Day 8 - Vacation

12/24/08

Today was my vacation. So I woke up half an hour late, at 7, and re-hung all of my clothing outside. Then I prepared for a hike, packing 3 liters of water, a camera, and suntan lotion. We got a ride into town from the BCC driver to pick up some last-minute things. Then we walked around town until someone driving a van yelled to us “Sipi Falls.” That is how it works here. If you are muzungu in Mbale and you look lost, you’re probably looking for a ride to Sipi. We got on the van, the first two in which is both good and bad – good because you get to choose your seats and bad because they don’t leave until the van is full…and then some. In the 8-seater, we left and hour later when we had 15 people inside. The drive to Sipi was a bit less than an hour but we were dropped off 2 km from where we wanted since we didn’t know any better. Sipi is in the mountains so the 2km walk was up- and downhill. We arrived at Sipi River Lodge at around 11am, an hour and a half later than Anna told the guide yesterday. No problem here, everyone is too laid back to care really. So we ordered banana-pineapple-mango smoothies and then headed out with our Ugandan guide, Tony. We went to 3 waterfalls, a full hike of about 3.5 hours. The first one was difficult for the American (me) but everyone else did it easily. I stepped in a massive mudpit and my left foot was covered the rest of the hike. It was beautiful and it was a nice day but I need to say, the hikes in Israel are far better in my opinion. We grabbed lunch back at the lodge when we returned around 2:30, then set out to find a taxi ride back to Mbale. Some van full of phone salespeople picked us up (it was a bit like hitchhiking but they asked for money at the end), and took us and 18 other people back to Mbale in the 14-seater. Being the only two muzungus in the van with many other much-too-friendly Ugandans, Anna decided to tell them we were married. She claims that 4 people asked for her number so her “only way out” was to tell them that I was her husband. I think a simple “no” would have sufficed but…We were dropped off in town in Mbale and then took a boda motorcycle back home. A shower, dinner, and then massages at the resort. A good vacation and back to the clinic tomorrow. Happy Chanukah!