Impressions

Our team has successfully completed three weeks of Music For Life Camp! Each week was different and had its own challenges and successes. We had to continually adapt and change or plans and our minds as we ministered to these people.

Our first week was in the small city of Entebe where the prominent religion is witchcraft. Our second camp was in the heart of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, where the kids were noticeably more needy. Our third week was also in the heart of Kampala but in the slums. News about this camp spread faster than any western media could achieve and our original 80 kids turned into 250 by day four.

Our western ideals and attitudes had to quickly change as we were reviewing and planning for each day. Time is merely estimated by most local people here. Therefore, the beginning of camp changed from day to day. Lunch was at no particular time, we ate when it was ready. People are much more relaxed and laid back, it seems as if no one rushes for anything. In fact, if it rains here, it is acceptable to show up late to work because you have been waiting for the rain to stop before leaving home.

(I suppose I can think of a few exceptions. People seem to be rushing if they are driving. The rules of the road as we know them do not apply here. What seems to be 2 lane traffic can easily split into 5 or more lanes depending circumstances. In this city of 1.4 million people there are only 8 traffic lights, most of which also have traffic police standing underneath them. The police frequently override the lights and direct traffic causing huge traffic jams which they think they are helping. The city is littered with crater sized pot holes, and a whole variety of speed bumps. These only slow people down somewhat, in fact, the solution to this obstacle is to buy yourself a 4x4.)

(AND, when kids line up for food, or line up for anything for that matter, there is utter chaos. We had injuries due to lining up. My theory is that normally if they don't push their way to the front, they don't get anything. We, of course, always planned so there would be enough for everyone, including those at the back of the line.)

Cleanliness and hygiene are also things that we have had to become used to being different than at home. Washing yourself is something that doesn't happen often. Laundry happens but it requires getting water and washing by hand. This is extremely hard work so it is only done periodically. Shoes are expensive and unnecessary and are therefore not used by many. This leaves kids pretty dirty. We handed out toothbrushes to all the kids and they were more excited about them than western kids are when receiving a video game at Christmas. Body odour is a normal, socially accepted fact of life. There is no kleenex, toilet paper, or towels here, you can imagine the result...

Safety is an interesting subject here. Every mall, hotel, restaurant, bank, church, etc. is in a gated compound with security guards standing by. The guards all have rifles, and many places have metal detectors, devices to check your vehicle for bombs, and other security equipment. Some of you may have heard that there was a bombing in Kampala about 2 months ago. I find some irony in this considering there are more security guards with rifles per capita than anywhere I have ever seen.

Socially we've adapted quite well. We've learned some Lugandan phrases that, when used, go a long way in making a friend. Generally, the African people have shown us great hospitality, often going out of their way to offer is help. We've learned that when someone raises their head coupled with a long blink, they are actually acknowledging, not snubbing. We have struggled, however, with peoples vocal volume. No one here speaks up! We haven't quite figured out what the reason for this is yet.

We fly home tomorrow. I am sad to leave the team, the city, the country, and the continent, but happy that we had such a fantastic experience! Stay tuned for pictures!

My friend Taylor

There are many things that one should be prepared for when heading to Africa. I spent a considerable amount of time researching and organizing vaccines and health care coverage, buying a mosquito net, packing bug spray and sunscreen, finding appropriate clothes, etc. Africa, in my mind, was a big scary unknown place where a countless number of bad things could happen to you.

After being here for a few weeks, I slowly realized that this is simply another place on earth where humans live happily and comfortably. The local people are not overly concerned about mosquitoes, malaria, sun exposure, robbery, health care, and the like. They simply live their lives. And, after being here for a while, we simply lived ours. All of my concerns faded to a point where sunscreen, mosquito nets, bug spray, etc. didn't seem like such an important detail any longer.

Originally, I wouldn't have dreamed of walking barefoot anywhere here, but, time wore on, comfort levels rose, and I found myself wandering campsites, beaches, and more without shoes on. Everyone was doing it. I know, I know, bad reasoning, but when in Rome, or Africa... Especially when you are staying on the tropical island of Zanzibar, it just seems natural to wander the white sand beaches in your bare feet. Little did I realize that this would come back to bite me (more literally than you might think).

As the island became a memory, my left foot became itchy. I thought it was simply a mosquito bite which needed a moderate amount of scratching. After a few days without change my mind started to drift towards athletes foot. I scratched. My nurse friend took a look, she was not convinced it was fungal. This concerned me a bit, but instead of doing something intelligent, I scratched. Several weeks after realizing my foot was suffering from an ailment that could not be diagnosed using the extensive knowledge obtained from my Bio 30 course, I decided I should have a local medical professional have a look.

I have health insurance. I will leave the name of the company out of this post in hopes they will continue to cover me. I decided I should call Blue Cross (oops) before going to the doctor. My card suggests that I call them collect. It was interesting to learn that the Ugandan telecom company does not offer that service. So after 2 hours of phone drama, I finally reached a human being. She took my information down and I explained, to the best of my knowledge, what my problem was. She politely suggested I see a doctor. After my brain finished calling her names, I used my mouth to ask some further clarifying questions. None of these could be answered however, all I was promised was a return phone call.

My driver and I decided not to wait for the call. At this point I was ready to get this figured out. I scratched. My driver said he knew the place where all the westerners go. Considering my heritage, I agreed this would be a good place for me.

The clinic was called "The Surgery". There were many mzungus, including two white doctors. After about an hours wait, I finally saw a doctor. My ears have become tuned to Ugandan English so understanding him wasn't a problem. The conversation was short and sweet. He asked me what my problem was. I showed him. He asked me if it was itchy or painful. I scratched. He asked me where I'd been. As I was saying Tanzania, he said, "oh, you have a tapeworm. Don't walk on the beach without your sandals on next time."

The doctor's desk was littered with normal doctor things: pens, papers, pictures, a stethoscope, and a few pill bottles of random sizes. He sat down at his desk and asked me if I'd like drugs. YES PLEASE! At this point I thought I'd receive a prescription; instead, he grabbed a huge bottle of pills sitting right on his desk, dumped some into a zip-lock bag, and handed them to me. He said, "take one twice a day. You're lucky, this kind of worm affects dogs badly but in humans it can't get to your digestive system. Your body prevents it." Wow, what a relief. For those nerds out there, I have Albendazole, the same drug used to de-worm just about everything imaginable. I am on a strong dose because the worm is in my foot instead of my gut.

Interestingly, as I write this now, it has become incredibly easy to see the worm under my skin. It is like he has been found out and has no reason to hide any longer. So, you may be wondering, who is Taylor? He is the worm in my foot. I named him Taylor the night before I went to the doctor. There is no reason for the name other than it was the first one that came to mind as I gazed upon the small, but significant eighth member of our team.

Week 3!

We have enter d our last week of camp. This week we are at a small private school in Kampala.

We started our camp the same way we have in weeks past; songs, introductions, etc. At the start of the day we had around 80 kids, all of which were students of that school. However, as the day goes on, word spreads like wild fire about the Mzungus singing, playing, and making crafts. By noon, our number had nearly doubled. This can be tricky because we cannot always sustain such numbers. Classrooms are small, supplies are limited, and the kids can often out manoeuvre the adults making it difficult to maintain order. We can usually find a way to manage even though it is incredibly chaotic.

Our team is pushing hard. 3 weeks of constant interaction with hundreds of high energy children takes it's toll. We try our best to make sure each kid gets as much out of camp as possible; this is a tough task when you are tired, and emotionally strained.

I often stop and remind myself why I am here. Every one of these kids have hidden talents that are begging to be exposed. The sad, but realistic part is that almost all of these children do not have the resources to enable them. What I have realised is that they love us because we offer them hope; they see in us what they can also be, and more. I watch kids play football, for example, any one of these kids would dance circles around a Canadian adult. Almost all the children can sing, play drums, and dance. In many ways they are far more talented than Western raised kids.

I taught a class yesterday about aero dynamics. By that I mean I showed kids how to make paper airplanes. 6 year olds sometimes have trouble with learning the meanings of thrust, lift, weight, and draft. Nevertheless, they have been having a ball.

Craft supplies have been a cause of concern, but appear as if they will last with some to spare. Every night we make a huge mess in our guest house preparing for the next day. I usually make it worse by dumping a bag of foam fish over Lisa's head. We are all looking forward to the day we get to give away all the excess supplies. In fact, we plan on comming home with 4 less suitcases than we arrived with.

More to come.

Greg
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Day Off!

Yesterday was a well deserved leisure day after a week of hard work.

We went to a Full Gospel Church in the morning before driving to the equator. They have funnels set up on both the North and South sides to make an attempt to convince me that water flows in opposite directions. I still don't believe it is true even after experiments. People also say that anything with mass is 3% lighter when directly on the equator.... Another tall tale I'm sure.

In the afternoon we drove to a village that one of our Music For Life volunteers grew up in. His family prepared us a fantastic meal; pork (from one of their pigs in the back yard), rice, avocado (from their avocado tree), chapati (flat bread made of wheat flour), and, of course, Mtoke (mashed plantains). The portions were more than generous; Brad and I were the only ones able to finish our meal.

It was cool to visit a locals home. We got to experience the true home life of the local people. Life here is simple; time here is spent doing everything you need to survive. Houses are very small, dark, and unfurnished. Most villages are without power, and water needs to be fetched from a nearby well.

For dessert they pulled out a 15 foot sugar cane. you don't eat the actual cane, you rip it off with your teeth and chew it until all the sweet juice is squeezed out.

We saw a 12 foot termite hill. Our guide told us a story about when he had to dig one up when he was a child as a punishment. His purpose was to find the 10 inch queen termite so a pregnant lady could eat it (termites are high in fat, and fat of any kind is considered a treat to most people). Apparently it took him 2 weeks to find her.

I bought meat on a stick from a car window. It cost 25 cents. Very salty.

On the way back home we went drum shopping. After at least an hour of negotiating, we found our drums. Unfortunately they aren't finished yet, we pick them up on Wednesday. We bought them from the guy who supplies Music For Life with their drums- apparently they are the best of the best.

Our drums are called "ngolabi" which are long drums with a high pitch- they are unique to Uganda. The skin is made of lizard skin which takes at least 1 month to dry and stretch before placed on the drum.

Day off again tomorrow.
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Going Bananas!

Uganda is not like the Africa you picture in your mind. It is very green and lush here. Bananas grow particularly well. So far we've eaten the following:

Fried bananas (called gange here)
Baked bananas (matoke - a staple at every meal)
Barbecued bananas (gange)
Mashed bananas (matoke)
Chopped bananas
Yellow bananas
Red bananas (cool hey!?)
Tiny bananas (like seriously one bite)
Huge bananas (2 feet long!)

These people have a banana dish for every time and every occasion. It isn't a normal and proper meal if there aren't some sort of bananas involved.

Lugandan

Uganda has two official languages: English and Lugandan. Since I already have a mediocre command of English, I have been putting in an effort to learn some Lugandan. Here is what I know so far:

Jebale - good work
Mjebale - good work (plural)
Abana - children
Sebo - sir
Setaga - I don't need that Jesu anjagala - Jesus loves me
Kale - alright
Wagelu - higher
Wonzi - lower
Siinayo muwala - I don't have a girl
Sagala - I don't like it
Gende - go
Jendi - good

Each letter makes a sound; for example, "kale" would be pronounced "KA-lay". G's are hard like in "grass", J's are soft like in "joke".

I learned "siinayo muwala" yesterday morning and practiced saying it all day. By this afternoon I had a blind date set up for me. I guess if you're going to speak the local language you better mean what you say!

Kampala Camp

We have started our second week of camp here in Kampala. We have had a few less kids the past 2 days than we did at our Entebe camps, probably about 80 or so.

We thought we were better prepared this week than last; our stranded team members arrived, our supplies arrived, we were rested, and everything seemed in place and ready to go. However, it appeared as if we had no clue what we were doing. For some reason kids did not respond to us in the same fashion they did in Entebe. When asked to repeat what we said, we got blank stares and raised eyebrows. At one point, I said "catch" and threw a utility ball underhand lob style to 12 year old. Apparently they don't know this word, it bounced off his face and right back in my hands.

Nevertheless, camp is good. Mike and Shireen have added a Health and Wellness, and a Science portion to our camps. Kids have learned about solar energy, aero dynamics, and first aid (they each made first aid kits).

My job is to plan recreation for the kids. Relay races, mental awareness games, and of course football are very popular. I try to avoid football for most the day seeing as I too get a little excited and turn in to a disgusting, sweaty disaster.

Brad is excited because he has learned a couple Ugandan songs. I'm sure he'll update on it later... He writes the lyrics and music in his journal.

The part I love most about this experience is that each of these kids are so eager to learn. Our camps help improve so many skills for them; you can truly see a difference from the first day to the last.

Greg is tired.

Kampala Out.
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African Children's Choir Training Centre

Today we visited the school where the African Children's Choir gets trained. Each year a different group of kids are auditioned and selected to form a choir. All the selected kids move from their villages to Kampala and move into the training academy. For 6 months the rehearse singing dancing and drumming for about 4 hours a day. They also continue their regular schooling, do chores, go on field trips, and have time for the all important pastime, football. The centre has staff from Uganda, US, and Canada and the team is currently training the 36th and 37th African Children's Choirs.
When I arrived, I was greeted with several hugs, and the kids would not let me carry my bag - they insisted on doing that for me. Bob, Joshua, Frank, and another guy whose name escapes me all have me a personal tour of their home. They are very proud of where they stay and the activities they do there. We ate dinner with the choirs - matoke (mashed plantains) and ground nut sauce (something like hot runny peanut butter). This is a meal we have had many times while in Uganda.

Somehow the kids found out I could play the drums so they asked if we could go upstairs so I could show them how to play. It turned out that this group of 10 year olds taught me a thing about playing the drums. They were amazing and they've only been playing for about 6 months. More and more kids came in and it wasn't long before the mzungus were treated to an impromptu show. There are no appropriate words to describe the talent we witnessed.

We were asked to teach a few songs to the kids. Blessed Be and Glory Hallelujah Jubilee are our hits so we taught them those. It was then time for devotions. The kids started singing and drumming with no help from the adults. The sound was fantastic, it was like nothing I've heard before. I looked up at the clock and it was quite obviously stuck at 11:01 but deep down inside I wished that time had stopped for real and that we could sit and listen indefinitely. Watching and listening to these kids could make any skeptic a believer. They sang with all of their hearts, souls, and bodies.

Allison pulled a great little message out of butt. She talking about the singing in the Bible: God created singing, David sang, Mary sang, the angels sang, the first church sang, and now, the African Children's Choir sings! All the adults stayed up late jamming and singing together and sharing stories and enjoying each others company.

It was a cool day!

Traffic Jam

I've been sitting in a traffic jam in downtown Kampala for half an hour.

It's raining.

I'm bored.

Things I see: the post office, a boy carrying wooden sticks on his head, many bus taxis, many wet people on boda bodas (motorbikes), my annoyed volunteer driver, and a green traffic light (one of 8 sets of traffic lights in the city).

Things I hear: a car alarm that has been on since I've been here, my annoyed volunteer driver breathing heavily, Eminem playing on the car radio, and a police officer blowing his whistle for no apparent reason. I could do without all of them.

Things I smell: burning fuel, fresh rain, my annoyed volunteer driver, and assorted deep fried snacks.

Greg
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IMG00921.jpg

Last Day Of Entebe Camp
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MFL Camp; Day 4

By the time we were all up and had breakfast eaten we were finally able to welcome our last 2 team members to Uganda! After a dramatic stolen passport and long unexpected delay in London, they have finally made it. This means that the remainder of our supplies have made it too. We are very happy to have them here!

We all went straight to church. Church started at 7am but we didn't show up until around 10am. Church can be as long as 5 hours so we thought we'd sleep in a bit before showing up. We were actually expected at 9:30 but no biggie, TIA. All of the kids from camp were there waiting for us because we were asked to sing a couple songs for service. So service went on until we showed up, at which point we were ushered to the very front of the church and asked to stand up and introduce ourselves. Soon all the camp kids came up with us and we sang a few songs that we'd been working on during camp.

It is amazing that 4 days of camp have come and gone and that we are now finished our first camp. Tomorrow we head to Kampala for a few days rest before we do it all over again!

Day 3

Everyone was a little sleepy this morning. Don't know why.

Today's camp lesson was the Christmas story. Even though my group of kids were well aware of the story, they still had a great time acting it out.

These kids are great. They are all obedient, respectful, and all have incredible potential. One of the biggest differences I have seen between these children and children in North America is that EVERY child wants to learn, and they all do things as best they can. It is incredible how much they can pick up even with a language barrier.

Unfortunately, it rained all morning which forced us to stay inside. This makes playing British Bull Dog, Blob Tag, and Chicken Fighting very difficult.

In the afternoon however the rain cleared and I was able to take my kids outside. I think the kids got a little over excited by this; a stampede to the field ensued, resulting in a girl getting one of her teeth knocked out. It wasn't pretty. Thanks again Mom for the awesome first aid kits!

After camp I stayed back and played football with some of the local volunteers. I'm hooked. I can't help but practice, practice, practice. Maybe I can help the Dutch actually win a World Cup?

Our volunteers took us to the beach in the late afternoon to enjoy some fresh fish and chips. The fish is served whole here, head and all. My thinking is that if they serve it to you whole, you eat the whole thing. Let me tell you, fish eyes are more crunchy than you think. When we were finished eating, our leader told us that we will be leaving shortly to go have dinner. He wasn't kidding. Apparently 2 whole fish and a mound of chips is considered a snack in Uganda. Needless to say, I am stuffed while writting this.

Gregory
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MFL Camp; Day 2

Music for Life has a school in Uganda where former African Children's Choir members go when the are finished touring. All of the students have overseas sponsors who pay for them to go to this school until grade 7, and then beyond all the way through university. We were fortunate to be able to visit the school this morning.

It happened to be the last day of school before their short 3 week summer break so we sat through their final school assembly. They began by singing some praise and worship music. All the music was student led. Keep in mind there were no kids older than 15 at this school. It was incredible! I have never heard kids sing like this! And their drumming is second to none. They can harmonize, vamp, and improvise effortlessly. They sang a few songs that were familiar to us, and a few others we didn't know but were stunning, to say the least. The whole room vibrated with vocal sound, drums, and the swaying and dancing of children.

Some of the kids prepared a special song and dance. My initial reaction was one of dread - if this happened at home it would typically be a grin and near it sort of moment. I was more than pleasantly surprised. The only thing more professional looking than their costumes was their act! I guess this is what you get when you have a school full of African Children's Choir alumni! In fact, we were also treated to a song by the former choir!

The principal of the school brought our team to the front of the hall and we all introduced ourselves. Once he found out there was a bunch of musical talent on the team, he asked us to present a song. I was so excited at the opportunity to teach this group of kids some music that I jumped out of my chair and yelled YES in front of everyone. We taught the whole school Blessed Be and within about 2 minutes they had completely learned the song and we're letting it rip so loud that the guitar became useless. The drummers took over the accompaniment and we were whoop-whooping and singing at top volume! Fantastic!

We all had private tours of the school property from the kids themselves. My tour guide's name was Julius; he is a former second grader whose English was too notch. I saw the boys dorm, the classrooms, computer room, library, offices, and kitchen.

We were fed lunch while visiting the school. Sweet potatoes and very salty fish from Lake Victoria which borders the school property. We each had enormous portions which came out of two gargantuan pots. Everything was covered in a very typical Ugandan peanut-type sauce.

The school visit has been a huge highlight of the trip so far. We all enjoyed ourselves there so much that we found it difficult to leave. Our afternoon camp went well, similar to yesterday, but today's high certainly came from visiting the MFL school.

Music for Life Camp; Day 1

We finally found our team yesterday after some waiting. It was generally a joyous meeting, however two of our team mates had their passports stolen on the flight here and they are now stuck in London! We hope we can connect with them this weekend.

We asked the local volunteers many questions and they asked many of us. They took us to see the facility that we'd be using for camp. It is a primary school that is currently out of session. This is the reason that we are doing camps during these 3 weeks. In the matter of about 2 hours we gained a clear idea of what we needed to do to make these camps a success.

To prepare for camp we packed 5 large suitcases from Canada stuffed full of supplies. We packed enough craft supplies, sports equipment, drama materials, paper, toothbrushes, and science activities for 100 kids for 15 days of camp! Since two of our team members got stuck in London, 3 of our supply bags got stuck with them. We hadn't even started yet and we were already missing 2 team members, all of our sports equipment, our curriculum, half of our craft supplies, and all of our science, health, and wellness supplies. We had time for a quick meeting last night to completely revamp our plans and get prepared for camp using the people and resources we had.

I am happy to report that today was the first day of camp and it went fantastic. 94 kids showed up! We began with an opening where we introduced ourselves, the local volunteers introduced themselves, and then we shared songs with each other.

We split the kids into 4 groups and then each of us took a group to a classroom and taught them the story of creation. "It was good!" every kid had these words drilled into them, and it truly was good.

At lunch time we all marched over to another primary school where a few ladies cooked for us all. The kitchen facilities are difficult to describe: as far as I can tell there are 3 cauldron sized stone holes where fires could be started and a few dirty jugs which supposedly contain clean water. Somehow, over 100 people were fed here and although the adults ate different food than the kids, I heard no complaints, only content chewing.

In the afternoon we split into 2 larger groups; one group did sports while the other group did music. In a matter of 45 minutes Allison and I had taught the kids 4 songs and had them singing a round in 3 parts. Of course, Greg had a backup soccer ball and had the kids playing football in no time.

The local volunteers have been very impressed so far and we are feeling content with the job we've done. We are about to have a meeting to debrief about our day and plan for tomorrow.

Other news:

We are staying in the nicest place we've been in since arriving in Africa. It is a convent. The nuns ride motorbikes and talk on cell phones but are always wearing their habits.

Listening to the local volunteers jam gives us all goosebumps.

Greg has played about 5 matches of soccer in less than 48 hours.

Don't assume! One of the local volunteers is a mzungu.

TIA!

Nkumba University

It is 9am and Greg, Allison, and I are sitting on the side of the Entebbe Highway in Uganda underneath the Nkumba University turn off sign. We are trying to meet up with the rest of our Music for Life mission team, 4 others from Canada and about 7 others from here. We found some plastic lawn chairs so we helped ourselves, set them up and are now sitting and waiting. We have received many strange looks and lots of staring but little do these people know how used to it we are. So we continue to sit and wait, hoping someone who knows something will find is here!

Kampala

Kampala is the largest city in Uganda and is the capital. About 1.4 million people live here.

The city is organized according to its landscape; there are 7 hills, each of which have a different name and comprise the 7 different areas of Kampala.

English and Luganda are the official languages here. Many other tribal languages spoken, and most people are still well aware of their specific tribal roots.

Coffee grows well here, but all of the good beans are exported to western countries. This leaves us with nescafe instant coffee for breakfast.

Uganda has about 5 prominent tribes. The Baganda tribe makes up around 60 percent of Kampala's population. This is because former leader Idi Amin was from this tribe.

Idi Amin is a leader that this country is not proud of. He was responsible for long tribal and political civil wars of the 1960's, 70's, and 80's.

There are just as many vendors who have physical buildings as those who do not. People line the sides of the streets selling anything; candy, shoes, fruit, hardware, bicycles, hot food, and more can all be found displayed on old newspaper in dirt on the side of the road.

Beggars are common. Social programs are poor if they exist at all. They are not persistent like in other countries; they will ask for money once then leave you alone.

Ugandans are the most friendly, happy, and polite people. They may have no shoes, be incredibly dirty, be poor, or be sick, but this does not prevent good manners or happiness.

Brad

Kampala

Kampala is the largest city in Uganda and is the capital. About 1.4 million people live here.

The city is organized according to its landscape; there are 7 hills, each of which have a different name and comprise the 7 different areas of Kampala.

English and Luganda are the official languages here. Many other tribal languages spoken, and most people are still well aware of their specific tribal roots.

Coffee grows well here, but all of the good beans are exported to western countries. This leaves us with nescafe instant coffee for breakfast.

Uganda has about 5 prominent tribes. The Baganda tribe makes up around 60 percent of Kampala's population. This is because former leader Idi Amin was from this tribe.

Idi Amin is a leader that this country is not proud of. He was responsible for long tribal and political civil wars of the 1960's, 70's, and 80's.

There are just as many vendors who have physical buildings as those who do not. People line the sides of the streets selling anything; candy, shoes, fruit, hardware, bicycles, hot food, and more can all be found displayed on old newspaper in dirt on the side of the road.

Beggars are common. Social programs are poor if they exist at all. They are not persistent like in other countries; they will ask for money once then leave you alone.

Ugandans are the most friendly, happy, and polite people. They may have no shoes, be incredibly dirty, be poor, or be sick, but this does not prevent good manners or happiness.

Brad

Some Notes

1. I bought a football. I plan on doing with it what Arjen Robben didn't.

2. I enjoy Africa much more than Italy.

3. Every person here looks the same. I learned this the hard way: smacking who I thought was my tour guide on the ass.

4. Beer in Uganda is the cheapest yet. I just paid $1.10 Cdn in a bar for a full pint. Hey Ralph, how much was your last beer? Hmmm?

5. My camera died. I have yet to return home from a major trip with a camera. I have left one in Cuba, Italy (boooo), Canada, and now Africa. I'm so use to it that it didn't even bother me this time.

6. It took 31 days of being on this continent, but I finally had my first dosage of CAP. That is, Cronic Ass Piss. Sorry children.

7. 2 days ago I traded a label-less, Zambian beer for 4 bananas. Does that make me healthy?

8. Coffee here is shit. Instant shit.

9. I miss seing blonde women. Oh, and gingers.

10. Thanks for all the support blogger fans!
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Serengeti

Lots to update since last posting.

We arrived back in Dar Es Salam after a very interesting ferry ride. I've never seen so many people get sea sick; garbage cans and puke bags were getting filled at an astonishing rate. We passed the time not by vomiting, but by having contests to see who can stand on one leg the longest.

The next day was a long drive to Arusha- the second largest city in Tanzania. We passed Mt. Kilimanjaro along the way, unfortunately it was covered by clouds and we didn't get to see it. But as they say; "if you can't climb it, drink it". This is referring to a popular Tanzanian beer of the same name.
The next day we started our exciting, 2 night Serengeti experience. On the first day we drove through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and into the Serengeti. Along the way we stopped and had lunch; a box of assorted, day old deep fried meats and starches. We also met a local Maasai warrior. The Maasai are the people who live in the nearby villages and have grazing rights over the surrounding land. They are easy to spot; red and blue robes, shaved heads, stretched ear lobes, and a spear is the traditional attire. The warrior we met threw his spear a few times, thereby encouraging our guide to buy it off of him.

We made a quick stop at a local Maasai village. The locals danced, sang, and made us jump around like morons. They made fire with two pieces of wood faster than I ever thought possible. They then burned cow dung and lit everyones cigarettes with the flaming shit.
This stop was a little annoying to us seeing as we paid $450 USD to see animals, not local grass huts. We spent more time chasing around a Giraffe in the back yard of the village than we did listening to what the guides had to say.

We saw several different animals within minutes of being in the park, including 2 Cheetahs that marched right by our safari truck. More highlights of the day included seeing a big herd of elephants, and spotting an alussive leopard. This means that we have seen 4 of the big 5 to this point in our trip; elephant, leopard, lion, and buffalo.

That night we camped right in the park. This is a bit scary seeing as your tent is a stones throw away from wild Buffalo. If this wouldn't bother you, than waking up to Hyenas scratching at your tent probably will....

On Day 2 we got up early and went on a sunrise game drive. Though nothing really stood out, we saw tons of animals. By this point we had seen so many Zebras, Giraffes, Impala, Buffalo, Hippos, Donkeys, Lions, and Baboons that you rarely stopped or turned your head.

One of the high points of the day was briefly seeing a Black Mamba Snake. In a way its good it slithered away quickly; it's not the kind of thing you want to get to close to seeing as its the most dangerous snake in the world.

We didn't see many new or interesting game in the afternoon. This may have been the reason why we decided to start chugging beers on our long drive out of the Serengeti.

That night we camped on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. Our site was almost 3000m above sea level which meant it felt like Calgary in February. One nice part about the camp was that our tents were set up for us. We appreciated this because we were so full of beer and brandy that any such task could not have been accomplished.

Day 3: Another early morning. We drove down the steep road to the bottom of the crater. This is where the action really started.

1. We saw a baby cub lion for the first time; he walked behind Ma and Pa right by our safari truck. Our otherwise useless guide told us he was 2-3 weeks old.

2. We passed by several heards of Wildebeests. One heard must have had at least a thousand game.

3. Then came the highlight of our safari. We saw a White Rhino, thus completing the big 5 list. The best part is that he ran within a couple meters of our truck. Brad was a quick thinker and took a video.

4. Minutes after our Rhino experience, we stumbled upon a lion eating a wildebeest! This was incredible to see; it made the safari experience that much more real.

Did you know?
The animal characters in Disney's "The Lion King" are named after the Swahili words for each animal? Simba means lion cub, Pumba means wharthog, Zazu means bird, etc.

Serengeti out.

Greg
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Equator

I just peed from the southern hemisphere on to the northern hemisphere.

Gregory
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Kampala!

We have just arrived in Kampala, Uganda after 5 extra nights of camping with our tour group. It was tough to say goodbye to all of the friends we've made, but the prospect of hot showers and real beds made the farewell a little sweeter.

We've got a room in the "Tourist Hotel" in downtown Kampala. The hotel is on Market Street, a street that comes by its name honestly. The view from our room is incredible; there are street vendors, cars, pedestrians, fruit stands, bicycles, and more, all scattered about in a seemingly functional mess.

On the schedule for the next three days: sleep, showers, laundry, internet, recharge batteries, and prepare to meet our teammates on Wednesday!

Aaaah civilization!

Uganda

We've crossed our last border of the trip; we are now in Uganda! Our campsite is on the banks of the Nile and we've enjoyed some Nile Special beers. Amazing that this was once turned completely to blood! We are in our tent now but can hear the party continuing without us. Tomorrow we will finally break away from our overland group and begin to prepare for the mission part of our journey. What an amazing trip so far! What else is in store!?!?

Ebola!?!

"An extremely contagious filovirus causing an acute, usually fatal hemorrhagic fever and spread through contact with bodily fluids of infected persons and by airborne particles."

I guess its not good that our bus driver supposedly has this hey... We're not convinced, but the doctor did diagnose him and he is on the meds. Only symptoms I've noticed are a bleeding ear and a generally sarcastic sense of humour. And we normally stay on the road so it can't be that bad, right?

Brad

Nairobi and on!

What's up Mzungus!?!! (local slang for "white man")

We are in Nairobi, Kenya staying at the Meridian Court Hotel, our first hotel stay so far this trip. After our serengeti adventure we figured we deserved a place to relax, regroup, and most importantly, shower! Being dirty is just a fact of life here and any local or experienced African traveler will happily remind you of this. So, we bit the bullet, cancelled our hostel reservation, and stayed in a hotel where we were able to each take two hot showers in the period of about 20 hours. We also managed to get a good 10 hours of uninterrupted (almost - see #2 below) sleep in proper beds. Laundry remains a bit of a challenge; we are all running quite low on clean clothes so we each did some sink laundry to tie is over for a few days. It was most difficult to completely remove the enormous amount of sand and dust from my clothes, and since dirty is just a way of life here, I gave up trying after rewashing my shorts 6 times.

Up until now, we've been sleeping in tents, showering in cold water, using mere holes with no TP for #1 and #2, and reusing clothes that would be deemed a biohazzard at home.

Oh, and, #2 has started to play into things. Allison has been to the toilet more times than we can count. We're hoping that last night's dinner has taken care of that.

Since our Victoria Falls to Nairobi tour officially ended yesterday, the entire group went out for dinner at one of the world's top voted restaurants, Carnivore. As you may be able to deduce from the name, this place is all about meat. We each received a hot wash cloth and some snacks to begin. Small portions of soup and salad followed. Then suddenly huge amounts of rotisserie meat started arriving at our table. Each server carried a different sword or spit, and would happily plunk the tip of it right on your hotplate and carve off a big chunk of meat. We ate: roast beef, pork loin, beef ham, spare ribs, sausages, turkey, chicken, ostrich meatballs, leg of lamb, lamb sausage, ox heart, chicken liver, and camel. Besides the surprise 85 percent tax on our bill at the end of the meal, we all ate way too much and enjoyed the experience.

We have now been in Africa for over a month and have just completed our 21 day overland safari. We totally broke our rule and made some fantastic friends. Team Australia, team Switzerland, and team Holland aka little spoon (a nickname from day one that just stuck) will all be missed. We even made friends with a Canadian from Toronto, and totally hit it off with Paul our bus driver.

Our entire Africa trip was pretty much planned out except the following week. We ended our overland tour having no clue how we were going to spend the week between our tour and our mission trip, or how we were going to get ourselves from Nairobi, Kenya to Kampala, Uganda. In fact, we were mentally preparing to take the chicken bus, get charged too much at the border, and totally wing it. But, it just so happens that our tour company is running another tour from Nairobi to Kampala and since we made such good friends with the driver from our tour, he offered us a free lift! The drive could be done in one day, but it will take us about four days with the tour. Right now we are camping at Lake Navasha for two nights and since we are technically not part of this tour, we aren't involved in any of the activities. This has allowed us to have a relaxing couple days along side the hippos, cranes, and baboons in our campsite.

The wildlife here continues to amaze us. As we were enjoying some beers on the patio beside the pool, an employee came and told us that we left a window open on our bus. I didn't think this was a big deal until I went to close it and found 7 baboons inside the bus helping themselves to our avocados! It is also amazing to see the maribu cranes fly overhead with their 3 meter wingspan. And as soon as I'm finished this sentence, I'm going to go watch the hungry hungry hippos in the lake!

Brad