Hills on Holiday

We've become accustomed to some of the British-influenced wording we hear so often in East Africa. One of these phrases is "on holiday" which doesn't necessarily mean a holiday in the American sense; it means a vacation. Here are some photos of our family from our recent much-needed holiday to Western Uganda and the Indian Ocean. From the enthusiasm on their faces you can tell that it had been a long time since we had last been on a road trip.

The only photo of all 5 of us, taken on the ridge overlooking Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. It was low tourist season, so we couldn't find others to take shots and resorted to the self timer. Otherwise it was pretty nice to have so few others around.

A water slide made of tile with right angles. Awful for the left hip, but awesome for Daddy-fun!

Western Uganda is covered with old volcanoes, so we enjoyed quite a few views and walks around the residual crater lakes.

The only caves in Uganda have a small waterfall which made us thankful for our raincoats. We were in for more than we bargained - it was a wet, tricky trek in the name of ecotourism - see next photo.

This is taken at the bottom of a steep muddy incline as I watched Dusty crawling under roots and vines and pulling Cooper up with him after removing the baby backpack. It became clear early on that ecotourism here means doing as little as possible to alter nature even if it means broken ankles and claustrophic vines. In other words, Adventure!

On to the second half of the trip. There were 10 dogs on the cottage compound where we stayed in Kenya. Although that is too many dogs for Dusty and me, it was a perfect source of entertainment for the kids.

It was lovely to have only 2 options for things to do every day in Kenya. Pool or beach. Marvelously brainless, and fun! Jack discovered flipping into the water while Tessa discovered flipping underwater. Cooper discovered that leather shoes don't go in water.

Cooper discovered the joy of eating fresh mango without utensils - a great sport when followed by a dip in the ocean.

The red snapper we bought which lasted us for three meals - unbelievably tasty in a coconut curry made from coconuts on the trees outside our cottage.

The next post will have photos of scenery and some of the animals we saw minus the dogs and fish! Stay tuned.