A four-hour adventure on the “Elgon Flyer” bus, on which they played, at painstakingly loud levels, the hit Keauu Reeves/Sandra Bullock flick SPEED (and yes, we were on a bus…oh the ironing is delicious), we arrived to Mbale. My friends Noah and Mark linked me with an American girl called Beth, who is doing an American World Jewish Service fellowship. Her friend Lydia happened to be sitting next to me on the aforementioned bus and helped get me settled into the Mt. Elgon View Hotel, who only had the “Executive Suite” available for me. Awesome.
So, within 15 minutes of meeting Beth ridiculousness of world-shrinking set in. She was telling me about her time studying in Thailand and I was telling her about my ex-boyfriend who studied there too. We’re talking, talking, about Buddhism and development and Thai prostitutes, and low and behold, she knows Mike. JEWISH GEOGRAPHY PREVAILS YET AGAIN.
After some good Indian food I retired, feeling serendipitously confused about the shrinking universe, and wondering what the hell I am doing in Uganda meeting people who know people so close to me…
Beth:
Lydia:
Martin in my awesome suite:
Martin and I left Mbale and headed to the town of Sipi, on the slopes of Mt. Elgon (Africa’s fourth highest peak!) for some nice R and R with splendid views.
The hotel was great – a simple cabin, clean latrines, hot/solar showers, good food (had to place orders in advance, as in the day before), and of course, a very friendly Ugandan staff who aimed to please.
The view from our front porch:
Chillaxin at The Crow’s Nest:
Our little respite from civilization (kinda):
One day we actually tried to leave to hotel and make it into town. One matutu passed us, filled to the gills, and we opted to hold tight and wait it out. About twenty minutes later we opted to start walking to the town, about 11 Km from the hotel. We made it a few minutes down before spotting an encouraging dirt road, and some relaxed guards, the provoked us just enough to investigate…we shortly arrived at a lush lodge, with spectacular views of the falls (with cold beer to boot!):
Looking across the gorge to beautiful Sipi Waterfalls:
Where I wanted to sleep:
We even saw blood lilies, my favorite:
Aren’t these the coolest you’ve ever seen?!:
One of the things I love seeing in Uganda is men, or boys holding hands. I think it shares droves about the straightforward friendliness of people here. It is also something I find entertaining in light of the fact that homosexuality is prohibited. As a relatively liberal American I have tried to defend the tenants of equality, shared justice, and our acceptance (or at least my acceptance) of individuality and sexual freedom, but even men who have been holding hands since birth can’t seem to comprehend how two people of the same sex can be more than friends…
More cuties met along the journey, that ended far before we ever reached town:
A full, beautiful, clear, moon in Sipi:
And finally, some breath-stealing views from the top of the ‘nest:
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