Weeraba means goodbye in Luganda, and even though I have said it a thousand times here in Uganda, today it is especially hard. I am wrapping up my last week of my semester and getting ready to catch a flight back to the US. I can’t believe that it’s December, and that I have to leave Uganda so soon. It has been a truly incredible semester. I love the scenery, people, culture, food, academics, and nature of Uganda. I am excited to see my family, but I am definitely not ready to leave this country.
This last week has been amazing. Academics ended last week for us, so we spent this whole week together as a program in Murchison Falls National Park. On the first day we went on a boat safari on the Nile to the base of the falls. We saw elephants and giraffes grazing on the banks, while crocodiles and hippos swam in the shallows. The hippos were some of my favorite animals that we saw on the trip. The falls were beautiful from the bottom and on our way back we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets over the Nile that I have ever experienced.
We went on a total of three game drives that were all incredible. We saw over 50 giraffes every time we went out. They are such cool animals and I love to watch them lumber over the savannah. We also saw a bunch of elephants, various herd animals, monkeys, beautiful birds, and a leopard. The leopard was my favorite animal we saw because we were able to watch it run for a long time across a plain. It moved so fast and with such graze that is was mesmerizing.
The funniest, and at times scariest, animals that we saw were the baboons. They were everywhere and weren’t afraid to torment the tourists. On the first day one ran and jumped at my friend to steal the food she was trying to throw away and it got within a foot of her before snatching the leftovers and running away. The craziest thing was on the last morning when a baboon leaped onto our breakfast table to try and take the food. Chairs and coffee were knocked over as all 15 of us ran away. A waiter at the hotel had to come chase him off for us.
This week was a perfect ending for the semester. I am going to miss Uganda and all the friends I have made here. I know I will always carry the lessons I have learned here with me forever. I am so grateful that I got this opportunity. While I soon have to say weeraba, hopefully it will not be too long before I step foot back in this country and my friends and family here can say kulikayo (welcome back)!