"..... if you want to make the world a better place, take a look in the miror and make a change!....." Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror.
So, i left for Uganda on July 3rd 2010. I think , in the back of my over filed mind, that i have truly lost it! For those of you who know me well.... i do not like to go away.... much less FAR away. It is really out of my comfort zone. I am what the normal world calls a recluse! I like to be home, alone, most of the time. I get what i refer to as "noise overload". (It is the kind of work i do that makes me want to hide in seclusion when i am not working. All the stagehands and musicians and actors running around not to mention production, hair, maintenance people and wardrobe warriors racing everywhere. WAAAYYYY to many people clammornig for my attention and to much noise pollution for me - but i love my job - so , when i dont work i choose seclusion! Although i like people, i just prefer the quiet of my own company.) Now, you ask, why did i do such a crazy thing if i dont like to go away? Well, while my mom was alive she had some money and i used to tell her that she should spend it - go places - DO stuff! She wasnt interested. I kept telling her that wen she died all the money would be split between my sister and i and i was going to spend it on a really great trip. I never thought i would have to put her money to use quite so soon...however , i am here doing this once in a lifetime trip for her - hoping she approves of my choice to spend her money this way and for myself. If you read the above quote - it is about making the world a better place - so, i am making a change in me.....and thereby, hopefully, making the world a better place. I am here with SEWING HOPE... an organization that teaches under-privileged women and men how to sew, make jewelry, bake, cut hair, and basic office skills so they are able to support themselves and their families.
i left JFK airport at 1100 pm on the 3rd of July. I sat on an isle seat because i figured with a 12 hour flight i would be up once or twice and i hate climbing over people. The young woman next to me said she was going to sleep the whole way there so i didnt have to worry about her climbing over me. I watched a movie or two and various friends reruns . I arrived July 5th in Dubai after a 12 hour flight. Trying to find the "car service" they told me would take me to the hotel - it was like a bad nightmare where you kept walking and walking but never seemed to get to your destination. FINALLY i found it and went to the hotel- which the airlines provided because we had a long layover before I flew on to my next destination. There i met up with Lindsay (27) a designer from Wisconson and Carly(25) a music teacher also from NYC. Two young women all sweet and sparkly and cute just looking all psyched to start the trip. We had dinner together in the hotel . Dinner food was an interesting mix of foods we were not sure of .... all of us nibbled on various strange things deciding which was something we would eat and what we wouldn't even touch with our silverware. We had a few good laughs about everyones apprehensions for the trip and then went to bed - there wasn't much time to see anything as we needed to be up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight out.
We hopped the flight which would take us all to Entebee, Uganda at 815 am on July 5th. Not a real eventful flight... but the food is a bit questionable. We make an unplanned pit stop in some other city....and then gather more passengers and on we continue. Arrived, unscathed , in Entebee and find our driver... who wisks us away to beautiful downtown Kampala! GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!! lol.... no matter how prepared you are - you aren't prepared for the drivers in Uganda. They make cabbies in New York look like kids in bumper cars. Your life is TRULY in danger here. No stop lights, HUGE potholes, everyone drives on the wrong side of the road....there are no sidewalks, only ditches along the sides of the roads and pedestrians JUMP the ditch to get out of the way f the drivers and "boda - boda" drivers ( they are big mopeds or small motorcycles used to transport passengers- more later). We drove through the city of Kampala to our hostel RED CHILI. We met up with Lori and Michelle for a brief minute before they left lindsay and i on our own - they took Carly with them to Jinja. WOW, for this recluse. it was quite interesting. Lindsay is really funny - i guess this is a real awakening for her. She doesn't like bugs or the thought of disease and the BATHROOMS - OMG, even by my standards they are pretty yecchy! ( <---- that is me being Oh, so politically correct.) For Ugandan standards they are top shelf. I have my own room with a very well used mattress - you can count the slats that hold the mattress up by the bruises left on your body during the night. Sheets are clean and there is a bug net over the bed. I feel like a princess with it over me. All i can see that commercial where the woman is planning a vacation and she wakes up and there are HUGE bugs on the outside of her bug net. There were none on my bug net, mind you .... but i got the creepy feeling i shouldn't look to closely at it in the dark! Thankfully, i have "o de' bug spray" as my perfume these days - all natural stuff and working pretty well. Showers are drizzles and COLD! They have cooking facilities but the food is ... well.. lets just say its not my cooking. Since i am no light weight - you can guess my cooking is pretty damned good, perhaps it was all those gourmet cooking and baking classes years ago.
We met up with Polly and Jamie who had gone on an excursion to see the chimps. We tried to eat het fare for dinner at the hostel... but it really is unrecognizable and inedible and takes FOREVER to get prepared. We wont have time for teh chimp thing as we need to be up and out at 630 AM for our safari trip. (yes, folks, 630 am - the time i am USUALLY just about going to bed......what is the world coming to ????)
i left JFK airport at 1100 pm on the 3rd of July. I sat on an isle seat because i figured with a 12 hour flight i would be up once or twice and i hate climbing over people. The young woman next to me said she was going to sleep the whole way there so i didnt have to worry about her climbing over me. I watched a movie or two and various friends reruns . I arrived July 5th in Dubai after a 12 hour flight. Trying to find the "car service" they told me would take me to the hotel - it was like a bad nightmare where you kept walking and walking but never seemed to get to your destination. FINALLY i found it and went to the hotel- which the airlines provided because we had a long layover before I flew on to my next destination. There i met up with Lindsay (27) a designer from Wisconson and Carly(25) a music teacher also from NYC. Two young women all sweet and sparkly and cute just looking all psyched to start the trip. We had dinner together in the hotel . Dinner food was an interesting mix of foods we were not sure of .... all of us nibbled on various strange things deciding which was something we would eat and what we wouldn't even touch with our silverware. We had a few good laughs about everyones apprehensions for the trip and then went to bed - there wasn't much time to see anything as we needed to be up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight out.
We hopped the flight which would take us all to Entebee, Uganda at 815 am on July 5th. Not a real eventful flight... but the food is a bit questionable. We make an unplanned pit stop in some other city....and then gather more passengers and on we continue. Arrived, unscathed , in Entebee and find our driver... who wisks us away to beautiful downtown Kampala! GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!! lol.... no matter how prepared you are - you aren't prepared for the drivers in Uganda. They make cabbies in New York look like kids in bumper cars. Your life is TRULY in danger here. No stop lights, HUGE potholes, everyone drives on the wrong side of the road....there are no sidewalks, only ditches along the sides of the roads and pedestrians JUMP the ditch to get out of the way f the drivers and "boda - boda" drivers ( they are big mopeds or small motorcycles used to transport passengers- more later). We drove through the city of Kampala to our hostel RED CHILI. We met up with Lori and Michelle for a brief minute before they left lindsay and i on our own - they took Carly with them to Jinja. WOW, for this recluse. it was quite interesting. Lindsay is really funny - i guess this is a real awakening for her. She doesn't like bugs or the thought of disease and the BATHROOMS - OMG, even by my standards they are pretty yecchy! ( <---- that is me being Oh, so politically correct.) For Ugandan standards they are top shelf. I have my own room with a very well used mattress - you can count the slats that hold the mattress up by the bruises left on your body during the night. Sheets are clean and there is a bug net over the bed. I feel like a princess with it over me. All i can see that commercial where the woman is planning a vacation and she wakes up and there are HUGE bugs on the outside of her bug net. There were none on my bug net, mind you .... but i got the creepy feeling i shouldn't look to closely at it in the dark! Thankfully, i have "o de' bug spray" as my perfume these days - all natural stuff and working pretty well. Showers are drizzles and COLD! They have cooking facilities but the food is ... well.. lets just say its not my cooking. Since i am no light weight - you can guess my cooking is pretty damned good, perhaps it was all those gourmet cooking and baking classes years ago.
We met up with Polly and Jamie who had gone on an excursion to see the chimps. We tried to eat het fare for dinner at the hostel... but it really is unrecognizable and inedible and takes FOREVER to get prepared. We wont have time for teh chimp thing as we need to be up and out at 630 AM for our safari trip. (yes, folks, 630 am - the time i am USUALLY just about going to bed......what is the world coming to ????)
Back to the story.....
We left the next morning for a 6 hour drive with Sam, our driver ...yes, SIX more hours of travel before we can get to the Safari place. We have picked up two young ladies from England, Georgina and Jenny and a Couple from Germany, Brigetta and Norbert. The girls have come here to help create a library - raising books and money and shipping everything here. The couple came here because she is in Micro finance and has been coming here for 9 years. Brigetta has given us lots of insight for the project we are working on. Over dirt and rock - bumpy roads and potholes the size of Texas we ride. (never again will i complain about New York roads) I have seen no street signs and everywhere looks the same. Red clay dirt road, crazy drivers, shantys along the road, huge and i do mean HUGE cacti called CANDELEBRA cacti. they are as big as houses! We could be going around in circles for all i know..... and after and exhausting 8 hours of driving we finally arrive at the "other" red chili campground/hostel where we will spend the next three nights. I hope you never need to heed mother natures call during your trip down the road to the safari place.... you know latrines are not just for servicemen..ewwwww!
Here at the new Red Chili we have double tents. Lindsay and i will share one , Jamie & Polly in another and Bridgetta and Norbert in a Third. They have wart hogs that run loose around the grounds.... they go into your tents if you arent careful and eat your stuff. Linsay has a bug net over her, covered in head to toe clothing and one of those fans with bug spray that wil run all night to keep the bugs at bay. I on the other hand am sleeping in underware & a tank top. I know... TMI.. but the difference in the two of us amazes me..lol. Somewhere during the night i woke up and the wart hog you can hear ripping up grass by the roots all around my tent. I was sure Lindsay was going to have a cow... but...NOPE - a real trooper she was. I had to get up to go use the facilities but i had to wait until old mrs. warthog changed her feeding ground. I ain't no dope....
Day one we hike up to Murcheson (sp) falls.... about 500 feet STRAIGHT UP!! what do they think i am a goat??? who are you kidding? it is like a Gilligans Island rerun - scaling cliffsides , with the ground sliding away under your feet......YEP...really was like that! They didnt tell us to wear some sturdy shoes so of COURSE i am in flip flops doing all this....does Murphys Law always follow me around, even here in Uganda?We head to the safari grounds in a pop up roof van. all of us crowded into it - smushed into seats with no knee room. Poor Norbert! he stands easily at 6' 1 ish and all legs. We see elephants, lions, giraffes, cobs, vultures, assorted birds.....Jamie is shooting millions of pictures, and everyone is having a great time.. although we do keep hearing how Jamie wants to see the "circle of life" aka animals killing one another for food and great camera shots! THAT circle of life thing didn't happen - WHEW!There are more potholes in EVERY road we take at one point we hit one going about 20 mph NOSE first! It was like hitting a wall!!!! everyone did a mental check to see if they still had everything where it belonged. I think i have been compressed 3 inches with all the smushing, jarring and bumpy roads.
After lunch we went on a 3 hour ferry ride up the river to see the Falls from the bottom. I could have missed the climb to the top if i knew we were doing this today!!
The next day we went to the Rhino Sanctuary. SKIP IT!!! the best part was the fact that they had a rescue place there and we got to hold a baby monkey - which peed all over me! ( see Murphy about that one!) he was cute other than that ands so were all the other lil animals they are rehabing.
than we have the LONNNGGGG drive back to Kampala ......OYI!!!
After lunch we went on a 3 hour ferry ride up the river to see the Falls from the bottom. I could have missed the climb to the top if i knew we were doing this today!!
The next day we went to the Rhino Sanctuary. SKIP IT!!! the best part was the fact that they had a rescue place there and we got to hold a baby monkey - which peed all over me! ( see Murphy about that one!) he was cute other than that ands so were all the other lil animals they are rehabing.
than we have the LONNNGGGG drive back to Kampala ......OYI!!!
You cant imagine the poverty here.... no matter what you think - the reality is soooo much ....more - just more. All those late night info-mercials where you see starving kids...always make you wonder how much is reality and how much is made up! Well, from first hand knowledge and sight i can tell you - its apalling that this goes on in this day and age. No running water, no sewage drains... no electricity - no , no, NO, nothing! Kids play with rocks, there are no school books, clothing is, at best, some cast off hanging together by threads.
