a weekend escape…

Lake Bunyonyi is supposed to be the most beautiful lake in Uganda and with just a three hour drive from the village it was a perfect location for a quiet weekend away from everything.

I stayed at a eco camp called Byoona Amagara on one of the islands and it was super peaceful and lovely! Everything is done in the most environmentally friendly way there, at a very good price, the views are stunning, food is good (especially the crayfish) and the staff offer excellent service! Additionally, all their profits go to helping the community members on the island…

And sleeping in one of their ‘geo domes’ was cool. Hearing all of nature’s sounds close up as you fall asleep and when you wake up – in particular soooo much bird song! Although there was one bird which sounded like an alarm clock… super annoying at 3am!

Oh and breaking news from Saturday – my left toe nail is lost! Tripped as I came out of a canoe and now the nail is in the lake… and that, I promise, will be my last nail update!

The trip happened as I was meeting with a young man called Boaz, who is trying to help his community… we got in touch through my friend Carelynn in Tanzania and I was so impressed by him.

He told me that when he was 11 years old and being chased for school fees (his parents were struggling to pay them each month) he decided that he wanted to start a school where kids from poor families could study for free. When he got older, he asked his father for some of his land and he now tries his best to run a little school through money from agriculture.

He’s a very brave and kind young man and I enjoyed chatting to him about his project and how he can get it off the ground s bit better… we talked through some of the options he has and what he can do to raise some funds…

He still has a long way to go… he has a huge heart and lots of drive but he is just one person, so things are moving slowly… his project is called the Entuhe Project and you can search for their page on Facebook or just google them to find his website. Here is Boaz… and some of his gorgeous students.

After a good night’s sleep – the first one in a while – I booked a canoe (the hollowed out tree trunk variety!) to take me to the mainland for Sunday lunch.

It took an hour and a half but it was so tranquil… Just the sound of the water splashing against the wood, the soft paddling of my ‘driver’ Tyson and daily life around the lake.

A perfect way to relax the mind and just enjoy life in the moment… I don’t do enough of that!

On the way back I decided I should try paddling as well. Quite enjoyed it although my arms are now super sore… also made me remember the time we were on a family day out canoeing in Denmark… Helene and I had one of our less impressive moments when we built up too much speed for a ‘corner’ and went in the water – oops! 😀

Anyway… one of the main reasons for my weekend away from the village was to get everything arranged for March. It’s hard to believe that I just have five weeks left of this adventure… although it feels like I have been away ages because of all the experiences, it does also feel like just last week since I was dancing with so many of my friends in that bar in Covent Garden.

I didn’t manage to sort all the details but my flight back to Tanzania has been booked for 1st March where I am meeting Carelynn in the south of the country to try and help her with her education project there… And after that I have decided to add a new country to the list… I’ll be visiting Malawi for a bit of R&R before getting to Johannesburg for my flight back to London on the 28th March.

This morning I headed away from the lake… the boda ride took me all the way round the lake, and it was incredibly beautiful even though it was misty and a little gloomy.

On the way we came across a small gathering of people – they were standing around a young woman lying on the road. She was totally still, stretched out on her back, eyes closed and her arms crossed on her chest – she was dead… 😢 There were no signs of injuries and nobody spoke enough English to explain what had happened… I cried for the rest of the boda ride – the sadness was too much.

I will never forget her face for as long as I live – she looked so sad but at the same time so at peace… 😢