Day 3--Ben

Today is Day 5…but we’re a bit behind schedule on writing these. We’ll update you more in days to come (assuming we get internet!)

Day 3

Today began with a delightful breakfast at our hotel in Kampala. Over mangoes, fried eggs, Ugandan Tea, and pasta (?!?!), we bonded with a Ugandan man, back from his current home in the UK. We packed up, and got picked up by Edward, an employee of our NGO partner, Pilgrim. We then began a marathon drive from Kampala, northeast to our destination, the Province of Soroti.

The highway took us past small suburbs, farms, and beautiful landscapes. Around lunchtime, we arrived at the famous source of the Nile. Since we had time to spare, we hopped out of the van, and walked to the water’s edge. Edward, Elaine, Tyler and I booked a boat tour, which took us on a ten-minute ride to a small island in the river. Our guide pointed out to us the ripple in the otherwise still water, and explained that 30% of the water of the entire river bubbles up from subterranean aquifers—very cool. The other 70% percent comes from Lake Victoria. We were able to wade out to the actual barrier between Victoria and the Nile—putting us at the head of the longest river in the world, thousands of miles from its endpoint in the Mediterranean Sea.  During the tour, Elaine befriended with some prisoners, which was pretty cool.

After our tour of the Nile, we made the quick drive to the old industrial capital of Uganda, named Jinja. There, we had delicious fish and chips, made from Tilapia from the Nile! After lunch, we hopped back in the van to finish our drive. We passed near the Kenyan border, mount Elgyon, and some other cool stuff. One awesome feature of the Ugandan highway system is the liberal usage of speed bumps. The bumps—spaced approximately 20 meters apart for miles at a time—made the trip both bruising and eventful.

Once we arrived in Soroti, it was already dark, so we settled into the Golden Ark hotel. For supper, we dined on Atap (mashed stuff?!?!?!), free-range chicken, avocado, beans (fancy fresh and delicious), chipati, and rice.