WEEKLY WRAP-UP | TRAVEL | UGANDA

An Iconic Crater Lake, a Waterfall, and the Bananaman

My week in photos — Week 17 — July 7–July 13, 2022

Well, this week brought a little more excitement into our life, and our typical routine that is usually focused around the property where we are staying was shaken up a bit.

The owner here decided that she wanted to take us out on a bit of an adventure. It was her way to say thank you for what we have been doing for her with our art on the property.

We started out by heading to see the Bananaman. She had told us a bit about him, but we weren’t really prepared for the experience and had no idea what to expect. We didn’t realize that we would get a full-blown demonstration from him about how to make banana juice.

It was very educational and we really enjoyed watching and learning his process. After making the juice, he then went on to tell us how to make it into banana beer, banana wine, and banana gin.

I wrote a whole article about it, so if you are interested, it is probably best to check that out. But I will say that we had a really great couple of hours and thoroughly enjoyed our time with Bananaman.

We then continued on and drove towards our next stop at Mahoma Waterfall. Along the way, we passed many crater lakes. One, in particular, is made famous because it is featured on the 20 000 Shilling note. When we got there and chatted with the man who was manning the lookout, he said that there are over 40 crater lakes in Uganda (or maybe it was 50?)!

We had actually seen a few crater lakes down in the southern part of the country, and I didn’t realize that there are so many in this part of the country as well. They are certainly an interesting part of the geology here, and I read that they were all created by violent volcanic activity some 8000 years ago!

There really is an abundance of fresh water in Uganda, it just doesn’t quite reach to all the areas that need it, unfortunately.

We continued on the way bumping over the dirt tracks that were supposed to serve as roads. At one point we were driving over just a single path that is mostly only frequented by Boda Bodas (motorbikes) or people just walking. I kept laughing wondering where the heck we were going! Martha, our host, assured us that we were going the right way.

We finally made it to the entrance of the falls and took in the beautiful scenery from the parking area. Vast green hillsides stretched out for miles in every direction. This truly is an agricultural mecca! I’m sure it is made that way by the fertile soil created by that volcanic activity many millennia ago.

The trail meandered down the side of a hill and across many sets of stairs that were sturdy and well built. We passed a section that had intensely thick spider webs. They reminded me of the scene from the Hobbit when they came across the giant man-eating spider on their journey. Our guide laughed when I told him that.

“Thankfully the spiders aren’t that big here.” He reassured me.

We also came across a cave that had some really cool lava formations in it. Our guide told us that this area was where prisoners were sent to be punished back when Uganda was a kingdom. I guess they had to live in the cave.

Seeing as though we were in a tropical paradise, it sure didn’t seem like too harsh of a punishment to me!

We could hear the splashing of the waterfall as we approached. It certainly was no Victoria Falls, but the gentle sound of the falling water was very soothing. We approached from the side and then found a nice place to sit at the bottom.

The waterfalls were beautiful. They were a nice gentle fall that would have made excellent swimming, but the temperatures weren’t quite warm enough for either of us to want to bother. Our guide set about sitting under one of the streams, though, and looked to be getting a nice neck and back massage from it.

The three of us were very hungry as we hadn’t had lunch yet, so we all ate quickly and sat in silence as we took in the scenery around us. Flitting in and out of the spray were numerous birds who seemed to be playing in the updrafts created by the pulsing water. Large dragonflies also were abundant, and I caught sight of a few butterflies frolicking against the green foliage.

To see a short 15-second video of the falls, click below.

I walked a bit further down and around the corner at the bottom and discovered a local man washing his laundry in the stream. I didn’t take a photo of him as I tend to feel like I am invading people's privacy when I do those sorts of things, but I surely noted how typically Ugandan the whole scene was. I could also see children jumping across rocks and chasing each other farther downstream.

‘What a beautiful place to be a child’. I couldn’t help but think.

Apparently, the falls used to be much stronger and nobody could go into them because of their power. But a private company built a dam at the top to create hydropower, so now they have turned this into more of a recreational area. Quite a few people came and went while we were there, so it’s nice that people can use it now for various reasons.

Like all good offroad excursions, ours wasn’t complete without a flat tire. We must have hit a pretty big rock as it actually slashed the side of the tire. As fate would have it, Martha’s jack didn’t have the metal bar that it needed to operate it properly, so she had to call her mechanic to come and rescue us.

It took them about an hour to arrive, which gave us more time to look at the scenery and marvel at the beautiful plants that surrounded us.

I forgot to take a picture of our heroes getting us back on the road, but they did so just as it was starting to get dark, and we made it home in fine form.

We are so grateful for this excursion that Martha took us on. It really broke up our week and gave us a much-needed break from working on our various projects around the property.

Speaking of which, today I officially finished placing the mosaic pieces on the wall! Tomorrow the grout will be finished and we will only be painting from then on.

That is, unless, we do decide to tile a table top, which has been considered as well.

We are starting to realize that our days are numbered here in Uganda. We are very excited to head off to Turkey, but of course, we are also starting to reminisce and think about all the things we will miss about this beautiful country.

This past week's day trip out into the hills certainly reminded us how much we love the green, rugged and raw beauty that this country has. If the climate was the sole determining factor in us finding the perfect place to settle down, Uganda would certainly be a top contender. There is no doubt that we will return to this beautiful place in the future.

I guess this isn’t so much a week in review, as it is one day's trip. But when most days start to look the same, it only takes one exciting one to steal the limelight!

Thanks so much for joining me on my journey. Hope everyone has a great week!

xo Jill

Thanks so much for joining me in my week in photos. Dennett started this challenge in her publication Weeds & Wildflowers during the beginnings of the pandemic, and it has since grown to include many authors. Check out the amazing writing and photography of Anne | Erika | Jane | Eileen | Juan | David | Mia | Susan | LensAfield | Kim | Barbara | Diana | Barb | Sandra | Shruthi | Ellie | Pene | Olive | Gustavo | Penny | Scott | Sasha | Tracy | Lisa | June | K. Barrett | Ivy and of course our host Dennett.

I have put all of my weeks in photos into their own list:

Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We paint FREE murals in exchange for accommodation. Check us out on Ko-fi!

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