Go BIG or Go Home!!!

Whitewater rafting on class III and V rapids on the Nile!! Absolutely killer!!! So amazing!! I can't believe I did it! I do have to publicly thank my heroes Chris (The Life-saving Dutchman) and Tutu (Rafting Guru)!! Without them I wouldn't have had the courage to continue after my first flip!! I flipped on two of the first four rapids and then didn't flip thereafter! On Big Brother there are three rapids back-to-back and four girls in the raft along with four guys, plus Tutu...well we hit the first rapid and all the girls fell out and then the guys fell out on the second rapid!!! I got pummeled by the raft twice and seriously thought I was taking my last breath!!! So incredible!!! I want to do it all over again!!!! On the last section you could go to The Bad Place (where you are guaranteed to flip) or go to 50/50 (self-explanatory) so we decided to test our skills and hit 50/50 and we made it!!! Such a rush!!!! Afterwards, back at the campsite we watched the video and it was hysterical!! Over a grade V waterfall our raft got stuck between two rocks so we had to bounce through it and in the video they sped up the bouncing portion because we were taking so long to get through it!!! In the end we dropped to the bottom of the fall and didn't flip...cause we got skillz baby skillz!!!! I CONQUERED THE NILE!!!

Rwanda: Kigali Genocide Memorial

The only genocide memorial I've been to is the Holocaust Memorial in D.C., so traveling to Rwanda to see/feel the Kigali Genocide Memorial was a must for me. I wasn't sure how I was going to react and in the end I cried throughout the entire memorial. The various gardens (unity, division, lies, flower, etc) outside are beautiful, the grave-sites are rectangular, smooth slabs of concrete made on three levels and at the end of the grave-sites is a wall of names (similar to that in D.C.) of only identified individuals that were massacred during the 1994 genocide. It's unfathomable to read this history and see the images of those savagely slaughtered by Hutu rebels and know that help could have and should have arrived. Anyone wanting a piece of African history should come to Rwanda for this memorial. The movie Hotel Rwanda is based on the 1994 genocide which is a great film to watch to understand the events leading up to this horrible event. The end of the memorial was the worst part for me...THE CHILDREN'S ROOM. Dedicated to all the children that perished and survived the massacre. The only photos that families had left of their children, first-hand comments from those that survived and etched into frosted glass. The memorial is created in such a way that Kigali/Rwanda wants to show harmony and the circle of life shall continue and Rwandans are continuing the process of healing. An amazingly emotional visit for me and that will last in me forever. I am thankful for the opportunity to have visited Rwanda.

Tour On: Gorillas in Uganda

I've recuperated!!!
On my flight to Uganda I met a lovely Indian uncle on the flight. He invited me for lunch the next day in the city and I helped him with his grocery shopping. We had chai at his home and enjoyed conversing about Africa and specifically the history of Uganda. We had such a nice time! That evening my tour group arrived to the campsite and I was happy to rejoin the group! I was up all night playing cards with Kelly, Nev and a few others...so needless to say the next day on the truck was rough! We headed from Kampala to Lake Bunyonyi to an amazingly stunning campsite! Kelly and I upgraded to a pre-erected tent on a balcony overlooking the lake! It was amazing!! When my eyes lay sight on such beautiful scenery I can't believe I'm in Africa. So many commercials on Africa have it all wrong. Uganda, specifically, is a beautiful land full of hills and lush greenery and is a paradise like none other! This campsite is really a place for relaxation...oh and gorilla tracking!!! That night I went to sleep at midnight only to wake at 330am to prepare for the gorilla trek! A minivan picked 8 of us up at 5am and off to Bwindi we went to look for gorillas! When we arrived, we were briefed by our guide on what would be expected of us as we trekked through the rainforest in search of gorillas. Excited and anxious we were off, lead by our guide and followed by an AK47 carrying security guard! Along the way we spotted a really fat and long earthworm and a poisonous snake...which looked more like a harmless gardener snake. After 4 hours of trekking through mud, nettles and swarms of flies we were informed that the gorillas were nearby. As instructed by our guide we left our packs and walking sticks behind and took our cameras in hopes of fantastic photo opportunities of gorillas...and WE SAW GORILLAS!!!! We saw two silverbacks and one black back and one baby! They are amazingly beautiful creatures! Eyes that capture your heart, size of bodies that frighten you and beauty that makes your jaw drop! One of the silverbacks was lying on his belly and eventually rolled over to scratch his arms. The baby was quite active swinging on a vine while another adult gorilla was munching on leaves. Unbelievable...I SAW GORILLAS!!!! The mud was everywhere, nettles got to my hands twice and the terrain was intense at times, but this adventure was priceless!

Tour delayed...in need of Pepto, Cipro, whatever will keep stuff in-o!

So today (Sunday, January 18th) I was supposed to start the overland tour. I attended the meeting yesterday and met the fun bunch I'm going to be with for a while! Yesterday evening I became violently ill...don't read any further if you can't handle it...stuff coming out of both ends simultaneously. Don't worry too much, because I've been fortunate enough to receive many helping hands from multiple individuals. Bob of Bob and Julie ;) helped me obtain some aromatic bitters and hot water to settle my stomach. AJ gave me some meds to stop the vomitting and diarrhea. AJ also helped me book a flight out of Nairobi to Kampala so that I can meet up with my group. I will keep you posted on how I'm feeling, so far 6 hours and nothing coming out. Just took my anti-vomitting and anti-diarrheal medications and so far so good. Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and remedies!!

Watamu and SCUBA

Watamu, Kenya is a little place about 2hours north of Mombasa on the Kenyan coast...and it is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! Water as clear as glass, sand as white as...some of my friends ;)...and seafood so fresh!!!
In Watamu I went scubadiving!! An incredible time. The photos will say it all...speaking of photos...it's really hard to upload to my blog, so what I can upload will be on facebook...sorry. Okay back to scuba! It was ridiculously beautiful!
On the 10th I spent a few hours learning how to work my equipment in a swimming pool with a great instructor. The next morning I went out to the Watamu National Park Reserve for the dive. My poor belly was seasick on the way out, which meant I was belching through my regulator while underwater for 45 mins!!! So my instructor helps me gear up and gets me up on the side of the boat and says I'm going to enter the water by backflipping in...I ask him again to slowly talk me through it and as soon as he did he pushed me into the water!!! No worries...I came up laughing!! The descent was pretty easy, but when I got to the bottom I wasn't heavy enough to stay down, so my instructor ended up hanging onto me the entire time...which was good, b/c I felt very safe!! I saw many starfish blue and orange and a parrot fish and an angel fish! The sights were incredible, the thought of it again is unbelieveable...for a girl afraid of the water, especially the ocean...fears are slowly being conquered...one by one!!!

Kilimanjaro...

The days were long and tough! For the experience try walking 1-2miles per hour at a 30 degree incline and have someone blast you with a heater for an hour, then spray you with a hose for another hour and lastly drop the temperature to below freezing for an hour...yes all consecutively!
Pole, pole (pronounced po-lay) means slowly slowly. I was utterly sick and tired of that phrase by the time the day of the ascent came! It was quite useful the entire time, though. For 4 days I had an italian couple with me in my group and on Day 5 they decided to call it quits and descend secondary to a headache. (I don't blame them, headaches at altitude are rough)! So Day 5 I walked, pole pole, to Barafu camp with only my guide. That portion of the trek was easy. Upon arrival I was given some food and advice from other climbers. Thanks to my friends from Spain I had some Chamomile tea to settle my belly. At 700pm I went to sleep in preparation for the 1100pm wake up call to summit Kili in all it's glory. I woke, had some tea and biscuits and suited up with headlamp and all!! Half-way up to Stella Point I became nauseated and nothing would settle my belly this time. I lost all of my energy, but pushed on. I ran into my British friends who offered me some energy boosting supplements, but that really had no effect on me. So I struggled and dry heaved all the way up the mountain, to finally reach Stella Point at 5700m!!! AWESOME!!! The sight was amazing!!! I took out my dad's Steeler's hat and snapped a few quick pics...in between the dry heaving...and then quickly began my descent down the mountain. All my energy was spent and I have no idea how I made it back to camp and then 2 hours later to the next camp!!
On my Kili trek I've made some wonderful friends, without their encouragement I would not have made the summit. Also without the music given to me by my brother and sister-in-law and Tim I wouldn't have had the motivation to get from one camp to the next, so thank you!!!