We went to the island again today it was a lot of fun.  The only bad thing is that after hiking all day and getting back tot the house at 10:30 pm there is no running water.  I got some great footage this year but here is my blog entry about the island from last year.  I will post the new footage later.  originally posted April 27, 2011 So ever since I met Chavi she has been telling me about this Island in Uganda which she says will change your life if you go there.  So one Sunday we decided to go to the Island.  Our guide was Wilbroad.  On the way through town we picked up some supplies to bring to the Island  because they have nothing there.  We bought soap, spaghetti, G-nut sauce to put on the spaghetti, biscuits, butter, tomatoes, onions, and water for us to drink on the way.  We turned off the main road onto a smaller road then of the smaller road onto a path.  We walked between some shacks where people lived and then passed the town’s Anglican Church as opposed to the Catholic Church.  We continued down the path through fields past a mine.  The scenery kept changing and was very beautiful.   Normally the weather isn’t what I would call hot.  Normally it is in the 60’s or 70’s.  You have to wear a sweatshirt at night and usually I wear a sweatshirt and a jacket on the way to work then once I get there I either take off both or leave 1 on depending on the temperature.  Also it can rain intermittently at any time throughout the day and is usually partly cloudy.  So we were expecting the weather to be the same but I have to say this day was hot in the 80’s not cloudy and we were all in our t-shirts.  We were glad it wasn’t raining.  While we were walking a girl came up behind us who recognized Wilbroad and Chavi.  It was Immaculate one of the girls who lives on the island.  She was on her way back to the island from town where she sold a large bundle of sticks.  So she joined us for the journey.  She wanted to help carry something so Wilbroad gave her the life jacket that Chavi brought for him last time because he can’t swim.  We past houses, saw people, pigs, cranes, and cattle.  We caught our first glimpse of the lake from afar.  Then as we got closer the terrain changed to a forest we went through down to the shore.  It had taken us 2 hours to hike to the lake it was 3 PM.  We had finished all our water.  Now for the fun part.  No one on the island has phones.  No one on the island ever knows when a visitor is coming.  So the way you get to the island is stand on the shore and yell out people’s names until someone hears and comes to get you in a canoe.  So we started yelling the names of the people on the Island.  First Alex, the oldest son.  His nickname is cadago which means small man.  So first we yelled Alexiweeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!  When no one yelled back we yelled.  Cadagowaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!  Still no answer.  Then we yelled Alen’s name she is the second oldest daughter.  Aleniwweeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!! No answer.   SEE PICTURES AND VIDEOS OF THIS STORY HERE Immaculate also started yelling too.  She was better at yelling than us being from the island herself.  Actually she already had a canoe that she could have taken back to the island but it was too old and decrepit to carry all 4 of us so she stayed to help us yell.  After about 30 minutes of yelling in the sun still no reply.  So Wilbroad and Immaculate decided to take Immaculate’s canoe and get closer and yell.  While me and Chavi were waiting on the shore 2 women and a man who also lived on the island came down the trail to go back to the island.  They recognized Chavi and were trying to talk to her.  They were semi successful in carrying on a conversation even though they didn’t speak English.  They asked where Wilbroad was and Chavi pointed to the lake and they thought oh my God he tried to swim but then Chavi said no he was in a canoe with Immaculate.  Also a herd of goats and their shepards came past the lake as well.  Finally Wilbroad and Immaculate returned with 2 more canoes to take everyone so there were 3 canoes heading out towards the island.  It had taken about an hour just to get the canoes to come pick us up.  That is normal.  Me and Wilbroad were in one canoe with our oarsperson, Karen.   Chavi got her own canoe with her own driver.  Of course as soon as we pushed off it got cloudy and started pouring.  The wind picked up.  To start out with, these canoes are carved out of trees.  They are long and narrow.  The one I was in was weighted improperly and was already leaning to the starboard side.  I had to put all my weight canoe on to the port side just to keep it from tipping over.  Then with the rocking of the waves from the wind from the storm I was sure we were going to tip.  I didn’t so much get wet from the rain pouring down and collecting in the canoe because I had a rain jacket and a poncho but the waves coming over the side were soaking me.  Then the phone starting ringing.  I couldn’t even move enough to get it out of my pocket because I was afraid any movement would make us tip over.  The ride to the island was about 20 minutes.  With about 4 minutes left the rain died down and the wind died down.  I answered the phone.  It was Chavi’s parents calling from the States.  I said we couldn’t really talk we were in a wooden canoe in the middle of the lake, in a rainstorm.  And Chavi was in a different canoe.  We would call back later. When we got to the island it was like it’s own little world.  The houses were very small.  All the inhabitants ran up to greet us and stare at us.  We met Alex and his new wife Rose.  They had just gotten married 4 months before.  We met Alen and her younger brother Roger.  We hung up our ponchos to dry.  Everyone is short on the island probably because of stunted growth from malnutrition.  We began to set up to make the spaghetti feast which they only get when Chavi comes to the island.  I had to duck to enter their shacks.  I could pick up their table and carry it like I was a giant.  We started 2 wood fires to boil water and prepare the G-nut sauce.  We cut up the tomatoes and onions and added them to the pasta.  Then Wilbroad mixed the G-nut paste into g-nut sauce and we poured it over the spaghetti.  Me and Chavi made about 13 separate bowls to hand out to everyone gathered around.  It was nice how everyone on the island shared everything.  While we were eating Alen wanted me and Chavi to share with her.  She kept holding up her bowl to us and saying, “Idya.”  This means eat some more!  After everyone ate we had saved one bowl for Caca.  Caca is their grandmother.  We walked up the hill to get to her house and visit her and bring her some of the food.  She is a character herself.  After visiting Caca, we went back down towards the canoes to go back to the main land.  It was already getting dark.  By the time we got on the canoe it was dusk.  And by the time we reached the other side it was dark.  We hiked back for 2 hours in the dark.  The moon was bright and our eyes adjusted so we could see the trail.  Alen had given us some sugar cane for the way back.  Ugandans eat it daily as a treat.  It is real natural sugar from the source.  It is very fibrous and sweet.  It actually keeps their teeth clean and strong.  It was really good.  Very sweet and natural tasting.  The frogs and crickets were very active.  I recorded some of the night sounds on our way back.  We got home around 9:30 at night.

We went to the island again today it was a lot of fun.  The only bad thing is that after hiking all day and getting back tot the house at 10:30 pm there is no running water.  I got some great footage this year but here is my blog entry about the island from last year.  I will post the new footage later. 

originally posted April 27, 2011

So ever since I met Chavi she has been telling me about this Island in Uganda which she says will change your life if you go there.  So one Sunday we decided to go to the Island.  Our guide was Wilbroad.  On the way through town we picked up some supplies to bring to the Island  because they have nothing there.  We bought soap, spaghetti, G-nut sauce to put on the spaghetti, biscuits, butter, tomatoes, onions, and water for us to drink on the way.  We turned off the main road onto a smaller road then of the smaller road onto a path.  We walked between some shacks where people lived and then passed the town’s Anglican Church as opposed to the Catholic Church.  We continued down the path through fields past a mine.  The scenery kept changing and was very beautiful.  


Normally the weather isn’t what I would call hot.  Normally it is in the 60’s or 70’s.  You have to wear a sweatshirt at night and usually I wear a sweatshirt and a jacket on the way to work then once I get there I either take off both or leave 1 on depending on the temperature.  Also it can rain intermittently at any time throughout the day and is usually partly cloudy.  So we were expecting the weather to be the same but I have to say this day was hot in the 80’s not cloudy and we were all in our t-shirts.  We were glad it wasn’t raining.  

While we were walking a girl came up behind us who recognized Wilbroad and Chavi.  It was Immaculate one of the girls who lives on the island.  She was on her way back to the island from town where she sold a large bundle of sticks.  So she joined us for the journey.  She wanted to help carry something so Wilbroad gave her the life jacket that Chavi brought for him last time because he can’t swim.  We past houses, saw people, pigs, cranes, and cattle.  We caught our first glimpse of the lake from afar.  Then as we got closer the terrain changed to a forest we went through down to the shore.  It had taken us 2 hours to hike to the lake it was 3 PM.  We had finished all our water.  

Now for the fun part.  No one on the island has phones.  No one on the island ever knows when a visitor is coming.  So the way you get to the island is stand on the shore and yell out people’s names until someone hears and comes to get you in a canoe.  So we started yelling the names of the people on the Island.  First Alex, the oldest son.  His nickname is cadago which means small man.  So first we yelled Alexiweeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!  When no one yelled back we yelled.  Cadagowaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!  Still no answer.  Then we yelled Alen’s name she is the second oldest daughter.  Aleniwweeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!! No answer.  

SEE PICTURES AND VIDEOS OF THIS STORY HERE

Immaculate also started yelling too.  She was better at yelling than us being from the island herself.  Actually she already had a canoe that she could have taken back to the island but it was too old and decrepit to carry all 4 of us so she stayed to help us yell.  After about 30 minutes of yelling in the sun still no reply.  So Wilbroad and Immaculate decided to take Immaculate’s canoe and get closer and yell.  

While me and Chavi were waiting on the shore 2 women and a man who also lived on the island came down the trail to go back to the island.  They recognized Chavi and were trying to talk to her.  They were semi successful in carrying on a conversation even though they didn’t speak English.  They asked where Wilbroad was and Chavi pointed to the lake and they thought oh my God he tried to swim but then Chavi said no he was in a canoe with Immaculate.  Also a herd of goats and their shepards came past the lake as well.  Finally Wilbroad and Immaculate returned with 2 more canoes to take everyone so there were 3 canoes heading out towards the island.  It had taken about an hour just to get the canoes to come pick us up.  That is normal.  Me and Wilbroad were in one canoe with our oarsperson, Karen.   Chavi got her own canoe with her own driver.  Of course as soon as we pushed off it got cloudy and started pouring.  

The wind picked up.  To start out with, these canoes are carved out of trees.  They are long and narrow.  The one I was in was weighted improperly and was already leaning to the starboard side.  I had to put all my weight canoe on to the port side just to keep it from tipping over.  Then with the rocking of the waves from the wind from the storm I was sure we were going to tip.  I didn’t so much get wet from the rain pouring down and collecting in the canoe because I had a rain jacket and a poncho but the waves coming over the side were soaking me.  

Then the phone starting ringing.  I couldn’t even move enough to get it out of my pocket because I was afraid any movement would make us tip over.  The ride to the island was about 20 minutes.  With about 4 minutes left the rain died down and the wind died down.  I answered the phone.  It was Chavi’s parents calling from the States.  I said we couldn’t really talk we were in a wooden canoe in the middle of the lake, in a rainstorm.  And Chavi was in a different canoe.  We would call back later. 

When we got to the island it was like it’s own little world.  The houses were very small.  All the inhabitants ran up to greet us and stare at us.  We met Alex and his new wife Rose.  They had just gotten married 4 months before.  We met Alen and her younger brother Roger.  We hung up our ponchos to dry.  Everyone is short on the island probably because of stunted growth from malnutrition.  

We began to set up to make the spaghetti feast which they only get when Chavi comes to the island.  I had to duck to enter their shacks.  I could pick up their table and carry it like I was a giant.  We started 2 wood fires to boil water and prepare the G-nut sauce.  We cut up the tomatoes and onions and added them to the pasta.  Then Wilbroad mixed the G-nut paste into g-nut sauce and we poured it over the spaghetti.  Me and Chavi made about 13 separate bowls to hand out to everyone gathered around.  It was nice how everyone on the island shared everything.  

While we were eating Alen wanted me and Chavi to share with her.  She kept holding up her bowl to us and saying, “Idya.”  This means eat some more!  After everyone ate we had saved one bowl for Caca.  Caca is their grandmother.  We walked up the hill to get to her house and visit her and bring her some of the food.  She is a character herself.  

After visiting Caca, we went back down towards the canoes to go back to the main land.  It was already getting dark.  By the time we got on the canoe it was dusk.  And by the time we reached the other side it was dark.  We hiked back for 2 hours in the dark.  The moon was bright and our eyes adjusted so we could see the trail.  Alen had given us some sugar cane for the way back.  Ugandans eat it daily as a treat.  It is real natural sugar from the source.  It is very fibrous and sweet.  It actually keeps their teeth clean and strong.  It was really good.  Very sweet and natural tasting.  The frogs and crickets were very active.  I recorded some of the night sounds on our way back.  We got home around 9:30 at night.