This entry will be shorter than the last one, promised.
Our first real activities would be in Sipi Falls. We wanted to go to the Mount Elgon and hike up the mountain (a huge solitary volcanic mountain), but that would have meant either bringing MORE gear (hiking and low temperature camping) or a very expensive trip because we had to rent all gear. Instead, we decided to visit the beautiful Sipi falls (in Mount Elgon region) and do some hiking there.
We had found a contact of someone called Thomas, who has a coffee plantation and who does a coffee tour. This meant showing us the plantation and, more importantly, brew our own coffee. We could pound, winnow, grind and roast our coffee beans and then filter and drink our own coffee. This was a wonderful experience and the photos and videos can better tell the story than words can.
After all the hard work brewing our own coffee, we were treated to our first ‘Rolex’ in Uganda. Rolex (or Rolled-eggs) are omelets rolled in a chapati wrap. They provide enough energy to help you through the better part of the day, which was perfect for our next activity, a hike to the falls. Thomas works with different young members from the community and it shows. The hike brought us to 3 different Sipi waterfalls, but maybe the most amazing was to be led through the village. There were many different houses, divided by plantations of coffee, kale, cabbage, onions, potatoes and bananas. It gave a very good insight in the village life here in Sipi and everyone seemed to know Thomas. The way they happily greeted them, showed us he likes to share the benefits from Sipi with the community.
The hike was amazing with alternating views of the valley, the falls and the village life. We were enthusiastically followed by the children who kept greeting us with a happy ‘Helloooooooo’. All in all, it was an amazing first full day in Uganda and a beautiful way to visit the Sipi area. We camped in our tent at Sipi Falls Guesthouse, where we had the most amazing view on Sipi Valley.
The next day became a day we will remember for the rest of our lives. We had already read that it is possible to abseil from one of the falls, but we have done abseiling before and the activity is actually a bit above our budget. We did stay well below our budget on most of the days so far, so we decided to take the leap (figuratively). After a rolleggs for breakfast, we hiked up to the abseiling point. This was definitely one of the coolest things we have done in our lives. The abseiling distance was higher than we have ever done before, and the fact that it was next to a huge waterfall made it even more amazing. The team was really trying to make us feel comfortable, but as with the previous times we abseiled, the start was a bit scary. Emma quickly enjoyed and started swinging, rotating and playing. Jeroen, with his fear of heights, kept holding on to the rope tightly as if that would make a difference. Despite the fears, the descent along the waterfall was amazing and we will never forget this experience and we are rapidly falling in love with Uganda. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a delicious local beer, some coffee and a sandwich. Somehow we are unable to link the video for the abseiling, so please find the abseiling link here:
We deserved this.
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