Tubing on the River with the kiddies and the epic climb to Africa's rooftop: Mount Kilimanjaro

After running around Ndejje and making phone calls to all of the parents of the children who succeeded in Environmental Education it was time clean my house, pack up my belongings and say goodbye to a home that still felt new.

Sunday (8/14) was my last full day in Ndejje Village. Fabrice and Fabienne had moved out of Ndejje but came back to visit. From my understanding, someone in UNHCR offered them a house in a different village with no rent, so naturally, the huge family took the offer and moved. New York Cafe in Kampala was the last meal Fabrice, Fabienne and I ate together – their first time eating pizza! 

Me and Fabienne at NY Cafe

Sarah (a volunteer from Soccer Without Borders) was leaving the following days as was I and we both decided to have a small get together/cook out at her house to say goodbye to students and neighbors. Dark came quickly and I had to leave before it got too late.

 

Samuel and I

Acheal, his brother they call Japonai and me

The departure time for the Jinja Field trip was set at 6:30AM. I warned the children (and their parents while on the phone) many times that if they were late we would leave without them. Shandruki and Espoire definitely were NOT late; they showed up with their mother at my house at 4:45AM! They helped me back up the final things in my house and we walked to the roadside just as dawn was hitting. The taxi driver who Teacher Jacob had helped me arranged was not answering his phone and was nowhere to be found. Forced to find another driver, we negotiated a price and headed towards the school. There was only 1 student who was on time!! Time is nothing in Africa. People say “soon” but it really means sometime today. 

Kids on the bus heading to Jinja!

People use the phrases “now” and “now-now”, the latter one meaning sooner than “now.” My phone began ringing with parents on the other line telling me their child was on the way. 

After waiting another 15-20min and picking up about 8 more students we began to head towards Kampala picking up more children along the way. Finally around 7am the matatu (taxi/Nissan van) was filled with 1 driver, 3 adults (including me) and 16 children and we were heading to meet the Nile River Explorer bus in Kampala!! One of the mothers and a teacher joined the field trip as chaperones. Because of the inevitable traffic jams surrounding Kampala, we missed the bus and were forced to continue in the crammed matatu the rest of the way to Bujagali/Jinja (80km). During the ride I taught them how to play “I Spy” and handed out prizes such as stickers, toothbrushes/toothpaste, pens/pencils, and other fun things.

Getting ready to go on the river!

 

Paul was waiting for the van and ready for the pep-talk/briefing to begin! The children were so excited and were surprisingly well behaved. Half of the children went with Paul and Zen Tubing to go on the river, down the rapids, and see Bujagali Falls while the other group waited patiently swimming near the shores of the Nile River. Splashing, playing in the water and teaching some of the children how to swim was much more enjoyable than sitting in a classroom with a chalkboard. This was the teaching style I had been searching for. The kids actually seemed interested when I told them about the benefits and drawbacks of the Hydro Electric Dams in Uganda. Then the groups switched so that everyone was able to do the same thing. 

Tubs!

Students looking at Bujagali Falls. This epic rapid is set to be flooded
by the dam in October.

Brother and sister: Julian and Julie

When all the fun was over a early and light dinner was ready and waiting for them before they packed themselves back onto the matatu to head back to Ndejje. Prior to departure, the driver of the taxi and I had agreed on a price of the days driving and I gave that money to Catherine (the teacher who accompanied us for the day). We all said goodbye and after they left Paul and I began frantically packing for the next month on holiday; our bus was leaving in an hour or two! Before long, Paul had received a phone call from the reception desk at Nile River Explorers in Jinja informing him that the matatu with HOPE Primary School was there and the driver was demanding more money!! Needless to say, I was not thrilled and sped into town to sort things out. In the end they made it home safely to Ndejje and I did not budge on my price, I’ve been told several times that I am a good bargainer…I think I get that from my Dad.

Student of HOPE Primary School on Jinja Field Trip.

Kampala Coach arrived nearly 2 hours late but finally we were on our way to Arusha, Tanzania; a place I called home Summer of 2007. It was a cold, bumpy and sleepless ride to the Kenyan border. Being welcomed by begging street children and intoxicated men trying to grab you at half past midnight was not ideal; one becomes very good at ignoring people here. Being in Swahili country now, my Lugandan words of ndakka (leave me) and pisa embi (bad manners) would not work – I needed to learn those phrases in Swahili and fast! As soon as we arrived in Nairobi we changed busses and sat from about 3:30am-5am and then continued on to Arusha getting there at about noon.

View of Arusha from our hostel.

The next two days prior to the Mount Kilimanjaro trek were spent walking around Arusha seeing old cites and restaurants that were still in my memory. The tribunals for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 were being held at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Arusha but when we had tried to see a trial, it was closed to the public.

Only in Africa do you see a business that “specializes in motorcycle parts and used shoes” on one side of the street and a man advertising for a cell phone company by dancing with a microphone and a bright pink t-shirt on top of a huge van that is loaded with blasting speakers.

On the 18^th we headed to Moshi on a coaster (its bigger than a matatu but smaller than a bus) and then took a dalla-dalla (matatu/taxi in Swahili) to Marangu where we met with the hotel that we booked the trek with nearly 1 year ago. The hotel was amazing with a beautiful garden, self-contained rooms (hot hot showers!) and an amazing inclusive “last supper” before the hike. Having nearly nothing for the climb, we borrowed equipment from the hotel and met the 3 others that would join us on the mountain: 2 Dutch women (Pien and Linda) and a man from Prague who lived in Canada (Jerry). The five of us sat with a man named Shamus who briefed us on the next 6 days on Mount Kilimanjaro. Pole-pole is Swahili for slowly-slowly and one phrase he told us to get used to because the key to climbing Kili was going slow and drinking water. He was very thorough and very knowledgeable about the mountain and the climb – we were in good hands.

Day One:

Woke up a little nervous. After finishing the final packing and eating our “last breakfast” the five of us waited around for an hour or two while our crew assembled and our bills were paid – just in case something happened to you on the mountain they wanted to be sure they were paid haha. Five climbers = 1 lead guide, 4 assistant guides (including 1 cook) and 6 porters to carry everyone’s belongings. The 5 guides consisted of a father and his 4 sons. It was beautiful. The father, Emanuel, had been climbing the mountin since 1947 and was at the time 78 years old – amazing!!

The hiking was very very easy and slow. We moved like snails in the middle of a rainforest jungle with a hiking stick in one hand and a water bottle in the other. From the Marangu Gate to the Mandara huts (where we would spend our first night) we hiked about 10-12km and had an increased elevation of only 720m. The huts were the highest I had ever been – 2700m! Every step after that was an accomplishment for me J The huts were furnished with solar panels that provided lighting inside and also included 4 beds and mattresses.

 

Lunch on Day ONE!
Jerry, Linda and Pein on the left: Paul on the right!

pole-pole Paul!

Beautiful rainforest of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Day Two:

My nerves had calmed and the night wasn’t too cold. Tea at 7:30am followed by a full breakfast prepared by our wonderful cook with the help of our porters. We were one of the last groups, if not the very last group, to leave Mandara and head 12-15km up to Horombo huts. This day was longer than day one, but the scenery was just as beautiful and changed significantly with the 1020m altitude increase. We passed Maundi Crater along the path and vowed to take the side trail on the way down when we didn’t need to save out energy. Stopping periodically to drink water, use the bathroom/bush, and then to eat lunch, we finally arrived to Horombo at about 4/5pm. Time was of the least importance to us – we kept telling ourselves “pole-pole.” It was at Horombo where were were taking an extra day to help our bodies acclimatize to the altitude of 3720m

Frozen overnight...

Tea time all the time (Horombo Huts)

Our home for Day 2, 3 and 5.

Gangs all ready!

Day Three:

We slept in and started a light day hike before noon. We hiked towards Mawensi hut (used by climbers on a different route) and went past the famous “Zebra Rocks.” The guides said ‘you see zebras on safari, but you see zebra rocks on Kilimanjaro!’ Horombo was definitely the busiest of the huts – climbers going up, climbers on their “rest day” like us, and climbers coming down; stories were shared and although some eased out tensions, others made us all a bit more nervous for what was ahead. We saw many great views of Kibo (the summit) and also of Kilimanjaro other, more technical, peak Mwenzie. We all went to sleep early knowing this was going to be our last full nights sleep.

Some of our guides

Zebra Rock!

Paul and I with a clear view of whats ahead.

Day Four:

Another 12-15km to hike with an increase of another 1000m… pole-pole. Around us, the vegetation changed once again and became like an alpine desert…not many plants and animals can survive at this altitude and the cold temperatures that the night brings. The last watering point was at 4130m – everyone filled every container they had and the porters carried enough to cook with, wash with, and then some extra to fill out bottles. They are amazing men and they make Kili possible. This day was the most exhausting yet. Feeling out of shape by walking quickly to catch up with friends, I told myself it was the altitude and then again reminded myself: pole-pole. Kibo huts were spotted from a distance but it seemed after 3 hours of hiking they weren’t any closer, I stopped paying attention to them. We finally arrived at Kibo huts (4700m) around 4pm and got ready for the big summit not too far away. We had a nice dinner and were briefed on the events to follow in the next 36 hours. I felt like every other day had just been walk in the park but soon we would attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro with another 1195m and 6km to go. The plan: go to sleep immediately after dinner (6pm), wake up at about 11pm and have some biscuits and tea before we bundled up in ALL of our warm clothes and headed towards the summer at midnight in the midst of a dark and very cold night with only a torch/flashlight on our head to see.

Layering up, its getting cold today.

Day Five:

Tea had never tasted so bitter that morning, or should I say night (it was still before midnight). Beginning the summit wasn’t that bad: I had one three pairs of socks, 3 layers on the bottom, 5 or 6 layers on the top, gloves, hat and a balaclava over my face. Quickly becoming hot, I stripped some of my core layers and continued. After two hours of hiking I couldn’t feel my feet; my core was still warm and cozy but my toes felt like blocks of ice on the end of my foot. I continued to hike while wiggling my toes and hitting them on the ground to help the circulation. We were already passed by some people on their way down (they hadn’t made it to the top, they had decided to stop climbing). The pain in my feet became unbearable and the hike was suddenly not fun to me anymore. When I was told we nearly half way and not even at 5000m I made the executive decision and began hiking town back to my warm sleeping bag with one of our guides. Paul, Jerry Pein, and Linda continued up but soon Pein turned around as well. The three of them made it to the crater rim AKA Gilman’s Point (5681m) a bit after five in the morning and then continued onto the highest point, Uhuru peak (5895m), arrive just in time for sunrise. Paul was stumbling around like a drunk due to the altitude and the three began their decent back to Kibo huts for a short rest, a meal and then more hiking. Paul arrived back to camp about 10am looking exhausted. Apparently, one of his water bottles had a frozen cap and leaked water the whole time which froze down his leg – then he lost the top to his other water bottle leaving him with nearly nothing to drink. Good thing I was waiting for him at the bottom with fresh water, a snickers bar, and a big smile! After packing up and resting, the five of us continued down to Horombo huts.

Pein and I posing for our victory photo!

Kibo Huts

Day Six:

All of us were looking forward to hot showers and a cold beer (cider for me). We left camp early and began the 27km hike down the mountain which was no longer hiked at a pole pole speed. We went arakka-arakka (Swahili for quickly-quickly) and made it to the gate before 2pm. We stopped to see the crater and then again for lunch. Exhausted, we got on the back of a truck and headed towards the hotel.

This is what you will get wheeled down from the mountain on if you become
too sick/weak to hike yourself. One wheeled stretcher...we saw 2 people coming
down on these.

Back at the gate! We did it!

Back of the truck ride to the hotel.

SUMMIT MAN getting his certificate for making it to the top!
So very proud of him!

We enjoyed the hot showers, the good food and a nice bed. Our bus ticket was booked for 8am to take us from Moshi (near Marangu village) to Mombassa, Kenya so we weren’t able to sleep quite yet.

Time is Winding Down in Ndejje...Environmental Awareness/Trash Clean up Parade, Crater Lakes, Chimpanzee Trekking, Swamp Walk, and a Microfinance Loan!

Here are some photos throughout the last few weeks....

 

After English class, a student of mine brought me to her house to "bless" her baby. When I arrived the child
was playing with a machete and cane sugar. I tried to capture her holding them but she had set them down to cry.

P5 students practicing for the talent show.

All of P5 with me and some of the SWB volunteers!

More talent show preparation.

Cattle on the roads is very normal. And hazardous....

I only had TWO Environmental Education classes left for each grade because I chose the top students who were going to go to Jinja. I decided to spend one class focusing on how you can reuse things like plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc and the last class would be a final exam. I went all around town trying to find supplies so that we could do small arts and crafts with recycled/reusable things. Even finding the most basic things like scissors and glue were nearly impossible! For EE class that week, P5, P6 and P7 made things such as: lava lamps (with food coloring, water, cooking oil and cut up tinsel [there was no glitter]); bracelets (cut up plastic bottles and glued fabric around it); piggy banks; weights (filled the bottles with cement); and bowling pins! I knew that the kids would be more rowdy than usual since we were doing some fun activities, so to keep them organized and on track I brought them pens, pencils and candy. They stayed motivated and listening very well that day. (Thanks Dad for the candy and pencils!!)

Since my teaching time was cut so drastically and there wasn’t that much time left for earning points or showing the students more environmentally friendly actions, I decided to hold a Trash Clean Up/Environmental Awareness/Activity day on Saturday (7/23). We made posters that stated “HOPE Primary School in the fight against littering in our beloved community” and “HOPE Primary School in the promotion of environmental awareness in out beloved Ndejje community.” While a couple of students worked on the posters I made the students a simple lunch (bread and jelly sandwiches). Then we walked around the village for 4 hours picking up trash and brining it back to the school. Since there is no waste management system in place here, the only thing to do with the garbage was burn it.  Unfortunately that is what EVERYone does with their garbage here (unless they just dump it somewhere to smell and rot). In 4 hours we only went a very very small distance because of the insane amount of trash that littered the streets. We filled up between 15 and 20 garbage bins full of trash and had to make countless trips back to the school to empty the bins. It was amazing to see the students wanting to keep their community clean and looking smart even while the local adults laughed at us for picking up the garbage all over the roads. You could see the feelings of pride and accomplishment all over their faces. Afterwards we all met back at the school to partake in some more “reusing” activities like we had done in class earlier than week. Overall, this event was very successful and very enjoyable for the kids and myself.

P5-P7 students who participated in the parade.

The following week I had prepared a 25-30 question exam, which was different for all three classes. On Tuesday (7/26) I gave the exam to P6 students and on Wednesday (7/27) I gave the exam to P7 and P5. Some students from P6 had informed me that a couple of their classmates had given the questions/answers to the other classes for my exam. I was not very happy to hear that, but thankfully they all had different questions. I announced to all of the classes that I would be choosing the winners for the trip after correcting the exam and reveal the names on the last day of classes: August 5^th – they were all verrrrry excited. I planned to spend the weekend traveling and then return to Ndejje mid week to correct the exams and choose the Jinja trip winners.

For English class, I carried on teaching as normal having lessons which focused on possessive pronouns, sentence building and more repetition of vocabulary. For the last day of class I wanted to do something special and fun for the students so I decided to play English Bingo! It was both fun and educational because I gave out prizes for whoever had “bingo” but also taught them new vocabulary words for all of the prizes handed out (mango, banana, rice, sugar, pineapple, beans, passion fruit, kilo, etc). It was hard to leave on the last day- Gracien, (a student who works at the school as a night guard and does miscellaneous errands) who I think has improved the most throughout my teaching said to me, “Another teacher coming?” It broke my heart to tell him “No I do not thing there is another teacher coming. Ask Jacques and Annet.” Jacques is the Director of the school and Annet is the headmistress both of whom I have been working with since I arrived. I’m sure I helped here, but its hard to believe I really made a difference in only 10 weeks – these people need programs that will last for years.

Although I am happy to be done teaching, I know I am going to miss all of the students and adults that are involved with HOPE Primary School. Ndejje Village has been increasingly difficult to live in, especially in the last few weeks, for a number of different reasons. As I’ve mentioned I am living alone – as much as I love personal space and alone time… its not that fun to have no one to talk to and no one around. I was becoming very lonely staying in Ndejje. Although I had some local friends, I didn’t feel comfortable going out somewhere with them alone. When I did go out and have a drink with one friend, he ended up telling me that he was in love with me and that he asked God for water and He gave him me and all this other stuff. It made me very uncomfortable so I decided to simply not put myself in that situation anymore therefore I sat home every night. Also, the men in the village were becoming gradually more aggressive towards me, physically and verbally. Even walking to school in broad daylight I was feeling very attached and uncomfortable walking alone. I made sure to always wear appropriate clothing that covered much of my skin, but that seemed to do nothing. Because I did not want to stay surrounded by these negative vibes in Ndejje and also because I wanted to see more of Uganda, I took a 5 day trip to Southwestern Uganda to visit Fort Portal, Crater Lakes, Kibale Forest National Park and Bigodi Wetland Reserve.

Paul came to visit me on Tuesday because he knew I wasn’t having the best time staying alone in the village. He had a few days off of work and decided to join me on the first part of my short holiday in the Fort Portal area. The drive was simultaneously the most difficult and longest bus ride with some of the most beautiful and pictuours scenery I’ve seen in Uganda thus far. The bus ride was supposed to be 4-5 hours from Kamapal to Fort Portal. We got on the bus a little after 10am on Thursday (7/28) but didn’t leave until close to 1:30! After listening to some man preach/lecture (in Luganda) about herbal medicine for 30min Paul and I offered him 5,000/= (2$) to stop talking. It didn’t work but luckily after a 5min prayer he got off the bus and left us in peace and quiet. 

The drive was very green.

Small town we passed through...

We made it to Fort Portal where it was pouring rain a bit before 6pm. We had a driver from Crater Lake Nkuruba Community Campsite pick us up and bring us to where we had planned on staying for the night. We arrived and it stopped raining J. The place was absolutely beautiful and filled with wildlife. We had an amazing dinner of vegetable curry and rice and got some good rest for our long hike to Mahoma Waterfall in the morning.

Black and white colobus monkeys!

The first thing we saw when Paul and I arrived
to Lake Nkuruba Community Campsite.

Hiking around the campsite...

The hike to Mahoma Waterfall on Friday (7/29) was absolutely amazing. 15km-20km (so the guide said) and about 5 hours of hiking. Here are some pictures from the hike...

A neat house along the hike

One of the many crater lakes.

Paul and I at Mahoma Waterfall

Paul went for a swim at Mahoma.

 Paul headed back to Jinja after the hike and I stayed at Lake Nkuruba another night. I met a girl about my age from Denmark named Blika who was also traveling solo so we teamed up and made some plans for the following days. I spent part of Friday and Saturday hiking around more crater lakes and then headed to stay at the Chimps Nest and visit Kibale Forest National Park with Blika. 

Lake Nkuruba

Baboons filled the sides of the road on the
drive from Lake Nkuruba to Kibale Forest.

At Kibale Forest National Park I deicded to partake in the Chimpanzee Trekking (much much cheaper than gorilla trekking) and Blika joined me for a Night Walk in the forest. Here are various pictures from the chimp trekking:

Hanging in the trees...

Posing for us...

 

Here is a great video of the Chimps when it began to rain:

My friend Blika left on Sunday and I moved to a place called Kibale Safari Hotel which was amazing and very peaceful. On Sunday I relaxed a lot and also went to visit the Bigodi Wetland Reserve and did a swamp walk with a local guide. I saw 5 out of the 8 kinds of primates in the area on this hike. Red tailed, black and white colobus, red colobus, grey cheeked, and l’hoest monkey. We saw tons of different birds including the great blue turacos and also found a tree which was used to help people suffering from malaria as well as a tree which made the monkeys who ate its leaves drunk. A very fun day followed by an amazing dinner of matoke, grand nut sauce, vegetables, chips (fries) and chapattis!

I had the place to myself at Kibale Safari Hotel.

Swamp walk/Bigodi Wetland Reserve

Grey cheeked monkey.

Two HUGE snails on the path.

Hiking in Bigodi

Black and white colobus monkey...he looks like a little man!

On Monday I was going to head up North to meet some friends in Murchinson Falls National Park but unfortunately when I got to Fort Portal to catch the bus I had lost my cell phone somewhere on the bumpy bodaboda ride. I was upset at first but realized I couldn’t do anything about it and headed to Jinja because I wasn’t ready to go back to Ndejje yet.

A couple of weeks ago I had agreed to give a small microfinance loan to my friend Prossy who lives near Paul in Bujagli Falls so that she could start her own small business. She is a widowed mother of two beautiful and bright boys names Innocent and Jordan whom I have mentioned in previous posts. She is a very hard worker and has many different skills which I believe can become a small income generating business. There are many tourist who stay in Bujagali Falls and there are many services that are demanded and not supplied. Prossy had a friend come to visit her and teach her how to do manicures and pedicures. She is also an amazing tailor who can make anything (purses, skirts, shirts, pants, headbands, etc) you want. Prossy can also do hair (into braids and twists), she cooks amazing food, and doing laundry by hand is usually very difficult for tourists. We decided to take all of these different skills and start a small business called “Prossy’s Services” I spent those days in Jinja working on a poster to advertise locally in Bujugali and got them printed and laminated for her.

I returned to Ndejje on Thursday (8/4) and spent the night grading papers. On Friday I went to HOPE expecting to find all of the students in exams. I was wrong, the only students there were P7 because all other students had finished exams and were on break. As I have mentioned, things never work out here… you can never expect anything because you are always wrong, you can never rely on anything/anyone because nothing is reliable. So I handed out the permission slips for the field trip to the winning P7 students, dropped a few off at the houses of the students which I knew well, and left the rest of them in the office for the students to pick up.

I am back in Jinja now working on things for university and finalizing the field trip plans. Prossy has already had phone calls about sewing things for people who are visiting as well as 3 pedicure customers. It was her birthday yesterday and we celebrated with tons of food and chocolate cake. I am very proud of her hard work and I think that this small business is going to be very successful. She will now be able to afford to send her students to a great school outside of Kampala where they will receive a much better education than the small public schools in Bujagali. She is thrilled and very very happy about this new business..so am I J

I will be going back to Ndejje towards the end of the week so that I can pack up everything in my house and tie up all loose ends there. I will be taking the kids to Jinja on August 15^th (next Monday) and later that night Paul and I will get on an overnight bus headed to Nairobi, Kenya. Then we will get on another bus which will bring us to Arusha, Tanzania. We will spend a few days here, hopefully visiting a couple of my old friends I met during my mission trip in 2007 and then we will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for 6 days! After Kili we are heading to the East coast of Kenya followed by a safari in Western Kenya. I have been planning this holiday for nearly a year now…looking forward to this time exploring new landscapes, cultures and traditions.