We meet again...

If it wasn't sweet enough for me to go see Brett in Rwanda last weekend, he had the privilege to return the favor and come visit me in Kampala. I don't think I explained it very well last time, but he's been in Rwanda for about the same time I've been in Uganda. He's teaching at a primary school in Kigali. This weekend was the beginning of his Spring break, so he decided to bounce over to Kampala and soak up some of its grandeur. We spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday together. While he was here, I managed to explore a few new attractions in the area.

On Saturday, we went to a nearby rainforest called Mbira National Forest, which is only about an hour out of town. I've never experienced a rainforest before, so it was really cool. The trees were magnificent. Many of them were unlike anything I had ever seen. Several species were engineered so brilliantly. To accommodate for their tremendous height, the bases were strategically designed with webs or "gussets" which I'm sure reduces the stress concentration near the ground considerably. Genius. Another one of God's creative marvels. We also saw some monkeys doing their thing way up in a tree. I'm not sure which species they were, but they were fun to watch none the less.Kt = smax/snom

Brett, Christoph, Zach, et Moi in front of a big tree

A tall tree

On Monday, I took a day off to hang out with Brett. We went down to Ggaba (a nearby "suburb" of Kampala on Lake Victory), flagged down a local fisherman, and went out on Lake Vicky armed with a bamboo stick, which was equipped with a hook dangling by a piece of string attached to the end of the stick. We were told that we could try our hand at catching some tilapia, but, not all that surprisingly, our makeshift "guide" failed to bring any bait. Oh well, it was still a fun to get out on the water and troll around a bit.

Spectacular Port Gaba


Catch...
Bail...
Catch...
Bail...
Catch...
Bail... Oh, way haul away, we'll haul away Joe

After looping around a nearby island and stopping to watch another fisherman at work, our captain returned us safely to port Ggaba. Afterward, we walked to an adjacent "suburb" called Munyongyo. Here, we visited the super-ritzy Munyongyo Commonwealth Resort. At this place, we quickly discovered the utility of our white skin. We casually walked through the security gate as if we owned the place. Once inside, the place looked nothing like the rest of Kampala - it was extravagant. Waterfalls, gardens, ballrooms, swimming pools, restaurants - pretty much anything you'd expect to find at a really fancy resort. I guess they hosted some heads of state retreat there recently. As you can imagine, we didn't really belong there so after a quick stroll around, we left the little haven and returned to Africa, as we know it.

I think I'm gonna add another post in a few days to talk about some other stuff, but I thought I'd fill y'all in about my weekend.