A Christmas Message

I have been absolutely dreadful putting up new posts.  Most of them now go on my "Facebook page"

Here is a little song a couple of us from MEMPHIS threw together for the holidays.  I hope you like it!

Merry Christmas!!

Hurricane in the City

Well, we finally got our share of natural disasters in the Big Apple:  Blizzard (normal for us), Earthquake last week (not so normal), and finally Hurricane Irene (some of worst flooding since the 1800s).

I was lucky enough to get one of the last subway trains out the night of the Blizzard, but I had to take at least one last picture of Times Square before I left (approximately 1am):

I'm not sure how to take pictures of an earthquake.  Let's just say I was sitting in my apartment on the top floor and wondering why someone was jumping on the roof!  Then I wondered why my building was so flimsy that one person could jump on the roof and cause it to sway so much!  Then I promptly took a nap.  It wasn't until turning on the TV a couple hours later that I realized it was an earthquake.

Hurricane Irene caused some first for NYC: mandatory evacuation of some of the flood zones, a preemptive shut down of the entire MTA system, and cancellation of all weekend Broadway shows.  While it didn't hit us quite as hard as we thought, we did sustain some carnage.  These are some pics from my neighborhood out in queens.

Extra water in case electricity goes out

Taped up windows...which actually doesn't really help at all.

Tree blocking a main road.  Yes, there is a car underneath.

I know it's hard to make out, but this used to be a grocery cart.  Tragic...

Umbrella: "I am worth $3. Please have mercy"
Hurricane Irene: "Ha, I laugh at you and your cheap construction.   Inside out you go, poof."

Perhaps the most tragic: a dust buster separated from it's better half.

My home street.  We escaped with little damage.

Bujigali Falls

I finally figured out how to put video up on this thang!  I...thought I used to be technologically savvy.  As you can see, there is a lot of water flowing a mere feet from us.  No guard rails.  No rules.  This is Uganda after all...ok maybe there was one rule:

This rule was quickly broken...shhhhh

You can see how close we could actually get!

Crazy thing is, the whole Nile flows through this fall.  During the rainy season, it is full enough to make two falls.  The second fall to the left actually dries up at the peak of the dry season.  The sad thing is that much of the Nile in Uganda will change once a new dam, Bujagali Dam is completed this year.  I am glad I was able to see it before, but it is heart breaking knowing life will be very different for all humans and animals that depend on the Nile for life.

That cement stub on the edge of the rock is the only thing left of the bridge
that used to go across the raging Nile.  

The two falls at Bujagali

Safari!

Twas an early beginning to get to our animal kingdom.  We had to leave by 6:30am to get a coveted spot on the early ferry...and you can see why.  It only held about 10 cars!

We lucked out with a cool morning that lasted until at least noon.  In a way, it felt like a huge park for off-road go-carts where you could choose from a myriad of tracks based on a hunch to try to spot some wildlife.  There were some typical watering holes that raised your chances of seeing something, but it really was all chance!  I'll just post a list of some of the highlights below.

Couple o' Baboons causing mischief near the ferry

One of the many elephants we saw.  This one was with about 8 others.

There were about 8 giraffes in this group.  Two of them were "necking"...literally ;)

A male hippo and his harem of females.  He must really know what he's doing!

Water Buck

I love this one.  Just a lonely water buffalo,  looking for a friend.

We spent the whole day in the safari van, but barely sat down.  There was so much to see, and it was a much better view from the pop up top.  HOWEVER, it also became a battle for your balance that rivals a NY subway ride!  This is a view of the crew rattling as we go along.

We took a boat ride up the nile and ended up seeing the motherload of hippos (see the pic above) as well as some crocodiles and elephants.  We stopped before we hit Murchison Falls, which we explored from above the next day.  I got some video of that and will try to find a way to post the clip!  For now, I'll leave you with a teaser...from kinda far away ;)

Just take note, this is about the 7th day straight appearance of those jeans.  My luggage has yet to arrive, so my wardrobe is...shall we say...limited.

Wedding to the Wilderness

We woke up at The Haven to a sun kissed view of the nile.  I slept in a tent, but our happy couple got the bungalo with the Jacuzzi!...and well deserved.  I did not mind sleeping in the tent though, because the view, company…and maybe most of all the breakfast made it all worth it!

The pineapple is UNBELIEVALBE here, not to mention the other delicious fruits.  We also had eggs and bacon along side our incredible African coffee and tea.  The coffee is grown all over the country and has a much smoother finish that most of the coffees we get in America.  And the African tea!....oh my, to my understanding, it is made by steeping a tea bag in heated milk and then adding a mix of spices that are a little similar to chai.  It cannot be beaten!

Next was a drive home.  Here is a typical scene on the road.  Yes, they drive on the left side.  No, the roads are not always this nice.  In fact, some of the worst roads are in the middle of Kampala (huge potholes!).  And yes, there are kids and women always walking along the side of the road carrying something.  Most of the time it is a journey for water in those yellow “jerry cans”.

Back at the homestead, the newlyweds opened their wedding presents.  A typical gift was a couple mugs or plates wrapped carefully in cardboard strips.  Our favorite gift was a small box with two potatoes and a pineapple. 

Then, we packed for SAFARI!!!!  Thank goodness Grace owns a van, because we would have had trouble fitting into the normal “family car”!

Soon, we got off the beaten path and headed towards Murchison Falls Park.  We were not yet in the park, but we began to see warthogs, baboons and different kinds of antelope on the sides..and even on the road.

Even our campsite had its own family of warthogs.  Notice now the one on the right is actually walking on its elbows to make it easier to eat the grass…perhaps it’s just laziness.

We rest well tonight, for tomorrow…WE RIDE INTO THE WILD!

Uganda Arrival!

I can’t believe I am really here!  It has been almost 11 days since I landed, and I am still amazed that I finally got an opportunity to come to this wonderful continent.  I left the blizzard filled world of America and arrived in the warm, dust filled world of Uganda after 36 hours of travel time and an unexpected trip through Ethiopia (thank you snow).  Unfortunately, my luggage forgot the make the entire trip with me, so I am still without my…well, without anything really.  Note to self: always pack one extra pair of socks and underwear in carry on!

Luckily, I have generous friends here that lent me essentials (and I realize that you don’t really need much), and I soon found myself bouncing from wonderously new place to place….and no, not always in a safari van pictured above ;)

The first major even was my friend’s wedding.  In fact, Tara is the reason I am on this journey.  As a true friend for 9 years, I could not miss the opportunity to watch her join her life with a wonderful Ugandan man named Grace Nyanga.  And for a bonus, she immediately gets to be the mother of the spunky 11 year old, Edith Nyanga, who will surely grow up to have as big an impact in people’s lives as her parents have been to others. 

 The Ugandan ceremony has many unique traditions as you might imagine.  One of my favorites is when they introduced this large crowd of Ugandans as Grace’s family.  “Now,” they say to Tara, “this is YOUR burden”….HA!  Family is more than immediate here!

 This was followed by many introductions, pictures…and of course food!  Ugandans do not usually send invitations to weddings.  If you know them, or even just know of them, you come….and you come expecting to be fed as well.  Grace and Tara are both well known here in Jinja, so we had to enlist a couple “bouncers” to ensure all true friends and family got fed!

Finally, as the wedding party got whittled down to the most intimate, we drove 45 minutes down the road to a wonderful getaway right on the Nile River called The Haven.  The view from its perch was incredible.  Needless to say, we all slept well that night.