When in East Africa...

My friend Noelle gave me a great postcard before I left Chicago, filled with quotes about travel. One rings particularly true about my week-long trip around East Africa: "Travel is more than a seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."

This was my first trip outside of Tanzania... and we did it in a big way.

Uganda
We drove about 40 hours through Tanzania, Kenya and finally arrived in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The landscapes changed as frequently as the bus did for potty breaks. When we left on November 6, we were on the dusty streets of Dar es Salaam. When we arrived on November 7, we were surrounded by the menthol green of Uganda. Kampala is a clean, modern city with manicured roundabouts, medians and hedges. The entire city teems with color and energy. After a night of chatting with backpackers and tasting the local brew, we set off for Jinja to go white water rafting. Flipping over in class 5 rapids in the Nile River is easily the most "extreme" thing I've ever done. (Felt an urge to chug a Mountain Dew afterwards.)

Rwanda
We weren't quite ready to go home so we made an impromptu trek over to Rwanda. By this time, our passport pages were filling up with visas/bragging rights. Kigali is the capital of this French-speaking, drives on the right side of the road, phoenix from the ashes country. We visited the genocide memorial and walked out with a newfound wonder and respect for the people around us. Kigali is a labyrinth of hills and motor bikes, a place where you can see your breath at night. Plastic shopping bags, by the way, are illegal here.

And now for the audio/visual part of the post...