Our Trip to Uganda: Part 3 (Gulu)

We got to spend only 3 1/2 days in Gulu.  Not enough time to do everything we wanted to do, or to meet everyone we wanted to meet, but we did our best.  We did get to attend church, so that was a great place to see so many.  The rest of the time we spent going around to see a lot of different people.

One of those people is Brenda.  She had her 22nd birthday, so my mom made her a birthday cake.  She didn't know how to blow out the candles.  It was so funny.  It took her 3 or 4 tries to get all 4 candles blown out.  Brenda has been called to serve in the London England mission.  She is set to leave in just a couple of weeks.  We loved getting to meet her.

We had to send her on a bus to Kampala to work on some of her mission papers and getting a visa.  it was sad to say goodbye to her.  She will make a great missionary!

Jackie was another lady we stopped to visit (not in the picture).  Her family all lives together in a village of huts and houses.  Several of them wanted their pictures taken.

This little boy was a poser

This is Esther and Gabriel.  She says we are her sisters now, because she has adopted our parents as her own. She was so sweet. Loved meeting her.

We were so excited to get to meet Dickson and Agnes and see their swamp aka: Paradise Beach.

They were such a fun couple.

Dickson picked fruit from his trees and gave it to us, then they cut down some sugar cane for us to try.  That was a fun, messy, treat.

Pam and her sugar cane.  They laughed at us because we didn't know how to eat it right. 

We also stopped to see President James at his home.  He served us Maize.  It was fun to get to try it.  We saw it everywhere being sold by street vendors, but didn't dare try it.  

Another one of our stops was to see baby Nola.  Okello John and Grace named their baby Nola Woods.  Our Aunt Sylvia made this darling quilt for her, so we delivered it with some baby clothes.  She is such a cute little thing.

Mom has sent us fabric, and has told us so much about the fabric store here, that we had to check it out.  What a riot!  The store was teeny, and loaded to the brim with cuts of fabric.  We had to take off our shoes and climb onto a mountain of fabric to get to the place we were selecting from.

We found our piece of fabric, and took it to Watmon, the tailor.  He saw us in the fabric store and insisted that he make a skirt for us.  We told him we were leaving town and there wouldn't be time.  He promised he would have it done the next day.  Sure enough, he did, and they fit!  Love our new Ugandan skirts!

We were lucky enough to be there for my dad's birthday.  

We had his birthday lunch at the local pizza joint (owned by a guy from Chicago)

We were so busy running around that day that we didn't have a chance to make him another cake, so we put candles in the remaining pieces of Brenda's cake.  It was still good.

Happy Birthday Dad!!  We love you!

Our Trip to Uganda: Part 4 (The Orphanage)

Before heading to Uganda, our parents had told us about an orphanage they had been in contact with.  They have 16 children there (8 boys and 8 girls).  Pam and Stephanie collected donations from family and friends to help out in any way necessary.  We first went to visit on Sunday afternoon, and decided that the biggest need is beds.  There are two small rooms for the kids to sleep in - one for the girls, and one for the boys.  They sleep on a concrete floor with a bamboo mat laid out, and now they have blankets.

some of the boys, and the volunteer who stays with them at night

the girls - being silly for the picture.

 Dennis, the man who runs the orphanage told us to come back on Tuesday.  When we got there, there were over 60 women and children awaiting our arrival.  The women and a few children then began to do a tribal dance for us.  It was fun to watch them dance, and to watch the boys play the drums.

the kids also did some singing and dancing for us

We later learned that this is a group of women (who are widowed and hiv+) who volunteer their time to help out with the gardens at the orphanage.

One of the ladies in charge found out it was my dad's birthday, so we embarrassed him by singing as a group.

It was sad to say goodbye.

They loved having their pictures taken

Eddimon - the youngest child at the orphanage

This is the welding shop where we ordered the 4 triple bunk beds. We had enough money for the beds and mattresses and mosquito nets.  We can't wait for them to get their new beds!!

Our Trip to Uganda: Part 5 (Paraa)

One last time crossing the Nile River

Wednesday we had to make our way back to Kampala so we could fly out early Friday morning.  We stopped for the night at Paraa Safari Lodge.  It is also in Murchison Falls National Park, just on the other side of the park.  The terrain here was completely different.  More grassland, and you could see for miles.  Gorgeous.  After we turned off of the highway, we followed a tiny dirt road through little hut villages for a while before coming to the park entrance.

  While we were heading down this road (a couple of hours from Gulu), dad got a call from Charles.  He was working in the area and saw us driving by.  We stopped to wait for him.  He was upset because he hadn't had a chance to meet us girls on Sunday.  It was so fun to meet him.

Charles is another one who thinks we are his sisters.  Mom and dad are his new parents. 

 Once we got through the gate to the park, it was over an hour drive to the lodge.  We decided it was the trip of the Giraffe, because we came upon this site:

There were almost 2 dozen giraffes right next to the road.  Many of them were bedded down. They say it is rare to see a giraffe lying down.  We stopped the car and just watched them for the longest time.  It is like they were posing for us.

We also saw tons of antelope throughout the drive.

Ugandan Kob

Jackson Heartbeast

Oribe

The biggest surprise was seeing this lion in the road on our way in.  They say you rarely see one on your own - usually you have to have a guide take you to where they hang out.  She was fun to watch, and eventually got up and wandered away into the tall grass.

After we checked in at the lodge and had lunch, we went out driving again and this time we took a guide, Vivienne with us.

A couple of Dung Beetles, and a ball of dung . . . . 

Stork

A lone hippo out grazing - rare to see one out in the daylight.

A bunch of hippos in the Albert Nile.  They were huge!

This Cape Buffalo was taking a mud bath

We saw quite a few monkeys, but most were too quick to get a picture of. This one stopped and posed for us.

We only saw a few elephants in the distance.

There were lots of warthogs running around.  Pumba!

Animals are such posers.

Another termite mound/castle

Giraffe crossing

It rained all night, and we woke up to a beautiful rainbow.

One last breakfast on the Nile.

Some baboons along the side of the highway

After who knows how many hours of delayed flights, flying, layovers and sleepless nights, our last plane finally landed.  We were excited to see our families again, but were sad to leave our parents and Uganda behind.  This was a trip we will never forget.  Thanks mom and dad, for everything!!  Love you guys and what you are doing.

{We took lots of self portraits on the various plane rides - here we are taking off from Entebbe . . . . long plane rides make you silly}