Rafting and Rugby

March 13 2013

Back in Kenya! Wow what a wild ride (literally in some cases). The girls and I left Eldoret to go to Uganda during elections time, as there was some worry over the possibility of violence in the cities after the results. Thank goodness everything seems to be fine right now, and I really hope it will stay that way now we’re home. Let’s relate some of our trip! We went first to Jinja, which is a city right on the Nile River in Uganda (which I reluctantly have to admit I never knew was in any countries but Egypt, but it actually goes through Uganda, Egypt, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan and Rwanda). Crossing the border was an interesting experience, very different then the organization we have between the Canada and American border, there was a lot of in and out of the car and a lot of passport looking but not so much actual questions. But we had no problems and where on our way. I was quite excited to see the Nile, and though it does have crocodiles it seemed to be fine where we were staying so one of the first things we did was jump on in! Our friends Renske and Anneloes met us on the weekend and then returned to Kampala where we joined them later in the week, they work at the hospital like Sarah and Erica and we make a good group. The campsite we stayed at was lovely, made me feel quite spoiled though to be enjoying myself while people back in Kenya were praying for peace. The best part of the place as meeting all the interesting people that we did. It’s like when your out somewhere and you meet someone who likes a lot of the same stuff as you and has a thousand interesting stories to tell, but they are all at the same place! Among others we met a girl driving a bike through Europe and Africa, 2 boys just out of high school doing the same, a Canadian! And Austrailian couple returning from climbing mount Kilimajaro. Two Canadian brothers, one working in sanitation in Nairobi and the other travelling through Africa, a pig farmer who owns a farm on an island in Uganda, and a team made up of people from America, France, Mexico and England who are coaching rugby in schools all through Africa. We were very lucky to be invited to join the coaches at their rugby tournament, to watch how they do what they do! It was a very impressive event, I was especially interested in the inclusion of girls into the game which is not always easy to do in sports especially one like rugby. The kids didn’t wear shoes while they played, and the girls played in dresses, but you can tell they had a lot of fun and were learning pretty fast. I was impressed by the guys patience in coaching so many children at once, and ones who have never played Rugby before and possibly knew even less than I do about it:P There organization is called Rugby In Africa and I suggest visiting their blog if you are interested in more information and want to show some support! In the middle of the week we also visited Kampala, where we met with Juliet a lovely contact given to us by Jowi. Oh man was she fun! She kept telling us we were so young and needed to be looked after (which she did a very good job of) but she was very young herself. We got to visit a school and a hospital to compare then to Kenyan areas. The school was kind of the same, though their classes go up to class 7 instead of 8 and then they do 6 years of secondary school instead of 4 so it ends up being 1 more year of school. The hospital was huge and I think much more advanced from the hospital in Eldoret, at least that’s what I hear. I don’t have the courage to go very far in the hospital after last time when I nearly fainted! So I do my best to observe from a distance. We also met with a CIDA representative in the Canadian embassy in Kampala, it was great talking to them and telling them about our internship. The heat in Kampala was something ridiculous, I now understand why people tell us “Eldoret is cold, wear a sweater” because compared to Uganda, Eldoret is an ice box. (We will see how I deal with Canadian Winter next year). We also met Juliet’s family who were lovely and even sowed my skirt up that I had ripped during the day! I wish we could have stayed longer there but we wanted to go back to Jinja for the Rugby tournament. It’s definitely a place I’d go back to visit though the business of Kampala was completely overwhelming I’d really love to see more of the country of Uganda. I guess I really need to talk about white water rafting too:P The girls convinced me that white water rafting in the Nile would be an excellent idea and that I wouldn’t die, or if I did that it would be worth it (crazy muzungus). It was a fantastic experience and I wouldn’t take it back, however I think if I did it again I’d maybe stick to smaller rapids as opposed to level 5 (the highest level you can take untrained rafters on). It was great fun while In the raft but once it flipped I was fairly certain that was the end. However, there isn’t a group of girls I would have rather had such an experience with. The first time we flipped we all ended up in someone else’s rafts instead of back in our own so I just saw our guide paddling along the boat by himself thinking “uh oh where are my girls” but we had been rescued by various other rafts. The first drop was the most fun, off a 12 ft. waterfall so I can definitely say I’ve done that! I’m sure I’m missing something but that’s my last week and a bit in a nut shell, kudos to you if you read till the end!

Rugby in Africa: http://rugbyinafrica.org