Canoe Trekking in Kabale

Hello everyone, Becky here!

The past few days have been full of incredible sites and delicious food. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll post a few. We finished our time at SNEC (you’ll hear all about that from Duncan) and headed back to Kabale for a night. Then our incredible trekking guide Martin showed us Lake Bunyoni for a few days. The first day we set out in dugout wooden canoes. It felt a bit like Louis and Clarke exploring the untouched west. Unlike our friends L&C, we met some incredible people in and around the fairly developed Lake Bunyoni area. The first day we hiked around an island that was formerly a hospital for Leprosy patients and paddled around the lake. We spent the night at “Mama Bena’s Place,” so named because the island home belonged to the mother of Martin’s friend, Bena. We all stuffed ourselves on delicious local food. The next day we hiked a few of the hills surrounding the lake. The altitude proved to be a challenge, but the views were their own reward. We also ate our first nutella of the trip, which was a celebration all on its own. The second night we spent at Tom’s Place. Tom has lived on Lake Bunyoni his entire life. Along with his extended family, he owns an entire island near one end of the lake. He shared with us stories of British colonial rule, Idi Amin’s regime, and the lake, which was constant throughout. This morning we paddled out and ate a delicious lunch at a resort on the “westernized” edge of the lake. Now we’re back in Kabale and looking forward to Rwanda tomorrow! Thanks to the incredible knowledge of the one and only Mia Dana, we should all be fully briefed on Rwanda when we arrive.

Hope everything is going well state-side!

Becky

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