Africa travel plan and journey

Travel is an activity that we all enjoy together as a family. My Colonel husband and our two boys enjoy visiting new places. Traveling is more about adventure than sight-seeing for us! Thus, the main purpose of travel is to pump some adrenaline. Being the only woman in the family, my opinion gets lost unless I raise my voice. The impact of raising two boys, one husband, and a male Labrador-reach a higher intolerant decibel. As a result, my vocal cords have suffered from excessive overuse, which caused a condition called voice abuse (aka shouting)!

Lately, I’ve become wiser decided to pick my family related battles carefully. My experience has taught me important lessons in Strategy (Escalation Matrix) and Tactics. When my husband was posted to Congo, we, the earning members, began to plan our vacation. We were of the opinion that   teenage boys should not be involved in family decision-making. Furthermore, they may suggest a places that you cannot afford, or they may flatly refuse to go with you. So, we began asking our friends if they would like to come on the trip with us. Why friends? For the simple reason that after over 20 years of marriage, one needs more than just their close families to really enjoy a vacation!

One of our school friend showed interest in the trip and thus began our research on possible African destinations. Since we grew up watching National Geographic and Discovery channels, we decided on Jinja in Uganda for river rafting on the Nile and Masai-Mara in Kenya for safari!

The whole journey was extremely exciting. As I recall my husband even tried rafting to get a feel for it! With a destination chosen, we planned to travel in first week of December to avoid the exorbitant flight rates during Christmas and New Year. However, this meant that our boys had to miss school. Our visas for east African nations (Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya) were ready by November. Our friend and his family were going to meet at the Mumbai airport. As per the rules and regulations, we were required to obtain a yellow fever vaccination. To my younger son’s utter dismay, the clinic staff prescribed some more injections as a precaution!

As the day  drew close, I began packing…well packing for three of us! The boys acted like they were doing us a favor by accompanying us. In such times, I am a middle-class Indian parent who enjoys performing theatrics and lecturing their sons about responsibility. Sometimes I feel sorry for our children – we are such control freaks! Yes, yes, I am learning to evolve as well. 🙂

Getting back on track, we meet our friends at the airport in Mumbai. Both of them are doctors. Our classmate is an orthopedic surgeon, and his wife is an anesthesiologist. Having that psychological support was crucial as we were about to risk our lives. Whether they had ever indulged in such a risk-tasking activities is another story!

Qatar Airways flew us via Doha, where we had to change flights. As I walked towards the Gate, to catch flight to Entebbe, I realized how big and beautiful the Doha airport was. Everyone was busy admiring the airport’s grandeur and beauty and believing in Indian culture looking for good eateries. In the nick of time, just as my friend was trying to explain a lost lady with two boys to the security, we finally reached the Boarding Gate after walking for almost 4 kms!

Thus, the embarrassment was averted and we finally reached Entebbe and joined the long queue for Documentation. In keeping with my parenting style, I used the opportunity to discuss ‘Raid on Entebbe‘. I suppose that was to convey that their mom was not as rustic as she appeared to them.

We all were in a great hurry to just land at the magnificent African continent. As we stepped out, my husband waited to greet us. My husband had arrived a day prior to look over the arrangements. After the initial greeting of each pair- husband and wife, friends and father and sons- we moved towards the pre-booked vehicles. There were two of them – one for luggage and the other for us! As I was loading bags, I realized that my younger son’s bag was missing!

When my husband overheard our conversation, his classic approach kicked in. And my son was immediately sent to look for his bag after a solemn lecture about irresponsibility. I, on the other hand had to endure a similar one about how to delegate responsibility while traveling. Being conscious about my surroundings I chose not to react, however I gave stern looks. If only looks could kill!

Soon my son found his lost bag, all because he couldn’t contain his excitement of his first foreign visit. In India, where we do not believe in waiting for people to return and reclaim their belongings, I found it amazing that here the bag was found lying along the road.

Everyone was happy again…not for the bag as much as to see the smile return to the Colonel’s face! The jovial and charming man was now back to his old self. He soon began updating us on the travel itinerary. He had meticulously planned everything. Our first journey was by road from Entebbe to Jinja. Everyone seemed very excited, and we were able to admire the picturesque scenery along the way.

It was evening when we arrived at Jinja. The name Jinja literally means rock, and that is the place where the Nile originates. Our hotel was a beautiful place, and we all freshened up before gathering for dinner.

Arriving in Africa and having rested, we set out for the Nile the next day. It was a beautiful day for boating and quad biking. Our morning was beautiful and we sat on the boat and watched birds. In addition to Cormorants, Snake Darters, Fish Eagles, Malachite-Kingfishers, Pied-Kingfishers and other water birds, we also saw storks and waterhens. The lodge next to the river offered a delicious lunch with an interesting menu that we thoroughly enjoyed!

Quad-biking was the next adventure for the day. While quad-bikes look easy to use, it took a bit of skill to maneuver those huge bikes on the narrow undulating paths around the fields and villages of Jinja. Known for its lush green countryside and wonderful people, Uganda is a tropical country with a warm climate. Following a few trial runs, we hopped on our bikes and headed into the wilderness. Despite balancing our bikes on muddy roads, we raced each other through villages, competing to overtake each other, competing with our young boys. Having these kinds of experiences is so refreshing, creating bonding experiences and memories alike.

We dropped the boys at their hotel after the exciting adventure and walked to the market to find a chemist. It was critically important due to the threat of exposure to a blood-fluke parasite found in the Nile that causes Schistosomiasis. All because this particular medicine, for human use, was not available at the common medical stores in Delhi. Every chemist I approached suggested I inquire at a PET Shop, assuming that it was for my pet. So there we were in the market looking for a chemist.

We quickly found what we wanted. A specific amount of medicine is to be taken based on the body weight. Following a heated discussion, resulting in curious looks from the chemist and others in the shop, our Doctor couple settled on a figure. The calculations took almost 30 minutes.

As we stepped out of the shop, we realized that it was almost dark. We had already walked 5 kilo meters one way and to walk another 5 after such a hectic day was rejected quite vociferously by the women. The Boda Boda is a popular means of transport in the area. At the crossroads, you could see men on motorbikes offering Boda Boda at very reasonable rates. Our trip back to the hotel was made easier by hiring a Boda Boda.

Next up was a trip to the Nile, which will be the subject of another article. Getting to Africa and spending a day was an adventure in itself!