The 7 Fogarties in East Africa (Miriam & Samar in Kampala, Anne & Kristin in Nairobi, Maria in Dar es Salaam, Todd in Eldoret, Kenya, and me) met up for a weekend in Kampala -- the main purpose being to raft the rapids at the source of the Nile. Seriously!
Interesting billboards...
Fanta passion!! My favorite
The ganja dude :)
As everyone was bringing a +1 friend/husband, Andy (my partner in crime in my research program) and I set out to Kampala last weekend. We avoided the 7 hour drive to Nairobi + 14 hour bus ride to Kampala and sucked it up to pay the expensive but totally-worth-it direct plane ticket to Kampala instead. The drive from the airport to Kampala was beautiful -- Uganda is so lush and green, with sugarcane, banana trees, coffee everywhere! Nothing like the Tanzanian flat, dusty savanna. And their construction creates a striking contrast -- red terracotta roofs on whitewashed colonial-style buildings (but I guess I was too mesmerized to catch a picture!).
Driving into Kampala
Driving into Kampala
Interesting billboards...Friday in Kampala was totally random and fun! We walked through the heart of Kampala, Nakasero, had a pretty decent South Indian lunch, and ended up at an amazing coffee shop-cum-craft market and, of course, I bought the tourist-trap Ugandan paper bead necklaces. But they're beautiful!
Fanta passion!! My favorite
A blood drive in downtown Kampala (on Nakasero)!!
Kampala has these menacing storks roaming everywhere! They are about the size of a 4 year old child and look like they are going to abduct you, not deliver you a baby!
We met up with Miriam and Samar, our Kampala Fogarty hosts, Maria from Dar, and a bunch of Miriam's friends to go to an art gallery opening -- slightly a bummer as the power was out -- then proceeded to a basketball game at the Kampala YMCA. Totally random, right??
Kampala has these menacing storks roaming everywhere! They are about the size of a 4 year old child and look like they are going to abduct you, not deliver you a baby!
Andy, Miriam, Maria (in Dar), me
Well it turns out that one of Miriam's co-workers plays on the red team. It's still unclear what league this was or what was at stake, but it was a good game! And some ganja-smoking dude who kept walking onto the court and would mime playing a game or would chuck the ball at the goal only added to the level of entertainment :)
The ganja dude :) The next day, we headed to Jinja, another picturesque drive to the source of the Nile near Lake Victoria -- although not before about 20 people tried to serve us! At least it was some of the best hummus and falafel I've ever had!
It was amazing -- we took a bus that was NOT crowded to the brim and then some. Everyone actually had a seat!!!! Crazy. After my Arusha-Moshi experience I definitely expect a can of sardines on every bus :) We picked up the Nairobi crew and headed to the Nile River Explorers campsite, which was awesome -- and free because we were rafting with them the next day! Definitely pretty good bandas, and the bathroom was quite clean -- although a long enough walk from our rooms that we either squatted in the bushes or waited til morning :)
It was amazing -- we took a bus that was NOT crowded to the brim and then some. Everyone actually had a seat!!!! Crazy. After my Arusha-Moshi experience I definitely expect a can of sardines on every bus :) We picked up the Nairobi crew and headed to the Nile River Explorers campsite, which was awesome -- and free because we were rafting with them the next day! Definitely pretty good bandas, and the bathroom was quite clean -- although a long enough walk from our rooms that we either squatted in the bushes or waited til morning :)
The requisite Stanford crew pic -- Todd and Samar, former Stanford undergrads :)
Party before rafting the next day -- Miriam is so photogenic!
Some guys pasted on mustaches like Hitler and did Northern vs. Southern Hemisphere funnel competitions... we did NOT partake!
Our bandas
Party before rafting the next day -- Miriam is so photogenic!
Some guys pasted on mustaches like Hitler and did Northern vs. Southern Hemisphere funnel competitions... we did NOT partake!
Our bandas
The pre-rafting pic
All trip we had been talking about having a 'calm' boat and an 'adventurous' boat, especially after reading this(link), but when it came down to it, I think none of us wanted to 'chicken' out and actually be in the 'calm' boat -- so we called ourselves the 'indifferent' boat instead. Our guide, Tabani Tabani, this happy-go-lucky Zimbabwean who's rafted the Zambezi (more intense than the Nile!), the Colorado River, and wants to go to Norway or New Zealand next, was awesome -- super entertaining and really laid back. Having never been white water rafting before, I didn't know quite what to expect. Who starts with the Nile?!?! But to give you a quick recap -- the first 4 of 30 kilometers are the 'safety drill' where we learn to paddle, do a 'flip' drill, learn that 'feet forward' is how you want to be if you get flipped, and get lulled into a false sense of security about this adventure... until we hear the roar of the first rapid in the distance...
We only flipped twice!!! The first was on the '50-50' rapid, which really should be renamed as the 80-20 rapid. Most boats flipped! And that being my first flipping experience, I'd never felt the experience of fearing for my next breath -- and air insecurity is pretty much the worst feeling, I've decided. I was gasping and felt like I couldn't get out of the rapids fast enough, though of course I was fine and it was over in about 10 seconds. One day I'd really like to see what I looked like then -- my friend Anne said I looked petrified! But, I made it, and the second time we flipped, at 'The Other Place' (next to 'The Bad Place,' if you read the NYT article), I was definitely more prepared. Oh, and I lost my right contact to the Nile during our 50-50 flipping experience -- so I was essentially 50% blind for the rest of the trip :)
When we weren't flipping, which was 95% of the adventure, we were either battling the other boats with paddle splash wars, floating in the water and admiring the lush green riverbanks and wildlife, enjoying a pineapple lunch in the middle of the Nile, or going through some thrilling rapids and getting the splash of a lifetime! I think the NYT article definitely sensationalized a bit -- it wasn't that intense! But it definitely describes the experience of going through a rapid quite well. The roar is incredible -- Taabani was screaming at us! But that just made it all the more thrilling for me!
I was pretty proud of myself! Even though I thought hiking Lion's Head in Cape Town was 'the coolest thing I've done in a while,' rafting at the source of the Nile definitely beats that! I even bought a hoodie commemorating the experience :) Next time, the horseback riding safari...
Sorry no pictures -- you lose pretty much everything you take into the boat (like my contacts!) -- but we bought a DVD of us rafting -- some guy actually stands in the rapids to film you! So I'll have the memories forever :)
Our drive back to the campsite in this bus -- safe, no? :)
Our weekend ended almost before it began! We had a wazungu matatu (matatu in Uganda = dala dala in Tanzania) take us back to Kampala, where we essentially passed out and then left early the next morning. It was wonderful seeing all the Fogarties, 3 months after our DC orientation, hearing about everyone's research and lives in their respective cities. And it definitely motivated me to (1) learn more Swahili and (2) get into the community. So you'll have to hold me to that... 
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