Live from East Africa!

So today is my last day in Africa. Peter and I just returned to Entebbe (Uganda) yesterday after spending three and a half days in Zanzibar, which was just as I had imagined it: white sand beaches, palm trees, blue sky, and turquoise water. It was so beautiful that we didn’t do anything but just hang out at the beach by our hotel. We laid around in the sun, went swimming, walked along the beach, and Peter was even able to take out the sea kayak they had at the hotel (which was really just a collection of bungalows). We’re spending the day at our hotel in Entebbe today waiting for our (annoyingly far-off) 9:50pm flight home tonight.

Africa has been very kind to me. I’ve met so many amazing people and seen things–beautiful and ugly–that I will never forget. I’ve experienced joys and frustrations–both at rather  intense levels. I’m looking forward to getting home and back into a routine of things, but I know I’m going to miss it here. And I know I’ll be back!

So yes, this is the last day here in Africa, but it will not be the last post. Once I get home, I’ll post more pics and videos, especially of the last couple of weeks since Peter’s been here.

Hey all,

This will be a short post, but I just wanted to update everyone to let you know that Peter arrived safe and sound last week and we had THE BEST TIME on a 5-day safari (on which we saw elephants and chimps and lions and beautiful beautiful countryside) and then two and a half days in Lunyinya, which was fantastic. We left earlier today to come to Entebbe, where we will catch our flight out tomorrow for ZANZIBAR (!)  (at 5am!!!). Supposedly there is an internet connection at our hotel, so I’ll try to catch up more then….!!

So this will be my last post from Kampala because TOMORROW PETER IS COMING!!! Or, actually, he’s leaving today, but will get here tomorow. YAY!!!  The next day we’ll be leaving Kampala bright and early (I’ll tell Peter it’s good for the jetlag) and going on a safari to western Uganda. We’ll spend a couple of days in Queen Elizabeth National Park and then go up to Kibaale National Park where we will do a chimp walk! On Sunday, we’ll come back east a bit to go to the village, so everyone can meet everyone and Peter can see first-hand where I’ve been living. We’ll stay there for a couple of days. Then, on Wednesday, we’ll head back to Entebbe (where the airport is, about 45 minutes south of Kampala.) Thursday morning (again, bright and early–but this time because the airlines screwed up our tickets–believe me, Peter and I would never voluntarily get up bright and early!) we’ll be heading to Zanzibar (!!), an island off the coast of Tanzania. It’s supposed to be remarkably beautiful. We’ll fly back to Entebbe Monday and then back home to Boston on Tuesday, arriving home on Wednesday, August 18th.

I’m told that I’ll have internet access in Zanzibar, so at the very least I’ll update this blog then, but to keep you happy until that point, I have MADLY BLOGGED and posted a gazillion pictures and videos today.

Enjoy!

Oh, and by the way, some of you couldn’t open the link to watch the video of inside the house where I’m staying in Lunyinya. I’ve updated the link, so it should work fine for everyone now. It’s a post from June.

After filling the jerry cans, they stop them up in a rather…practical…way and set them on their heads for the journey home (which in this case involves a LONG STEEP hill). Warning: some sideways camera action here.

These kids are just a few of the millions of people in Africa that have to walk a long way, sometimes for hours, to fetch unclean water to use for drinking and bathing from a borehole like this. They’re still kids, though, and like to ham it up.

Here I am with two of my favorite people. Mummy #1, in the dark blue, makes sure that she is in Lunyinya with the volunteers, so I see her a lot. She and I have become quite close. Mummy #2 is Mummy #1’s older sister, and she takes care of me when I’m in Kampala. Yes it gets confusing. They both grew up (with their 8 siblings) in the house in the village (Lunyinya), and they both co-own the house in Kampala where I stay. This picture makes it clear to me why some Africans call white people “ghosts”–I look almost florescent!  And, if any of you have noticed that I always look like I’m wearing the same clothes…you’d be right.

Here is Jocelyn with her almost-completed bag, the first completed project by one of my “students!” I’ve told her that she’s going to be the teacher after I go.

Some veggies on the farm. I’m not sure what they are–maybe mini-eggplants. They grow tons of different varieties of eggplant here.

This is on the way to the farm from my house. Things are a bit brown because it’s the dry season, but you can still get the idea of how pretty it is. On the left in the background you can see a giant termite mound, of which there are many in these parts. On the right edge, you can (barely) see some of the red flowers of this really pretty tree they have here. I always admired it until the director told me (immediately after this photo was taken) that for some reason, this is the type of tree that people bury dead dogs under. He doesn’t know why; it’s just some sort of tradtion. A dead dog tree.

Here are a few that wandered into our compound to see the Mzungu (whities!)