#16 - June 20th 2007 – Southwestern Uganda Trip – Bwera

We said goodbye to Lake Bunyonyi today, how bittersweet. Sad to leave the tranquility, glad to be one day closer to seeing the boys. I miss David’s smile, I miss Eddy’s kind eyes. I miss my young brothers Robert and Ronald. I miss the inspiring talks with Abbey and the heart-to-hearts with Junior. I miss dancing and singing with Moses and Bash. I miss the sounds of their voices and my lessons in Luganda. Although I am glad to be experiencing these new places and people, if I could transport myself back I would.

Our last day on the lake was spent hiking around the island beside ours, a breathtakingly beautiful mountain area. We walked all around the island. We lost track of time and had to find a shortcut back home, so we high-tailed it through a Papyrus swamp! We each got sucked down into the watery ground, screaming and tee-heeing all the way. Back on our island five sun-scorched bodies catapulted into the refreshing lake water. We left the island at four and were at a hostel in Kabale in time for dinner. Our bus to Kasese arrived at the lovely hour of 3am the following morning and off we were to being our adventure in Bwera. I was distracted by my ipod for this bus ride, which actually turned out to be fairly slow and steady. We mostly slept and drowsily peered out at Uganda’s strikingly green landscape. As we came closer and closer to Queen Elizabeth Park (which you have to drive through to get to Bwera) rolling hills congested with gigantic trees and banana palms gave way to fields of tea. Queen E Park is a flat expanse of soft yellow grass with random bushes peppered across the terrain. I was able to catch a glimpse of my first three “safari” animals, the Ugandan Kob, buffalo, and baboons!

We hopped off the bus in Kasese district and were bombarded with offers of meat-on-a-stick, pineapple and bottled water. It was a swirl of noise as locals ran from their roadside stands and offered to carry our luggage, drive us to Bwera, or suggest that we “give them 100”. Eventually we arrived at our final destination, some ten hours after we began. Highlights upon our arrival include approximately one hundred small children following our every move, enjoying “lunch” at 3, “dinner” at 7, and “supper” at 10pm., attempting to suck-in after eating your body weight in food so the locals don’t call you fat (people have absolutely no qualms about doing so), and bathing with a tiny bucket of water at the back of the house while eyes peer at you from the bushes.

Thoughts of sleep are consuming me, I must cut this one short!

~Nicole