Greetings from Uganda

Dear family and friends,

I got the idea of creating a blog using this host from a young friend we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with a couple of weeks ago. She assured me it was an easy site to use. So far so good!

I hope you'll enjoy reading occasional logs about the 5 week trip Dave and I are making in East Africa. 2 and 1/2 weeks have already passed since we left Santa Barbara on the 18th of Oct. - and a lot has happened! Since we've had limited access to internet (and slow, sketchy connections at that) I've only managed to check mail and jot off hurried notes to a few of you. Thanks to those of you who have responded and kept me informed about happenings at home. Those of you who travel know how welcome personal news can be when you're far away and in remote places.

I guess I'll start from today and work backward, making our news more current.

We are currently in an internet cafe in Kampala, Uganda. We arrived here yesterday afternoon after a 14 hour, all night bus trip from Nairobi, Kenya. It was kind of an eery trip, undertaken on extremely bumpy roads, some unpaved and most unlit, into the heart of dark Africa There are few street lights anywhere here, except in major cities. Our driver would follow big trucks with bright tail lights so that our way was paved into the night.

Dave had purchased the last 2 reservations on the bus, which happened to be two seats in the rear, over the tires. (So we went big-time "bump in the night"! ) Arriving in Kampala around 1:30p.m., I was more than ready to find a place to stay, get a hot shower, some food, and a good rest while prone. This did happen a few hours later, but not until we had checked rates of the U.S. dollar against the Ugandan shilling, changed money, and hiked around town with backpacks
for a few more hours. Finally we took a shared taxi to the "Backpackers Hostel", a lovely and quiet spot maybe 5 or 6 miles outside of the center of this bustling, modern city. ( Dave had stayed here alone on his trip 2 years ago after climbing Mt. Kenya and venturing off on his own after Bar and Dave returned to the U.S. ) Anyway, after checking into a private bungalow and cleaning up, we headed back out for supper. We were so tired that we only ventured a couple of miles from the hostel where we found delicious grilled food stands run by a young local boy named Moses. We also drank some icy Bongo, a favorite local yogurt drink, like cold, thick kefir. It was delicious.

After a good night's sleep, we made a plan to do internet today plus a bit of sightseeing before visiting Murchison Falls tomorrow, where we'll see lots of hippos, crocodiles, and elephants. (More later about our previous week-long safari in Tanzania!). We've hired a driver to take us to the park. First, though, is a 3 hour bus ride to the town of Masindi, where we'll start.

To be continued!

Best to all,
Judy and Dave