exploring rocks and water.

Class is over. Our brains are fried from studying. So what do we do? Go on adventures!

Adventure #1: Climbing large rocks.
A 15 minute walk from our language school leads us up a dirt road to a collection of big rocks nestled on a sprawling grassy knoll. It's a great place to walk around, explore and admire the view.

there is a very small rock on the opposite side of the large rock holding it up. i expect it to topple over any day.

This would be that view. From atop the rocks, one is easily positioned to see the beauty of Lake Victoria spreading out in all directions. The land opposite us is still Tanzania. Musoma (the city we are currently in) is situated on an inlet so the land makes a bit of a U-turn.

gorgeous view of lake victoria from atop the large rocks.

Looking inland from the above spot, the land continues in an upwards trajectory with more rocks, more grass and plenty of cows (sadly, the cows are not pictured below).

michael and ashley enjoying some rest with a view atop the large rocks of makoko.

Adventure #2: Boat ride to an island on Lake Victoria.

One of our teachers at the language school has a former student that owns a boat. Upon learning this, we quickly sought to take advantage of this connection.

We, along with our other eight classmates, boarded a mighty sea-faring vessel (below) and journeyed one hour across the waters of Lake Victoria to the island of Lukuba.

our mighty sea-faring vessel...and a bird.

Quite reminiscent of Adventure #1 (above), we encountered many more rocks that formed tiny islands throughout our boat ride.

michael and ashley enjoying the pleasant lake waters amidst a rock-island landscape.

Once we arrive at the island of Lukuba, we went exploring. First, we wandered down the narrow dirt road streets through homes and shops.

plenty of interesting sights, sounds and smells filled the streets, but this moment of solitude was just right for a photo.

Next, we climbed and hacked our way through tropical jungle-like terrain. I seriously expected to happen upon King Kong in the below spot.

we did not see the king of the jungle, but we did see several monkeys (which unfortunately did not make our photos).

Throughout our island exploration, it was impossible to escape the pungent odor of dagaa, a local tiny fish that every man, woman, child, dog and cat eats. I so wish that I could cause the smell of dagaa to emanate from the below photo as you view this post, just so you could appreciate the full and rich experience.

this is but one small pile of dagaa. the entire island is littered with fields of dagaa laying out in the sun to dry.

In case the above photo did not properly bring to life this water creature, I have provided a close-up below. Locals happily gobble these up by the fist full.

delicious close-up of the dagaa fish. sorry if this makes you nauseous.

I will conclude Adventure #2 with (hopefully) a photo that is less nauseating: a photo of us! After wandering throughout dirt roads, tropical jungle and unending fields of dagaa drying in the sun, Ashley and I arrived at this tiny beach awaiting our boat for final transport.

a storm started to blow in at this point, but thankfully it did not rain too hard.

Life at language school is hard work and overflowing with hours spent studying, so it sure is nice to venture out to be among the local people and explore unchartered (for us) territory.