Seeing the real Africa

We got up early to go to Dunga Bay to see the fishermen come in (from the night fishing) and go out (for the day fishing) on Lake Victoria.

I was impressed with their boats. The masts were made from trees. I know, imagine that, trees. I guess I'm so use to thinking that lumber comes from Lowe's that I forgot not everyone buys their lumber and that it originally was a tree.

Self Portrait of me and my girl!

This boat cracked me up!

One of the things Marian is most interested in doing is eating African food. She really wants to try stuff. Her grandfather obliged her by bringing home some of these momosas (I'll have to check on the name). They are meat and spice filled dough that is fried. It was quite spicy, but she ate half of it and was very pleased.

We went to the Market today! And how did we get there? We took a boda-boda! A boda-boda is a bicycle with a padded seat on the back for passengers. For 20 shillings (about $.25) each, we all took a bike ride to get to the market. It was a little scary, but fun.

Deborah was brave and went side saddle!

Here we are at the market. Deborah was cross that they invited you into their narrow stalls and then stood in the entrance so it was tough to just leave. We did have a marvelous time though and made many thrilling purchases! Marian was so cute, carefully selecting certain gifts for people. The vendors liked her a lot.

Laden with purchases, we opted to take a Tuk-tuk to get home. This little 3 wheeled (I hesitate to call it a) car sets 3 in the back, but we crammed all 5 of us in. This is Mom, negotiating the price.

It was a fun ride!! And yes, we tipped him for letting us take silly pictures.

After lunch and quiet time, we went to visit some church members who live in the Slums. It was very interesting. No electricity in most, no water or toilets at all. There are communal bathrooms (hole in the floor potties) that were a little scary. The children were fascinated by Marian. She was not thrilled to sit inside a hot, tiny "house" to visit, so she ran around outside making friends. she had a blast with the children there and they couldn't get enough of this weird white kid!

I took a picture of Marian and the kids were enthralled! They all wanted their pictures taken. They were all jumping and shoving to get in a picture. It was a mob scene!

Here are some of Marian's 500 new best friends. She was enamored with this goat, and loved to pet it. Then the goat would suddenly leap and buck and all the children would scatter. It was a hoot and Marian said that the "Goat Game" was her favorite part of the evening.

We also got to enjoy a genuine African dinner, prepared by our friends that we were visiting. Rice, and beans called "green graham". Marian proclaimed it tasty, and it was.

We have been enjoying our experience and Marian has been a fabulous travel companion.