On my last day at Olonana I was invited by the Masai women to come and help milk their cattle in the morning, I tried my best but its harder than it looks! I then helped the women take water from Olonana (who provides clean water for the locals) to their Manyatta and as a reward for my efforts they invited me into their house for tea.Whilst taking tea one of the elders offered me to try some cow's blood, an essential part of the Masai diet. Being a vegetarian I was nervous but feeling like it would be rude to reject their offer I took a tiny cupful. Surprisingly it didn't taste too bad! In the afternoon I flew from the Mara to Nairobi where I spent the night. In the late morning I was then picked up by David and Sam (two A&K employees) and will started the 12 hour drive to Kampala. However we did not cover as much ground as we had hoped and by the time we had reached the border (the half way point) it was nearly midnight. We then decided to sleep at the border as it was too dangerous to drive and the blood was taking its effect on my stomach! We set off early the next morning and arrived in Kampala at lunchtime. The next day David and Sam headed off early on the long drive down to GFC but King had organised something else for me....I was off back to Jinja ( a town we had passed on the drive) to go white water rafting and bunjee jumping on the Nile with a company called Adrift! I was joined on the raft with a bunch of bikers from South Africa and an young english couple. We were doing surprisingly well until the last rapid where the raft flipped and we were all chucked out into the water! We all slowly scrambled back onto the boat, we had managed to tip on the smallest rapid on the route! We went to the bank for lunch after which I said my goodbyes to everyone else as they were continuing on a full day rafting trip whilst I was heading back to the base to take the jump! The nerves started to creep up on me on the short drive and by the time I was up on the platform I was more than scared, especially because I had let the instructor pick which type of jump I did, he picked a jump that ended in me being dunked into the river! I hopped onto the platform and tried not to look down but couldn't resist to take a peak of the river 44m below. the count down started and before I knew it I had taken the leap and was heading straight to the river, I was too scared to even scream but it was an amasing feeling. After a few bounces I grabbed the paddle and was dragged onto the safety boat, feeling relieved that I had done it without hurting myself in someway! Shortly after I headed back to Kampala tired after a roller coaster of a day that I am sure I will not forget for a long time. On the 16th I then flew down on a tiny plane to Bwindi on which I was the only passenger. I was met by Rogers (a GFC guide that I had met at Olonana) at the airstrip and spent the day at the tea plantation with Roger's "auntie" who during the day took the role of my mother before arriving at GFC.
Caitlin
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