Rowing Lake Vic: Part II

For the second time this month, I went down to the fish market at Munyonyo and hustled a fisherman into letting me take out his canoe for a few hours. This time I was alone, so my strategy was to choose a small boat that would allow easier paddling and more maneuverability.

Last time I explored a small marina where families car camped and race small Sunfish boats in the morning. Today, I head just west of the marina, to a small island that looked full of potential. There was no sign of life on the island last time, and today was the same. I pulled into a dry landing spot which broke through the marshy weeds that surrounded the island.

I found myself in a small tropical paradise. Small bright flowers and enormous green banana leaves covered the landscape. However, as I walked up a small path, I began to hear voices. I turned a corner at the top of the hill and saw a group of local women, sitting in the shade, picking beans off large clumps of branches. One of the women had just opened a papaya with a small knife. After spending an hour in the blinding sunlight, the orange at the center of the papaya looked especially rich to me.

One of the women told me that no one lived on the island, but it was a place that fisherman came to take a break from the harsh mid-day sun, and where a few women from the mainland came to do some subsistence farming. I thanked the women for the information and asked if one of the women, who had a small child, wanted to finish the bottle of water I had brought along. She gladly accepted, and in return, to my surprise, I was given a strange looking gourd. The gourd resembled an odd shaped pumpkin, and was like nothing I had seen on the mainland.

With gourd in hand, I returned to my sturdy ship. Unfortunately, after I pushed off the shore, I realized that my ship was not so sturdy. I had noticed earlier that the boat was old, with the metal rivets rusting and wood slightly deteriorating. However, now I began to see that I had a pinhole leak was very slowly filling my boat with water. Luckily, at that point, I was close to shore, and I pulled in before the leak had done any damage. Now I understand why my fisherman friend Charles had warned me against taking out used boats.

All in all, another beautiful morning on Lake Vic!