When I arrived, they were all still working, so I spent some time in a cafe called The Source, working on a blog post and catching up on facebook. Ibra and Doug came and picked me up around 8:30, and they took me to one of the little hole-in-the-wall places called "pork joints", and we enjoyed some fresh tilapia and a few beers, and talked about what it's like working on the river. Ibra is local, but Doug is from Australia and has been living in Jinja for seven years now. He said that nowhere in the world compares to Uganda as far as people, natural beauty, and just good times (what all Australians are looking for, it seems). I couldn't agree more. I only have a few days left, and all I can think about is coming back.
After dinner, Doug had to meet up with his girlfriend, so Ibra and I went to a secluded beer garden seated right on the river. It was closed, but we gave the guard a little money and he let us come in and help ourselves to the bar. We took our gin and tonics, walked down to the comfortable seating on the veranda, and talked for hours while watching the river crawl by. Ibra has been trying to come to the US for some time now, and hearing him talk made me understand how impossible our immigration laws are. To even come for a visit requires "close ties", meaning a blood relative. If you have a job lined up or have been admitted to a school--not an easy task when applying from another country--it's a little easier to obtain a visa, but can still take months. We Americans take for granted our ability to go jet-setting all over the world, when those living in less fortunate countries who are looking for a better life are stranded. Another friend of mine, a teacher at the deaf school, is trying to move to the US to be with his pregnant fiance for the birth of their child, and still can't get a visa. No wonder people come here illegally.
After talking, we went back to the hostel and hung out with some other friends until the sun came up, enjoying our last few hours together. I came back to Kampala a little depressed and missing my friends, but Pedro and Gabriel
cheered me up right away. They got me pumped about the safari adventure by singing songs from The Lion King, and telling me that I should come spend a couple of weeks in Spain with them next summer. I've always wanted to go to Spain, and they offered to take me on a road trip to the wineries around the country, similar to what Gweneth Paltrow and Mario Batali did in "Spain: A Culinary Road Trip," a series made for public television. Not sure how I'm going to pay for it... but how can I pass that up?
So, early Friday morning, we headed to Murchison Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world. On the way, we did rhino tracking and chimpanzee tracking, and I got to see these
creatures in their natural habitats. I've seen chimps at the St. Louis Zoo, but it is NOTHING like being 10 meters away from a group of 50 of them, with an educated guide giving a play-by-play of their behavior. We were in a dense rain forest, and they were all around us for over an hour. Two chimps in particular got the group's attention. A male was on the trail ahead of us shaking some branches and screaming, while a female was sitting about three meters closer to us. The guide told us that he was trying to get her to follow him, but that she was just taking her sweet time. One of the guys in the group said "typical," and we all started cracking up. They are extremely human-like--from their familial relationships to their thinking and reasoning--and being around them made me feel more a part of nature than ever before. I couldn't get many pictures because it was a bit rainy that day, and the forest is so thick that not much light can penetrate, but Gabriel got some great shots and took some videos, which I'll be putting on facebook as soon as he's finished editing.
After the trekking, we spent a glorious night in a cabin in the forest. I enjoyed some Spanish wine
with Pedro and Gabriel, and we talked more about my trip to Spain next summer. It would have been an incredibly relaxing evening, had I not found the biggest spider on god's green earth in the shower. I'm not very squeamish, but I ran out of that bathroom with just my towel on, and tried to find a man with big spider-killing shoes on. Unfortunately the first man I found was Gabriel, who's about as useful when it comes to manly things as my mother. So we had to wake up one of the employees, who laughed at us for five minutes before grabbing the spider with his bare hand and throwing it outside. He had a look on his face as he was headed back to bed that clearly said, "What is up with white people?!"
The next morning, we did our safari through the savanna. Basically what that means is you drive
in a jeep for hours with your head sticking out the top taking as many picture as you can of the countless animals roaming the hillside. We all had great fun singing "Hukuna Matata" every time we saw a warthog. The majesty and sheer size of the giraffes, elephants, and water buffalo was almost spiritual. There were dozens of colorful birds flying overhead, while impala's leaped across the road at every bend. Much like the city of Kampala, it was brimming with life.
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a cliff side restaurant, and then a boat ride to the base of the waterfall. Along the way, we saw hippos, crocodiles, and all the species from the morning enjoying a drink from The Nile. The boat stopped at a small island near the falls, and we got out and took some photos. We were then dropped off and driven in a jeep to the top of the falls. Ten minutes before we arrived, I could hear the water's powerful growl. When I got out of the car, I thought it had started to rain, but it was actually just heavy mist. We walked around the top and saw what I am incapable of describing, so I let the pictures speak for themselves. 
It was a long ride home back to Kampala, and soon I'm headed home. My next post will most likely be about my 27 hour journey back to the states, which will be much less fun to read I'm sure.
Much love,
T
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