In de-Nile!

After hearing the “I’m in de-Nile” joke on the Jungle Cruise ride at Magic Kingdom over spring break, I had been waiting to really be in de-Nile. Today was the day! One of the priests took us to the source of the Nile where we hopped on a boat for a tour that took us along the banks of the river to see a variety of beautiful birds (my favorite were these little birds that were almost rainbow colored with lots of blue on them as well), some monkeys, and some otters. There was even a little shop on the river we stopped at to buy souvenirs. We crossed over to Lake Victoria for a bit before heading back.

Later that day, we also visited a campsite on the Nile where many Holy Cross Lake View students were doing a camping competition. They made tents, a table, a shower area, and a laundry area out of sticks and cooked food on their own. It was like Girl Scouts but much more extreme. We were able to get some great views of the Nile from there, as well, and it was fun to see some students enjoying their time outside. 

The busy day concluded at the Bugembe Parish, a Holy Cross parish where there were some more competitions among Jinja schools. We saw some skits happening, but we didn’t know what was going on because they were in a different language. Though English is the official language, people are from tribes that speak different languages, with Lugandan and Lusogan being the most common in the area based on what I have observed. Some sort of Swahili is also taught in schools, but I really can’t tell which language is being spoken because they all sound the same to me. We also got a tour of the grounds, which featured a church with some pretty stained glass, many rooms where priests, brothers, and seminarians stay, a little grotto, and a perpetual adoration chapel. After a long day, we were pretty hangry and greatly appreciated the watermelon for dinner.