Yesterday it was hot. Africa hot. We hadn't planned to go out, but given the weather we decided it was time to go swimming. Since we are staying in a guest house we don;t have a swimming pool where we are, so we took a little excursion down the road to the Speke Resort.
First, we had to ride in an African taxi. Yes, I broke down and did it. We hired our driver to guide us, as we were not prepared to attempt to find it by ourselves, and it made more sense to hire him and take the taxi then pay for the driver and the car combined. He led us through the neighborhood, to the road that leads to the Speke, then hailed a taxi. The taxis here are more like buses, in that they run certain routes. You do not direct them where to go, although you can get on and off almost at will along the road. They are Toyota vans, about the size of an old VW van, and they have seats for fourteen: four rows of three across, and two upfront. On the way to the resort, we were the only ones in the taxi, but on the way home there were twenty of us in the van built for fourteen. I have heard that actually it is not unusual to fit up to twenty-five people in, if you are in an area that is not heavily policed. It was pretty uncomfortable, but it was also very cheap. Transportation to and from the resort cost sixty cents. That was worth the discomfort.
The Speke Resort is really nice, but you pay for it. It was ten dollars for each adult swimming, and seven fifty for Tommy. We didn't realize it would be quite so expensive because our Lonely Planet had a much lower number, but that is what we get for using a 2006 guidebook. We assumed (wrongly) that they would have towels, so we had to rent one of those too (two fifty plus a ten dollar deposit). If we go again we will be bringing towels from the guest house.
The main pool was huge- probably olympic sized. It has a swim-up bar area, with little in-pool stools, so you can sit at the edge and have a drink in the shade of a thatch roof. The main pool was deep, so we spent our afternoon at the baby pool. Tommy loved swimming. He hated it when I would get tired and get out of the water to dry off/warm up or rest. I had trouble keeping him from drinking the water, and he tried repeatedly to lunge out of my arms. He had a wonderful time.
After we finished swimming (we spent about four hours in the pool),we walked down to Lake Victoria. Beautiful.
Just a few days until our ruling- July 22- (and hopefully) until we start having more adoption things to work on. Keep praying for a positive ruling, and for a quick passport and visa process. I want to bring Tommy home.
An intersection filled with African taxis
First, we had to ride in an African taxi. Yes, I broke down and did it. We hired our driver to guide us, as we were not prepared to attempt to find it by ourselves, and it made more sense to hire him and take the taxi then pay for the driver and the car combined. He led us through the neighborhood, to the road that leads to the Speke, then hailed a taxi. The taxis here are more like buses, in that they run certain routes. You do not direct them where to go, although you can get on and off almost at will along the road. They are Toyota vans, about the size of an old VW van, and they have seats for fourteen: four rows of three across, and two upfront. On the way to the resort, we were the only ones in the taxi, but on the way home there were twenty of us in the van built for fourteen. I have heard that actually it is not unusual to fit up to twenty-five people in, if you are in an area that is not heavily policed. It was pretty uncomfortable, but it was also very cheap. Transportation to and from the resort cost sixty cents. That was worth the discomfort.
The Speke Resort is really nice, but you pay for it. It was ten dollars for each adult swimming, and seven fifty for Tommy. We didn't realize it would be quite so expensive because our Lonely Planet had a much lower number, but that is what we get for using a 2006 guidebook. We assumed (wrongly) that they would have towels, so we had to rent one of those too (two fifty plus a ten dollar deposit). If we go again we will be bringing towels from the guest house.
The main pool was huge- probably olympic sized. It has a swim-up bar area, with little in-pool stools, so you can sit at the edge and have a drink in the shade of a thatch roof. The main pool was deep, so we spent our afternoon at the baby pool. Tommy loved swimming. He hated it when I would get tired and get out of the water to dry off/warm up or rest. I had trouble keeping him from drinking the water, and he tried repeatedly to lunge out of my arms. He had a wonderful time.
After we finished swimming (we spent about four hours in the pool),we walked down to Lake Victoria. Beautiful.
Just a few days until our ruling- July 22- (and hopefully) until we start having more adoption things to work on. Keep praying for a positive ruling, and for a quick passport and visa process. I want to bring Tommy home.
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1 comment:
Sounds like a needed break from the heat! Lots of people in NYC are praying for tomorrow's ruling (including me;)! Love you guys1
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