Juancho in Uganda

Thanks everybody for checking on me regarding the bombs in Kampala, but I was safe in Iganga watching the game at Sol Cafe. It was nice to see Spain win and in the process win 2 beers (that have not been paid yet!). I only found out about the bombs the next morning through a phone call from UVP staff. It was only until later that day that full explanations started showing up linking them to the somali based terrorist group Al Shabab. It seems that they wanted to grab attention before the African Union meeting that is starting in Kampala this week as well as protest for the 20,000 troops that Uganda has in Somali as peacekeepers. So far we have been banned from travelling to the capital or Jinja, which is a pretty good idea since there are also primary elections for the president's party (NRM) this wednesday. I will not travel this upcoming weekend and after the meetings are over things should calm down.

On Friday I went to Sipi falls with people from Buwaiswa village and two interns based in Iganga. We were lucky to grab a Lubra coach bus that was going all the way to Kapchorwa even though we had to bear the movie "Police Officer" that was dubbed in Lusoga with something that seemed like a megaphone (it was also one of the worst pieces of acting ever). We got there for a nice sunset and able to appreciate the lower falls from the Crow's Nest were we stayed. The next day we hiked upper and middle Sipi in the morning and later proceed to the top of lower Sipi. This is when we rapelled the 100 meter fall and got one of the most spectacular views of my whole life. It was just amazing and I cannot wait to do something similar in the future. After a really nice warm shower and a nap we climb to the hill on top of the hotel and saw another spectacular sunset with the typical African view that you see in the movies. A couple of mountains close by and a very large savannah (this one without that many animals) extending until the horizon. The pictures that I took are not doing enough justice to the magnificence of the view. The next morning we travelled back to Iganga with just a minor disturbance in Mbale where a mob of bus conductors wanted us to take their vehicles without letting us speak and even grabbing us. It was later on solved and I was back in Bunio by 4:00 PM ready to clean up my sneakers that couldn't take any more mud.