Carapacer: Murchinson Falls

Another great and unexpected weekend! Friday morning, Caitlin and I went down to breakfast where we met an old woman named Sally who had stayed the night at the Inn we are staying in. While enjoying our eggs and toast, we discovered that she lives in Masindi where she owns a guesthouse for travelers. Masindi is three and half hours from Kampala and the closest town outside of Murchinson Falls National Park (takes about 1-2 hours from Masindi). Sally was returning to Masindi that afternoon and invited us to stay at her guesthouse for a discounted price so that we could have the opportunity to visit the Falls during our stay in Uganda! Soon enough, we packed our bags and we were on our way. We spent the night at her lovely guesthouse and awoke at 5 the next morning to head into Murchinson Falls. We enjoyed a lovely boat ride where we saw multiple families of hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, wildebeest, and many other animals. We reached the edge of the falls where we got dropped off to take a steep hike to the top of the falls.
I have always enjoyed hiking but I am coming to love it more and more. I don't know what I am going to do when I return to NYC where hiking is much less accessible. I find myself getting lost in the beauty of nature. The trees here are so picturesque, the animals are remarkable, and the entirety of mother nature's creations makes me feel elated. I know that I am going to need to find the time and the way to escape the city more and more when I am back in NY!

We returned to Masindi after our hike and headed back to Kampala that night on the Post Bus. Sunday morning, I was finally able to make it to church. After mass, we walked around the city to run some errands and I even got to pick up my next read, The Little Bee, by Chris Cleave.

It is really eye-opening to walk into the much more developed parts of Kampala where I sometimes feel like I am back in the States only to walk through an environment that is completely the opposite in terms of development a couple miles away.

Overall, I had a relaxing weekend and feel like time is going by way too fast!

Some roads and houses in Kampala look like this...

while our WHO Office and other buildings nearby look like this (only a few blocks away).. There is such a contrast!


We stopped by a mango stand on our way to Masindi and picked up some mangoes. Mangoes are one of my favorite fruit and they are everywhere in Uganda! They are so ripe and sweet off the trees.. We pretty much eat at least one a day after dinner.