Sipi Falls: Pictures From a Final Vacation in Africa's Pearl

My roommates and I spent the Easter holiday on Mt. Elgon, taking in the views of Sipi Falls from the Crow's Nest, a quiet but lively hostel not far from the border with Kenya. Given a day off either side of the weekend - Easter is serious business here - it seemed like every mzungu in Uganda converged on the touristy spots throughout the country. We met some great folks, including a group of Peace Corps volunteers whose Uganda experience is so diametrically opposed to mine that it's shocking we all live in the same country, as well as two brodudes from Manhattan who happened to be some of the smartest and funniest people I've met here.

I traveled to Sipi my first time in Uganda and it will always be a special place for me on the merits of its sheer beauty alone. I've decided in the unlikely chance I want to go through the motions of marriage, Sipi is where I'll propose; I'd tell you to run for the hills, ladies, but if we're on Sipi there isn't much higher you'll be able to climb. Here are some pictures from the weekend there, more than likely not taken by myself.

My roommate JC and I split a ride up the mountain with a group of South Korean expats about our age. One of them asked us, within three minutes of getting in the car, if we liked to drink. JC and I appreciated his bluntness and the beauty of cultural differences. Here I am, staring at them as they take pictures of trees down the road. 

On our first night on Mt. Elgon we went to a restaurant on the side of the mountain with a ridiculous view of the Rift Valley stretching through eastern Uganda. Not a bad place to have a few beers and watch the sun set:

On the walk down the quiet, dark, and rather remote road back to the hostel, JC decided to surprise Sara and I by running past us in the dark like a god damn madman. He is a lovable maniac. 

The next day we hiked Sipi:

There's a 100 percent chance people do their laundry upstream from these waterfalls, not to mention every water-based parasite that could find its way into your body. But you're not going to pass up the chance to get in the water, right?