For those interested in Uganda

Excerpts from my journal…
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A sign – here is what we saw when we pulled onto the Jinja-Kampala highway on our way to the ruling – we took it as a sign from God. God always upholds his end of the covenant!

Friday, May 22, 2009
It is 6:19 in the morning and the dawn is just beginning to break. We are on our way to Queen Elizabeth with twelve of us sardined into a van, but Claudia’s girls are wonderful and so easy to be with. I am looking forward to spending this time with them very much. The countryside is changing as we are traveling and we are following a large truck that I thought was full of animals, but as we got closer light revealed that it was a truck that was stuffed not with animals at all, but with field workers. These strong men are completely at capacity and are hanging off the back of the military style truck on their way for a full days work in the Uganda sun for about 5000 Shillings (roughly two and a half dollars), and they are all carrying a plastic jug that they will use to fill water throughout the day. A group of school girls are dressed in their red uniforms and are on their way by foot to school for the day. Life is certainly different for an African than we are used to in the States – not better, not worse – just different. I thought that I would finally beat the Africans by getting up and out before the paths filled with people, but even at 5:45 there are many people walking about to get water and making their daily journey to the taxi park and then to the markets in the cities.

It is the rainy season here and a morning mist is in the air, but the rainy season is changing. It is getting later and shorter and the pearl of Africa is still lush and fertile, but it is not as much so as twenty years ago, the climate is changing the farmers say. To my right, on the side of the major highway, is a man stopping to urinate on the side of the road. Indecent exposure in some places in the world, quite normal here. What is not indecent however are the people. These men and women are a dignified people. Their dress is modest and their demeanors are polite, but reserved. They are not marked by the kind of fun-loving people who grow up in say the Caribbean – they are hospitable, friendly, very respectful, warm, and gentle, but a little more serious-minded than people I have experienced in Central America and they are very hard workers because this is an agricultural country and most outside of the city farm their own land.

We are entering the outskirts of Kampla (again) and I have my eyes out to see if they put the items in storage that they sell during the days and it looks like they do. It is 7:00 now and motorcycle taxis sit in a line awaiting morning commuters (many have on down jackets and it is probably 74 degrees, but this is winter for them). This is suburban life – this is what many of the boys do when they grow up-sell, farm, security guard, or transportation. There are no malls, just small shop after shop, after shop. They try to sell practically everything, but the things that are funny for us to see just sitting out beside the road are bed frames (lots of bed frames), couches, racks of shoes, farm animals, a random fish, and chickens on a stick. They bring them in and out of rickety shacks every single day. It is quite common to pass random cows, goats and chickens just cruising down the highway with no owner in sight, but somehow it all works and everyone knows the system. The women are fascinating in how they can wrap a baby on their backs, have a jug of water on their head, and still have their hands free and the men have equally applaudable balance in how they can carry three people, a refrigerator, a coffin, and a flock of geese on their bicycles.

It is now 7:25 and we are stopped on the highway. We are entering Kampala, a city of about 5 million, and the morning traffic has come to a halt. Zuri is active and being passed around in the back with the five girls and Mac. A two-lane highway has space for at least three lanes of traffic and motorcycles weave in and out of stopped and moving traffic going both directions, yet I have not seen one accident in our two and a half weeks here. There are the couches to my left – they sit out in the rain, as do the bed frames next door.

2:00 p.m. finds us in Lake Mburo Park. Here we see many many animals in their truly native environment. The main animals that were on display were zebras, warthogs, and a variety of deer. 8:00 had us arriving at King Fisher in Queen Elizabeth and 9:30 had us eating and now I am listening to Zuri talk in her crib as I await her to go to sleep. It has been a long day, but a good one.

Saturday, May 23
I am sure that today will go down as the best day of the entire trip for our children. We arrived to Queen Elizabeth after a great breakfast at King Fisher. The trip in was filled with animals of all kinds. As soon as we turned on the road we could see elephants. The day was filled with typical African stuff – arguing over the price for things. This was frustrating even though it is now expected. The hostel that we are staying at (even as I type this) is right in the middle of the park and that is really cool. What is not cool is the fact that this place is a major dive and my wife hates this part of it. It is not really all that dirty, but it is just filled with bugs and it looks old, musty, and like it should be in the middle of an African field. The highlight of today was going off road in order to see a school of lions. This was simply marvelous and an experience like no other. There is really nothing to compare it to. We were in a safari van and we drove right next to where there were LIONS in the wild – eight of them in fact. We are now settling into the beds for the night and are awaiting a 6:30 a.m. safari ride. I am sure that we will all be up and ready to go by 6:34ish

Sunday, May 24
We got up today and made it out at 6:40. This was great. However, we did not get to see many animals feeding which was surprising. We went off road and everything, but were unable to see any more cats of any kind and that is what we were looking for. We came back and ate breakfast at Gilligan’s Illand, that is what it seemed like anyway…the cantina next to the hostel. As soon as we ate, we viewed the really nice lodge that we could have stayed at on the property, but it was $220.00 per room and that would have been way out of our range, so we came back to King Fisher where we can swim, eat, and not feel all icky. The highlight of the day was getting to see about 50-60 elephants journey past us and take a quick bath in a mud hole. It was spectacular to see and I enjoyed that even more than the lions last night. Now we are resting after swimming and lunch and are awaiting rain showers. One thing that I have learned over and over is that the people here will be very nice, polite, and respectful, but they will try to squeeze every penny from you and it is rarely honest money – they try to get you to pay for all sorts of things and you just have to refuse. This is uncomfortable to say the least and it is very tiring. The storm is coming, so I am going to go see if there is a picture awaiting me.


I just spent the last 45 minutes with Boe watching the rain move across the horizon. It was very fun to watch as I cannot remember a time that I have ever seen that. I guess in Colorado you can see about the same amount of distance on the horizon, but the beauty of this place is so much different. This is marvelous because of the different topography and the difference in landscape. It is really like going back into old earth. We are looking for a good night’s rest and a long day of travel tomorrow (10-12 hours)

Monday, May 25
Arrived at King Fisher in Jinja for the night. This day was exhausting, but we were able to see a lot of the country and really get a feel for the Country that Zuri is from. I feel like I know this country now and am ready to come home, but we don’t even have a passport or immigration papers for Zuri! I need patience.
Mac – High fever, red cheeks, and lethargic
Gayla – High fever, lethargic, achy, malaria tested (negative)
Leia – fever, lethargic, not bouncing off the walls

Tuesday, May 26
The other three feel better I am glad to say
Boe – Throw-up and diarrhea last night – will not go into the clean up details…
Arrived back at GSF and settled in for the next two weeks. I miss all of my friends and feel out of touch and like big things are happening and I am not a part. This distance away from family and friends has been very difficult.