Catch up from Mbale

23/08/2013 - Friday

After an extremely long journey, we all arrived safely, along with luggage, in Entebbe earlier today! After meeting John at the airport, we drove to his house where we are staying in Kampala, witnessing many interesting acts on the way; standing out, a man carrying a wind shield on the back of a peddlebike!

We were all made to feel very welcome by John and his family, and were served two wonderful meals. A relatively quiet evening was had after the lack of sleep during travelling, and the temptation for Nile beers was resisted! Early nights are definitely on the cards due to the 6am start tomorrow.

Some highlights of the day were:

• 36*C in Dubai at 6am!
• The wonderful food enjoyed by all, especially bananas and pineapples.
• Finding John waiting at the airport.
• The views whilst travelling to, and through, Kampala.
• And the beginning of what should be an exciting 2 weeks!

David

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24/08/2013 - Saturday

Today was an early start, to catch the boat over to the chimp sanctuary on Ngamba Island, 23km off shore. The boat trip took us across the equator where we briefly halted so that we could savour the moment. Immediately after stepping off the boat, Ken proceeded to provoke a plover into diving at his head, changing direction and diving at him once again… several times; unfortunately, he hadn’t realised that the plover was not being friendly, but was in fact protecting a nest full of eggs. 95% of the island is Tropical Rainforest terrain which is untouched by humans and is entirely for the chimps. We also saw them being fed and demonstrating their intellect by using a stick to scrape food that had fallen short under the electric fence.

In the afternoon, after a hearty lunch back on the mainland and marrying off the three Barrett boys to some young Ugandan women, we went to a shanty town outside Kampala which is the home of the Acholi tribe. During our visit, we purchased (hundreds of) necklaces, bracelets and earrings, made by the local women, bead-by-bead, with each bead being made of a rolled up paper strip. We were then submerged in a sea of small (and not so small!) Ugandan children. Fiona was rapidly submerged under hundreds children after initiating the hokey cokey and foolishly standing in the middle as they ‘put their whole self in’.

Some champagne moments of the day were:

• Discovering the Boat wasn’t as slow as we thought!
• Chimp case histories and photos
• The comments made by the Acholi children.
• Trying to make the beads
• Appreciating the power of the human spirit to triumph over adversity, as we me many people at the Acholi camp who have really difficult lives, but who, never-the-less were warm-hearted, kind and even laughed at some of Mike’s jokes.

Charlie & James

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25/08/13 – Sunday

Today we had a long lie in till around 8.00am. We went back into Kampala to go to the morning service at Namirembe Cathedral. We arrived at 9.30am only to find that the service had started at 8.30am. However we still got to hear the sermon, and join in some of the songs. The Thornbury connection is that the Cathedral has three beautiful stain glass windows designed by Dr. Jean Clark’s grandfather.

After the service, we returned to John’s, packed our bags, ate lunch and set off for Mbale. The journey lasted around 4hours and included one of the heaviest rainstorm any of us had seen – Welcome to Mbale ! On arrival we were greeted by the manageress Lydia who was really friendly and welcoming and made us feel very much at home. After unpacking, we all went out for a meal at the local Indian Restaurant (Nurali’s). Several of the party finally got to experience the joy of a cold ‘Nile Special’, but we agreed we wouldn’t mention this when we got home.

Highlights of the day included

•  The beautiful singing (in Lugandan) at the Cathedral in the morning
•   Marvelling at the crazy driving in Uganda as we watch people driving, not just on the wrong side of the road, but right into the pedestrian area on the wrong side.
• The fantastic views, scenery and weather as we travelled across Uganda, past forests, fields of tea, sugar cane, papyrus and including crossing the river Nile as it emerges from Lake Victoria
• Arriving in the hotel and standing on the balcony looking up at the splendour of Wanale Rock and Mount Elgon, knowing we would be heading up into the hills tomorrow to finally reach Bufumbo.
• The joy of walking round Mbale on a Sunday evening, taking in the hustle and bustle of the street traders, boda boda drivers, late night shops, music and generally people everywhere going about their business late into the evening.

Kenneth