Day 2// Kampala to Gaba to Lake Victoria to Bethany Village and Back
Lake Victoria.
Do we need words? No. But I don't think I can resist just a few sentences about this majestic body of water. Needless to say (as we just established), I was absolutely thrilled to just catch a glimpse of the lake. And when I found out we were going to be taking a boat on Lake Victoria in order to get to Bethany Village Orphanage? I was ecstatic. And when I found out we would be riding in a traditional boat on Lake Victoria? I just died. It was unfortunate and inconvenient, me dying right before we stepped on the boat. I don't know how Jonathan explained it to the captain.
It was about a forty minute boat ride to get to the orphanage. The ride back took about two hours. ...Two hours because the boat stopped working. Something with the gears, or taking on water, or no gas.... who knows. Once I glanced behind me toward the back of the boat and saw David, our guide and our keeper, calmly bailing water out of the boat. He caught me watching with a 'should-I-be-concerned-right -now' expression on my face, and just smiled a sweet and mischievous smile and kept on slowly bailing. So I shrugged and decided to enjoy the leisurely ride back to Gaba. I knew no one was going to tell us what was wrong becasue they didn't want us to be scared or have to worry about anything. We also all knew that they would do anything it took to ensure our safety and comfort, so there was really nothing to worry about. Except for the thought of my camera drowning, a swim in Lake Victoria wasn't the most terrible thing I could think of---minus the pirañas and parasites of course. Therefore, we all pretended like we didn't know that the boat was broken and enjoyed the sun beaming down on our faces while we rode in a traditional yellow boat on Lake Victoria.
In hindsight, that boat being broken was the best possible thing that could have happened during our lake excursion.
Fisherman putting in their day's work out on the lake.
Our yellow boat. Slightly leaky, slightly broken, and completely wonderful.
This water is supposed to be here. Well maybe not supposed to be here, but at any rate it's okay that it is. A little bit of it anyway. On the ride back this little stream turned into a slightly bigger river. And the bottle is supposed to be here also. Because, simply, this is Africa.
King Kong lives here. And other assorted monsters, like that Loch Ness one, probably. Just look at this place. It's alive and untamed. It has such a heartbeat. I alternated between feeling like I had stepped back in time and feeling like I had stepped into a movie.
And finally, we made it to the shores of the Bethany Village Orphanage. Where that man with the hoe was kind enough to be the perfect scale figure for our first photos of Bethany Village. Thank you man-with-the-hoe. You were a most wonderful welcoming figure.
Over and out, from Africa via America (I'm on U.S. soil, safe and sound),
ab
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