Last week in Africa

Sunday:

I spent 7 hours touring the city of Kampala from the downtown core, to the tombs of Kings, to the rows of embassies and even some small suburb communities. The highlight was meeting the many children along the way, although sadly, the ones I met did not attend school.

Monday/Tuesday:
Monday was a ten hour travel day. Tuesday, I tracked gorillas and came across a family of 15 in their natural habitat, a mother with new born twins, 3 huge silverbacks and the rest of the gang.

Wednesday:
I hiked the tallest volcano in the area, Mt. Muhavura (approx 4137m) in 8 hours. I was accompanied only by the guide in front, and a man with a rifle (to scare off any forest elephants, buffalo, or seral cats we might meet on the way) behind me. Along the way, the views were unbelievable as small individualized plots of crops stretched out as far as the eye could see. At the top, I snuck into Rwanda without a passport since the peak was half in Uganda and half in Rwanda.

The End:
Thursday was a long travel day and tomorrow night, I make the long journey back to Canada. I am so grateful for this eye-opening, life-changing experience. In my short stay, in addition to the good people at JGI-Uganda, I met workers from the Red Cross, USAID, the United Nations, the U.S. Army, and missionaries. There were also many doctors, nurses and statisticians some of whom were researching tuberculosis, malaria or even treating pregnant women with AIDS so that their babies would not be infected. All are here doing different things but with the same compassion in their hearts.

And so I leave the pearl of Africa, somewhat altered, quite humbled, and eternally grateful for the experience, as well as all that I have at home.