This is the only photo of us all together, and sorry for the lighting. But you've got from left to right- Jenna, Betsy, Shanna, Teresa and me. I'm so thankful for their friendships!
I've hopefully learned my lesson about using sun screen; "Apply and RE-apply". Unfortunately Betsy got a bit fried. The lighting in the picture is not changed- she really is lobster red in this picture!
Sunset at the Falls. Bujagali Falls is a part of the upper Nile River flowing from Lake Victoria. You can raft parts of the Nile (yep, I've been there, done that!), but sadly the falls will be soon covered in much deeper water. They're building a large hydroelectric dam a little up river, and the water will be backed up significantly over this area.
Henna is a plant used to dye hair, used in shampoos in fact, and also to dye skin as a decoration in many Eastern countries. I'm not into anything permanent (pierced ears is enough for me) but to have a henna "tattoo" that dyes your skin for 3 weeks or so sounded fun. We met a girl in Jinja who does great skin decorative designs, and we enjoyed ourselves. I got a butterfly on my shoulder (that really looks like a large hair bow), and one on my ankle. The others got some on their hands/wrists, plus their ankles. All of them are fading and they're only 8 days old. Bummer!
A 4-wheeler place near the falls we went to has a sign with faces cut out, so Teresa and Betsy put their faces in... and the kid posed next to them. Funny! FYI- I suppose at one point in my life I did like the idea of 4 wheeling, but hey, since I live in Uganda where most of the roads are stinky, and it is like I'm 4-wheeling all the time, I've no interest. Why would I intentionally put myself on something that once again throws me around- actually less than the roads do? Anyway, to me, any more, 4 wheeling just isn't as fun as it used to be.
Growing up in NJ I remember a lady who played the xylophone for special music in our church. "Whodathunkit?!" They make and use them here! Cool.
At dinner one night at a place called the Black Lantern (at Bujagali Falls), the restaurant had a statue of a lady (making a comical face- thus the face on Betsy next to it!)... dressed in a gomezi. This is the traditional dress of the Baganda here in Uganda, and I imagine I either have other photos of them in other blog posts or else I will... Anyway, the statue was a bit of a kick so we played with some photos of it.
On the way to Jinja, you pass a few places which offer "chicken on a stick", kebabs which MAY be selling chicken, or perhaps a mystery meat. How long has it been out raw and how long has it been out cooked? I can't confirm. Therefore, I have never even touched or been tempted to touch chicken on a stick... The people in blue coats run up to your car and nearly knock each other over trying to sell their mystery meat. Ugh. I just can't imagine the amount of parasites, amoebas, and other creepy crawlies embedded in those things.
Playing with my sepia feature, I took a few pictures of some cool Ugandan made instruments. These are the djembe drum, the Ugandan harp, and I guess a sort of guitar thing (no idea what they are called).
Near where the chicken on the stick people are located, you can turn off to see "The Rainforest Hotel" in the middle (shocker) of a rain forest. It is the Mabira Forest and there are lotsa monkeys and really cool birds in there. So we stopped in, took a tour, had some tea, and spotted some red tailed monkeys.
The girls decided to buy the grass skirts (they use these here in certain dances), and dressed like they were headed to a luau. To me they just looked like they were having some fun... from left is Shanna, middle is Betsy, on the right is Teresa.
There was a lot of rain on Friday when we left town... but still the jacarandas on the way looked so beautiful. These are on a tea estate between Kampala and Jinja.
These girls just love having funny poses in pictures. So to have a nice picture where nobody is making silly faces was great!
During the storm, it was fun trying to figure out the sepia feature. I liked this doorway view.
When we'd gotten to the hotel (Kingfisher in Jinja) it was pouring... and then it stopped, and then it started for a lot longer time. Meanwhile, I got this photo of the lake and the clouds coming toward us.