sipi adventures

I just got back from a great weekend trip to Sipi Falls near Mount Elgon (is it just me, or does Mount Elgon sound like it should be in Mordor instead of Eastern Uganda?).

This is where we camped... no big deal. It was stunning. We only hiked to two of the falls, but on the drive up the mountain, we passed probably a dozen more like the ones we saw.

The first stop was at one of the falls with a cave behind it that you can walk into, so you can see both sides of the falls.

The next one dropped down into a cave and disappeared. All of us went up to the edge of it and got totally soaked from the mist.

The whole hiking experience was great. Instead of taking an official guide, we just let some local kids lead us around. They took us on trails that went through coffee plantations, banana groves, onion fields, and their own houses. This was their neighborhood. This was where they got to grow up.... in the presence of so much beauty. I wish we could just transport Sipi to the edge of Kampala, so I could take it in all the time.

Sipi Falls was great. The only thing that wasn't so great was my sleeping experience the next night. On Friday night when we got there, it poured rain from 4 in the afternoon until evening and our tent was flooded before we even went to bed... So, we opted for the bandas that provided more shelter from the rain. Saturday night we were still in the bandas, just because it was easier to stay where we were, and the skies were threatening us with rain again.

At about 3:00 in the morning, I was awake, wishing I was outside camping. Why you may ask? Because I was awakened by the sound of rats scurrying in the walls of the banda. One of the rats got trapped in the wall right next to my bed and was doing something that sounded like the rat-version of screaming (I would say squeek, but that word doesn't convey the volume of this noise). So off and on for about an hour and a half, I battled the rat. I would hit the wall with a book, and shine my headlamp at it, and plead with it to go away, but it did not.... In resignation, I put in my headphones and tried to fall back asleep without much success.

All in all though, it was a great weekend. Great view. Great people. Great adventure.