Falling Water

Over the weekend we visited Ssezibwa Falls, which is one of the lesser-known jewels of Uganda. This park features a waterfall flowing over a cliff of marble, a tea plantation that looks like a sea of green, and animistic religious sites.
Traditional rituals are still carried out today at and around the falls. There seems to be a lot of tolerance between Christianity and the traditional religion, because our guide said the pilgrims clad in bark-cloth clothes visiting the ritual sites were also Christian.
The most extreme ritual we heard of was to send a sheep over the waterfall. Allegedly, if the sheep survives the drop, then whatever the owner desired would come true. Animal activists may not be crazy about this tradition, but I figure it makes at least as much sense as throwing a penny into a wishing pool.


One of the sisters at the Convent, Sister Rosemary, helped to cook us an elegant traditional Ugandan meal, typically reserved for special occasions. She also taught us traditional cooking methods.
The food was placed in containers made of banana leaves for cooking. She first treated these leaves with heat to increase their flexibility, and then removed the main fiber, which again makes them more flexible. They served as a durable wrap while the meal was cooked on a stove, and they also added flavor to the dish.


In terms of weather, the climate here is very pleasant. Being right on the equator made me think it was going to be hot, but the high elevation keeps the climate moderate. The sun is very strong of course, but at night it gets cool.
Something that has struck me is how quickly storms come and pass. They are very sudden, usually announced by thunder and a bank of dark clouds. In less than a minute the weather can go from being clear to a torrential downpour. Usually these rains only last half an hour, and the dark clouds are swiftly blown over the horizon.