The Rock

Today was finally the day I hiked up Tororo Rock, and it was my last day to even try since the rest of my day time here will be spent at the office. I woke up and got ready to head out to the rock at 9am, but Phidelis said the guide wanted to take us at 4pm. I didn't want to waste the whole day so I told him I needed to go earlier and we worked it out to be 11am (which ended up being more like 11:40am). I hung out and watched The Lion King on my computer while I waited for Phidelis to work everything out and we eventually set out to hike. 

I didn't want to bring a purse so I shoved everything I needed in my money belt and used it as a fanny pack to carry my money and camera. It felt a bit ridiculous, but it worked. We stopped at the supermarket to buy some water and then took a special hire to where we would start hiking. The hike to the top was tough and for some reason my lungs and body have not tolerated uphill climbs too well lately. I had a rough time, but I made it up in 40 minutes which was pretty good. The guid was so ridiculously fast and made it up way before me. The climb consists of lots of rocky uphill parts and some ladders you have to climb up. Some parts have a steep cliff next to them, but I was never really that scared. 

Once we got to the top the views were incredible. The views were even nice as we climbed up. Since it is a singular rock in an otherwise pretty flat area you can see all of Tororo which is pretty cool. I explored the top and looked at the views from all sides and we just hung out up there for a bit. After sufficiently taking in the views we hiked down. Right as we began the descent Phidelis and the guide decided it was a good time to talk about the cobras that live on the rock. Terrifying. They said they only come out in the early morning and when it gets dark, but still redrafting to know I was hiking in cobra territory. I guess it's not so different than hiking in the open space at home where there are rattlesnakes, but for some reason cobras just sound way more terrifying.

Once we got down the rock we started walking to Phidelis's home and it started raining. Good thing we didn't wait until 4pm to hike or I would have missed out on my chance to hike the Rock! We stopped to have a soda because I was so thirsty and it started raining harder. Engineer Charles picked us up and I thought we were just going to Phidelis's home around the corner, but of course in typical fashion we drove the opposite way and went to Mzuri to have lunch. I will never get used to be taken places without having been asked, especially when I'm so tired. We ate some pork and I was freezing because of the rain and the fact I was drenched with sweat. We hung out at Mzuri for a bit and then they drove me back to the guest house to change into warmer clothes.

I was suppose to then go meet up with Emma, but his brother has cerebral malaria and is in the hospital not doing very well, so Phidelis and Charles brought me to Emma's parents house were I got to see the piglets that are just one week old. I am so in love with the constant supply of baby animals in this country. There is no need to have seasonal animal breeding since the weather is fairly constant, so there are just babies born whenever. Anyways, these piglets were adorable and I was in love. Eight little ones and an incredibly huge mom made for some joyful moments. I caught one of them and held her for a minute (mom wasn't super thrilled and grunted a bunch) and it was great. I then went to see Monkey in the plumeria tree and low and behold Monkey actually liked me today! He didn't run away and came close to me and held my hand and came close for a belly run. So in love with that experience too. I wish I could have an awesome pet monkey, though I know when they get older they aren't always the best pets to keep. 

After Emma's parents house I though we were going home, but no, we headed out to Malaba town at the Kenyan border  in the opposite direction. When we got there we had to sit and wait for Charles to go do something and we had another two sodas (they literally can't deal with it if you won't take sodas or beers, so I've had my fair share of Fanta and Sprite). We hung out for a while and then finally left Malaba to head back to Tororo. They wanted to take me with them to the village another 6km past Tororo to the west, but when we wast through town I said I needed to get home since it was already 6pm and I was tired and had things to do.

I got back to the guest house and my friend Steven was there with a friend so I chatted with him for a bit and made a dinner order. I then took some time to get some things done finally since I basically lost my entire last weekend to random pursuits of Phidelis that silly guy. He feels so responsible for us, but more so he is really sad that I am leaving and wants to spend every moment possible together before that happens. I took a shower and got some laundry together to give Anna (actually basically every clothing item I have since it is all very dusty and dirty), washed my underwear, cleaned and organized a bit, and just generally got life organized before my last week. I want to try to make sure packing is as easy as possible so I don't loose any time this week that I don't have to. 

Also, I finally got my cooked banana, but it wasn't as warm as I would have liked, so I'm still craving really hot bananas! Tuesday I think I will make banana boats with Irene though so hopefully my craving will finally be satisfied. I am so so tired now and so ready for bed. Can't believe it's already my last week in Uganda and I've been here over six weeks. Time moved so slowly at first and now feels as though its going by very quickly. That's how it always goes though.