Pakwach

On my way home from Arua, Genevieve and I stopped in the small town of Pakwach. One of Genevieve's coworkers had an Aunt living there who graciously offered to put us up for the night. Turns out her house is right on the Nile River! Truthfully, when I heard the plan, I was a little worried we would end up in one of the thatched roof huts that dominate the area, but we were lucky; the aunt had a brick house. It was terribly hot and humid, and there where lots of mosquitoes, but we were treated well.

The Nile River as it flows by the western border of Murchison Fall National Park. We did not go into the park, but were able to have an evening walk along the road that cuts through.

We saw many elephants as we walked! This guy was just moseying along the main road. For the locals, this is a common sight, but Genevieve and I were thrilled.

Fishing on the Nile. This was taken from a bridge that crossed the river. The guy on the back of the boat was fishing with several lines tied to a central rope, no pole. The kid in the middle of the boat was in charge of scooping out the water when it got too much. Yes, they were leaking and thought nothing of it, just another day for them. And yes, crocodiles and hippos are in the Nile! We didn't see any but we could hear the hippos barking/grunting (whatever hippos do).

The Nile River, as seen from the Aunt's back yard. The local girls fetch water from the river every morning for use in their homes (the thatch huts). Just the night before we sat on the porch and listened to the hippos... this water cannot be clean or safe! But again, just another day for them.

Arua

I visited a fellow volunteer in Arua last week. Arua in the northwest corner of Uganda, affectionately referred to as West Nile (because it’s west of the Nile river). It is much flatter, hotter, and drier than my location, but still very nice. Thankfully, we are in the midst of rainy season, so it was not too unbearably hot.

These thatch huts are very common in the north. They are the traditional homes of the tribes in that region. Thankfully, none of the PCV's are required to stay in them, and it seems as though the wealthier Ugandans are opting to build modern structures for their future homes. Of course, wealthy Ugandans are quite rare so thatch huts continue to dominate the region. I have yet to learn why the tribes in the west do not build similar houses. I can only guess that the building materials are not as readily available, not to mention the suitability of these type of structures to hold up to the heavier rains we get in my location (the village people in my area mainly live in brick structures with metal roofs).

This picture was taken in the downtown area of Arua. In the city there are nice wide sidewalks! They also have bike lanes!!! Nothing like that near my village. In the picture I am wearing a head wrap made of Katange fabric that is popular up there. The perfect answer to a bad hair day. Ha, but all joking aside, the wrap kept my hair off of my neck and actually made me feel cooler. I guess the Katange blocks the rays of the sun better than a ball cap can... who knows.

Here I am with my friend Genevieve. She is a global health volunteer and Uganda is her third country of service. She is originally from the Philippines but became an American after meeting her husband during his Peace Corps service in her country (he's been to several countries to volunteer as well). So, this picture was taken at one of the education volunteer's houses where we were celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Quite a nice gathering since there are several volunteers that work in and around Arua. Of course we had Mexican food and drinks... awesome feast that came surprisingly close to actually tasting Mexican considering what we could find in the local market. The Ugandans were very confused by our celebrating the Mexican Independence Day :)

Arua has a hotel with a pool; a welcome relief from the heat and humidity. It's the first time my thighs have seen sun in almost a year! Ops, I forgot about my dip in the lake, so it's the second time my thighs have seen the sun in nearly a year.