On the Road with #OnetouchLive :: Jinja, Uganda
Anyone who follows this blog (not for a lack of something better to do) knows about the East African road trip we took last year with #Onetouch, a cool group of photographers. On the second night of the road trip we got to Jinja (at around 2am) we got to the camp site (Nile River Campsite), set up camp and slept. We'd spent a lot of time at the Busia border crossing so we weren't eager to waste time being awake.
The next day we had to get up and hit Jinja town to get sim cards for our phones so that we could get to Instagramming. We had no expectation of what would happen next. When we went to the MTN dealers, we were asked to go and take passport size photos for the sim card registration. We thought this was so crazy but who were we to object. We went to look for a place to get those done. We were told to come pick the photos 1hr afterward so we decided to go find some food to eat before then.
Also See :: Nyungwe Forest Lodge. Rwanda's premier 5star hotel.
Not so eagerly awaiting our passport size photos.
We happened on this place called Basimart Restaurant and went in for food. This is where we saw the largest chapati i'd ever seen in my life. Infact, when Joe asked the waiter to give him 2 chapatis, she hesitated and asked him if he was sure. He insisted. She said to maybe bring one first then if he was still hungry, she would bring the second one. He still insisted. When we unfolded the chapati, Joe fainted.
Unleashing the Godzilla of chapatti, just call it the Godzipatti.
So we ate the huge chapatti's and went on to see the town as we picked our photos. We had 1 each, except Joe who had to hide his second chapatti for later consuption.
More scenes from Basimart Restaurant.
Naomi, Esme, Mwarv, Nyingez, Amunga & Makeni
The streets of Jinja.
After a whole hour + at the MTN offices signing papers and cutting up sim cards into micro sim cards and so much procedure and whatever, we were thankfully on our way. The plan for the day was to go visit the Nile river and tour a little in the region. We knew of some falls called Bujagali and we were eager to go explore and photograph them, naturally.
Also See :: Trouble in Bunyonyi, Uganda. [On the Road with #OnetouchLive]
Imagine our surprise on getting to Bujagali falls and finding no falls. Only one huge dam on the Nile. We were told it got flooded and all the rapids that brought them so many visitors, disappeared as the water levels rose more than 10m. We instead decided to do a boat tour to see the region and visit some caves our guide mentioned.
Always time for goofiness on the road.
Nile River banks. Lots of farming and fishing, naturally.
We got to the caves that stunk of bat droppings but were a cool experience to be in, especially because you could only get there by boat. We got into the larger foyer :) and opted not to go into the smaller tunnel where one had to crawl in. We did go far enough for some photos though.
Cave adventures. Bottom is the view from the smaller part of the cave.
After the adventure on the former falls, we got back on land to catch the dying rays of light and even met some few playful lads who loved poking around the camera buttons.
Makeni at work, catching some low angles.
Nyingez at work. He is the resident cinematographer of the crew.
Mwarv at work taking photos of the kids that came to pose for us. Like in the case below.
Happy little people. Though, seriously, they were more interested in pressing any button on the camera, than seeing their photos. It was so funny.
Esmeralda. Newest member of Onetouch and super cook. She kept us well fed where there was no restaurant and we had to cook.
I also managed to get in a couple of photos of the cheeky boys before they ran off
We are very grateful to Sandstorm Kenya for sponsoring part of this trip and giving us these amazing bags that made our trip so much more bearable and stylish at the same time.
No successful day of shooting ends without a group shot at sundown.
And that marked a fantastic day on the road (even though it started slow). We went back to camp for the night and the next day proceeded to Kampala. That shall be coming soon on the blog.
Next Up, The road to Rio. Pray with us as we plan for our next road trip, to Rio for the world cup. We have a few weeks to departure and a lot is yet to be achieved. We pray for strength and the Lord's provision.