roads between Kampala and Jinjia, but once we got closer to Jinjia, the roads looked like this again...
Most of the houses were made out of mud and sticks, like many of the ones in Kampala, but these houses had more land to spread out, they were not ontop of one another.
Or you have houses made out of brick and the outside kitchen made of mud.
And we all died laughing when we saw this sign...Simon said laziness is a problem in Uganda and people often stay in bed having sex, instead of going to work, so instead of saying "Don't Be Lazy", they say " Avoid Morning Sex Africa" Too funny!!!!
For some reason this the first time I have really noticed the jack fruit trees, which really are everywhere in Uganda. These jack fruit trees survive through anything...when all the other fruit die, jack fruit is sure to still be ready to eat.
Our first stop in Jinjia was the Bujagali Falls...notice that Ugandan's pay one price and all non-Ugandans pay another price. How funny is that??? Can we say discrimination among "Muzugus"?? When they see "white people or Muzungus walking down the street, they automatically think.."money".
Charles Tucker seemed to understand how neat these falls were. He could not stop starring at the water....
Such a cool place to take a picture...
This is Simon, who is from Uganda and Kelly, his wife who is from Michigan....They were our hosts for this trip to Jinjia...
We paid these guys 10,000 shillings ($4.50) to go down these dangerours falls on a water can...
What a fun crew this was!! Charles Tucker, Me, Lawrence, Lawrence's new mother..Carmen from Maryland, Kelly, and Simon....Love these people!! I am going to miss you all!!
We wanted to go on a boat ride, but our tummies started to rumble for lunch, so we passed....
Charles Tucker loved Lawrence...especially when he got to wear his shades... Look at that face!! This is the "I know I am cool" face...He does it everytime he puts on sunglasses....
African dance....
Somebody's getting tired..
And hungry...let's go eat lunch...
One last look at the falls, which looks more like a river from this view...
I think Simon found a new best friend...
We ate lunch at the Nile porch which was amazing!!! Look...they even had Christmas decorations, which were very tastefully done...
I have to admit..I tried to eat the local food, but it was just not my thing...I definitely resorted to the western food..opps.. I admit it!!
I love this lady...
Then it was onto the Source of the Nile...As we were driving along the extremely bumby roads...I see this lady with her baby who looks just like the doll I bought for Mary Taylor...I guess I should be saying the doll looks like her, but the Ugandans in the Kampala don't dress like this very often, nor carry their babies on their back very much either...so it was neat to see how the people in the village live.... How cute is this??
I have been hearing about these storks, but just now seeing them for myself. Oh. My. Goodness... Now I see what everyone has been making a fuss out of....These storks are at least three feet tall...
Look at them in comparision to this building....
About an hour later we reached the Nile River and the minute we got out of the car, these monkeys were there to greet us, jumping around playing with their friends...
Charles Tucker thought it was great! He was definitley terrified, but intrigued!! This one came within inches of my hand, I guess they are used to getting fed....
Can you believe this is the Nile River...the same Nile where Jesus was baptized?? Crazy!
This time we decieded to go for a boat ride...
I was a little worried Charles Tucker would freak out on the boat, but he was a natural...
He was just taking it all in...
They didn't have a life jacket small enough to fit him..so he got away with not wearing one...
So neat to experience this boat ride through the eyes of a child...
It is all so new...
And this is the "Source of the Nile"...see where the water is a different texture than the rest...the beginning of the nile river starts here.... So cool!
We stopped for a little while on this little island to look at crafts and take pictures...
I thought this chicken coop was too cute..
Kelly wanted to touch the Nile River with her feet, so she made Simon take a picture with her...he was not happy...
After our boat ride we ventured up the hill to look at more Ugandan crafts...
Then it was time to head home. We managed to find a place to stop and have some drinks on the way home. Hard to believe this was Christmas Eve...but this Ugandan christmas tree helped remind me what day it was...
What an amazing day with some really great people to share it with!! Thank you all for making my Christmas Eve in Uganda a day, Charles Tucker and I will always remember!!!
Oooo, I can't wait to go see it myself!!!! So glad you are home safe and sound!
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