I'm not one who enjoys talking about such habits, but spending 4 years in the modern dance program, and having some of my dear friends as buddies has made me more accustomed.
Most of the places we stayed in Uganda had running water (aka flushing toilets). We were VERY lucky. ALL of the places we spent our days did not. In this case you could usually hold it (unless it was a pepto kind of day - gross - sorry - enough said). We did however spend three days and three nights in Katosi, a small village on the shores of Lake Victoria. We stayed in the ONLY "hotel" in that town. We had no running water, though the holes were nicer than most. We had 3 hours of generator electricity, more than anyone else. The "bathroom" was a room with a drain in it where you could poor water from Lake Victoria over you and call yourself clean (forgive the fishy odor).
Try as one might, most can't hold their number 2 business for three days and three nights. It just doesn't work and it will make you cranky. This is when you must learn to poo in a hole.
Experienced campers are probably laughing at this moment, but I assure you this type of maneuver is harder than it sounds. We're not talking camping pitholes here where the hole is raised up to your behind's level. Nor are we talking about a venture into the wilderness where "falling as it may" is OK. This is a hole. In the ground. You must aim for. That's a thigh-burning squat, people!
In my experience, you are most successful with no extra baggage (leave your backpack somewhere trustworthy), TP at the ready (we're talking in your HANDS, friends), a light source (headlamps recommended), and perhaps a door guard (because there is no bonding experience like this one and we all know those pieces of wood don't actually stay closed). Always remember to breath through your mouth. Please excuse the rustling sounds from the corner. It's probably just the local mouse, and he'll leave you alone. In case you were wondering, my mission was successful.
After our stay in Katosi we traveled up to Murchison National Park for a little safari vacation (more on that later). This is where the fancy Europeans and Americans go for a good time in Uganda... and it is wicked expensive! They come in their fancy buses, in perfectly clean white safari dresses, their just washed hair blowing in the air conditioning. We showed up in our "trusty" van (more on that later) sans AC. The toilet at the entrance to the park is a hole in the ground. Believe it or not, there are different classes of hole in the ground bathroom breaks and this one was CLASSY. They provided TP and hand sanitizer. There was a working light. The doors locked. The walls were painted. Best of all, there was a cute little wooden cover for the hole helping to minimize nasty odor. This was a nice change for us! The air conditioned Americans came out of that toilet complaining of its grossness, we resisted all urges to tell them that those toilets were actually a HUGE step up from our last hotel!
On our way back to the states we flew through Dubai - a crazy crowded airport. Yes, there are long lines for the bathrooms. So many people from all over the world travel here, and that is reflected in their bathrooms. They are clean and sanitary, and half of the stalls have squatter flushing toilets. The nice bathroom attendant helping to facilitate the long line was guiding everyone toward empty stalls. When we reached the front of the line she told us we should wait- only squatter toilets were open. We looked at her with proud looks in our eyes. "Lovely lady, we may be weak legged Americans, but we just spent the last month in Uganda. Our quads are strong, and our aim is good. Lead the way- those squatters don't scare us." Her look of approval gave us more pride than any of us would like to admit.
It can be very easy to take the little things in life for granted. Constant access to a flushing toilet that you can SIT on? One without a parasite risk? - That's one thing I won't take for granted again.
This is a photo of the room you bathe in... none of us thought to take a picture of the place you actually poo... but that's not really something you'd want to see anyway.
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