So, after our favorite trip to Lake Vicky in Kisumu we headed off to Jinja, Uganda. The border crossing was a mess. After we walked through no-man's land, we piled 10 of us and all our luggage into the small minivan. It was so cramped. I jumped in to the front seat with Alphonce and our driver in the hopes of a little extra leg room.
After 50 meters of chaotic driving in streets full of bicycles, we approached a man on a bike carrying another man on the back. After being in a third world country for some time and driving in Egypt as well, I was nervous when we approached the bike. I gasped but it was too late as we heard the sick crunch of something under our tires. I froze for a moment and then asked Alphonce if I should open the door. I was terrified that a bloody body would be smushed under the wheel, but as I opened it I saw only bike frame. The man luckily had escaped from the tire, but he was still in bad shape. We drove him to the hospital and then waited at the police station, aka a big hut in the middle of the town.
The man turned out to have only a broken leg and our driver was prosecuted. Thank god that was the extent of the damage.
After we switched vans, we finally made it to our hotel, the Paradise on the Nile. It was in Jinja, apparently the adrenaline capitol of Africa. The next day we planned to sort out what activities we were going to do. I was after the horseback riding, of course, and river rafting. The only problem was, the rafting was Class V rapids, and though I have a lot of experience rafting, I have never seen a V.
So, the next day we sort out horseback riding. Only a ride on the back of a motorbike, a walk down to the river, a boat ride, a walk across an island, another boat ride (this boat was sinking) another 10 minute walk and we were at the stables. Ay carumba, Africa. But we showed up and the Brits working there put me on a horse named Dramatic. She was great from the start. The only forseeable problem on the ride would be another horse that was a stallion possibly wanting to mount her. Just my luck.
So we go along, no worries and then stop when our guides horse began acting up. Lo and behold, the stallion gets too close and starts sniffing my poor Dramatic. She started freaking out and I managed to kick her up and go into a nearby field while Christine got her horse under control. After that, I was able to go one on one with the local guide for a few canters. It was amazing. At one point, Dramatic saw a small stick in the road and we jumped! The rest of the ride was great, a few more exciting moments of running up hills and then it was back to the commute across the river.
In the afternoon we all decided to go quad biking (aka 4-wheeling) in the same area. It then decided to rain like hell after we had gotten on our bikes. The mud was everywhere, which promised to be great fun, but then it started hailing. We went back to the house to wait out the storm and 30 minutes later we emerged. The quad biking was going to be excellent, everything was soaking wet. Things started out great. We were tearing up the roads and spinning our tires. After a few hours, we really felt comfortable on our bikes. And then disaster hit.
I ran into a crop of turnips.
But it was okay. A few seconds and I was back on my way.
And then disaster hit again.
Stuart ran into a thatch of bushes.
But he was okay.
And that is where the evening ended. Oh, I almost forgot. Then we went to watch Christine nigh bungee jump, and then we crowded 9 people into a Toyota Corolla for a few minutes to the other side of town and back to Paradise.
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