Lake Bunyoni and the Hairy Lemon

Internet is slow here in Uganda, which, thus far, is our only complaint.

Upon returning from Rwanda, we had three lovely relaxing days in Uganda.

First, we spent two nights camping on the shores of Lake Bunyoni in southwestern Uganda. Other than sleeping, reading, and eating, we did precious little else... finally a REAL honeymoon type of day. (Of course, pitching your own tent and showering in cold water doesn't exactly fit the honeymoon description, but it was perfect for us.)

Of note: we took a tour of a local village near Lake Bunyoni, where our guide pointed out a tiny island in the middle of the lake called 'Punishment Island.'

This tiny island - literally the size of a swimming pool, with one tree on it - was apparently where the local villagers used to take unmarried pregnant woman to die as punishment for getting pregnant out of wedlock. The only way a woman could be rescued was if a man from town -- too poor to afford the dowry for a 'normal' wife -- came to the island to rescue her and take her as his wife.

Susan asked the punishment for an unmarried man getting a girl pregnant. You can guess the answer: nothing.

Apparently this practice of banishing unmarried pregnant girls to Punishment Island stopped in the 1950s or so, but we were told that there were a few living women in the village who had been 'rescued' from the island many years ago, and had families with their rescuers. Unfortunately we didn't get to meet them.

After leaving Lake Bunyoni, we spent a wonderful night on a tiny island on the White Nile - a fabulous little resort called the Hairy Lemon with homemade meals, little waterfalls, and the chance to bathe in the river - no hot water, limited electricity, no cell phone service, and no email.

For kayak enthusiasts, the Hairy Lemon is apparently near one of only three 'perpetual waves' (we think that's what they are called) in the entire world. This is some amazing kayaking phenomenon for kayakers, and so the island hosts many of them. While we were there, we encountered a very fun and rowdy bunch of Russian kayakers.

Two relaxing nights back in Kampala with our remarkably generous hosts Dan and Sarah, where we have caught up on internet (and this blog) and eaten lots of good Indian good, and tomorrow we head to Kyangwali, the refugee orphanage where we will be volunteering for the following week...