Ecosystems for nomads: Cycling from Kampala to Jinga to Sipi falls

I have been trying to publish this for a week. Finally found some internet!

I have been told the worst of the traffic is over. It took me probably 2 hours to get out of the city of Kampala. I walked-a-bike most of the time to avoid the car conjestion. No matter, the remainder of the route from Kampala to Jinga was stunning and so much fun! Small rolling hills, village after village as I followed the edge of a forest. I was surrounded by tropical jungle the whole time. There are tiny agricultural plots within the forest, but I wouldn't be able to tell they were there without the people working in them. I stayed in a beautiful school the first night in Naggalama. It had lots of open space, lots of shade-making trees, and tons and tons of kids of whom had never seen a tent before! I drew quite a crowd when setting it up. The school clearly makes a big effort to educate the kids on what is acceptable when it comes to sex. They have things like "Avoid bad touches and presents for sex" and "Do not take part in harmful traditional practices like early marriage" literally written on the walls! On the outdoor walls no less.

The following day was even better and I went much farther since I didn't have to endure any traffic, just the regularly intervaled boda boda, matatu and truck. The forest grew more and more lush and the villages more and more simple/desolate. Meaning more and more "mzungu!" "mzungu"! I swear the roosters are cackling "mzungu!" at me haha. Again, when kids do it, it's cute, I just ignore the adults when they call out "mzungu". Mid-day got pretty hot, so I took a 5 min break under a shady tree (straddling my bike as there was no where to lean it up against and there's no way I'm laying that baby down!) and a family of vervet monkeys decided to cross the road right in front me, including mama with a babe.

I arrived in Jinga in good time, ate a s**t ton of food and proceeded on an 8km dirt road to the hostel campsite. A friend I had met in Kampala was waiting for me there and laughed as soon as she saw me because I guess my face was covered in red dust! Staying here at the source of the Nile (well, in the viscinity anyways) is beautiful. Serene views, cool breeze, but still touristy. I have had one day rest and I'm ready to continue on to Sipi falls. I need to get out of the touristy areas. They're killing the budget and not condusive to learning about Ugandan culture. Having said that, I'm very greatful for the people I have met from all over -Poland, Egypt, India, etc. Lovely, wonderful people I hope to keep in touch with.

Venturing outside of the comforts of mzunguville I found myself sleeping a night at a school with a bed and a lock for my door. I had to wash from a bucket in a concrete room with a hole for a drain (also where excretion occurs), but at least I could wash! I was very thankful to have found this school because I hadn't seen much of anything for the last 20km or so. Very beautiful scenery though! Plenty of grenery interspersed with farmers' fields and the occasional swamp consisting of what look like giant green dandelions when their seeds are out. Some run down canoes exist in the swampy waters to fish tiny fish, which are dried and sold on the street.

The headmaster of the school welcomed me into his home for dinner, very humble dwellings with curtains for doors and barely enough light to see each other's facial features. As I struggled to wash down the fatty meat with a soda, their gift to me as their "special guest", the room proceeded to fill with smoke as I believe their wood stove used for cooking was inside their two or three-room ventilation-less home. I was very grateful for the food as there was plenty of it and felt badly that I was the only one with a soda in hand, a cold one at that. Conversation was difficult being that English was not all that well spoken and I barely could keep my eyes open having cycled some 75 or so km that day. Needlesstosay, I slept like a baby and pushed on the next morning to arrive a Hines Mission **EDIT: here is their website hineskids.org**, about 8km from Mbale. Here I had such luxuries as hot water and a CLEAN room and bed with electricity, a real toilet and real shower! They took good care of me, fed me, gave me COLED bottled water and the kids from the orphanage sang gorgeous songs filled with harmonies and a well-played djembe.

This next day of cycling involved getting through Mbale, which was a walk in the park compared to Kampala, then enduring some road construction, lots of pot holes, lots of ups and downs, all rewarded with the toughest climb yet up to Sipi falls -situated on the side of Mt. Elgon. For those of you who know of and have cycled Schnebly in Sedona, Arizona it's about the same length, but paved with a shoulder, some flat areas, but times the steepness by one million and picture dragging a 40km bike! oh yeah! This was a doooozzie! I had to walk the last 2 or 300 meters and a couple of kids pushed me up the last 100 meters-ish (of course asking for payment at the top, so I gave them each a handful of cashews). Schnebly-esque and cashews -this hill really made me think of you Dad!

A sigh of relief is an understatement to how I felt when I saw that sign reading "Sipi" at the top of the hill, even more relief was felt when I saw the sign to my accommodations shortly thereafter reading "Moses campsite". This is where I am writing from now, with the humble falls in view. It is the dry season, so nothing spectacular, but I didn't come for the falls (I've been to Brazil, tough to top the many falls there, oh yeah, and there's Victoria Falls ;) ) I came for the peace and relaxation. Cycling 3 days in a row each consisting of between 65 and 80km, it's time for at least 2 days rest. It's been great a day, I've met some amazing people (some of whom may have convinced me to alter my route a tad) and taken a taxi 12km further up from here to buy some much needed cookies and juice. Nights are cool and breezy and life is quiet here in Sipi -just what I need right now.

It's amazing how many languages I passed from Kampala to Sipi. I don't know how many, but at least a half a dozen if not more. Most languages are similar to Luganda, the main language spoken in the south, and you can at least get by with Lugandan "hello" and "thank you", but the language spoken here in Sipi is totally different and only spoken on Mt. Elgon! The change in language is shockingly drastic from the bottom of the mountain to the top. It sounds more like Arabic and Hindi than Luganda.

Change in education level has also been obvious as I move further from the south. Namely English is spoken less. For example, little Jean Paul of only 6 years old whom I stayed with in Entebbe spoke English without issue. Now I'm finding most kids don't know how to say hello, instead they say "how are you", not realizing that when I say "I'm fine, how are you?" it's a question, not simply a greeting. "I'm fine" is a common response when I say hi.

The bore whole in Naggalama school.

Everyone has to wait their turn, take their turn carrying, filling and pumping.

Mid jump!

My tent under the umbrella tree with the "Malaria kills" sign on it AT&T he Naggalama school.

Lots of these signs around the school.

The school choir singing beautiful harmonies.

Not enough buildings for all the students. Class is often outside.

Few get the chance to sit under the shade of a tree...can't imagine what it's like to take notes outside when it's raining.

Early morning hours are the best when cycling all day.

Misty jungle, beautiful to watch while you're pedalling.

Strange, giant dandelions....or some kind of water-loving plant.

Sunset view from he hostel in jinga.

Second monkey species! The red tail.

One of the views from the hostel in Jinga. Lots of birds again :)

Floating vegetation down the Nile.

My tent to the right of a giant bird nest in Jinga.

The giant bird nest.

Early morning sun as I ride out from Jinga.

Unexpected, interesting vegetation. Not sure what is produced here.

The school I stayed at with a bed, a bucket shower and where the headmaster invited me to his home.

A couple of canoes were situated here, ready to fish tiny fish dried and sold on the street.

Swampy with that dandelion-esque plant.

On the road.

Tiny plots everywhere...jBrown :)

First sight of mt Elgon in the distance.

Mt. Elgon a bit closer.

Some serious elevation gain in a mere kilometre, maybe less!

Quite the view already, only gets better from here.

Lots more uphill ahead.

After another hour or more of peddling in granny gear and going about as slow as one can go on a bike without loosing your balance and falling over is where I started walking. This picture shows a morsel of what I had accomplished.