Glamping

Well, that’s what my roommate Laurie called it anyway. Beautiful tents set on a deck overlooking the Nile. We needed escorts to and from our accommodations before sunrise and after sunset due to the hippos coming to shore to feed. We heard them most of the night, and it was quite interesting.😂😂 There were also several baboons in the ‘hood, and after the experience with the monkeys in Cambodia, I gave them a wide berth!

Our Safari lodge had its own chef, and the meals he prepared for us were just exquisite. There were usually two main meal options that we chose from each morning. On our first evening there, he said they were going to make their traditional food, Uganda, as a special treat, in addition to what we each had ordered. Their traditional dish of Uganda is called matoke, and it is basically boiled and mashed plantain served with peanut sauce. We had been eating it for the past 10 days, and none of us would have willingly eaten any more. Raising a tentative, hand I explained that although we liked it very much, we had had it for several days now, and we most likely wouldn’t have it tonight in addition to the wonderful food we had just ordered. The server very kindly thanked us for trying their favorite Uganda dish, and agreed that he wouldn’t make any since we’d already tried it. My teammates thanked me afterwards for speaking up! 😂😂😂

No matoke on this plate, The ever present rice with the peanut sauce on top White spears, which is cassava. It is very dry, and all is pretty much tasteless. In reality, it was the best they had, and they made it lovingly for us

Our view from our tent 😊

A memorable and fun end to a wonderful time in Uganda. 💕

Children

I think one of the nicest things about Uganda is that you can love on, hold, cuddle and touch the children without fear of, or assumptions of malintent. That may not be a word, but it fits.😂😂 I can think of three specific cases in which we went to visit a destination, and I was swarmed by a cluster of children. During the launching of the riverboat safari, I nearly lost my footing/ balance, as they struggled to get close. They were older children, so they packed more oomph😱😂! While their teacher was taking photos of them with me, one of my teammates, snapped one as well.😂 I always made sure to show the children the photos, because I don’t think any have ever seen what they look like.😢😱

After church on our first Sunday there💕

And on the way to Murchinson Falls 💕

And at the site of our riverboat safari…these were middle school aged children, but all so precious! I had to laugh when the girls started touching my hair.😂😂😂

I think of all, these were my most touching moments 🥹

Safari through Other Eyes (Lenses😂)

Because these are too good not to share!

Don't blink and miss that ’gater!😂😂

When we returned and showed the pictures to some of the hotel staff, all commented on how rare it was to see the big cats! We were so blessed fortunate to see all of the animals we did in such a condensed time😱!

And momma giving stink eye to the ranger😂😂

Our van for the entire 2 day safari excursion.🤗 Needless to say, it drew a lot of attention when driving through the small ‘villages’ on the journey up! Dad…it reminded me of the sign Nancy and I put in the back window of her case when we left for CA! The very one you made us leave behind. All the way up to the national park (8 hours!) I was thinking, ‘DAD WOULD NOT APPROVE!’😂😂🤗

Doha

Just unbelievable. Weird too, being in a predominantly Muslim country! If women are even arOUND, they are completely covered up. Except us tourists😂😂😂. We were so glad to have a Ghana man for our tour!

I apologize for any photo duplications! Still feeling a bit rummy this morning We were up at 3 am on the morning of the 27th for our 8 hour drive back to Entebbe, then flew to Doha, landing at 11:30 pm. Laurie and I booked a ‘transit tour’ for 1 am, putting us back at the airport at 4:00 am. We had a bite to eat, and then left on the 15 hour flight to Seattle. A two hour layover there, and then to Spokane on a 2:30pm flight I hit the bed when we got back to Laurie’s home, sleeping soundly from 6 pm until 6 am 😂😂. So good to be home, but what an amazing time of serving we had! AND playing!

Stay tuned for more tales to come! So much to share, but time (or internet service) did not allow.

Last Day Gallivanting

We stopped at a beautiful waterfall after our safari morning. It is the headwaters of the Nile River, and the most powerful water fall in the world. I’ll try to post a video, but if unsuccessful, it’ll have to come via email. I am super tired. Going on 30 hours awake, so I’ll put some fun safari photos in before I fall asleep. 😬😬 I apologize in advance for any repeats!

Such a beautiful and memorable end to a wonderful adventure!💕

Safari

Well, we are about as tapped out as tapped can get 😂😂. Dragging. So far today we’ve managed to pack in a four hour safari drive through Murchison National Park, enjoyed a three hour safari by boat, had a lovely lunch at the lodge, and are now resting for the hike to Murchison Falls. We are stretch out on the patio, because we all know if we go to our rooms, we’ll fall fast asleep😂😂! But what a day! We saw everything we had hoped to see. I’ll have to sort through the photos, but I’ll post a few more. I had a touching moment during our arrival at the river. But first, safari 😆.

About to head out, so touching story to come!

WHEW!

We thought it was a four hour drive to the safari lodge, but it turns out it was 7-8 hours, depending on the potholes in the road, but OH! What an adventure! A few photos from the journey…

And a case of monkey pox! 😂😂😂

AND!! Loo review! 😆😆😆

Off to the right there. OUT of the four foot horn range😂😂😂!