Slippy Falls

A few weeks ago, we embarked on a last minute adventure.  When I say last minute, I mean I sent text messages at midnight asking people if they wanted to leave the following morning on a trip for which I had made no plans.  The only thing I knew for sure: the name of our destination, Sipi Falls.  A trip like this is not my forte- I am a constant planner, and I always need to know where I’m going.  But, I thought I should take a walk on the wild side.

In the end, we found a taxi to Sipi, a cheap but clean hostel to stay in, a guide for our hike and a packed lunch for the road.  Sipi is a gorgeous region above Mbale town that is completely refreshing from my site.  It’s cool, mountainous and green.  The hostel we were staying in overlooked this beautiful valley from which you could see one of the three Sipi waterfalls.

Once on our four hike, I felt bad for our guide.  Here we were: four very loud, obnoxious and excited American girls.  We hadn’t seen each other in a while and spent the majority of the time chatting, cracking jokes and giggling.  Regardless, we still listened to all the guide’s directions.  He shouted when there were thorn bushes, slippery slopes, low branches and fire ants.  At one point, he yelled, “Ants!  ANTS!  Everywhere!  Run!”  Did I mention that it had rained earlier in the day so the trail was muddy and slippery?  Unfortunately, Audrey slipped into the ants.  She was so shocked that she actually fell, she couldn’t get back up.  As she’s screaming, “They’re biting me!  They’re biiiittttiiinnnggg me!”, we all were hysterically laughing but the guide is yelling, “Run!  RUN! RUUUUNNNN!!!”  Don’t worry- she survived.  Although she was the first to fall, we all fell at one point or another.

In the end, we had a great time, despite the afternoon downpour and being unable to see the last waterfall up close.  We thought it was cool during the day- we were in for quite a surprise that night!  One of us didn’t even bring a long-sleeve, let alone a fleece.  We spent that night huddled up together swapping site stories in the lantern light.  We’re all excited for the next unplanned adventure because this one went so well.

Below, I’ve finally uploaded some pictures to show you my first trip.  I know I’ve been promising pictures, so I hope some people are finally happy.  I do hope to be better in the future about posting pictures, but no promises.

We found a pig, so we decided it would be a good idea to sneak up on it

Me and the first waterfall

A very slippery bridge that required intense caution.  
A friend pointed out that I wasn't taking it very seriously

The valley that the falls faced.

I'm prepared for the rain.

Audrey and I celebrating the end of our hike at the final fall.

A view up the hill at the hostel we stayed at.