The Last Three Things You’d Ever Think You’d See in Uganda! (Halloween, Baseball and Chihuahuas)

What do I have in common with Paris Hilton, Elle Woods and Britney Spears?  Well, I’m not a natural blonde, I’m not an heir to an international hotel chain, an expert in fashion or a Harvard Law School graduate nor have I ever gone crazy and shaved my head. But we all are or have been Chihuahua owners. I really like to think I’m not “that girl” who carries my dog around in my purse and dresses him up in ridiculous outfits but there is always one occasion  where these kind of things are completely acceptable…. Halloween! and in this case a baseball game in Africa which the 2 events in themselves do not really belong in Africa at all… or chihuahuas for that matter…anyway you get the drift, there was a whole lot of things going on this weekend that typically would not occur here.

In June, my old college roommate Allison was so kind to get me and my parents tickets to only the most magical place on earth…. and for those of you who do not answer this with any place other than Disney World, A. You’ve never been or B. You must be delusional and need to get your priorities straight!(just kidding…kinda)  Anyway I was so excited that I told Allison I was going to buy Minnie Mouse ears and wear them all day and then my mom mentioned my old disney autograph book. Sure enough the next morning Allison showed up with sparkly Minnie Mouse ears and an autograph book WITH an OFFICIAL Disney Princess autograph pen! What started out as a joke became a fun filled childlike day! I even made my Mom get ears and wear them with me 🙂

Thanks Allison!!!

Mickey Mouse!

Being Goofy with Goofy!

Minnie Mouse!

Mom got ears!

Mulan!

Not even the rain could stop our fun!

Mary Poppins!

Belle!

Even Dad joined in the fun for Snow White!

So granted I was moving to Africa… and I started contemplating when I was ever going to get to wear my Minnie Mouse ears again so I made the decision 5 months in advance that I was going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween! Thinking we were still very newly wed and I still possessed new wife powers I asked Patrick to be my Mickey…. As you can imagine that probably wasn’t the manliest costume choice and he politely declined…. I imagine Minnie to be traditional and classy and probably wouldn’t show up to a party without her leading man by her side so we moved on to plan B… or lets call it plan G. Does he or does he not make the cutest Mickey in the world??? Patrick ended up being a cowboy but somehow managed not to be in any pictures!

He looks miserable I know but he had a fun night I promise! Even Charlie got to get dressed up but only Gumbo got to come to the embassy party. The perk of having a “purse dog”  is that no one seems to mind if you bring them along as long as they are high on the cute factor and small on the size factor 🙂

Believe it or not Patrick has joined a baseball team here. Now for any of you hardcore baseball fans it is definitely an American past time and never in my life would I expect there to be an actual Ugandan baseball team but believe it or not again, Uganda actually sent a team to the Little League World Series and has an International Baseball School! Oh and Patrick and the rest of the U.S. team got their butts kicked by them! But honestly, good for them! I was really impressed to watch them and are happy they are doing so well! Anyway… it was another early morning (anyone who has been reading should see a theme developing here where Amanda doesn’t like to wake up early for almost anything) I accidentally left my phone at the halloween party and I agreed to only come if I could bring my Gumbo for entertainment….

Basically the cutest umpire you’ve ever seen? yea I know! the Marines got a real kick out of their mascot too but they weren’t the only ones… Gumbo made some other new friends at the ball field as well!

I was really proud of him! The poor guy hasn’t been exposed to much in Africa yet he managed to survive a Halloween party and Ugandan Children within a 24 hour time period 🙂 Such a sweet little dude! Oh yea, we also watched Patrick play baseball! And yes that is a cow in the outfield just in case you were wondering! It is still Africa you know? 

Needless to say Gumbo was exhausted so I have given him a break this week with no costumes and have let him roll around in the grass and bask in the sun as much as he pleases. That’s right I’m a good dog  Mom! Suck it Paris Hilton!

So I’ve hit my 5 month mark in Uganda and we are now about 20% of the way through. I’ve had my discouraging days, but I have had my really amazing ones as well. My most amazing days I have realized are spent volunteering, sometimes it seems like such a chore to get out because of all the traffic and the distance but everytime I get there and I am welcomed by the children cheering “Teacher Amanda!” my heart can’t help but to fill with joy and suddenly the hour plus of traffic I know awaits me on the way home doesn’t seem quite as bothersome anymore.

Yesterday, my new friend Brina wanted to come with me to check out Kids Club and the best part about this is that she is a professional photographer. I try my best but my attention span cannot withstand the actual skill that goes into amazing photography, sorry Mrs. Magneson! (my high school photography teacher of 3 years!) but thank you to people like Brina who can capture these special moments! Patrick as well has become extremely talented behind his lens! You can check out her work here (beware it is still in progress but once up in running is going to be unbelievable!)

We started our day at Namavundu where our women’s group has been raising their own pigs and cows! With Brina being a veterinarian this was really exciting for her. We met some beautiful kids and some amazing women! Namavundu is also the site of a water well that gives clean water to the whole community! Even our Ugandan director Sam drank straight out of the tap to prove how clean and clear it was! Everyone in the village is so proud!

Courtesy of Brina Bunt @ http://www.chasingzebras.com

Courtesy of Brina Bunt @ http://www.chasingzebras.com

Courtesy of Brina Bunt @ http://www.chasingzebras.com

Courtesy of Brina Bunt @ http://www.chasingzebras.com

  After our amazing lunch back at the Kids Club Office we headed back out to see my Katanga kids. Now this was a special experience because normally I do not actually enter into the Katanga slum itself since the school is at the end of the slum and easily accessible. Sam and Teacher Juliet along with the Women’s Group Leader, Deborah escorted us in and allowed us to take photos and Deborah showed us her home and also where her and the other women grow their mushrooms! For me, it is always such a privilege to be invited into these peoples’ lives and share their stories and let us share their stories with all of you back home. Truly amazing human beings and I aspire to be as grateful, kind and humble as they are in my everyday life. These are just some sneak peaks from our day and I look forward to sharing more of the photos with you soon!

I sometimes get nervous when talking about Kids Club because I just want everyone to see it the way I see it. My friend yesterday went into these spaces not worrying about the trash or the mud or why this or that child was coughing or why they had snot on their face or if they happened to be wearing pants but treated each and every person she ran into with the same amount of respect and dignity she would give to someone of the upmost importance. Pure kindness… I wish I could live in a world where everyone treated people the way they wished to be treated and where love was the only language we spoke.

I am still accepting donations this whole month for the Kids Club Kampala Christmas Party or if giving money isn’t your thing we are also accepting any new or used games, toys and clothing to give these children the Christmas they deserve. If you would like to send something please contact me for more information or to contribute to the $5 Christmas Challenge you can go to the Ugandan Christmas Challenge Site 

All my Love,

Amanda

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like an African Christmas!

So the weather in Kampala this last week has been rainy and yucky so my apologies this post is not going to be about painting the chicken coop but it is going to be about one of my other favorite topics, My Kids Club Kampala kiddos! For those of you just beginning to read, Kids Club Kampala is the NGO I volunteer with here in Uganda. Due to all the traveling and some health issues I haven’t been able to go to KCK in awhile and was so happy to be reunited with the kids on Tuesday!

Now its that time of year back home in the Western World where Halloween hasn’t even happened yet their are Christmas decorations everywhere! When I think of Christmas I think of gifts and family traditions of playing fun games and the silly clues my mom writes on our gift tags and not being allowed to open them until we guess whats in the box! I think of ham and mashed potatoes, beef brisket, and the cinnamon roll aroma in the kitchen on Christmas morning…. but mostly I think of how blessed I am that I have all of these things to look forward to every year. This year will be no different as Patrick and I have decided to come home for the holidays!

But while I’m awaiting my cinnamon buns and gifts with clues it makes me wonder what these kids think of when they think of Christmas? Is it just another day? Will Santa Claus be able to find his way into the slums of Kampala this year? With your help I’d like to make this Christmas one the kids can remember and look back on as one of the happiest days of their lives.

Kids Club Kampala is planning a Christmas Party for the kids from all 17 centers which means we can expect about 1,000 children in attendance! It is going to be held at Kiwatule Recreation Center which is an outdoor park with a train for the kids to ride, a swimming pool and a playground. Entrance fees and transportation costs about $3 a child, Drinks and meals will be about $2 per child and other activities and t-shirts for the kids to remember their day by the total cost for each child would be around $10 a child, although as usual I am asking for $5 or any amount you are comfortable giving. Thank you again for all your help over the last few challenges and I hope we can make this one just as successful!

Have anything you want to donate??

We are in need of an adult Santa Claus costume if anyone has one or would like to purchase one.

Other Items needed

• Stickers
• Balloons
• Party Poppers
• Candy
• Small gifts/toys for gifts

Or anything else you think might be helpful! I will also be contributing  at least $1 for every person who donates! Please visit the Ugandan Christmas Challenge to donate!

Cheers to a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Scuba Scuba Doo Where Are You?

Sorry to leave you hanging the last couple of weeks! The last 2 months have been so adventure packed from our chimp tracking and safari adventure here in Uganda, followed by my birthday trip to Swaziland, South Africa and Rwanda and ending this past week with our 6 day trip to beautiful Malawi. Five countries in two months…. What am I possibly going to find to write about now?? Patrick is planning a  trip next month to South Africa with “the guys” and I am sulking a little bit but I think there might be a possible girls trip in the making for February to Istanbul!

So Malawi… Originally we were planning to go through a tour company to help us plan but that ended up in a lot of dead ends and we had a very different understanding of the word “budget” So I took it upon myself to plan our trip and I was a little worried about how everything was going to pan out… You might have heard me use the phrase T.I.A. before, meaning “This is Africa” used basically at any time something really “African” happens. There are 3 different situations I would use this phrase in and here they are…

1. Positively – When you see something really cool for instance on safari, or a hike or anything you would see here you wouldn’t see in other parts of the world.
2. To comment on something really funny – for instance when you see a guy on a back of a motor bike wearing 4 tires in order to transport them or just recently Patrick saw a taxi van that was rented out to transport chickens… and not too long ago we witnessed someone walking a camel down the road… for no apparent reason. There is a funny Facebook page I like called “Africa, this is why I live here” with funny pictures and store signs.
3. When everything that could go wrong goes wrong! – You always factor a little T.I.A into your adventures and most of the time you just make the best of it but every once in awhile you get in these T.I.A. stage 3 moments that are beyond laughing off.
   Our vacation to Malawi included all 3 T.I.A. moments… shall we begin??

I sometimes find it extremely difficult to plan trips to places I have never been before, I am not sure how people ever even used to do it before the internet and the comfort of trip advisor and review sites. So given this was my first trip to a new place I planned completely on my own, I was a little worried. I’m going to get our biggest stage 3 fail out of the way now just so we can get to the fun stuff! If anyone is planning on traveling to Malawi and renting a car DO NOT RENT FROM COUNTRYWIDE CAR HIRE! Long story short, they didn’t have the car we reserved at the airport so instead of giving us an upgrade they drove us 25km out of the way to give us a crappier car… with no discount offered. Car was given to us with an empty tank, the air conditioner and radio caused the car battery to die twice and even though we were promised our refund back in cash at the airport, we almost missed our flight because they were completely unprepared and unprofessional. This was absolutely, hands down the worst experience I’ve had with an African business! ok, got that off my chest lets move on or else I’ll be here all day!

The first portion of our trip was at Lidwone Safari Camp in Lidwone National Park, home to lots of elephants, hippos, various types of antelope, warthogs and wait for it…. one lion, just one. Don’t let Lonely Planet deceive you… there is not a pride of lions here… just one lonely guy living the Hakuna Matata Dream! Lidwone Safari Camp was one of the best places I’ve stayed in Africa. The food was reasonably priced and tasteful, and the atmosphere was very non touristy and welcoming if the combination of those 2 makes any sense to you at all.

 

Watching the Sunset from the Observation Deck at Lidwone Safari Camp.

Considering the camp was located within the gates of the park it is not uncommon to see wildlife just a few meters away from your tent. So the first night we got there we saw some warthogs… This is just outside our tent!

Then on Thursday morning (4:30AM to be exact and my readers know, unless it is something absolutely amazing I can’t be bothered to wake up) Patrick started hearing some noises similar to tree branches breaking… so he gets up and goes outside to check things out… then about 5 minutes later he comes to get me and says there are a bunch of elephants outside. Elephants in my opinion are worth waking up for so I quickly ran outside and watched the maybe 8-10 elephants grazing around. When one of the guards saw me watching he pointed out another elephant in the distance. about 45 seconds later the first group of elephants starting taking off and the second group (of about 20) came running through…. and then a few minutes later another group of 25 or so and then ANOTHER! I have never seen anything like this in my life…. maybe a total of 80-100 elephants running past me… who needs an alarm clock when you have that to wake you up???

So that definitely ranks high on the T.I.A. Stage 1 scale! That same morning we also went through a game drive in the park. We saw a lot of antelope, wart hogs. some pretty birds and elephants but they were in the distance (Thank goodness for our early morning wake up call!) Oh yea and one really big tree… its old or something… 🙂

Later that afternoon Patrick and I took a boat ride on the river where we got to see hippos, crocodiles and even ran into a few elephants. One of my favorite movies as a child was The Adventures of Milo and Otis, if you don’t know it, it is a tale of a dog and a cat and the reason I tell everyone I liked it so much was because of the the unique and unlikely friendship between them. I’m a nerd sorry, but it does make you feel warm and fuzzy inside doesn’t it?? Well, I retreat back to Milo and Otis warm  fuzzies every time I see these combinations…

Now I get the real life explanation about the egrets picking the bugs off the elephants and hippos but in my mind I still like to think in real life they really are best friends forever because that version of the story makes me happier!

Now, I have started a new fitness program (I have a support group and everything) It sounds silly but it is actually pretty cool! and I knew I wasn’t going to eat very well but I still told Patrick we had to stick to getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. So in-between the safari drive and boat ride we took a nice walk through the village and instead of doing another drive on our last morning in Liwonde we did a safari walk instead where we ran into some more hippos!

After our walk we said farewell to Lidwonde and headed on to our next leg of the journey in Cape Maclear on the shores of Lake Malawi. Now, before I traveled with Patrick all of my traveling has always been on a very tight budget. The place I picked to stay was only $6/pp in a beach hut. On paper it sounded really nice… but unfortunately we got what we paid for… maybe even less than what we paid for. I’m pretty sure there was mold in the showers, and I saw 3 very scary big spiders in the toilet while taking a wee… we did stick it out through the night but that hut was more like a sauna than anything else. The mosquito net was one of those ones that basically just lays on top of you and wouldn’t do you any favors if the mosquitos came anyway and when I say sauna I mean dripping sweat. It also didn’t help our little hut was right next to the bar and there is a bouncing local pub near by as well. Ugh… I have developed quite low expectations and high tolerances of accommodations in Africa but this was even too much for me. I wouldn’t rate this as a 3 on the TIA scale because not everything went wrong and the staff at this place was actually extremely nice so lets go ahead and give it a 2.5 🙂 I admitted defeat and we looked for a new place to stay, which we found! Thumbi View Lodge was amazing! rooms were average but it came with a functional mosquito net, our own shower (with amazing water pressure!), toilet and wait for it… a fan! Oh thank you sweet Jesus for that fan! It is run by a South African family who was very kind and accommodating and for only $40 a night you got all of that plus a free full hot breakfast! Pure heaven after our other experience!

So we made some “friends” upon arrival that took us out on a boat trip to see the sunset. Also included in this adventure was a lesson on catching a tropical fish with my bare hands… it took me awhile but I finally got one!

The views from the boat of lake Malawi were amazing!

Our second day at Lake Malawi I had signed Patrick and I up for a Discover Scuba Diving Class. It was for us to learn scuba diving and see if it was something we wanted to do again in the future. One of us had a little bit more fun than the other one and I decided to finish the full course the next day to become certified.

So I finished eating my full English Breakfast and we headed back to the dive center to begin the rest of the course. I guess I missed the part where they said you had to pass a swim test… now I’m not going to lie, when it comes to swimming I can doggy paddle and swim like a frog underneath the surface but when it comes to actual technical swimming I do not fare so well. Both of my sisters were enrolled in swim class at an early age but I guess once you get to the third child your brain slips a bit and suddenly remember that your 13 year old daughter never took swim lessons and she would probably really enjoy being in class with a bunch of 5 year olds….right (sarcasm was intended there if you couldn’t figure it out!) Being a typical teenage girl I purposely failed the class… and cried and pouted every time they made me go. As a result of not learning how to swim I almost drowned in my early 20s at the ocean. So with that information known… back to the swim test! He says “Swim from this boat to that boat without stopping” and then “tread water for 5 minutes without touching the bottom…. ”  “It’s easy” he says, “you can swim right?? yea ok sure… I can do that…. So thankfully Stembridge (The one responsible for supervising to make sure I completed my tasks) wasn’t the most observant… I will leave it at that because all that matters is that I passed!

After that and some boring book work It was time to go do the fun stuff!

Patrick was such a good sport all day hanging out on the boat and cheering me on! Once we returned I took my exam and passed the test! I am officially a certified scuba diver now! woohoo!

Our one last hoorah was spent with our boat friends again who took us to all 3 of the main islands in Cape Maclear and cooked us a nice fish dinner on one of the islands. Now this next picture perfectly describes Stage 2 on the TIA scale. 

We were able to see some fish eagles and lizards and yet another beautiful sunset!

So although we did reach Stage 3 on the T.I.A Scale at certain points we had a good time as always and now have more memorable moments to add to our marriage. Tune in next week to read about  my friend Elizabeth and I and the talented art of painting a chicken coop!

Some Kind of Rwandaful!

This is the story of my trip to Rwanda and the last leg of my 3 week vacation…. It is also the story of the first…. and hopefully last time I get peed on by a monkey. If that didn’t grab your attention and entice you to keep reading I’m not sure what will!

After my Drakensberg experience we headed back to Joburg to catch my flight early Thursday morning to Rwanda to meet up with Patrick. Being picked up at the airport was like a scene out of Rags to Riches… I was traveling with my backpack and wearing jeans and a t-shirt and the driver from the Serena gave me a double take and asked “You’re Mrs. Scoville?” “Yep, that’s me!”

Rwanda, 20 years ago was not somewhere you would have thought to go and unfortunately I feel some people still fear this beautiful country. The things that happened there 20 years ago are terrifying and heartbreaking and one of the worst genocides in World History to date. But if you visited Rwanda today, other than the memorials and personal testimonies you would see no trace of this world tragedy. It is absolutely stunning! “The Land of 1,000 Hills” is what they refer to it as, filled with palm trees and green mountains everywhere you look. What won’t you see in Rwanda?? Plastic bags! They banned them from the whole country and the result? An immaculate clean and beautiful country with hardly a bit of trash to be seen!! The people are friendly (even outside of the Serena Hotel where I was asked how my day was going at least 25 times!) But out of the 6 African countries I have now visited I have to say Rwanda is definitely in my top 2! Swaziland will always be my happy place though….

So I arrive at the Serena in Kigali to find that Patrick was still at work but because he is the best husband in the world he booked me an afternoon massage until he returned! After my last post about my 14km hike from H-E- double hockey sticks this was basically the best thing that could have ever happened to me…. ever! So after my massage and a nice lunch and a drink at the bar Patrick finally returned! We went out to dinner at the real Hotel Rwanda and had a nice quiet evening. The next morning I spent some time at the pool while Patrick finished up work and we headed off to Volcanoes National Park. Once again we dropped the ball on Gorilla permits and instead settled for Golden Monkey Trekking!

So we set off early Saturday morning and headed into the Volcanoes which actually compared to chimp trekking last month was exceptionally easy! a short 20 minute walk and there they were! Like always Patrick took some amazing photos!

Funny looking buggers aren’t they???

You mean to tell me all these funny looking creatures paid money to see us?? Where’s our cut???

So all is good and fun in the world, Patrick is off taking pictures and as usual I’m wandering off like a space cadet looking at all the monkeys running all around me until it started to rain…. but as I am looking across me at one of the rangers I realize it was not raining over her head… and then I made the mistake of looking up… and then back down in horror and then across to the ranger again who is now giggling and it hit me…. I just received a golden shower from a golden monkey… And then followed all the comments…. “It means you are lucky!” “You have been blessed by the monkeys…” yea yea yea a.k.a “Glad it peed on you and not me!”

Num Num Num 

Whatever you do…. DON’T LOOK UP!!! 

Baby monkey!! Afterwards we headed back up to our meeting point where Patrick kept going on and on about how cool the monkeys were but wished it was more of a challenge to find them blah blah blah “Amanda, whats wrong with you?”

“I don’t know… maybe you didn’t hear me when I said I just got wee’d on by a monkey!!!”

After the “extra golden” monkey experience we knew we had some time to kill for the rest of the day so we decided to go explore some caves that were advertised. Now I did have a caving experience a couple years back in in Swaziland so I imagined it being similar and for some parts it was….

So I recall the helmet with the head torch….

But I surely do not remember the need for a hair net, the mask, latex gloves and armed guards! What the heck did we get ourselves into?????

All in all it was a pretty cool experience and thankfully didn’t need to make use of the guards…

Sunday morning we woke up and while I was eating breakfast and Patrick had gone to pack the car I saw something really big fly by! Now I have started to have a weird interest in birds lately mainly because I’ve turned it into a game and I have realized there are a lot of interesting birds in this part of the world and the really nerdy part of me got really excited whenI looked out the window and this is what I saw….

The Crested Crane! Uganda’s national bird!!! So pretty!! I was running around the breakfast room frantically because I was so excited and Patrick wasn’t there and he was the one that had the camera and I thought “No one is going to believe me if I don’t have proof!!!!” and then Patrick comes walking back in to save the day! Thankfully, his nerdiness got the best of him too and he was also a little excited! What a great way to start our day!

We spent our last afternoon in Rwanda going to the Genocide Memorial which was very nicely set up but not for the weak hearted.  I do think it is a must see if you are visiting to pay tribute to lives lost back in 1994.

All in all I would say Rwanda was a wonderful place to visit and would definitely go again!!!

Chutes and Ladders Anyone???

After almost two weeks in Swaziland it was time to bid farewell and set off on a new adventure! My friend was in need of a little break and some fun time so we headed off to the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa! We left mid afternoon just in time to show up to our backpackers for a sundowner right at sunset!! It was actually one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in a long time!

 Now I believe this story needs a little preempting before I get to into it.You wouldn’t know it by the all the ridiculous things I have been known to do in the past but I am absolutely terrified of heights! Although, I can ride almost any roller coaster in the world, you put me in a scenario where I am not strapped in there is bound to be tears! I’ve done many things in efforts to conquer this fear thinking it will help me but nothing seems to work…

When I was a teenager I did a baby bungee jump that landed you on a giant blow up pad! That wasn’t too bad at all, and I actually enjoyed it! You see, most things I do that involve extreme heights I always have that after feeling of “Wow! That was awesome! Lets do it again!” but there are a few I will mention in this post that didn’t give me the warm fuzzies and sometimes even years later cannot figure out if I actually enjoyed myself! Yea, I know I’m a total weirdo!

Freshman year of college, 2004 I was enrolled in the Outdoor Recreation Club and won a lottery to go skydiving for $25! Now, when you offered an opportunity of a lifetime for cheap it is not something you chicken out on. Unfortunately, I do not have any photo evidence of this happening other than the VHS tape, yes you heard me right…. I paid for the VHS tape of my skydiving experience, remember that thing we used to have to manually rewind?? Retro I know! I’m sure it is hanging out in a box in a basement somewhere but there were witnesses, I promise! Now this is normally the part when someone asks “Why would you jump out of a perfectly good plane??” and this is the part where I respond “You didn’t see that plane, you would have jumped out of it too!” Now, this was one of those times that I was absolutely terrified but once all was said and done I landed with a smile and on my ancient video stated “Lets do it again!”

In 2008, I took a family visit to the Grand Canyon in Arizona! one of my dodgy family members convinced me no one had ever fallen off and it was ok to go to the unfenced areas….. so I took this picture (sunglasses hide tears is what you learn when you’re afraid of things!!!)

Fast Forward to January 2012… Ziplining in Swaziland through the mountains! Was all about the zipping portion but I will say the walking on the edge of a mountain to each new zip scared the crap out of me!!

This one unfortunately does come with photo evidence! but this wasn’t even the worst part….after all of these small walkways on the edge of a mountain… they wanted me to cross…. this!

Seriously??? it took a solid 5 minutes to cross and that is if I am being generous… very very slow baby steps!!!

Then came July 2012… I was on  a trip with my friend Nicolette as her tour guide of South Africa (long story to be told another day!) and we decided to do the big bungee swing in Durban, South Africa over the the World Cup Stadium. Sounds fun right?? My biggest fear was climbing up all of these steps….

ughhh I couldn’t even stand up straight! fortunately it was so hot that the sweat disguised my tears!

Then I had to climb down a ladder to the platform…. and then….

I jumped off! But this was one of those times that I think I actually enjoyed!

So while on this same South African tour I decided that one big thrill wasn’t enough and decided to do the highest bungee jump in the world…. 216 meters or… 709ft! It all seemed like a good idea at the time until I was all strapped up and walking to my death!

Thats a looooooong way down! So I made Nicolette and our other friend go first while I cried in a corner! Then it was my turn….

Cant you see all the confidence in my expression??? So here we go it’s now or never (I think this is why they make you pay before you go!) After I jumped back and turned around about 5 times and cried some more, the time had come!

I did it! Yay!!! and then I stopped bungeeing and realized I was hanging upside down really really high in the air….. My feet are slipping,,, oh my goodness this is how this happens… did I do research on how many accidents this place has had? ummmm why is no one coming to get me???? And finally there he was, my savior repelling down to get me “Hey down there are you ok???” “NO! I’m not okay! Please get me off this thing!!!”

Finally back on solid ground!!! well as solid as it was going to get for the next few minutes! At the end of the day I can at least say I did it! but I’m still unsure if I actually liked it!!!Little did I know they show everyone on the big jumbo screen at the base of the bridge for people to watch… Apparently my terrifying experience was so memorable that the next day when we were walking through town I was stopped by a stranger who says “You’re the girl that almost didn’t jump!” oh gee thanks! nice to meet you too….

So this was enough to make me steer away from big heights for awhile…. Until last week, which brings us to present day and the story of the terrifying ladders! So upon arrival to the Amphitheater Backpackers in The Drakensberg we met a young German girl named Barbara. Kieren had a couple big races coming up so his plan was to do some cycling while we were there. Without anything to entertain me the following day, Barbara says to me “Are you going on the hike tomorrow?” Anyone can do it she says….. It will be fun she says….Famous.Last.Words.

So I wake up early the next morning and go meet Barbara and the other 11 brave souls that would embark on this 14km hike that “anyone could do!” But I’m pretty sure when they said “anyone” they didn’t mean the girl who is completely terrified of heights…. especially the natural high heights that can’t always be depended on… But it sure was pretty!

So after we make our way up for about 2 hours or so… we are told its time to climb to the top of this….

How the heck are we supposed to get all the way up there?? I ask… When one of your guides says “Easy! up God’s Escalator…..”

Ummmm you want me to do what?????

But at least I had some company! and 45 minutes later (with only a few tears shed) we made it….

 

But this was just the first big battle in the war! Little did I know there were many more terrifying things to come! but in the meantime, time to keep on trekking! 

So earlier we had to climb up “God’s Escalator” but nothing could prepare me for what I have self named the “devils ladder” Dun Dun Dun… Maybe it was the altitude… or… or… ok fine it was pure fear that made me hysterically break out in tears, I couldn’t help it they just came and I watched in horror as one by one everyone else started climbing down this wobbly ladders. Most everyone was brave enough to just climb on down, no fear, all happy campers, no rope or harness needed…. but me… I required a rope and an escort. Then came the wind… strong enough to make that ladder sway back and forth. AHHHHHHH! I’m going to die, I’m going to die! Death by ladder… I can see the headlines now! So I make it down and am so overjoyed but quickly lost that joy when I realized there were TWO ladders and the second one was twice as long! WHYYYYYYYYYYYY????? Please don’t make me….Is there a helicopter option here??

What seems like hours later I finally made it down to the ground welcomed by an embarrassing round of applause and “Good Job Amandas! Woo Hoo You did it!” When the whole thing was done I treated myself to an ice cream and vowed never to do this hike again!

When we got back to the backpackers I wasn’t planning on telling Kieren I cried like a baby, but it came out anyway and then the manager decided to tell me I should be proud of myself by retelling a story from the same hike in a blizzard… which only made me feel like even more of a baby!

Needless to say…. I think I have reached my capacity on extreme heights for awhile and this only provides evidence that just because you do stupid stuff to try and conquer your fears doesn’t mean you will actually conquer them but at lease it makes for a lot of fun stories!! 🙂

The Kingdom of Happiness

Hello! Ki kati! Sawubona! Mwaramutse! Bonjour! The amount of languages and currencies in my head right now is a little overwhelming! I left Uganda 3 weeks ago , traveled to Swaziland for 12 days, South Africa for 3 days and finished it up with 4 days in Rwanda. Its a lot to write about in one blog so please bare with me over the next week as I break it down into  3 different ADHD friendly posts 🙂

So where to begin? I guess the most logical thing would be to go in order! Destination #1 – The Kingdom of Swaziland! One strange fact about me some of you would probably never guess is that I absolutely hate flying. I calculated the number of planes I have been on in the last year and it totals 20, 20 take offs and thankfully 20 landings! The reason I mention this tidbit? on the plane from Kigali, Rwanda to Johannesburg there was a woman sitting behind me that was singing Jesus music… and not at the volume that you are singing to yourself so that no one can hear you but at about the same level you would sing if you were a contestant on American Idol.  This went on until the seatbelt sign came off and I was handed headphones and able to enjoy, or at least watch Wolverine, can’t say I much enjoyed it. Thankfully this was the shortest trip to Joburg I’ve ever taken (5 hours compared to the 19+!) but sure enough as soon as the captain made the announcement that we would be landing shortly Jesus lady was back at it! until the plane touched the ground and the signing stopped but not before she could get out an “Amen! Thank You Jesus!”  So that makes at least 2 people who were very happy to get off that plane but one of us was just a tad bit more vocal about it!!

So when I planned my trip to Swaziland for these dates I was informed I would  be helping out with a cycling event for my friends, “Sounds great, Looking forward to it just let me know what you need” whoops! My over enthusiasm led to me actually helping BUILD the track… ok well maybe thats an exageration because there is no way Kieren would have ever let me put pieces together but I helped lift some logs with a crane and carry lots of planks and jump on rocks! You can’t really complain about free labor though can you??

Now about the park, I cannot begin to describe how impressed I was and how proud I am of all my friends! Meet VéloCycle eSwatini!

Rebecca Lewis, Kieren Vincent and Sebbie and Carol du Pont!

 Coronation Park in Mbabane, Swaziland up until a few weeks ago mainly served as a place for people to go and hang out and do their “unmentionables”, for the sake of my PG rated blog I will let your imagination take you where it wants. Becca, Kieren and the Du Ponts had a vision to create a safe family place in Swaziland to cycle and get the whole family involved! With the help of the City Council and the Epilepsy Foundation they turned that vision into reality and thus you have the Coronation Cycle Park!

The Velo event on the 6th was a huge success and tons of people showed up! Even a family of 8! So I started out helping at the registration table until someone (not sure exactly who) decided to give me and my new buddy Sonia the important job of time keeping…

We thought we did an excellent job…. until the winner of the intermediate group cried because he wasn’t given credit for winning both races… In the end it was resolved but ah! too much pressure! whoops!

The greatest part about the whole day was all the kiddos who showed up!

All together it was so awesome to see people be so passionate about something and follow through with it. It’s a rare thing these days to see people chase big dreams and turn it into reality and I was glad I was there to experience  my friends’ success with them! Thank you for letting me be a part of VéloCycle eSwatini for the day even if  I wasn’t a very good timekeeper!

The day after the race my dear friend Rebecca picked me up and took me out to a wonderful belated birthday lunch at Malandelas! It was also the first time I got to meet her beautiful daughter Sian! Thank you Becca and Sian fir a great day!

But I didn’t come to Swaziland just for cake and bikes, I had a very important visit to make to two very special sisters. If you recall in previous posts the mention of Nomfundo and Sibo, the 2 young girls I sponsor for school in Swaziland that I met almost 3 years ago. Here is a picture of the first day I met them…

and some more from 2012…

They were just little babies! You can imagine my surprise to show up to two little women… I mentioned before in one of my blogs how sometimes people have those moments where you feel like you are becoming one of your parents? Well this was definitely a Mom moment for me! In my head I am thinking “You grew so tall and what the heck are those other things you grew???” ummm somebody please tell me where the little girls I left 9 months ago have disappeared to???

So I took them to a cartoon movie… again not realizing I had teenagers on my hand and not little girls… but I just couldn’t bare the idea of sitting through anything with them that wasn’t G rated! and if that wasn’t bad enough I was even less prepared for our annual shopping trip. “Oh my God! Do you not see how short that skirt is?” “I can see right through that shirt!” “Why would you pick those jeans I can put holes in a pair for free for you if you really want holes in them!” Everything I picked out seemed to get a funny look that implied “Ummmm you’re joking right? I wouldn’t be caught dead in that?” I’m pretty sure this may have been the same look I gave my Mother when she used to pick out “uncool items”. Ughh… I am not ready for Motherhood that’s for sure! In the end I think we made out pretty well… depending on who you ask of course! 🙂

STOP GROWING!!!!! I wish I would have gotten in a picture with the  2 of them because then you would see how they are almost as tall as me now! I can’t  even imagine how big they will be next time!!!

If you recall in one of my recent posts I mentioned how the Scoville house was turning into the Scoville Zoo. I think I might have found some competition at Buhleni Farm! The Vincents were too kind letting me sleep there and I enjoyed waking up everyday to their 6 dogs, 5 horses, I think 3 cats? a new kitten and a very talkative bird! Wonderfully peaceful spot in the Ezulwini Valley with wonderful people. Thank You Vincents!!!

Now one of the big differences between Swaziland and Kampala, other than the fact that there are more people in the city of Kampala than there are in the whole country of Swaziland is all the beautiful spots! Now don’t get me wrong, you have even seen in my other pictures how beautiful the rest of Uganda is, but Kampala doesn’t leave much beauty to be desired.

Kieren took me to check out the dam one day!

And then on a really hot day we checked out Mantenga Falls!

Boys went for a swim….

While I enjoyed the scenery!  

Spent a lazy Sunday at the river!

But one of the best parts about going to Swaziland is picking up right where you left with old friends!

Now if I could only fix this…..

Tune in  later to hear about my trip to the Drakensburg Mountains in South Africa!

Mumbo Gumbo!

 If you haven’t  noticed my byline it says that this is “The story of a girl, her husband, the tiniest diplomat, an ugly reindeer sweater and her traveling scarf.” Last week we heard the detailed story of the traveling scarf and today I am going to tell you about The Tiniest Diplomat, more commonly known as my Chihuahua named Gumbo.

Ahhh he’s so cute!! Well how did this little guy become part of my family?? This is one of my favorite stories to tell! I haven’t owned a dog since our family Coker Spaniel, Lady died back in 2008. Patrick and I had gone over to a friends house and they had the cutest little French Bulldog named Basil. I wanted one SO bad! I got online looking for one and soon realized French Bulldogs were hard to come by and if you found one you would be paying big bucks for it. I’m not  one to pay big money for something when there are plenty of animals out there that desperately need homes. So I switched my gears to rescue organizations. This went on for about a week or so of me emailing Patrick pictures all day long of cute little dogs. Needless to say I’m sure it got a little annoying and Patrick finally says “Stop looking at pictures and pick one already!” Silly Patrick, he might not have known better back then but I’m sure by now he has figured out once I get an idea in my head it sticks! So the next morning I called up my friend Sophie and told her we were going to go find me a dog! She accepted the mission and hopped in my car to go  shelter hopping, except our journey began and ended at only one place, The Washington Animal Rescue League. I highly recommend the place for anyone looking in DC! It was here that Sophie and I stumbled upon a little dog named Tarzan! They let me take him into the special visitor room and I fell in love! (with the dog not the name)

So I went and talked to the people that are in charge on adoptions and they told me they needed to meet with everyone in the household before they would let me take him home and also bring by Patrick’s other dog Dexter for a meet and greet. When I told them Patrick wouldn’t be available today they said “That’s ok we can just speak to him on the phone” So Sophie and I got back in the car and drove back to the condo to get Dexter, Patrick’s deaf and nearly blind Weimaraner. Patrick’s response to my “I think I found a dog at the shelter” text was “Of course you did.” uh oh not going as smoothly as I thought…. ok well we will work on Patrick later lets just have Tarzan and dexter meet and see how that goes.

Trip #2 of the day to WARL – Meet and Greet with Dexter. They took us outside into the “meeting area” It didn’t go excellent but it also didn’t go bad… it did however include everyone pooping all over (the dogs not the humans) they sniffed each other and pooped some more and then sniffed again and then just ignored each other but the guy who was supervising deemed this acceptable enough and went to tell the rest of the staff Tarzan was ok to go home with me if I wanted him. Yelp… Let’s try Patrick again. “But I really want him and you told me to stop looking at pictures and to act on it!” responded by “I thought it would take longer!” Ughh anyway back to adoption staff where their newest statement was “We don’t need to talk to your boyfriend anymore you seem really responsible!” Ahhhhh… I can take Tarzan home and I don’t even need Patrick’s say so??? No, Amanda this is not what people in adult relationships do so Sophie and I left the shelter without Tarzan and sad hearts 😦

Sophie and I went home for awhile until I made the decision that this battle wasn’t over! I said “Sophie, we’re getting back in the car, going to Petco and back to the shelter to rescue Tarzan from the jungle” I was pretty confident and just after we got everything from the pet store we needed Patrick calls and says “If this is what you really want, go get him but you need to get food, a bed, a collar…..” (interrupted by me) “Don’t worry we already got it! we’re already on our way back!” 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Trip #3 to the shelter: Time to take Tarzan home! Ooooeeeeoooooooeeeoooo! (that was my best Tarzan impersonation)  Once we got the papers we realized that little Tarzan had been at the shelter for over a month, and before he was here he was at a shelter in Louisiana and his name was Boo. Poor little guy! I can’t imagine why anyone would give him away.  So we took him home and since Patrick wasn’t there to pick him out I gave him the honor of renaming our little jungle warrior. Patrick says “He’s from Louisiana, he needs a southern name!” and that was that….

Hello my name is Gumbo!

That was almost exactly one year ago and we have had so many fun moments since!

We have the same great taste in movies!

He loves belly rubs!

Likes to sleep on top of my head….

And he likes to dress up and give kisses!!!!

Happy Birthday to the Tiniest Diplomat! I love you so much and have had the best year ever with you!!!

Glue Sticks are NOT Candy!

All throughout my life my Mom has always been such a gift giver.  I’m sure there were some Christmases and birthdays I was given something expensive and extraordinary but its the silly little thoughtful gifts she gets me that I remember most. It was the time she saw me watching Anne of Green Gables on TV and then gave me an Anne of Green Gables journal for my 16th birthday because she thought it was one of my favorite movies or when she randomly finds Audrey Hepburn items that she knows I will love (The last was a coffee mug and she said “You would be so proud of me because I didn’t even look at the price I just knew you had to have it” or Betty Boop socks… Or how she traveled to NYC with me 3 years in a row in the freezing cold to stand in line for discount broadway tickets with the hope that one day we would finally get to see the Newsies… not because she loves the Newsies but because she knew it would make me the happiest girl in the world! We saw a lot of great shows in the meantime and made so many memories along the way that when we finally did get to go to the Newsies this past February it made it even more worthwhile!

All of my friends and family have such a thoughtful way to them and I am so blessed and thankful for these small little gifts that I will carry with me always. Yesterday, with the help of many of my readers I was able to give 54 children their equivalent “Newsies” in the form of school supplies. I am so overwhelmed with joy for all of the support and love you have shown to these children that you have never even met.  These small gifts of a composition book, crayons, a pair of scissors and a glue stick (which none of them have ever seen before and I cannot promise that one or two of them may or may not have eaten theirs!) is probably one of the greatest gifts they have ever received. Many of these children are sad, sad because they watch their friends put on their school uniforms and walk to school while they are left behind in the slums but yesterday I did not see sad faces, I only saw pride. Pride that they had something to call their own! This is something I wish I could explain in words and pictures… and although I will try my best to do so, I wish each and everyone of you who contributed could be here to experience it for yourself!

UPDATED: Today (Wednesday) I went back to the classroom for a short while to see the kids and deliver our new blackboard! Really neat thing actually that I bought on Amazon (Blackboard contact paper! You just peel and stick!) Pretty neat huh?? It’s going to save so much space!

I also took some better pictures of our new pocket charts where the children can store their things!

The greatest part of the day was watching them make use of their new things! Oh and they sang me Happy Birthday! 🙂

When All You Have Left is Bikini Bottoms….

This is the story of how I came up with the name of my blog “The Traveling Scarf”

I have a closet full of clothes, well now that I’m married I have half a closet full of clothes but I always tend to stick to about 4 or 5 of my favorite outfits… I must appear dirt poor and homeless to other people I’m sure. It’s only gotten worse since I  moved to Uganda because the housekeeper does my laundry 3 days a week so I never even have to dig to find other options because my 3 favorite tops, my pair of black jeans my  bermuda jean shorts and my traveling scarf are always available. I’ve also grown accustom to a pair of pajama pants that I found in Patrick’s stash that I am pretty sure were a freebie on an international flight (considering the tag says Qatar Airways)  I think the only reason I own as many clothes as I do is because I hate doing laundry with a passion. When I lived at home with my Mom she refused to do my laundry until the inevitable “swimsuit bottom” day came because I ran out of clean underwear and her OCD would kick in and i magically had clean clothes again.  When I was in middle school I cycled through a pair of breakaway pants (back when those sort of things were cool, well at least I thought they were cool) and a fake Adidas t-shirt… I surprisingly still had friends believe it or not!

Prior to 2008 I had only left the country on family cruises and a mission trip to Costa Rica when I was 14 where we painted our faces and wore silly outfits and danced around in the street because apparently that’s how you get people to love Jesus! haha… Then came along an exciting opportunity for my best friend Leslie to study abroad in Brisbane, Australia.  Granted this was before Leslie turned into a soccer mom with 4 children and lived in the sticks and before I had a real big girl job so naturally I pulled some money out of my stock account booked a plane ticket and traveled halfway across the world to spend 3 weeks in the wonderful world of Oz.

I arrived in Brisbane a bit earlier than expected and phoned Leslie to let her know I was at the airport. Leslie answered the phone, which was about the only useful thing she did in this scenario because her only response was “I’m at the University of Queensland” Now I will give her a little slack because it was very early in the morning and if you have any clue of how I am before the sun… Leslie is about 10 times worse.  Thankfully I met a friendly stranger from Canada who also happened to be going to the University of Queensland… I think I missed the day in grade school where they taught you not to get into vehicles with strangers but the thought of trying to figure out how I was going to find the mysterious Gibson Hall on my own, the first time I was alone in a foreign country seemed much more frightening at the time. So I made it to the University of Queensland safely and free of charge because as it turns out my stranger from Canada was also a gentleman and paid the cab fare! Now if only I could remember his name….So I made it to the University but now I had to find Leslie… so I am walking for what feels like ages until FINALLY another American girl approached me and said “You look lost, can I help you?” I explained I was going to visit my friend Leslie Smith (at the time she had the most common last name in the world!) and amazingly she said “Oh! She lives in my dorm!” so she kindly escorts me to the dorm that Leslie lives in (mind you, you need a key to get in so even if I would have found her I wouldn’t have been able to get in, nice one Leslie….) So I get to Leslie’s room, knock on the door, she answers, lets me in, gives me a casual “oh hey” and goes back to bed! “Oh hey! remember me? the friend that just spent 22 hours on a plane to come visit you??”  I stood there awkwardly for about 5 minutes until she eventually woke back up and said “Oh, when did you get here? wanna go get some breakfast?”

The next couple weeks were filled with lots of adventures!

Leslie isn’t much of a cuddler….

I got to hold a Koala Bear!

Leslie made friends with an emu…

And then it attacked her….

We fed some kangaroos…

And I took a selfie with one…

We hiked for forever to get to a mysterious lighthouse…And we finally made it!

And then we found a “snake”

The day we decided to go to the Australia Zoo, (We miss you Steve!) was the day it decided to rain  😦 We found a small kiosk to purchase scarves to shelter us from the rain… and there it was! I didn’t realize at the time that 6 years later that this scarf would become my international traveling companion, after all it was just a $8 purchase to shield the rain.

Sadly, my trip ended but this was just the beginning of what would become the legacy of “The Traveling Scarf” Since that day in Australia, that scarf has traveled all over the world with me and has become a staple in my wardrobe. If that scarf could talk it could tell you so many tales of friendship, joy, laughter, sorrow and adventure and probably even a few secrets… unfortunately it can’t talk, but I can! so my versions will have to do for now!

Chimp Chimpiny Chimp Chimp Cher-oo!!

This week has been filled with so much I am not even sure where to begin! I forgot to mention in my last blog the arrival of 2 very important things, If you can recall back to my engagement blog you will remember that I had left my engagement ring at home. Thanks to a family visiting the States last month and my Mother in Law going to meet them I finally have it back!! I forgot how pretty it is  🙂 So exciting!!! The second item, which for those of you that know me can imagine how excited I was when it arrived was my Diet Dr.Pepper! Oh the sweet taste of America never tasted so good!

Does anyone ever experience those little moments where you see yourself becoming more like your Mother or Father? This week I have actually felt like I was becoming my Aunt Carole because our home is turning into the Scoville Zoo! My Aunt and her kids have always loved animals and at any given time it is more likely that there are more animals in the house than people.  When we got here the score was: Humans – 2 Animals -1

So we took in black kitten (at least until we can find him a proper home) last month and last week we just found out that one of the families here was returning to DC early for a work opportunity and was trying to find a home for their dog Charlie…. Charlie is a water dog mix who happens to be about 20 times the size of Gumbo…. In fact I think Gumbo might be the size of one of Charlie’s feet.                So new score: Humans – 2 Animals – 3 

Ok, so we were only outnumbered by 1 at this point, no big deal…. until the gardener came home with 15 baby chicks on Thursday.   Final Score: Humans – 2 Animals – 18 

So after all of our domestic animal excitement we decided to step it up a notch! Patrick had a colleague in town this week and he had some free time over the weekend so we decided to take him away for the ultimate African weekend! We were also joined by Olivia and Huw. Our journey started on Friday afternoon and we traveled to the Budongo Forest located about 3.5 hours or so from Kampala. I’m sure some of you are aware that Uganda is most famous for their Mountain Gorillas but considering a Gorilla permit will cost you your first and second born children and you must plan way in advance we didnt get to see those… this time! But we did get to go chimp trekking! It still required me to wake up early but this time it was for chimps and not birds so I was a bit more enthusiastic.  After walking through the jungle for almost 2 hours the disapointment began to set in that we might not find them. But just as we had given up all hope they began to appear! Pictures cannot even do the experience justice….

After our trek we headed back to the lodge for lunch and then continued our journey to board our river cruise! We saw tons of hippos, a few crocodiles, warthogs and antelopes! I got a little sun but I promised I wouldnt complain because I had refused the sunscreen. This is me simply making a statement and not complaining…. because it doesnt hurt at all and I am proud of my soon to be hopefully tan not sunburnt skin 🙂 We also were able to see the amazing Murchinson Falls!

After our boat ride we headed to our new accomodations, enjoyed a nice dinner and woke up early again… but I put on my favorite sweater and grabbed the scarf before heading off on a game drive at Murchinson Falls National Park.

Here we saw tons of animals to include giraffes, elephants, water buffalo, bushbucks, waterbucks, oribi, hartebeest and lots of other things! Unfortunately Murchinson does not have Zebras and that made me a little sad 😦 No cats this time but we still enjoyed the experience.

Ive grown accustomed to African toilets and sometimes lack of… but I must say I was surprised at how “untouristy” some of our options were on this trip I was even more surprised to find 3 mosquito bites… on my butt. I’ll spare you an actual image just this time!

We ended our trip with a walk up to the top of Murchinson Falls and said our goodbyes…

I would say it was a pretty successful weekend! Tomorrow I will be going with some of the Kids Club crew to purchase the shoes for our Katanga kids! We are hoping to hand them out on Friday!!

Thanks for stopping by!