Lira: Sport and the Universal Connection

          While Mbale was full of village outings, local waterfall hikes, chappati, and homey comfort, Lira, the Northern Uganda town Corrine coached baseball in three years prior, can be described as the walking town (at least for us) where three days were easily filled with baseball practices, new local Ugandan dishes, and visits to Sankofa Internet cafe. We stayed with Mark and Benard (or Beno) and his sister Judith who was visiting from Kampala during a break in her studies. Mark and Beno coach the baseball team now and we tagged along each day to observe and for Corrine, reconnect with the handful of kids who still played. I watched the second day as Beno divided teams and told two groups of about 30 kids total to come with me to start a soccer game. I was caught completely off guard, he hadn't prefaced it at this at all... but I gladly accepted the task. This is my game, I thought! I brought my mini bright orange soccer ball on the trip, a ball that my FC willamette coach had us all buy in order to perfect our touch at about age 15. I use to hate the thing because it was like, I had finally perfected juggling on my knees and feet with a normal size 5 ball and here he had to go and make it tougher. As I got older I learned to love it though and I got better and better developing more foot control and composure keeping the ball closer and under my knees. It turned out to be the best travel item. No matter location, language, gender or age the soccer ball acted as a universal token to connect. 

In Mbale one morning I ran to a nearby stadium where I watched as older boys played a high caliber match while younger girls practiced on the side of the field. I asked if I could join two girls, Lilian and Eileen, before their organized practice began and although there was some language barrier (by the way there are 61 different languages/dialects spoken in Uganda), they both smiled and waved me in to join their passing circle. YES, I thought, this is what this whole trip is about! I recalled playing soccer in Costa Rica in a muddy field with the local boys when I was about 11, in Samoa with the girls club team (where I ended up scoring the winning goal- oops) when I was about 17 and here again I was laughing with two Ugandan teens passing, juggling and playing keep away at 26. The sport creates a middle ground, an understanding of one another without any spoken word. A game is a game, and the skill, competition, and goals are known and understood. It's beautiful really and a great way to connect whether you grew up around the corner or live half way around the world from each other with day to day lives that don't even look the tiniest bit alike. 

I pulled out my mini soccer ball at the Lira Army primary school field that day and started with a big passing circle

which quickly turned into two teams of flocking kids running wild around the field chasing the ball in every direction. It was a blast. I called to them to keep passing and to try and keep the ball in bounds, but as I looked around everyone seemed to be having a good time so I dropped it. After goals were scored my teammates AND opposing teammates would line up to high five me even if I hadn't scored...not only was I the older kid, I was the mazungu that these kids wanted to interact with. Which leads me to another big theme that has struck me this trip: all the young kids especially in Uganda practically fall over themselves just to say hi or wave or yell "mazungo how are you!" Its like they are taught to appreciate differences as soon as they can walk. It's heart warming. Corrine and I laughed one day as we took a boda boda from a village to Mbale and heard a kid yell MAZUNGU but couldn't even find where the little voice was coming from. Their voices seemed to echo around us everywhere we we went.

As we walked home on the last day of baseball practice Gloria, a girl whose face I remembered well out of the 60 kids or so because she was just so darn sweet, took my hand. We walked and I tried to talk to her but quickly learned she hadn't learned much English yet (Corrine told me they don't start teaching it until 3rd grade). We walked in silence with the occasional giggle. She led the group to her house on the corner which was connected to a small kiosk. Her mom greeted us and Gloria brought Beno, Marc, sir William (another sweet baseball guy), Corrine and I chairs to sit behind the store. We were welcomed with a soda, crackers and her mom even brought out wanagi (a locally made hard alcohol). As we talked Corrine pointed out to the barn area behind where four baby piglets, only hours old, were shuffling around blindly. Eeeeeeee!!! I had to get a closer look. Gloria held my hand as we went over to check it out. The tiniest little creatures! They huddled together and stumbled about, easily started by any movement or noise. Seriously cute. A family friend or relative (not sure) picked one up and put the squealing creature in my arms. Such a cool experience, both being so welcomed into Gloria's home out of the blue and the family generously hosting us, and then their recognizing my excitement about the piglets and making my day by letting me get in some piggy snuggles. Peep Gloria and the piggies below! 

Gloria on the left and Bridget on the right

That evening Corrine and I were fiending for some local Ugandan eats and found ourselves at Mama Michelle's kitchen about a 30 second walk from our front door. I tried fish served with scale and eyeball still attached, matoke which is a type of banana mash with subtle but tasty flavor, cabbage (the most common leafy green here... don't try to get spinach), and posho which basically looks like mashed potatoes but made of cornstarch and supposedly is meant to be eaten with a sauce as it is very bland. My favorite Uganda dish (besides chippati of course which really isn't even a dish) I had in Kampala. This was Ground nut (G-but) stew, which somewhat resembles a peanut butter taste in a thicker orangish broth. The vegetable version I ordered had some greens and simson sauce (a local seed thing) mixed in and came with a list of sides such as yams, sweet potato, rice, beans, matoke, and Cassava (a local root which also tastes like a bland potato) all which you could get for the same price of the meal...a whopping 10,000 UsH so just a little over $3. Overall food here seems to center around potatoes and meat so the stew was a nice change up. Looking forward to trying some fresh seafood over the next two weeks when we head to the Kenyan coast and Zanzibar! 

The walk home from baseball practice

Hello Uganda!

Sipi Falls and Mbale

Arriving to Uganda included a whirlwind of events. After a long bus ride stopped short of the border, our contact, Rodgers, thankfully popped out of nowhere even on the Kenyan side a kilometer or so out from the border. Phew! We hadn't taken more than a step off the bus before experiencing the hustle and bustle of several locals competing to give us a ride to the immigration office. Rodgers instructed us to jump on a boda boda (basically a motorcycle taxi) and just like that I experienced my first boda boda with Corrine and our two large backpacks weaving our way through traffic as I couldn't help but grin by the freeness of it all! Weeeeeee! 

Soon, after a semi hectic walk back to Rodgers car through crowds of people and tight walk ways with bodas streaming through (came within inches of being knocked over a couple times) we we were off into the night to Mbale from the Malaba border...one pot hole at a time. :) 

Mbale Mbale Mbale - honestly have never felt so at home abroad in all my travels. Not even because of the city, but because of the people. Rodgers and Whinnie, a young couple with a new five month old baby, Divine Blessing, welcomed us into their home as if we were extended family and had a quiet way of making us feel like part of the household as we contributed with kitchen and water duty and of course, babysitting :). We were also greeted by Irene another young girl living at the Maple house. Just for info sake- Corrine helps work with the Maple organization and through her we have these connections and free stay in both Mbale and Lira in exchange for showing face at some of the savings groups. Maple works to build projects and groups in order to raise funds, create loans, and teach locals how to save and maintain money so they may start or grow their own businesses. They put on events like teaching women how to sew and even provided them with sewing machines. Really neat. I had the pleasure of accompanying Corrine on two village outings and interviewed groups on their Maple experience. All were thankful, warm and welcoming people who were almost as excited to talk about Maple as they were just to talk to some mazungus (white travelers). 

Below: Some Uganda Faces :)

Rodgers, Whinnie, Corrine and I sat at the table and discussed our travels and thoughts for the next few days. Rodgers only 29 has this soft spoken, calm demeanor about him that reflects someone in their 60s while Whinnie is a little fire cracker, so confident and sure of herself and easy to laugh. Lovely people. We made a plan to check out Sipi falls, a three tiered waterfall about an hour away that Corrine got me really excited about. In the meantime, we were hungry and Corrine led me the half block from the house down the street to where a handful of small food carts waited on the corner...and there I was Introduced to my first chappati. 

A chappati is really quite simple. We watched as a young man grabbed a ball of dough, rolled it out and put it on his frying pan. He used a ripped off portion of the flour bag, almost like an oven mitt, and pushed into the dough as he turned it around and around over the heat. The dough made of only flour, water, salt and oil turns out to be like a thicker but slightly crispier tortilla but better and its friggin addicting. You can also ask to have a Rolex - a chappati with an egg and vegetables (typically cabbage, tomato, and onion mixed in) rolled inside. Corrine had prefaced these amazing things saying she barely went a day without them when she was here three years ago...and I get why! They are sold for only 500 Ugandan schillings, equivalent to about 20 cents in the states (its about a 1:3000 exchange currently). We ended up having Rodgers show us how to make them at home and made breakfast for dinner one evening. There's this new song by Ed Sheehan called "shape of your body" that we played as we rolled the dough and laughed as we remixed the lyrics to say "im in love with chippatiiii"... yeah, we're obsessed. Rodgers chimed in too. 

Corrine and I made family burrito bowls one evening and Whinnie had me sift through the rice. 

Clockwise: Corrine, Rodgers, Whinnie, Irene, and Hyasinth at family dinner

The Maple House is small and simple but really all you need. The theme I have picked up from Uganda so far is that in general, people seem really happy and again, in general, have far far less than we do in the US. Whinnie informed us of a water issue they had been having so instead of using the shower she filled a huge basin of water each morning in the bathroom and we showered with buckets and used it to fill the toilet before flushing as well. I felt myself initially being a little disturbed by this.. but why! Because I'm use to my perfectly warm shower with strong water pressure at home anytime I decided to turn a knob? Because water access has never been a problem for me? I felt selfish and silly! These things clearly didn't bother them. Even when the electricity went out one evening at dinner, Rodgers just laughed and turned on his phone light. I ended up growing to enjoy the showering process and found cold water at the end of a day in Uganda was refreshing and the buckets so simple with little water wasting. I would watch Whinnie in the mornings fill the basin and put water on the stove to boil and then in the fridge for drinking water for the day. She would hustle around the kitchen unfazed as their chickens peaked in and out and baby Divine sat upright on her baby potty in their room. Super woman? I think yes.

Bathroom wash basin

Whinnie`s tailor friend made me this gorgeous African dress for less than $15!

Baby Divine. The happiest of babies. And the cutest ah!

In our Sunday best!

Ngorongoro Crater

Post Kili, Corrine and I knew we wanted to have some sort of safari experience, especially since we were as close to major wildlife sites such as the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater or Arusha national park as we would get. Unfortunately, we had limited time before getting to Uganda and once we started mapping it out and calling around it seemed like the time and amount of money required just wasn't making sense. We left it up to fate, and sure enough at our celebratory dinner out with our Aussie friends the night of finishing our Kilimanjaro trek, Perry recommended I talk to their tour guide, David, who conveniently had tagged along to pizza with us. One call by David and a short conversation with his manager and we had arranged a car to pick us up at our hotel the next day and take us from Moshi to a small town, Keratu (?) just outside of Arusha for the night and then on to the Ngorongoro Crater the following day for safari. We jumped on it. Initially a little more expensive than we wanted but we later found out park fees alone were $220 a person so we rested a little easier knowing that. Apparently we had gotten a good price...we would most likely never be back plus we were told the crater was the best place to see the most concentrated group of animals in a short period of time...And we were told right. 

Sure enough, At 11:00am a driver was at Springlands hotel ready and waiting for us. This driver took us into Moshi where we traded our Sudan for a large white 4wd safari vehicle. We met our new driver Dismus, a friendly and outgoing guy who would surely make a wonderful guide, and found we would be the only two. We had been told we would be an add on to another group so this was pretty awesome because everything I read said the fewer the better for optimal viewing and vehicle comfort on a long safari day. 

We had no idea what kind of accommodation we would be staying in that evening in Keratu. We pulled into a long dirt driveway and when we parked we were greeted by two young, nicely dressed men who took our backpacks and led us down to quite possibly the coolest glamping experience I could have imagined. Basically, underneath multiple grass type open air huts were large tents with cots, complete with a little sitting area . This wasn't even the best part;  as I took in my surroundings unnoticed birds chirping a little louder- all sorts of low and high pitched clicks and songs-, zero traffic or city noises, and just on overall sense calm and serenity...it felt like we were already out on safari. One of the young men, Israel, told me not to worry, no animals would get us here...Haha thanks Israel. Additionally there was an open air larger, wooden crafted structure where tea, coffee, fresh pineapple juice and popcorn were waiting for us. Popcorn is a thing here I guess! After snacks and a lovely dinner of broth, bread, potatoes, avocado salad, chicken, dessert of fresh watermelon and pineapple and a nice (warm!?) shower with a window open into the trees, we tucked in for the night to prepare for an early start. Wow. 

 

So. if you are ever in Tanzania... GO TO THE NGORONGORO CRATER. I feel that this part of the trip is probably better explained in pictures...(see below). Even right at the gate baboons greeted us. We took a long gravel road along the rim of the crater to a vantage point before the descent. Gah- the view resembled something straight out of discovery channel or Jurassic park, like something so beautiful I think I've only seen paintings close to it. As we looked down into the 131km width of the crater we appreciated the vast grassland with shimmering watering hole to our right, as well as clumps of denser trees and jungle. As we took the car from this point we passed Masai huts.. basically circular clay type structures with grasswork for the roof. Then sure enough we saw a Masai man dressed in the traditional red cloth from head to foot. He pointed and motioned with a stick in a direction off the road away from the caldera. Dismus stopped the car as we spotted a group of about 7 giraffes towering over the trees. Ohhhh my gosh... and it just kept getting better and better. Next were wildebeests, herds and herds of zebras, buffalo, and gazelles. Oh my! 

Black rhino from afar

Look closely, they aren't rocks!

Ngorongoro is home to 30 or so of the rare black rhino 🦏, hippos, lions, African elephants, monkeys, ostriches, flamingos, allllll different types of birds oh and of course can't forget pumbas with their antenna like tails that jut straight upward into the air (Dismus said these were his favorite). I personally love the zebra oh and giraffes, ah it's all so good. We saw so many baby zebras playing and frolicking around, probably the least scared of us of any.  Or maybe that's the monkeys... those lil devils are not afraid at all. Dismus instructed us to eat lunch in the car at the picnic site because the monkeys would steal our food... but this didn't stop them. One monkey with a little baby hanging from her chest took a dive into the car before we had a chance to think and stole a half of Corrine's sandwich. And just like that she was gone. Lesson learned.

The Roof of Africa (Kili pt 2)

The Roof of Africa (pt 2)

We settled into Kibo hut around 2pm on day four where we were encouraged to take a nap in preparation for our 11pm wake up time. Here, the dormitory quarters held ten people and we shared with the older Norwegian couple (who we had been chatting with and passing each day on the trail), two Chilean women who had been traveling Europe and Africa the last nine months (we roomed with them in Horombo camp too), and our new Australian friends we hit it off with. After a two hour rest in the cold where I'm pretty certain no one slept, we sat in the common area with Jordan and Ethan (the aussies) playing the "I'm thinking of an animal" game for at least an hour. I don't know if it was the altitude or that we were that happy to be interacting with people our own age but it was nonstop giggling and silly banter as we went around a circle narrowing down the animal of choice with questions like, "is it smaller than me on a skinny day?" And at one point Jordan hopped out of the room zipped up in his full sleeping bag and I lost it. Honestly I'm still chuckling as I'm writing this on our bus ride to Uganda. We had conversations about Australia/ US differences and named off words and common phrases we knew to be different between the two.. basically the kind of conversations I was dying to have with other travelers and locals on this adventure, so interesting and the best way to learn about another place and culture. Good people.

  

Dinner was served early that evening and included an onion soup type broth, thin pancake type bread (so good with PB) and spaghetti with a veggie sauce. Of course Kilimanjaro tea and Milo (which Jordan pointed out is from Australia) was served as well. It was so nice to be eating warm food in that freezing room. When we finished, Michael, our guide, came to inform us of the plan for that night.

Corrine and I felt READY, excited, nervous, and sorta scared shitless (sorry mom) but ready. At this point the worst we came across was a mild headache (me) and Corrine had a little heat rash on her finger... while others struggled with insomnia, warmth and nausea :( . The Chilean women had signed up to do Kili a week before and didn't even have a head lamp so Corrine offered her an extra flash light (or torch in Australia) and hand warmers. Very impressed by the grit in these ladies and for getting at it but also so happy to have had the time to prepare appropriately.

At 11:00pm we woke up to our server, Joel, knocking on our door with tea and cookies. Corrine and I had slept in three bottom layers and at least four shirts, both for warmth and so that we woke up only having to add a few more layers and put our shoes and head lamps on. For future possible Kili climbers: I wore my smartwool leggings against my skin, Nike running leggings, fleece pants and rain pants over the top. For my feet I used wool liners, medium weight wool socks (put hotties in my shoes), and gaiters. On top I wore a yoga tank top with smartwool 1/4 zip, a long sleeve under armor/dry fit type shirt, another wool shirt, then my Mountain Hardwear monkey jacket/fleece and down micro, weather resistant jacket. On my head I wore three layers as well - an ear warmer, with base thinner heat containing hat with a knit one over the top.. oh and more hotties (the handwarmers) against my ears!! I wore fleece liners and brought heavier snow gloves for my hands... I know, it all sounds pretty absurd doesn't it? But it worked well and I was comfortable, cozy even, and only once was a little too warm and that didn't last long... better to shed layers then let yourself get cold. Basically we were told to wear all the layers you brought on summit day. We found out later it was -15c on top, thankfully without wind, which apparently never happens. Thankful.

A little after midnight after declaring "Tiari!" (ready), "Team Simba!!!" And "Harambe" (all together) we set off into the night. One thing I forgot to mention, the stars the whole way up the mountain were out of this world gorgeous. I've never seen so many. At one point Corrine goes "let's play the head lamp or star game" because as we looked up ahead of us (straight up it seemed) we could see a handful of headlamps of groups who had started before us.

We had over 4,000 feet to climb. We went single file with Michael ahead and Julius our assistant guide behind. We joked that the reason they had us start at night was so that all we could see was the feet of the person in front of you slipping over the loose rocks, instead of the crazy distance and incline we had ahead of us. In reality, it was so that we could get to the top for the sunrise and have enough time to make it all the way back to Harombo hut later that day... a 12 hour hike day minimum.

It was hard, but not horrible by any means.  I actually really enjoyed it. We went pole pole and stopped for breaks every hour or so. At one point Michael pulled out a thermos of Kilimanjaro tea he had already sweetened and it was probably the best thing I've ever drank. There were certainly steeper more challenging areas with more scree but these areas were short lived. We continued to zig-zag our way up the mountain asking Michael to tell us the elevation we were at every stop. Corrine and I checked in frequently and both had no problems. One foot in front of the other. Pole pole. Harambe. Thank you Spotify and my "Reelin" playlist for the extra bounce in my step.

At 5:00am or so we hit Gillman's point, a fake out really. It's a checkpoint with a sign just like the one on the summit but it's at 18,652 ft and we had another hour and a half or so to go around the crater rim. But! The worst was over. From Gilman's point we encountered snow and ice but we were no longer gaining altitude fast. We kept trekking along and soon I noticed the first orange sky on the horizon behind us that slowly began to shed light on this crazy rock we were climbing.

We stopped one last time at Stella's point at 18,885ft. Corrine and I were anxious to get there by this point and we asked if we could keep going but Michael wasn't having it. I noticed the cold air on my breath and maybe a little heavier breathing than normal but it was way less drastic a feeling than I thought it would be (thanks Diamox? The extra day? Being a regular runner? All three?)

Finally the summit was in view. As we got closer we walked with a view of a huge glacier to our left and the crater to the right highlighted by the orange glow of sunrise. We made it, there's no way we won't now, I thought as we continued to get closer and closer. How cool is this!!! Team Simba had been the first from our route to summit but we were joined by groups from the other six routes at the top. Everyone looked cold but elated as they stood by the sign to take photos to document the success of summiting the roof of Africa. Corrine and I took a few photos and then sat to take it all in with the last of the Kilimanjaro tea. Pure bliss. They say it's not about the result but about the journey, and I definitely agree. Putting in five hard days of climbing and work made this moment way more monumental then it would be if we had say, teleported to the top. We had come and conquered what we sought out to do, remained healthy and in good spirits and made some great friends along the way.

The next day we would celebrate with our Aussie friends with pizza and Kilimanjaro beer... a beer with the slogan "if you can't climb it, drink it!" but hey it was pretty cool to do both ;)

 

Ps. To clarify; Our Australian friends our age unfortunately didn't make it to the top as they dealt with temperature and GI illness, and Jordan even passed out a few times. Despite their guide telling them "easy peazy" they thought it was best to turn around. Smart move. They plan on coming back and killing kili when they have prepared a little more. Their dad Perry on the other hand, who was the planner and probably the one who cared the most about summiting- MADE IT. Corrine had thought she saw him up there "it was like a mirage" she said, but didn't click because he was solo and had been so sick the night before. Turned out he even beat us down the mountain 🙏🏼 Very happy for him.