First Week in Kenya and Uganda

What an amazing first week in Kenya and Uganda!!  We have done so much already and I am loving traveling, cooking and camping!  Jordan, Liz and I have figured out how to put the tent up and down as fast as possible.  We have been getting our $12 to buy dinner and breakfast everyday and eating great.   

We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on September 28th and spent the first few nights at Karen's Camp.  From the camp, we walked to a few shops where the African women made crafts out of beads and old flip flops (Ryan reminded me of my Christmas gift last year).  We also went to Sheldrick's Elephant Orphanage where we pet and watched the baby elephants eat and play.  They were so cute!  After the elephants, we headed to the Langata Giraffe Center where I got to feed a giraffe from my hand. 

The first day of our tour was October 1st but we were the only three girls to sign up for the first two weeks.  So we took off in a Land Rover with our guide, Henry.  The wildlife on the sides of the road are amazing!  We drove by zebras, cows, sheep and goats on a drive to ElDoret, Kenya for the night.

In the morning, we continued to Uganda.  We crossed the border with no problems :)  Wild baboons were playing on the side of the roads and we stopped to take pictures (Gavin - Henry stops whenever we want too)! Our night stop was in Jinja, Uganda which has a huge deck that over looks the Nile River.  They were also giving away free beers which is always nice for a budget traveler!

On our way to Lake Nabugabo, we drove thru Kampala, Uganda.  We wanted to go fishing instead of shopping.  The water was to rough so we could not fish.  So I made fishing poles from my survival kit with wooden spoons and fished from the shore (Brendon - you would have been proud!).  We did not catch anything but made for a fun adventure! 

Our next stop was Lake Bunyonyi where we rented a canoe and got flipped by another tour group - it was actually nice to get into the water!  We went to a local orphanage called Little Angles where we went to class with them and played with them after class (Amber - they all have your haircut!).  They were amazing little kids and just wanted to braid our hair.  It was great to hang out with them for the afternoon!! This is also where I de-boned my first whole chicken.  Yes, I am going to be able to cook when I get home after this trip!!

The next drive was not so fun.  The twisted roads got me a little car sick on the way.  We got to see three countries on one turn (Uganda, Rwanda and DRC).  We stayed two nights in Kisoro, Uganda.  At 6 AM on October 6th, we headed to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to go gorilla trekking.....AMAZING!!!   After 4 hours hiking, we found the family of three (large silver back, mom and an 8 month old baby boy).  It was awesome to see them in the wild and follow them as they started to move! We were only a few feet from them which was scary but wonderful!  It was a long hike back as a wild elephant was on our path.  My heart was beating fast as we could have gotten trampled by a wild elephant at any minute.  The guides AK47 gun was out and he was ready to use it to scare the elephant off.  The adventure was worth every minute to experience the gorillas and the rain forest!  

We drove back to Lake Bunyonyi and Jinja the next few days.  We are staying in Jinja for a few nights which means we get to keep the tent up and don't have so much to do in the mornings.  Our plan is to have a boat tour of the source of the Nile River and go volunteer at a school painting before headed back to Kenya where we will switch to an overland truck and pick up two more travelers. 

I am having a blast so far and cannot believe that I get to do this for the next 6 months of my life!! Dreams really do come true!!!!