Tuesday, December 6, 2011

WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THIS !

Last week we went on a Safari with all of the couple missionaries in the Uganda Kampala Mission.  The first day we met the mission president, his wife and 3 other couples at the Chobe Lodge, which is just a couple of hours from here, for a brain storming meeting and to spend the first night.  It is a fairly new lodge and is a beautiful place.  There were more employees than there were guests so we were really well taken care of.


 The next morning, we drove through the park to Paraa Safari Lodge where we met the other missionary couples.  There were 13 couples in all.  They were from all over Uganda, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.  Paraa Lodge is in Murchison Falls National Park and is located in the north west of Uganda over looking one of nature's best kept secrets, the River Nile.

We spent two nights at Paraa Lodge and spent our days driving on different trails through the park and taking pictures of all the animals.  A highlight of our trip was our boat ride up the Nile to see Murchison Falls.  At the lodge, we had three big meals a day, which were served buffet style.  It was like being on a cruise.  The food was fabulous.

 Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Entrance to Chobe Safari Lodge

The group who got to stay at  Chobe

These snacks were waiting for us in our room.  Great fruit here!!

Our room at  Chobe

The view of the Nile and the pools from our balcony.

The front of the Lodge

Our group, minus one who didn't come to breakfast.





















The serious photographers

The roads were pretty rough in some places



The African Queen

Elder and Sister Scott, the office couple


We pretended we were Humphrey Bogart and Catherine Hepburn.

The Paraa Lodge from the Nile




A dead hippo washed up on the bank of the river.  A crocodile had eaten the head.  The guide said they would soon have it all eaten.  Male hippopotamus' get into fights and sometimes kill each other.

This crocodile was about 14 feet long and was about 75 years old.

They sleep with their mouth's open to stay cool.  It acts as their radiator.

The flora along the bank of the Nile

Hippo's by the hundreds in the river.



Murchison Falls



This herd of elephants didn't run from us like the last one.  We were able to watch them for quite awhile.





Overlooking the Nile from our hotel room

The pool at Paraa Safari Lodge.

Paraa Safari Lodge

For the lizard lovers in our family.  We saw a lot of these.


A baby giraffe

So sad to leave.








THANKSGIVING IN UGANDA

We fixed Thanksgiving dinner for the six Elders in Gulu and also invited Morgan and Jaren, who are co-workers, working for a company here and are members of our branch.  We ate by candlelight as we had no power for 3 days but were able to fix dinner on our gas stove and in our gas oven.  We had roasted chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, a fruit salad, pumpkin pie and banana cream tarts.

This Thanksgiving, we really feel thankful to be here serving a mission together and to be healthy and happy.  Uganda is just the mission for us and we love it here.


Our little oven



The pumpkin pie in a cake pan.  It worked!

We brought over another table and some chairs from the Elder's house and used a piece of fabric for the tablecloth.
  
We're not sure how the African Elders liked our food.  It was different from what they were used to but they were good sports.  The Americans had to teach them how to make a dent in their potatoes for the gravy.  They loved the chicken and rolls.  We had a great time!