Sunday, January 29, 2012

Take Two: Lake Bunyonyi

This weekend, Ally and I decided to take a mini-vacation at Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda. As you may remember from a previous post, I’ve been there before! It is a really easy place to get to from Kigali and the lake is relaxing and peaceful. I also needed to renew my 90-day visa in Rwanda one more time (it’s crazy to think I have less than 90 days left here!).

Paddling to the island in our dugout canoe

So we left Friday morning and returned just a few hours ago (Sunday afternoon). I talked about what the island is like last time, so if you missed it the first time, go check it out!

Ally and I swimming in the 2nd deepest lake in Africa!

During this trip, we met some pretty cool people. We all talked late into the night about our different experiences on the continent and by the time we went to bed, all of the candles had burnt down. It was a mixed bag of people: a college professor, law school graduate, volunteers at a hospital in Uganda, and many more. We came from many different places: Italy, England, Washington, Colorado, California, New Jersey, Virginia, and Vermont, but we all had one thing in common: our thirst for travel and our love of Africa.

We bonded over our common experiences and ridiculous stories. We laughed about riding in the back of trucks alongside fruit and livestock to get from place to place, chickens on top of mini-buses, the severe lack of quality cheese on the African continent, and advised each other on the best places to travel.

I was also introduced to the game of backgammon this weekend. The lodge had a backgammon board and we used bottle caps as pieces and Uno cards as dice. Ally was an excellent teacher and I have to say I’m thoroughly addicted to this game.

Intensity

Overall, it was a relaxing weekend, and we are ready to get right back to work tomorrow!


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