On Monday October 8th we left for the loooong airplane trip to the other side of the world. We left SLC and had a direct flight eight hours to Amsterdam. We had a two hour layover and then got on the next plane that took us another nine hours into Kigali, Rwanda (not getting off here just letting passengers on) and then one last hour into Entebbe, Uganda. We arrived around 10:00 PM on Tuesday night. We had a rental car reserved but lo and behold the person that was supposed to meet us at the airport with the car didn't make it. So while I waited for about an hour, Rick was in with EuRopcar trying to figure out how to get us to the hotel. Finally, we were able to get a taxi that took us the five minute ride into the Protea Hotel where we bedded down for the night.
We were very happy to have arrived safely with only the rental car our only hiccup for the travel day. We enjoyed a good night's rest and then got up early to start our day.
Here is our view of Lake Victoria outside of our hotel room. The Protea is a very nice place with great food and accommodations. We would have loved to stay longer but we had a schedule to keep.
Our rental car arrived at the hotel by 7:30 the net morning so after a nice buffet breakfast provided by the Hotel we hopped in the car and started our journey to Lake Mburu.
We stopped at the Java House in the Imperial Mall to meet up with our friend Jackie. We met Jackie two years ago when we started our mission. She used to work at the Java House in Jinja. During the six months the we lived in Uganda we would stop in for lunch or dinner many times as we traveled back and forth from Mbale to Kampala. She became a good friend and we even had the chance to meet her family as Jackie was raised in the mountains close to Mbale where we lived.
Jackie got transferred from Jinja to Entebbe and now works in the Imperial Mall:)
It was a nice reunion and we were able to get caught up on what's going on in her life.
She is such a sweet girl and we love her a lot!
After leaving Jackie we got to drive on the new Kampala/Entebbe Expressway. It was SUPER nice not to have to fight the traffic in Entebbe and Kampala to get to the main road toward Western Uganda. We were able to find the Masaka Road without too much trouble and then we were on our way. It was about a five hour drive to get to Lake Mburu and I must say my husband is uh-mazing! I love how he can drive in Uganda just like a Ugandan. Not an easy task!
We stopped at the equator and took a picture. We met a young woman who was living in Uganda trying to adopt an orphan. This is no easy task. You have to live in Uganda for at least a year before a child can be taken out of the country. Her husband works in the States and so she and her two children and the adoptive son are living in Uganda without him. To me that is so brave! A single mother! In Uganda!! I can't even imagine doing that. Some people are so courageous. And good. She was doing it for the good of one little boy. When we met up with her she told us that she had some family come to visit her so she was taking advantage of that time and showing them around the country.
I am amazed at the goodness in people.
This was just one person in millions of good stories out there.
After our long drive and with the help of a Boda driver we found the Mihingo Lodge next to Lake Mburu. Mihingo came highly recommended by the Wittwer's who had stayed there a number of times. It did not disappoint! We stayed in the Buffalo Room that overlooked a waterhole. It was such a nice stay! Our room was situated 189 steps one way away from the lodge. I kept thinking as I was walking down to the room...."I have to come back UP these stairs!" But I would not have had it any other way because having our balcony overlook the waterhole was such an amazing experience!
After getting settled we went up for a nice dinner and then went on a night game drive. This was a first for us. We have never been out on a game drive at night before. While we got to see a lot of animals (with a spotlight) it just wasn't quite the same as a daytime drive. .... much harder to see the animals. We did happen upon 17 giraffes. A nice big family of them. There were about five babies in the group. Pretty cool! By the time we got back to the lodge I was freezing. I did not expect for it to be cold in Uganda so I didn't bring much clothing for warmth. Rick had packed a hoodie so that helped.
We got back to our room which was very nice....rustic yet elegant mixed together. Since I had gotten a chill on the game drive I couldn't get warmed up. I wore the hoodie to bed and snuggled up to Rick, who just happens to moonlight as an oven at night! It never really warmed up in our room because the windows were open to the sounds of the jungle all night long. We didn't want to dim our experience of sleeping in the jungle by closing the blinds! Even though it was cold, it was worth it!!
During the night we heard a baboon scream right outside our front door! We were really right there in the middle of the jungle! So exciting! With our jet lag we both woke up at four AM. We layed in bed talking until we fell back asleep. It was really fun to hear the jungle awake even before the sun started to rise. There were lots of birds and by the time I woke back up at six Rick was out on the deck with the binoculars checking out the wildlife coming to the waterhole. We saw many zebra and impala, and even a hippo lounging in the water!
Here are some pictures of our Buffalo Room. Even taking a shower and using the toilet were wide open windows. (Of course, there were screens on them. No mosquitos for me!! ) Nobody around to see us through those open windows, though.
This is our beautiful view off our balcony. The waterhole is hard to see in the pictures but trust me. It's there.
A shot of Rick first thing in the morning looking for wildlife through the binocs. I took this picture from inside so the screen is muffling the picture.
WATERHOLE!!
The massages at the lodge were a mere one hundred ten thousand shillings (about $30) so I couldn't refuse a massage on the deck overlooking the jungle:)
That morning after breakfast we took another game drive. We saw so many animals and it was a treat! We never found the elusive leopard but we were not disappointed in all that we DID see!
Vervet Monkey
Zebra
Impala
Eland
Families of Warthogs
Cape Buffalo
Bush Buck
Families of Giraffes
After our game drive and a lunch we took off for Kichwamba where we were meeting up with President and Sister Collings. We thought we would beat them there but they got left from Kampala earlier than we thought and they actually arrived to Park View Lodge before we did.
Here is our room. It was very nice and comfortable for us. We overlooked the park and while we never saw any wildlife from our room the Collingses saw FIVE elephants wandering out on the Savannah. Super cool.
When we were checking in it started to rain. We had seen the storm as we were driving in as we got close to the Lodge. It was such an awesome sight, this massive storm over the Savannah. What we didn't know was that it was heading our way and before we could get checked in and our luggage to our room it EXPLODED! Such huge raindrops coming down hard!! We figured it was just Mother Nature welcoming us to QENP:)
After having a nice dinner with Steve and Tracy we got a good nights rest. We woke early the next morning for chimpanzee tracking. We had done this the last time and had a good experience. President Collings had me a little freaked out by his earlier experience chimpanzee tracking because it was a very difficult hike, even for him who is in prime shape! It all turned out well, though. We didn't have to walk very far until we saw a chimp. There was only one and we watched him for a good 45 minutes. Silly us! We forgot our binoculars in the car and it would have been so helpful to have them because the chimp was way high up in the tree. A little later we did see a few more. We were happy that we were able to find some and experience a little chimp viewing. The hiking wasn't too bad at all!
No pictures of the chimpanzees:(
That afternoon after lunch we took a boat ride down the Nile. We didn't love our experience, because after our Murchison Falls boat tour everything fails in comparison. It was kind of like, "eh, ok already."
The next morning, while the Collingses chose to stay back and enjoy some down time at the Lodge, Rick and I went on a game drive through the park. It was a beautiful morning. We saw a lot of the same things that we saw at Lake Mburu but it was nice to be out on the Savannah early in the morning with the fresh smells of the land.
Kob
Male lion just lounging in the shade.
Our sweet ride.
After our drive we got back to the lodge and packed up our bags to drive to Masaka for the night. Park View had packed a to go lunch for us (rolex, and fruit) that sure helped our hungry stomachs.
After arriving at the Brovad Hotel in Masaka and getting settled in we met up with President and Sister Collings for a dinner with the Masaka Branch Presidents and their wives. They were very nice people. It was also a very nice buffet provided by the Hotel.
The next morning we got to church where President Collings was splitting the Branch. It was a beautiful meeting with the Saints in the area having a lot of faith. Such good feelings were felt in the meetings. I appreciated President Collings' teaching throughout the second half of the block. He spoke on Ministering and opened it up to the members to share some of their thoughts. It made me think of things that I need to do as I minister to others.
These Young Women wanted to take selfies with me. A. LOT. OF. SELFIES. I ended up deleting about twenty pictures from my phone because really all you need is on or two good pictures, right?
We took some pictures of the missionaries too. I can't remember their names:(
After church we drove back to Kampala to spend the night in the mission home. The Collingses moved some time back and so we were not sure where we were going. Luckily, our GPS got us to where we needed to be, even though it apparently took us the long way. It's all good, though. We were just happy to arrive safely and in one piece.
This is our rental car, a Toyota Prado. It looks pretty good from the outside. The inside was ok, too but the one thing that was difficult was the puddle of water underneath my feet. We discovered from the get go that when using the air conditioner, water leaked onto the passenger side floor. Not life threatening but definitely a pain to deal with for two whole weeks!!
Monday morning after Rick and I got off to an early start getting some laundry done and then running to Capital to pick up some needed items for Elder Wailagala and his companion. We were able to get snack foods, cereal, soap, chocolate amongst other items for a little gift for them.
After our excursion to the store we drove with Steve and Tracy to the Entebbe Zoo. This had not previously been on our list to do but when we found out we could have an interactive experience with the animals....we knew we had to do it. Tracy drove us in the mission car and that was a blessing because it showed us how to get from the Northern Bypass onto the new Kampala/Entebbe Expressway. We would need to know that info to get back to the airport eventually.
Here is a picture of the four of us.
Let me just say at this point of my writing that Rick and I think the world of these two. Steve and Tracy are dear friends and they have done such a great work in the Uganda Kampala Mission. Uganda is not an easy place to live but they have taken their responsibilities to the utmost and have improved many areas of the church in Uganda while trying to rein in, teach, and improve between 120-150 young missionaries. NOT an easy task. We love President and Sister Collings!
Our first experience at the zoo was to ride a camel. This has been on my bucket list for quite a while. Seeing how many places we have had the privilege to visit I am surprised that this is not anything we have had an opportunity to do. We were happy to have the experience although I must say that camels are very uncomfortable to ride! Getting off was quite the feat and we had a good laugh over that!!
Steve and Tracy got to ride, too.
Some animals we saw at the zoo.....
Cheetah
Serval Cat
Hyena
Rhinoceros
Lion cubs
Gray Shoebill Stork (looking like something out of prehistoric life)
Ugandan Crested Crane up close
Giraffe feeding....pure craziness and so cool!
Rick feeding a Water Buck.
Monitor Lizard
and Baby Elephant feeding. These little guys smelled so bad!
We also got to feed the chimpanzees but I did not get any pictures of that. It was a nice day spent at the zoo with friends. We loved having the up close and personal experience with the animals. Really neat!
We ended the afternoon with a lunch at Java Coffee House at the Victoria Mall. Our time spent on the Western side of Uganda and then back to Kampala with President and Sister Collings was a wonderful way to spend our first week back in Uganda!
