Kayaking! And hospitals!

Ha. Sucked you in with that title, didn't I? Don't worry, the hospital part is just about work/research, not me sustaining deathly injuries.

Anyway. A busy last five days or so. We went to the White Nile on Saturday morning for keeyaking (me) and rafting (Austin) and to meet up with Allen and Ruth.

I have no pictures of the actual kayaking, but the Nile is, in summary, really amazing. I've never boated anywhere like that before. The rapids are ginormous, Grand Canyon style, but the water is warm and soft (soft because it's warm? Or because it's not full of silt?). Somehow the water being warm makes everything less scary. We started the day at this tiny beautiful friendly perfect eddy-served wave-hole called Super Hole. I want to go back there and spend a week of days just learning to playboat.

Also this was when I discovered that the boat/skirt combo I'd rented resulted in my boat sinking after about two rolls or two surfs. Good thing I have lots of practice being river panthered and paddling around in the pool with a boat full of water.

This might've been dangerous anywhere except this river, but as it was, when my boat filled up with water in a rapid, I just rolled reallllly slowly and paddled to an eddy. Also slowly. Usually in a stern squirt because the entire stern of my boat was water. Imagine paddling into Hermit on your back in the water with no way to get upright and you get the idea. And it was STILL awesome. So the river must've been good.

We stayed on an island called the Hairy Lemon, which I've been reading about for about five years. I have pictures of that!

And then in the morning we surfed this huge trashy wave called Club, right below the Nile Special wave. Unclear if these waves got their names from the beers or vice-versa. Probably the first, I suppose. I really wanted to have a better boat, but it was still, you know, awesome. Also all the other boaters had wonderful Irish accents (maybe because they were Irish, I guess).

Hi Mom! Our campsite at the Lemon. This will all be underwater (along with the rapids) in a couple years when they finish the next dam. I'm not sure who will benefit from the dam - certainly the Chinese contractors who are building it, but maybe also the health facilities will have electricity so they can refrigerate vaccines. 

Austin, leaving the Lemon. We're in a wooden boat (which you can't see in the picture because I'm a spectacular photographer) getting poled/paddled back to shore to catch our ride to Kampala. 

Monday and Tuesday are less exciting. (I see that I just wrote an unreasonable amount about boating. I'm sorry.) Anyway, we did a lot of driving around in rural Uganda, and a lot of talking to nurses and other people at a health facility about how many kids they vaccinate (lots), how much money they spend (not much), if their fridge works (not currently), how they pick up their vaccines (motorcycle), etc. etc. And I encountered my first pit toilet (not that bad, I guess?).

Headed to the facility with Paul and James. Ugandans are really used to driving vehicles designed for flat pavement on dirt roads with two-foot-deep ruts on one side. 

Our hostel. This is how running water happens (the health facility didn't even have this...maybe they have running water during the rainy season?)

So, we are now back in Kampala, showered and "normal". And halfway through our tenure in Uganda. I'm definitely not dying of boredom. Success!