First Vacation: Sipi Falls

 We had a three-day weekend for Labor Day, and we have a car (a 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser, or Prado, which is very necessary given the roads!), so we decided to go exploring. My predecessor absolutely loved Sipi Falls and recommended a hotel, the Sipi River Lodge.

We left late Friday morning and got there just before dinner. The view from our cottage was pretty amazing:

(That's the middle falls)

Most lodges here include half or full board in the room rate, so we ate really well the whole weekend. Each meal had a vegetarian and a meat option, and each dinner had dessert and there was lots of fresh fruit to eat. Full board also included tea and banana cake in the afternoon. Big fan!

Saturday morning, we booked a waterfall hike. We went to the middle falls (and behind the middle falls!), the upper falls, and through the neighboring village. It was a beautiful morning and our guide was awesome. We fell a few times in the mud, but no big deal.

Our guide, Paul

After a relaxing afternoon of reading on the back porch of our cabin, Paul took us up to watch the sunset. We ended up chatting with a guy there from Kampala for the weekend, who is friends with one of my Embassy colleagues. Small world! The sunset was a little underwhelming that day, but the view was stunning.

Sunday morning, Paul took us to see the lower falls, and then we did a little coffee tour, where a farmer showed us how coffee is planted (we planted a tree! it'll be ready in 3 1/2 years) and we got to hull/roast/grind/drink our own cup. 

The lower falls

A coffee tree - the red ones are ripe

Monday morning we got on the road after breakfast. We took a longer route back for the chance of seeing some baboons.

A baboon family!

All in all, a really nice weekend away. We're looking forward to seeing more of our new home and already plotting our long weekend in October.