Relaxing in Entebbe

After a great night's sleep, we were treated to fresh pancakes on G's veranda/dining room. Then it was off to the grocery store and the bank where I took out the largest amount I have ever withdrawn from a bank - 400,000 shillings! (Which is equivalent to a bit less than $200). After shopping, G dropped T and I off at a restaurant for lunch, while she went back home to feed her kids (a girl E, 5 and a boy F, 2 1/2). We couldn't decide what to get, so split a plate of nachos and a steak sandwich, then walked back to G's. We spent the afternoon relaxing at G's, watching the kids bounce on the trampoline and feed the turtles, and watching a movie in the evening.

Off to Visit Some Missionaries

I had been dreaming about and planning this trip for years - 4 weeks in East Africa, exploring Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania!

My sister and her 3 kids brought me to the airport in Toronto, so we parked in the farthest parking lot and rode the monorail all the way to Terminal 1, then back again to Terminal 3. After some hugs, they left me to find the KLM desk where I was happy to find that my bags could be checked all the way through to Entebbe ... I, on the other hand, only had boarding passes to Nairobi!

The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful, but even with a boring movie, I didn't get any sleep. I had 3 1/2 hours to wander around Schipol, so went to the Rijksmuseum exhibit (cows in Holland), found the comfy seats (which were all taken), and bought a McKroket at McDonalds (amazing!).

For the flight to Nairobi I got a window seat - definitely worth the hassle of having to climb over people to get to the bathroom. The views of the Alps, the Mediterranean, the Sahara desert, the Nile river, and Khartoum were amazing! The Nairobi airport ... not so amazing. I found the transfer desk without any problems and got my boarding pass for the flight to Entebbe, but there isn't much seating in the airport, and not much ventilation either, so I was happy to get out of there!

The flight to Entebbe was a bit more "interesting". Probably because of my aviation background (and the fact that I like to watch "Mayday"), I was noticing things on the plane that wouldn't meet North American safety regulations. It didn't help that the lady to my left pulled out her rosary and the lady to the right, her bible, when we started to taxi! The flight wasn't that bad actually, and even though it was less than an hour, we got fed!

Getting through customs in Entebbe was easy, just had to pay for my visa and smile for the camera! The flight arrived early, so my cousin, T, wasn't there to meet me, but she had told me to wait outside the airport for her, so that's what I did. I think the taxi drivers were a bit concerned about me - a lone white girl standing around by herself at 11:30 at night - but they were very friendly and not at all intimidating! The checked a few times to see if I needed a ride, then one even gave me his cell phone so that I could call and make sure T was on route. He was pleased to hear that she was, then went back to the group to let them know.

T arrived soon after that and it was off to her friend G's place, where there was no city power so I got to shower by candlelight! After 30 hours without sleep, it felt awesome to be able to lay down in a bed.

Royal Ontario Museum

I took my niece, H, on a "Field trip" to the Royal Ontario Museum today, taking the GO train and subway to make it more interesting (and to avoid the traffic chaos of downtown Toronto). We saw a few of the Terracotta Warriors brought over for a special exhibit, spent a long time digging for "dinosaur bones" in the discovery centre (twice), walked through a bat cave (twice), saw some mummies and a bunch of other old stuff. The trip went well and she seemed to enjoy it, but it was still a bit advanced for a 5 year old - not quite enough hands-on stuff.

Hemlock Bluff

After eating breakfast and packing up the tent, we decided to do one last, short hike before driving home. We did the Hemlock Bluff loop - 3.5 km without too much climbing. It had a couple nice views, but nothing as spectacular as the ones from the Tower or Centennial Ridges. The drive home was uneventful (which is a good thing) and after cleaning up at my parents' place, we all went out for supper.

Track and Tower

We got an earlier start this morning - must be getting better organized or something. Today's hike was the Track and Tower hike. From the trail description, it looked like the last few kilometers of the 8 km hike would be flat and boring, so we decided to do the loop in the opposite direction. It was another hot day ... so again, we spent a lot of time relaxing, looking at the view, and trying to cool down a bit!

We returned to camp, had a swim, and then went to the Algonquin Logging Museum. There is a small exhibit inside the building, but most of the exhibits are placed outside along a 1 km walk. We started to get bored near the end and picked up the pace back to the museum, which was lucky, because we didn't notice a small storm coming our way - he downpour started just after we entered the museum!

After supper we headed to the amphitheatre because I though there was a wolf howl - I didn't read the notice saying that it had been cancelled (no wolves). We listened to an interesting lecture on the history of wolves in Algonquin and learned a bit more about the animals, but left during the question and answer period. (Random interesting fact that we learned - deer eat birds!)

Back at the campground, we took our chairs down to the beach and looked at the stars for a while, got bitten by a bunch of mosquitoes, then headed off to bed.

Centennial Ridges

We didn't start too early this morning (it was after 9 by the time we left the campsite) and it was already hot! Today's goal was to hike Centennial Ridges - a 10 km trail with great views of Algonquin. It was a great hike with awesome views over the granite cliffs, but HOT (30+ degrees and very humid)! We had dad's GPS with us to record our hikes and according to it, we spent just as much time standing (or sitting) still as we did hiking ... probably all those times we rested and tried to cool down a bit! Driving back to the campground, we saw a small family of moose - a cow and two calves. A bit unusual for that time of the day, but they were cooperating nicely and letting all the tourists take pictures! Back at the campsite, we jumped in the lake for a swim - nice and refreshing! Then it was off to the showers. Supper was sausages heated over the fire (mmmmm), baked beans (which my dad refuses to eat but my mom loves), and cut up raw veggies. We spend the rest of the evening relaxing by the fire until we ran out of wood.

Off to Algonquin!

I had 4 days off work and wanted to go camping and hiking this summer, so booked a campsite in Algonquin Provincial Park, packed up my car, picked up my mom (she likes camping, but my dad doesn't), and drove up north!

We got to the campsite just after 2, set up the tent, made some tea, then raced into the car as it started to rain ... hard! After finishing our tea, it was still raining, so we drove to the visitor information centre. We took our time looking at the exhibits and by the time we finished watching the movie on the history of the park, the rain had basically stopped. It was very misty and the clouds were low, but there was still a great view from the back of the visitor centre.

It was too early for supper, so we hiked around the Spruce Bog Boardwalk - a flat gravel trail and boardwalk through and around a marsh. We got a few drips of rain near the end of the loop, but nothing worth putting on a jacket for.

After supper, we hiked the Lookout Trail. The view was great, but since it was so hazy and we were looking into the sun, the pictures didn't turn out too well. Back at the campsite, we sat by the fire, made some popcorn, and then climbed into our sleeping bags, hoping the bear who had been breaking into cars wouldn't bother us!