Sipi Falls!

5.25.09

Everyone always tells me how living in Africa must never get boring. Extremely inaccurate! Right now, I am ridiculously bored. All of our kids have returned to stay with guardians for the holiday and we are left with nothing to do. Andrea is reading this book written by Paulo Coelho (who also wrote the Alchemist) called The Witch of Portobello. We were sitting at a hotel in Iganga working on whatever we could find. While we were struggling to sit still for only a few moments of silence in between a gap in conversation, she came across a passage all about finding contentment in the absence of activities. Here is the passage….

 

“I felt uneasy: Shouldn’t I be doing something? Well, if I wanted to invent work, that wouldn’t take much effort. We all have projects to develop, light bulbs to change, leaves to sweep, books to put away, computer files to organize, etc. But how about just facing up to the void? It was then that I remembered something that seemed to me of great importance: I needed to walk to the letter box – which is less than a mile from my house in the country- and post one of the Christmas cards lying forgotten on my desk. And I was surprised; Why did I need to send that card today? Was it really so hard just to stay where I was, doing nothing?”

 

 

Over the weekend I walked to the post office, which is about a twenty minute walk, everyday even though I knew it was not open.Talk about convicting! In the moments of extreme silence I have been trying to find peace with it. And so I haven’t opened the book I am reading, gotten online or walked the streets of Iganda purposelessly. I have simply sat there, letting myself grow in patience. Even as I write this blog I know it just another activity I am cleverly using to distract myself from the absence of responsibility. Anyways, yet again I am being taught patience.

 

On Sunday morning Ti and I left for Mbale to simply get away. We had no plans, hotels, maps, or contacts there. We simply jumped on a taxi and went. Bosco came with us. Once we got to Mbale we wanted to go to the “Mt. Elgon View Hotel”.  The clouds were dark and we knew rain was on the way. A boda driver claimed he knew where it was and the price was good. About a minute on the boda and it started to rain. Next thing we knew it was pouring rain. The boda was sliding and I thought I was going to die. The driver ended up taking us to the wrong hotel but we didn’t care too much. When Ti approached me about going with her I told her that I didn’t have the money at the moment. And she made an offer I couldn’t resist. Ti told me that she would pay for the hotels if I came. The hotel we ended up staying at was extremely nice. I looked like a little kid in a candy shop as I walked around the hotel. The most exciting part about this hotel was the warm shower. At home I would consider having warm water in a hotel room about as important as having a bed in the room. But here, it was a luxury. And I took the first warm shower I have had in almost 3 months. The hotel restaurant was very good! Not having African meals was extremely refreshing. Bosco seemed like he was in shock at the whole experience. They also had a mini gold course. Which was really hard to explain to Bosco. We meet a crazy Australian engineer named Alex. He told us about a bus leaving from the hotel in the morning that goes to Mt. Elgon and Sipi Falls. Sipi Falls is this giant water fall around the base of Mt. Elgon. Ti and I decided that a small hike around that area would be a lot of fun. We wake up early and set off on an hour long bus ride with Alex. Uncle Alex, as Bosco called him, let Bosco watch music videos on his ipod and helped keep Bosco entertained. At one point during the ride I looked at Bosco and he had a lot drool around his mouth. As it turned out he had thrown up all the side of the car and my leg. My immediate reaction was laughing. It seemed like just my luck to have him throw up on me. I attempted to whip my leg off but could barely do it without gagging. We had to keep really quiet about the situation because we didn’t want any trouble with the taxi driver. Somewhere in between all the chaos, Ti threw my bag into the trunk of the car. As we were getting out of the taxi she forgot all about my back pack. I had just assumed she had grabbed. The barf on my leg and on Bosco was holding the majority of my attention. About thirty seconds after we got off the taxi I looked around and didn’t see my bag. Thankfully the hiking guides knew the driver. One of the guides and Alex hopped on a boda and chased after the taxi. They caught the taxi in the next town. As Alex went to get my bag the taxi driver pointed at him and said “YOU!” I guess they had found Bosco’s breakfast all over the back seat. They grabbed my bag and jumped back on the boda as quick as they could. We were trying to figure out what we should do about going home or staying up at Sipi. Since Ti had offered to pay for the room it was her decision what she wanted to do. She decided that we should stay at Sipi River Lodge. It had bandas next to the river and the base of one of the three giant waterfalls. Again we got warm shower and delicious food. We had cheese, pizza, pasta, fresh bed and fresh coffee. The food alone was enough to make me happy. Shortly after we arrived we went on a hike to a cave behind the water fall. It was beautiful and cool behind the waterfall. The past two days were a needed break from Iganga. And Bosco had so much fun.  When he got home he immediately ran to Rehem, our house girl who Bosco has come to love, and started telling her everything we did and saw.

 

Well anyway, I guess that is what is going on here!