My Trip to Africa: Travel!

While Cheka was closed, Arika, Blake, Steve, Genevieve, and I traveled through out Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda for 3 weeks.

We started in Moshi where we took a coffee tour and nearly lost our life on a dala ride as it was pouring down rain. It literally felt like we were white water rafing down a mud slide. Many of Hail Marys were prayed as we fish tailed about for an hour until we finially made it to paved road.

Next we went to Diani Beach. After spending three rainy days there and being attacked by a monkey, we took a ferry to Mombasa where we toured Fort Jesus and Old Town before heading to Nairobi. It was CRAZY to see such a nice and developed city! We took a night bus to Jinja in Uganda.  I got to ride shot gun in the bus which made me a little nervous at first seeing as though if we crashed I would go straight out the window, but it worked out well since I ended up throwing up for 9 of the 12 hours. I was able to throw my 7 puke filled bags out the window without disturbing anyone but the driver.

Uganda was unreal! We spent 3 days in Jinja. Rafted the nile! Our boat flipped on 9 of the 12 class V rappids. It was no joke! We also did a sunset cruise. Next we went to Entebbe where we spent a day at Lake Victoria. Spend another 12 hours on a bus to Bwidi. Transportation in Africa is unbelievable.  I felt like a cross between a bobble head and rag doll as pavement doesnt really exist here and the roads are nothing but dirt and rock. This time I did not get sick but my neighbor to the right did.  I had plenty of bags to supply her with. Also, a chicken was in my leg space and everytime I tried to move my feet I got pecked! A guy on the bus tried to steal a cell phone from another passenger and was promptly dragged off the bus, beaten, and stoned. You seriously can't make this stuff up!

Once in Bwindi we hiked the Impenatrable Forest (famous for gorilla trecking) which was beautiful and then stayed at Lake Bunyonyi for two days.  I can't even describe how beautiful everything was even though it was nonstop rain!

Our last stop was Rwanda where we went to Gisenyi (less than a mile from the DRC)and Kigali. Kigali was a beautiful city. We visited the Genocide Museum, two churches that have been turned into memorial sights, and Hotel de Millie Collins (The hotel the movie Hotel Rwanda was about).  It was extremely difficult to tour these places and I don't want to go into too much detail on this blog but it truly was an amazing and eye opening experience. I highly recommend googling the churches"Nyamata and Ntarama"

There will be plenty of more pictures to come, but here is a start...

Making coffee in Moshi

Genevieve, Arika, and I drinking the coffee we just made. We picked the beans from the tree, shelled, sorted, roasted, crushed, and drank

Literally crossing the boarder into Kenya

Steve feeding a monkey in Mombasa

This little guy crawled in bed with me one day when I was taking a nap with the door open

The first of many 12 hour bus rides. This particular one I rode shot gun and threw up for 9 hours. The next bus ride my poor neighbor was sick and I had a chicken pecking at my feet.