Week 10 - Personal Blog - 08/04/13

Chris and I.

Our boyfriends Chris and Andrew have now joined us in Uganda so this week was full of visiting new places and showing them around our new home.

At the start of the week Chris and I set off to go to the Sseese Islands on Lake Victoria. The hotel and transport had all been booked and confirmed yet when we arrived at the port to get the ferry to the island we were informed that the ferry had been broken for three months and that we would have to make the three and a half hour journey in a motor power rowing boat. Due to the appearance of the boat, the lack of life jackets and the frequency of thunderstorms, Chris and I decided not to travel to Sseese as the old proverb says, “precaution is better than a cure” (Coke, 1640).

The boat we were supposed to take to the Sseese Islands.

We then headed to a safari lodge called ‘Cassia Lodge’ in the hills of Kampala. The lodge had a wooden structure and was situated at the top of the hill. 

Cassia Lodge

From our room and the restaurant we had an amazing view of Kampala and Lake Victoria. At night in the restaurant, which is the highest place to eat in Kampala, we could watch the lightening storms occur at the other side of the lake. It was just like watching a firework display.

Having lunch on the balcony.

The view from our room.

Having dinner at the highest point in Kampala.

After being back in Kampala for a few days we then made the journey to Jinga. Yet again, transport was not on our side as our taxi broke down approximately 20minutes into our journey. The driver thought it was a problem with the battery so a mechanic was called. Two hours later the mechanic and driver realised that it wasn’t a problem with the battery but due to lack of fuel!! We eventually arrived at ‘2 Friends Guesthouse’ in Jinga where we were greeted by some lovely staff, a gorgeous pool and the blazing sunshine.

The pool in Jinga.

The next day we visited the source of the Nile. Here we saw a memorial statue of Ghandi, which was placed near the source of the Nile as apparently Ghandi’s ashes are spread in the Nile as he believed it was the longest river in the world and therefore a part of him would be spread across the world and help him to “be the change that you wish to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi, citied in Wood, 2011, p.97).

The boys at the Gandhi Statue.

We were then taken on a boat trip on the Nile where we saw some wildlife, some local fishermen who even tried to sell us the fish they had just caught and the source of the Nile itself.

Fishermen on the Nile.

There has been much debate surrounding the source of the Nile as many argue that the source must come from a spring in the mountains, which then flows in Lake Victoria and into the Nile. The ‘source’ at Jinga discovered by John Hanning Speke in 1858 however is an underground spring which is situated at the edge of Lake Victoria (BBC, 2013). 

At this supposed source there is a man made island where there are some small shops at the water’s edge and sign indicating the source where you could see the change in the water movement.

 

The shops on the man-made island.

Joanna and I at the Source of the Nile.

The boys have now gone back home so its back the twosome. We only have two weeks left in Uganda now and still a lot of exploring to do.

References:

Coke, E. (1640) Institutes of the Laws of England, London, E and R Brooke Publishing.

BBC (2013) ‘History: John Hanning Speke 1827 – 1864’ available at  www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/speke_john_hanning.shtml (accessed 08/04/13)

Wood, J. T. (2011) Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender & Culture, Boston, Wadsworth.