All the rest of Uganda

Yup-I stood on the equator on my first full day in the country! And then I hung from the really cool ring ;)

My lovely hostess Blythe taking me for my first Ugandan meal: skewers of meat served with some cassava and diced tomatoes and onions on the side, eaten with just your hands. Delicious! Best part-the spicy sauce to dip the meat in. The man serving us obviously didn't get many Mzungus (foreigners) because he was so worried that all they serve is pork. As we explained, "That's why we're here!"

So I might have mentioned sleeping in tents while on safari-I wish it was cooler than it sounded. But as you can see they were usually covered/protected and fit 2 twin size beds and a night table inside. and some had electricity-not true camping, but still so much fun! 

Dinner one night during a safari-again, not really roughing it, but hey-you only live once. 

Driving in Uganda can be very dangerous-take care!

But apparently this guy likes to live on the edge. Besides, large bags of tea leaves might be comfortable. 

Or you can travel with others-apparently sitting/standing on these types of trucks is one way to get across the country. Also take note of the skirt on the bottom of the truck-so many trucks/buses/minivans had names or phrases that ranged from funny ones like this to.......

religious inspired ones like this. I really wish I'd taken more to show you-so many made me laugh out loud. 

Motorbikes are also very common (maybe not quite as common as my last trip but still the best way to get around in the city). I just loved that this was parked in front of that sign. 

And if you don't want to sit/lie on top of a banana truck-you can always ride on a bike. This cutie in a suit stole my heart.

Other sights from the road-tea fields. I also saw coffee fields, banana and pineapple plantations. About bananas: there are some 80 varieties of bananas in the region, and Uganda is both the largest provider and consumer of bananas in the world (per capita: 1 kilo/2.2 lbs per DAY).

Another view from the car-I love markets!

Besides food markets-there are lots of places to stop along the road for humongous bags of charcoal that had been produced in local ovens. 

Women here have some amazing clothing-beautiful colors and great fabrics-which also make for stylish baby carriers.  

Of course I met some kids-when don't I? We were working on counting ;)

And then I met A LOT of kids! I went to Lira, which is a city towards the north of the country where another good friend had spent a few years working with her foundation (I might have mentioned it over the years: Atin Afrika). I got to spend a day going to some of the local schools to meet kids Atin has helped. And then I got mobbed at one of the schools!

On the equator again with Blythe-this time on Lake Victoria (the source of the Nile). And to paraphrase from her caption on a similar picture: we met in the southern hemisphere (Argentina), reunited in the north (Korea), only seems right that we meet again on the equator. 

I loved all of the names on these coke bottles. 

Jerricans are still the main means of transporting water to people's homes. All along the roads and in villages you'd see men, women and children carting one, two, three yellow cans on their heads, backs, or bikes. Definitely makes you realize how lucky most of us are that we have running water.  

With Chelsea (the Atin friend), at Chobe Resort on the Nile. We spent the day in the pool and sunning our selves while over looking the longest river in the world. 

and even though I devoted my last post to animals, I couldn't resist this one! at the resort we got to witness a young elephant messing around with the hippos-just a typical teenager flaunting the fact that he knows he's bigger. Guess doesn't matter the species, all youth are hot heads ;)

"You need to get a rollex Lynn." -What? I don't want a fancy watch. "No, no, no. Rolled eggs=rollex." 

It's basically an omelet inside a chapati (thick tortilla) served rolled up.

Besides safaris I did a bit of extreme sports! I went white water rafting on the Nile! I know you can't pick me out but I'm on the left side, last one back. We went over 8 rapids that day, ranging from level 3-5. We flipped in nearly all of them (which may have been because we told our guide we wanted to go crazy).

The next day I took a much calmer ride on the Nile while sampling some of the local brew. 

My last day in Kampala (the capital) I was taken to an amazing restaurant where you can eat many of the local animals. After kudu (antelope) poppers for an app, Blythe and I both got springbok, wildebeest and crocodile served up tandoori style. It was delicious, I think the wildebeest was my favorite.  

Read carefully! and yes, people really do say that :)
Special thanks to Blythe and Chelsea-two Canadians I met abroad who brought me to this amazing country! I would never had had such an adventure if I had never met these two lovely ladies.