We decided to head to Lake Bunyonyi this weekend. Melissa's friend Trystan's village is not too far from there and he had been wanting to show her that area for some time. He said it would only be about 5 hours total from Lugazi to Lake Bunyonyi. So we got on a matatu (taxi bus) and headed to Kampala to meet him there (about an hour and a half). After a short boda boda ride and a trip to the squatty potty, we borded the bus and were on our way.
Bus ride to Mbarara
During this ride we had what we like to call our $4 safari. The main road goes through a national park and we saw zebras at one point. 4 hours later we got to Mbarara. We ate some lunch and some nasty juice and then went to get the car Trystan had rented. At this point we were "so close" to the lake. We had been driving at least an hour when Trystan announced he had a secret he had been keeping and would tell us as soon as we got to the next town (his village). He said it would be safer that way. So we pulled into the gas station and he said the breaks had stopped working 10 km into the the drive. (I think he just meant they weren't working as well as they should because we were slowing down and stopping just fine). So we spent about an hour while they fixed the breaks. At this point it was about 7:30 or 8:00 pm, it was dark, we were tired, and Trystan said the place at the lake was booked (we wanted to sleep at the lake that night) so we just went to a guest house there and planned to leave early in the morning to the lake since, again, we were "so close".
The guest house
We left around 7:00 and made a quick stop at Trystan's farm to meet his brother Common Man. Yep, that's his name. Then off to the Lake. After 2 hours we got to Kabale and Trystan didn't like the sound of the car so we pulled into another gas station. They told him it had been fixed very poorly and would need some work. At this point Melissa and I were frustrated because the 5 hour journey had turned into 2 days. So we left Trystan at the gas station, hopped on a bodaboda and went 20 minutes to the Lake.
bodaboda
What a beautiful sight! It was definitely worth the journey. Titus immediately became our guide so we hopped in a canoe and began paddling out Bushara island.
Trystan finally showed up so he hopped on a motor boat and headed out to meet us. While we waited for our lunch on Bushara island, we went down and jumped off the rope swing a couple times. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the few lakes free of bilharzia so it's safe to swim in.
With Titus and Trystan
Midway through the swing
So fun
Our yummy lunch
The Bakiga used to leave unmarried pregnant girls on this small island with a lone tree - to die of hunger or while trying to swim to the mainland (swimming skills were rare). This was to educate the rest, to show them not to do the same. A man without cows to pay the bridewealth could go to the island and pick up a girl. The practice got abandoned in the first half of the 20th century. Although this practice has been abandoned, it is still possible to find women who were picked up from punishment island today.
View of part of the lake from our hike
These kids starting following us on the hike
This little girls had made a doll out of dried banana leaves and a plastic bag dress
Some of the worst kwashiorkor I've seen since being here
We finished the hike, took a boat back to where we started and drove back to Kabale. We left Trystan there to wait for the guy he rented the car from and got on a matatu back to Mbarara. Our plan was get on a bus and try to make it to Masaka so we could go to church at the branch there on Sunday. We called Elder and Sister Jones and they said we could stay at their place. They were so kind. We were told it would only be 4 hours to get from Kabale to Masaka so we thought we'd get in at 9, but it took 7 hours. Poor Elder Jones picked us up at midnight from the gas station. We went to church in the morning and it was such a fantastic branch. Very strong and very united. I love going to church here. The Jone's cooked for us before we left and then it was off to Lugazi through Kampala........another 4 hours. So it was a pretty crazy adventure but full of memories and definitely worth it.
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