#LakeBunyoni

[fibertuganda]

More of life in Uganda

Both Rob & I’s parents came out together to visit us in Uganda in January.  They spent the first few days of their trip with us here in Kisiizi; it was lovely to share our Ugandan lives with them, & for them to meet all our new friends.  By coincidence a lot of the other volunteers’ parents were also visiting around the same time, they enjoyed meeting each other & discussing their shared experience of having children volunteering in Uganda.  One evening during our parents time in Kisiizi I invited all the Ahumuza staff round for a Scottish themed evening, it was nice to spend some time with my colleagues outside of work, & for them to meet my family, & to experience some of my culture; the haggis which my parents had smuggled in was a big hit with everyone.  We even took them to Kisiizi Hospital to show them where we work, which is something you would never be able to do at home.  They particularly enjoyed visiting the paediatrics ward & handing out balloons to the children, which brought big smiles to both their faces, & those of the children.  We then sent them off to go on safari whilst we went to work, before we all met up again at Lake Bunyoni at the end of their trip.  We enjoyed a relaxing few days, at Lake Bunyoni hearing our parents reflections on their trip; we were relieved to find that they had thoroughly enjoyed the trip we had planned for them ...& that there hadn’t been any disagreements.  We went on a boat tour of Lake Bunyoni which included visiting punishment island; this is where in the past unmarried, pregnant girls would be left to die.  Our tour guide was the grandson of one of the few survivors of punishment island, after she was saved by a passing fisherman who she went on to have a long & happy marriage with.  We were honoured to go & visit this extraordinary women, & hear about her experience on punishment island, as part of our tour.  She & her family gave us the most amazing welcome, with all the generations performing traditional songs & dances for us.  

We debuted the outdoor cinema for Home Alone on Christmas Eve, & since then it has become a regular occurrence; we have shown lots of blockbusters & had lots of satisfied customers.  All viewings come complete with fairy lights, bunting, campfire, snacks & mulled wine.  One showing had the added excitement of a heavy downpour partway through that we all had to make a mad dash indoors for.

Kisiizi Hospital faced some challenges while we were there.  It was found that some members of staff had been stealing from the hospital, leading to several people being charged, which was really sad.  Interestingly with it being such a small hospital all of this played out in full awareness of all the staff.  The hospital also faced some financial difficulties with reduced government funding, & decreased amount of donations from the UK, due to Brexit, which unfortunately led to some members of staff being made redundant, including some we had developed friendships with, which was really difficult.

[curiouspavel]

You are thinking "What a view". Not sure what people living in those lands are thinking as they need to travel to the bottom of that hill, collect water, bring it up to their house and (hopefully) boil it. . . . . . . . . . . #uganda #uganda🇺🇬 #visituganda #ugandan #travel #traveluganda #ugandatravel #iamtb #besttravelbloggersofig #iglobal_photographers #worldtravelig #lonelyplanet #mylpguide #gotouring #LifeAtTourRadar #qualitydestinations #lake #nature #bunyoni #lakebunyonyi #lakebunyoni #travel (at Lake Bunyonyi) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pKD2Fllex/?igshid=iscbfqzm5899

[unbearable-lightness-of-ink]

Vacation phase one: hostel balcony selfie. #weneedthisbreak #vacate2018 #vacatersgonnavacate #lakebunyoni #birdlake #rustic #asifourvillagesarent #backpacking #bcwedonthaveasuitcase #roughingit #howiseepc #wearethemostjaded #jadedcorps #peacecorpsRwanda

[gochelseaelaine]

There comes a time in every volunteer's service when they decide to crash other sites and want to steal house decorating ideas. Or, @tahud, I'll just take the whole house + location ;) #whencanimovein #thatporchview #LakeBunyoni #giraffe #art #uganda #peacecorps #peacecorpsuganda #africa

[fibertuganda]

Lake Bunyoni

We took a trip to the beautiful Lake Bunyoni for the weekend, with some of the other volunteers at Kisiizi Hospital.  We finished work at 5pm on Friday, & then took the two hour drive to the lake.  Our accommodation was on one of the many islands on the lake.  We arrived at the shores of the lake after dark on a wonderfully clear night, & then took a magical boat ride to our accommodation, under an amazing display of stars; we were able to see the milky way clearly, & spotted several shooting stars.  We stayed in a ‘geodome’, at Byoona Amagara eco-resort, which was a dome structure that was open to the lake side, meaning we could lie in bed & hear the birds even more clearly than normal, & admire the stunning views of the lake.  

The first day we rented a canoe, that was made from a hollowed out tree trunk, & eventually managed to paddle in a zig-zag line across to one of the other islands (steering proved challenging).  The other island had a rope swing that involved swinging from a high platform into the lake.  There were some initial nerves when we first climbed up onto the platform & realised just how far we were from the lake, but we all gave it a go in the end, & despite some near catastrophic jumps, we all survived to tell the tale. We also made good use of our new GroPro, making some cool videos of jumps, & capturing some of the fails.  

The next day we took a wildlife boat tour on the lake, & saw lots of exotic birds, & zebra, that inhabit one of the islands.  We also saw the island which was a lepor colony in the past, & 'punishment island', where unmarried pregnant women were left to die.  This was all topped off with great company, lots of good food & drink, & some epic games of charades.

[fibertuganda]