The Tanks

Two tank walls complete, one more to go. The third will be complete before Christmas. After New Years the waterproof plaster will be applied and then the roof will be built for all three.

I am leaving for Tanzania tomorrow and will spend three weeks there. The first week will be spent work related looking at a water project and doing some work prior to applying for funding. The second 2 weeks will be spent climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. I'm getting excited but a bit nervous. It will definetely be one of the most demanding things I have done to date. It's good I'm going to be on a mountain soon because it just doesn't feel like Christmas right now. But Christmas day I will be about half way to the summit, around 4000m elevation and should be summiting on the 27th if all goes well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!


Bushenyi Sediment Tank, 10,000 L








Rushayo Reservoir Tank, 24,000 L

Jinja Uganda, Source of the Nile

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For our November off we went to Jinja which is just east of Kampala on Lake Victoria. It is the source of the Nile River. We went there because the white-water rafting came highly recommended. We left Mbarara Friday morning and it took a bus to Kampala. It took about 5 hours and was pretty much uneventful, at least for an African bus. The only thing I can think of is that one the side windows of the bus fell off. We spend the night in Kampala and got a chance to wander around Kampala. It is really an amazing city, so hectic and chaotic but still very organized. Traffic is attrocious - we made the mistake of taking a taxi during rush hour and a 10 minute ride turned into 60. But I really enjoy walking around African cities, and Kampala is the biggest I've visited so far. Nairobi next! and probably soon. Saturday morning we had a private bus take us the Jinja and before I knew it I was on top of a bungy tower. John jumped first while I nervously waited. Not more than 15 minutes in Jinja and I was falling the 44 meters to the Nile and had my upper body dunked into the river. What a rush. Incredible. Quickly afterwards we prepared for rafting. The nervous feelings I had about jumping deflected any apprehension I had towards rafting. Not until I saw the first rapid did I realize that rafting was no walk in the park. We had 10 significant rapids during the day. 4 grade three rapids, 2 grade four, and 4 grade five. We dumped on 4 of the rapids, 2 of the grade five, which we later realized was done purposely by the guide because it is more 'fun'. It is more memorable if nothing else. Especially the feeling of power that the big rapids have when they pull you under and the desperate struggle for air before you reach calm water. We were met at the end of 31 kilometers by a bus with a cooler full of cold beer - Nile beer, appropriately. We camped in Jinja for the night and I got my first taste of an African night club. It was strange, we were having dinner at the hotel next to the camp and these local guys approached us and asked us if we would come to the club with them that night so they could film some white people in the club for a travel show. It was strange but we were all drunk so it made perfect sense. So if these guys were legite - i think they were, they seemed like good guys and had expensive equipment - then we will soon be on Ugandan television! We returned to Kampala the next day and spent another night there and returned to Mbarara the next morning. Quite an amazing trip, very successful overall. Some bruises and scratches on a couple people from rocks in the river and one girl had an accident when riding back to camp from town on a boda-boda, a scooter/motor-bike which is one of the most common types of transport for getting around here, and her leg hit the exhaust which caused a pretty bad burn. And cant forget the hangovers, the first good one in Uganda and definetely not the last.


The bus stops quite often and guys sell various things to the passengers. These guys are cooking up some goat on a stick, very tasty. "Goat's Meat - 94 - Customer is my Boss"








The mini-bus park in Kampala








44m bungy jump over the Nile. Yes, that is me. "Holy Shit!" I'm pretty sure this is the correct quote for the moment the picture was taken









The crew of our raft with our guide, Big-J







Rafting the Nile!








This one kind of hurt, I think John landed on me. Thats him on the upper part of the front in the red helmet. I'm below him in yellow with the other red helmet.




I can see my head! On the right, the red helmet






Our group afterwards enjoying a cold Nile Special





Crazy street in Kampala








Someone bought some grasshoppers at the market, its grasshopper season right now, and we fried them up. They're kind of greasy but surprisingly quite tasty.