9 Easy Steps for a Happy Bucket Shower!

It was around 5:30 on the third day of camping.  I was wiping down all my exposed skin with Insect Repellant wipes when I noticed how dirty the wipes were after I used them.  

Camping Lesson #1: When using bug wipes doubles as bath time, it is time to brave the showers!

Taking a shower at camp was an interesting process.  Process, being the key word!  For those less experienced, I’ve developed a no fail, 9 step process to the camp-bucket-shower-system. 

Step 1: Be prepared.  Gather everything you need for a shower and put it in something that can hang on a nail.  Some of the things you might need include soap, razor, shampoo, conditioner, foot scrubber, towel, appropriate after shower clothes to walk back to your tent in, and most importantly, your water bucket. 

Step 2: Claim your shower stall.  Cautiously knock on a shower door, keeping in mind that these doors don’t lock.  Hang up shower gear in open stall on provided nails, making sure not to drag your dry towel in the pile of wet leaves on the ground.  In the likely event that both showers are occupied, skip to step 3 and wait for an open stall.

Step 3: Fill your water bucket.  Walk up the hill from the showers with your empty water bucket.  Approach the curious group of Rwandan kitchen workers with confidence and smiles.  Fill your bucket 1/3 full with the steaming hot water which comes from the pipe running through the furnace.  Ignore the brownish color of the water and fill up your bucket from the cold water tap.  Test the water temperature and add more hot or cold water as needed.  Now that your bucket is full, continue to ignore the brownish color of the water and do your best to carry the heavy bucket down the hill to your shower without spilling a precious drop. 

Step 4: Fill your shower bucket.  Using the handy pulley system, lower your shower bucket.  Transfer water from your water bucket into your shower bucket.  Now that your shower bucket is full and heavy, heave it back up and secure at appropriate height with rope and nails.  Tips: pull bucket up in gentle and smooth motion as to not slosh out any water; bucket height should be just high enough to stand up underneath while being able to reach the red handle which open and closes the shower spout; check to make sure shower spout is closed before filling shower bucket with water.  

Step 5: Secure shower door.  Now that your shower bucket is filled with warm water and set at the appropriate height, turn around and do your best to securely close the shower door.  Since this is nearly impossible, it is important to always be on the alert for approaching voices and foot steps so that you can quickly and loudly announce that your shower stall is occupied.  

Step 6: Get naked.  Forget about the curious group of Rwandan kitchen workers at the top of the hill still staring in your direction.  Forget about the unknown person on the other side of the brick wall also naked and showering.  Forget about the monkeys jumping from limb to limb in the tree above your head.  Forget about the leaves, and who knows what else dropping into your shower stall and water bucket from the trees and monkeys above.  It is time to get naked!  Gingerly step out of clothes while avoiding stepping into a pile of wet leaves or mud.  Hang clothes on nail. 

Step 7: Commence washing.  First, make a plan.  Consider all that you want washed and the amount of water in your shower bucket.  Then, decide what you really need washed.  Stand under your shower and open the water valve with a twist of the red lever.  Quickly get your whole body wet, using as little water as possible.  Turn off water and lather up. Shampoo hair. Soap up your body, including feet.  While balancing on one foot with shampoo still lathered up in your hair and your body all slippery with soap, use your foot scrubber to clean the rough and blackened bottoms of one foot.  Put clean and soapy foot back into flip-flops, balance on clean foot without touching the slimy brick walls enclosing your small shower, and clean opposite foot.  Before turning on water, lather your face up with face soap.  Now, turn on water and rinse face, hair, body, and feet as quickly as possible.  Once you are soap free, let shower bucket down and determine if remaining water is enough to condition hair.  Continue to ignore the brownish color of the water.  If enough water remains, lift bucket back up and secure with rope, add conditioner to hair and rinse.  If not, make note of how you foolishly used up too much water and suffer the consequences of dry hair.

Step 8: Dry off and walk back to tent. By now, there are several people talking on the other side of your shower door, patiently waiting their turn for the shower.  Self consciously, pick off any leaves that have fallen from the trees above and are sticking to your naked body.   Hurriedly dry off and put on decent after-shower clothes without letting clean, dry clothes drag on wet and muddy floor.  Gather up shower gear and put into empty water bucket.  Check to make sure underwear and other unmentionable garments are secure for the walk back to your tent and not still hanging on a nail in the stall.  Bravely open shower door, comment on how clean you feel to those waiting and carefully walk up the hill in your slippery wet flip-flops while waving to the curious Rwandan kitchen workers.

Step 9:  Congratulate yourself on actually enjoying the camp shower and being clean! 

This are the two shower stalls.  Looks inviting, right?

The shower works on a bucket pulley system.  Pull the rope down to hoist the bucket up and let the rope up to bring the bucket down . . . more easily said than done, especially with a full heavy bucket!

Here is the bucket lowered all the way down.

A close up of the bucket.  The red lever kind-of blends in with the brick behind it.  The red lever controls the flow of water through the shower head.  

The main meeting hall buildings.  The kitchen is the building on the left and the showers are just down the hill on the far left.  The hot water is located in the middle of the two buildings.

The kitchen building.  Look for the green bucket to the right of the center of the picture.  This is where the cold or normal water comes out.  The two holes in the side of the building are part of the furnace over which all the food is cooked inside. 

Between the two buildings is the other furnace.  The hot water is located to the left of the furnace.  Usually this is where all the curious Rwandan kitchen workers hang out...because that is the kitchen on the left.

A close up for the hot water tap!  Be sure you don't fill up too much on the hot water - cause it is really, really, really hot!