This Is My Song.....: On Top of the World...sort of


LtoR: Job (his eyes are closed), Anna, Holly, Sarah, Marie, Dawson

Bright and early Saturday morning, we had the day off, Dawson (staff at Smile) guided us on our hike up Tororo Rock! I’m sure a few of you are wondering how big it is etc. Well, here are the fun facts! Tororo Rock is 4,865 feet high and the elevation of Tororo is 3,888 feet so, the rock sits 977 feet above the city.


Pretty cute flowers that are on bushes all over!

We left Crystal hotel at around 7:45am. The crew included Sarah, Holly, Marie, Anna, Job (Teacher at Smile), Dawson and me. It took about 25 minutes just to get to where we were going to START climbing. We left early so we’d beat the extreme heat of the day but when we got to this point I was already tired. We had to bargain with the guards and pay them to let us go up the rock. So we headed up the rock. The path up was a lot of loose gravel and rocky spots. We stopped several times on the way up for breaks and the view was GORGEOUS! (my photos don’t do justice) At a few points they have cemented (thanks to Tororo Cement Factory here) in ladders for you to climb up!! I was so thankful for those ladders, it would have been a lot tougher climb.


View on top of the rock overlooking the golf course!

When we finally reached the top we sat on the corner overlooking Tororo. It was so fun to see the hotel (home sweet home), Smile Africa, the main round about (which is a staple point for directions here) and the market etc. We saw several monkeys swinging and hopping along a nearby rock! It’s still funny to have monkeys, and baboons be a normal thing here!


Climbing on the lovely ladders!

We went to the opposite side of the rock to look out over the rest of the area and we could see the Algon Mountain, Kenya, Tororo Golf Course, and the beauty that is Africa. What I saw from up there is what I’ve pictured Africa to be like. From movies, shows, safari pictures, is what I have pictured in my mind of Africa. It is a good wake up to live in an actual African city where from above it looks great, structured, and beautiful but then to live there you see all the details and needs that are really there. (Just like anywhere in the world)