It’s been a long while since I’ve posted. I had to look at my website to see, because I couldn’t remember. It’s mid-November 2023 and I have posted twice this year. Doing a third post means I am tripled my activity in 2022 and passed 2021 by one.
It’s not that I haven’t done any travelling. I have. I’ve gone on safaris and been a stone’s throw from wild rhinos – twice. I have even checked the box of seeing the shoebill stork in the wild, and finally got to Europe on a work trip to the Netherlands. And this summer I travelled back to Canada and married my daughter, literally as I performed the ceremony. Why no posts? I can’t really say. And, of course, there is nothing stopping me from sharing about those adventures in the future.
But today, I am inspired to be a little philosophical. It is surprising, and a little sad, how extraordinary things can become ordinary to us when we forget our sense of wonder. Here I am, a small town girl from rural Manitoba Canada, living in Kampala, Uganda for nearly five years now. A long way from home. If you want to know how long, try flying here from western Canada. But somewhere along the way I let the wonder slip away.
It’s time to bring it back.
The impetus for this shifting back is, again, a simple walk in a new neighbourhood. A change in job led to downsizing my rent, but, it turns out, upscaling my overall circumstance.
Last Sunday I found a lovely walking route, approximately 2km long. It is a full circle which is not common in Kampala, a city of “Closes” and dead ends. And I don’t go near a main road. On this walk I discovered I am within a kilometer of the lake. This morning I walked the route again and took some photos to share with my best friend. While taking the pictures I remembered that this is not just any lake. It is Lake Victoria.
Here are the photos I took for Kim. Though the sky isn’t blue, it was warm and I was wearing shorts. As I come around the bend, less than 5 minutes into the walk, the lake appears. This part of the walk is downhill. On Sunday morning it is a musical walk, as there are a few churches on the route.
The road turns 90 degrees at the black gate and then I walk parallel to the lake for a while, every now and then there is a view on the left. I end heading up hill back home. Keeping in mind that the entire walk is only 2km gives an idea of how close to the lake I am.
As described by Wikipedia, Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately 59,947 km², Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area, the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America. And here I am, just strolling through my hood adjacent to it. A lake so big that it’s shores touch five countries – Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. A lake so big that it’s shores touch five countries – Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
From my humble roots in rural Manitoba, I ended up making a home here and I have visited three of those five countries. I haven’t been out of the airport in Kigali, so I can’t add Rwanda to the list yet, and I haven’t been to Tanzania yet, though Zanzibar is calling loudly.
The world is amazing. Life is a gift, not a mundane exercise to be endured, it is indeed what we make it.
Wonder: A feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar. Similar: awe, admiration, wonderment, fascination, surprise, astonishment, amazement
It is my intention to rekindle my wonder. I hope you will join me.
A Travelling Accountant 