We watched the world cup finals in Kampala. It was a big family competition cuz we each picked who we thought would win the tournament at the beginning and Heidi picked Brazil and Chad picked Germany (without any soccer expertise). We couldn’t believe that both teams were in the finals! Heidi won 1st prize! It was fun to watch here, the locals supported Brazil and when the game ended the dancing and celebration was awesome. We can’t imagine how they would react if an African team won.

The next day we headed to Mgahinga National Park, where the other group of Gorillas live. On the local bus there we started talking to the only other white person on the bus. A bit of conversation revealed that he is a National Geographic photographer that lives a mere 4 blocks from us in Denver. (It’s a Small World!) We eventually reached the park which is part of the Virunga Volcanoes and is where Dian Fossey did her research and Gorillas in the Mist was filmed in the Rwandan portion of the park. The volcanoes were beautiful and the bamboo forest was not nearly as dense as Bwindi’s jungle. The trek to the gorillas was much much easier and once we found them we had better views. The first gorillas we approached were a female and 2 juveniles. We were only a few feet away from her and they are so habitutated to humans that she didn’t even feel the need to check out who we were even though she definitely knew we were there. Overall we thought this was a much better experience, although the two treks were different enough that we are glad we did both.

Our next Ugandan adventure was whitewater rafting at the Source of the Nile. We knew that we would be rafting four Class 5 rapids, which is the most difficult that can be rafted commercially . We arrived at the camp at Bujugali Falls and when we saw the rapids we immediately dismissed them from the realm of possibility. Based on our previous rafting experiences, they looked way too big to raft. But then we were told that we would be rafting Bujugali Falls and it is only a Class 4, we got a bit nervous. We flipped the raft twice (supposedly that is the average) and one of the Class 5s was a 12 foot waterfall. It was crazy. We both agreed that we felt fear for the first time while rafting, but actually it is quite safe because there is so much water and not many rocks to worry about.

Next we went to Sipi Falls where we did some nice hiking and got to see a bit of the village life. Then, sadly, it was time to leave Uganda and we headed to Nairobi. We went on a 4 day camping safari in the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru National Parks. The wildlife was great but we decided that you get what you pay for. Kenya was much cheaper (only $50 per day, per person) but our guide was fairly unimpressive, the car had 2 flats, 2 brake repairs, and multiple engine checks, and we got stuck on a rock a mere 10 feet from a substantial male lion. Not exactly where you want to get out and push. Fortunately with some ramming by another van we got out.

We followed game watching with game eating once we were back in Nairobi. We went to Carnivore Restaurant where they barbeque game meat. We tried zebra, crocodile, eland (a large antelope), and ostrich. It was a tasty and fun splurge. That was pretty much all we did in Kenya. Kenya seems to have been spoiled by so many tourists over the years. People are aggressive, theives are more rampant, and the quality of service is lower. Especially compared to Uganda, where tourism is young and they eagerly aim to please.
We took a bus back to Dar es Salaam and now we plan to head to Zanzibar for some beach time for the next week or so.

Last but not least, we had a Mango Fly situation that deserves mention. We had met some people who had lived in Africa and we heard a few stories about worms inhabiting human flesh. Shortly thereafter we noticed a large red swelling on Chad’s leg. At first Heidi thought it was a bee sting, at a closer look it had a hole that looked like it belonged in an apple. As you can imagine, Heidi immediately assumed “worm”! Chad on the other hand thought “minor scrape with an infection”. After a few days of oozing and a few sensations of movement in Chad’s leg he decided a clinic visit might be a good idea. The African nurse said “It looks exactly like a mango fly larvae is in your leg, but it may not be. If it is, you need to wait until it hatches and we can take it out. You will see a white head and you will know to come back.” We had already booked our gorilla permits in 2 days and asked her “we are going to be in the bush for a few days, is it an emergency?” She said “No…well, yeah”. We asked “When we see the head do we need to hurry to a clinic?” She said “No… well, yeah.” Africans have this charming way of telling you what you want hear. Not nearly as charming when you want the facts in a medical facility. Plus, she kept laughing and saying foreigners get this often. Chad didn’t think it was nearly as funny as she did. But, while Heidi was focused on the “It looks exactly like a mango fly” phrase, Chad heard the “it may not be” portion loud and clear. We then bee-lined to the nearest Internet Cafe. We found a Medical Journal article describing Mango Fly. Apparently the fly lays it’s eggs in clothing, they hatch and the larvae enters the skin and sets up camp. The symptoms described could have quoted the things Chad had said over the previous few days. “Red swelling, hole for breathing, oozing (the larvae’s excrement), and an occasional sensation of movement”. Lovely. So then we wait. We had gorillas to see. After another 4 days the hole had grown but we didn’t see a worm and we returned to the clinic. After some back and forth from the African doctor “Yes, it looks like a mango fly.” then “No, I think it is just an infection, there is nothing in your leg, I will clean it.” then “Oh, there is definitely something in there let me get the anesthesia, we have to cut it out”. When he left the room Heidi peered at the cleaned hole and clearly saw a little worm coming up for air and going back in. The doctor returned, injected anesthesia, and the worm crawled out. Guess it didn’t like the drugs. So on July 4th, Chad gave the Mango Fly larvae its independence. Heidi prefers to say that Chad gave birth to a maggot but he gets a bit testy. It was about 1 cm long and squirming, Chad was stunned and Heidi was freaked out.

On that note we will leave you, Chad needs a beer now that he relived those memories.