Last week I was sick again, this time for about 6 days. After day four, I finally realized I was just being stubborn. So the moment I finally convinced myself to go to the clinic downtown, I just hopped on a boda boda and rode by myself downtown in the rain. Which was also stubborn. But I did let Anne know where I was and she kindly asked someone to come pick me up (thanks Brittany!), even though I hadn't been wiling to ask. There are probably another thousand anecdotes in there about the clinic waiting room, or sending my "lab sample" with a boda driver in a nondescript black bag to drop off, but I'll suffice it to say that we still don't know what it was. The doctor said it was either some mean food poisoning or an unidentified virus, and it would run it course eventually. Thankfully, the Lord healed me enough by Friday morning to leave with my fellow interns for our SAFARI!
The interns, minus Daniel Iya who couldn't join us, took a long weekend. We drove Friday to Rukungiri, in western Uganda, and visited our fellow intern Daniel Nyongesa on his construction site. It was great to see the site in action! Daniel is the "clerk of works" (sim. to owner's rep) for St. Paul's Primary school's new girls dormitory. The boy interns stayed with Daniel at his apt, and the girls were hosted by the Nursery School's headmistress, Joann, and her husband, Steven. We experienced some true Ugandan hospitality as this sweet family shared their home, meals, and morning devotions. We stayed with them Friday night, then spent Saturday night in the national park, and stayed again on Sunday night. I pray God blesses them tenfold for their kindness to us!
"O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures." Psalm 104:24
Talk about COOL! On the drive down we saw wild Zebras! They were grazing in the same fields as cows, just off the side of the highway. Seriously? We crossed the equator, too, which was anticlimactic...because we've all done it before.
Friday night we drove through the MOST beautiful mountain valley. On the way there, we were swarmed by village children. They made us feel like celebrities, which was kind of cool and kind of sad. Their laughter and smiles were precious. But being ascribed status because of my white skin is not exactly a good feeling... But check out the scenery! The sketchy mountain roads also unfortunately tore up our transmission...
Which led to the first few hours of our safari being in a matatu (van taxi) on probably the bumpiest thing you could call a road. The way plans kept changing and the way we squeezed into different sized vehicles to get from one place to the next gave everything the air of being very African. Not to mention that our taxi driver accidentally drove 2 hours in the wrong direction... But even in the taxi, as we entered the southern portion of Queen Elizabeth National Park- we saw baboons, waterbuck, a buffalo (blocking the road, and almost charging us!), and elephants!
That afternoon, after switching vehicles again... we saw some warthogs, more sweet birds, AND THEN A LEOPARD! The leopard had just caught his lunch! It was amazing to see. And they can be a rare one to spot. Our driver said he's only seen them 4 times in his 20 years as a safari driver.
Then we made it to our lodge and went out for a boat ride on the Kazinga channel. Hippos, crocodiles, more buffalo, a monitor lizard, so many cool birds, and much closer elephants were in abundance!
As we exited the boat, our original driver Baruku stood there beaming at us. We were so glad to see him! He was able to get his van fixed and stay with us the rest of the weekend! Big bonus because he has a pop-top in the van for safari drives and he had ample seating for the 8 of us interns. We went on an evening drive, saw a LIONESS dozing in the sun, tons of Kob and waterbucks, more warthogs, and the Rwenzori mountains. The blazing orange sun set just to the left of deep blue mountains, and the scene faded into pinks and purples. The pictures do it no justice. On our way back, we were delayed about 10 minutes as the road was blocked by a huge male elephant. He faced us and flared out his ears: a sign of aggression. We revved the engine and started yelling as we drove forward...but dude did not back down. After reversing the van some 100 meters to where we were hiding behind a bend, he finally cleared off the road for us to drive back.
That night, after dinner and a few rousing rounds of spoons, Paul, Uriah, and Meggie walked me back to my room (which was about 200 meters from the main guesthouse where everyone else stayed). I'm so glad they did. There was a hippo grazing in the field 30 meters away. I probably would have done something really stupid and accidentally provoked it if I had been alone, haha.
Ok, I'm writing way too much. I'm going to try and let pictures do most of the work. But they hardly capture it. God has displayed his glory here in SO many ways. The landscape, vegetation, the animals...all of it brought me right before his feet, praising him for his creativity and his glory.
Game drive the next morning. Elephants, BABY elephants, warthops, kob, and a whole lion pride! They were kinda far, but still super cool. We even heard the male roar (I think!)
On our way back to Rukungiri that afternoon, we stopped by a natural hot springs. There are no pictures of this, and I'm going to let you guess why. Talk about an African experience. I had my swimsuit on... That night the foreman from Daniel's site invited us to dinner at his mother's home outside of the town. Ambrose, the foreman, and a few of the other site guys all enjoyed meeting Ambrose's family and seeing his house and land. Sitting and talking with the construction guys on Sunday night was probably one of the best parts of this weekend. We were sitting on top of a hill on Ambrose's land, his cows and goats were grazing nearby, and you could see lush green mountains and farmland for miles all around. The river and valley were just down the way, and off in the distance we could see a mountain that also touches Rwanda and the DR Congo. This sunset takes the cake of all the others. I want to live in this village someday, no joke. Ambrose told me he would help me find good land to settle and farm. The stars were everything you would imagine they should be, in the middle of an African village on a hill with no disruptive lights on for miles.
We made it back to Rukungiri, had some late night tea with Joann and Stephen, and then settled in for our last night in western Uganda. Today, we spent a few hours exploring the site, visiting the primary school assembly, being sung to by Joann's nursery classes, and enjoying a leisurely breakfast before hopping back in the van for a 8 hour trip home. (We saw zebras on the way home, too!)
Thank you Jesus for such an amazing experience! It was a great weekend to renew my love of Africa, grow closer with my fellow interns, and better understand Ugandan hospitality in all its glory!
Praises:
-How can I count them? Praise for all the beauty we've beheld this weekend
-Safe travels, even in the midst of many changed plans
-Blessed fellowship with the interns, site guys, and our wonderful hosts
Prayer Requests:
-A few of the interns, including myself, are still battling some lingering sickness.
You May be on Safari If:
-You fall asleep to the sounds of...well, something loud that roars or trumpets just outside your lodge.
-It smells so fresh outside that it reminds you of the beach in Florida. Weird, right?
-You count the day a success because your vehicle was almost charged by large animals more than once.
-For a nice change, you point and stare at the animals. (Instead of people pointing and staring at you while yelling "mzungu!")
SForbes
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