(WELCOME TO UGANGA! LIZ AND PAUL. I THINK LIZ IS TIRED HERE, SHE WAS ONLY IN AFRICA FOR ONE DAY. SORRY IT'S SIDEWAYS, I COULDN'T QUITE FIGURE THAT ONE OUT.)Somehow for the great adventure I was able to rope in my dear friends Myal, Paul, and Liz. Liz has literally just arrived the day before the trip from America. She flew in at 1 p.m. on Saturday unpacked what she had and repacked for our trip, which we left for at 6 a.m. Sunday morning. The trip started with us taking an 8 hour bus ride from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda. While in Kampala we met up with Myal's friend Jen who took us around town. We loved Jen, she was awesome!
(BEAUTIFUL KENYA) We only spent two days there one of which was taken up by rafting the Nile. Rafting the Nile had to be the highlight of the entire trip. We all really, really enjoyed it even though there were moments of near drowning experiences, rafts flipping over, and major sunburns. Overall it was just amazing to be on the Nile and rafting one of the hardest rivers in the world with friends. After that we took another 8 hour bus ride from Kampala to Kisumu, Kenya.
(WELCOME TO KENYA, WE MADE IT! JENNY, PAUL, AND LIZ :-)While in Kisumu we toured around town, experienced a riot over the political elections, and took a boat on the largest lake in the world, Lake Victoria. We only spent one day there before we took an overnight train from Kisumu, to Nairobi, Kenya.
(IN KISUMU WE ALL CRAMMED INTO OUR FUN MINI CAR)We spend three days in Nairobi, which we spent going on a small safari, seeing town, eating at Carnivore, and just touring the city.
(ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS GROSS.. I THINK I WOULD PASS ON GIRAFFE "KISSES" ANY DAY. NOT WHAT I CALL FUN.)
(FEEDING BETTY!)After Nairobi we took another night train to Mombassa, Kenya, which rests right on the Indian Ocean.
(THAT'S OUR TRAIN! WE SPEND TWO NIGHTS SLEEPING ON THE TRAIN!)Our main goal was to get to the ocean, so we could relax on the beach. While we were there we did relax and enjoyed our very family friendly place Turtle Bay. After that we traveled back to Kigali by plane.
(ON OUR SAFARI. STILL NOT AS GREAT AS AKAGERA.) 
(PAYING OFF THE WORKERS, SO WE CAN PET A CHEETAH!)
(OH MY GOSH, I HAVE NEVER EATEN SO MUCH IN MY LIFE!)
(OH PAUL...)
(OH JENNY...)
(KENYA IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL.)
(SWITCHING SUNGLASSES.)
(THIS IS THE MOTHER COMPANY TO AMAHORO, A LARGE SEWING CO-OP HERE IN RWANDA. WE VISITED IT WHILE WE WERE IN NIAROBI AND TOOK A TOUR. WE ALSO MET A GREAT WOMAN NAMED MAGGIE!)
(NAIROBI, NAIROBI!)
(SITTING ON THE BEACH AT TURTLE BAY!)We spend one night in Kigali before Liz, Paul, and I took a bus to Burundi to meet up with our friend Freddy who works for Youth For Christ. While in Burundi we spent a few days working at the YFC orphanage teaching kids sports and physical education. We did a lot of fun games, jump rope, parachute games, and relays.
(SWEET SHADES! WE LOVED THOSE KIDS!)
(A BABY CARRYING A BABY...)
(THE WAY I WOULD DESCRIBE BURUNDI IS THAT IT IS A UNFOUND TREASURE.)
(ONE OF THE MANY FIRST AND POTENTIALLY LASTS... PETTING A BABOON. THE POOR GUY WAS LOCKED UP IN A CAGE AND SMELT LIKE POOH. HE WAS REALLY GOOD AT FINDING BUMPS AND BLEMISHES. I THINK HE FOUND A FEW THINGS ON ME.)We spent some time meeting the Youth For Christ staff and just getting to know Burundi a bit better. We also got to see another side of Burundi, which not many people get to see. During one of the nights the last rebel group attacked and filled the skies with all kinds of bombs and grenades.
(THANK YOU TO CARRIE WEAVER FOR SENDING A PARACHUTE! WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE THE PARACHUTE TO BURUNDI AND LEAVE IT AT THE SCHOOL. THE KIDS LOVED IT AND HAD A GREAT TIME PLAYING DUCK DUCK GOOSE AND MAKING THE LARGE DOME.)It was definitely intense and something none of us have every experienced or seen before. It kind of looked like fireworks, but they were all red. The raids definitely shook the country and caused many problems....
(SO PRECIOUS :-)Before leaving we had a great send off by the YFC staff. They set up a dinner with dancers, drums, and lots of good food. We then headed back to Rwanda, this time by car with Freddy and a few other missionaries from Burundi.
(PAUL TAUGHT SOME EXERCISES AND STRETCHES. WE ALSO DID SOME RELAY RACES)
(BONDING WITH PAUL)
(FREDDY AND THE YFC TEAM GAVE US A HUGE THANK YOU DINNER. THE DRUMMERS WERE AMAZING!)
(OUR NEW SWEET FRIENDS)In total the entire adventure was two weeks long! It was amazing and we were definitely able to do many "firsts" and probably "lasts" on the trip such as eating crocodile, rafting the nile, petting a cheetah, being kissed by a giraffe, seeing an illegal black market leopard, being on largest lake in the world, riding a camel, being on the Indian Ocean, experiencing a rebel raid, etc. It is a trip and experience I will never forget.
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