Week 3 In Uganda

Our third week in Uganda was very FUN!!! We were grateful for this extra time of waiting which allowed us to experience many different areas and cultures of D's homeland.

One of my favorite places in Uganda was the Friday craft market. I went three times, the last by myself because L and D were tired of shopping :) Here you can find many locals who are there selling things they have made - the crafts range from paper bead necklaces to drums to clothes. It is a wonderful experience to get to bring something home from Uganda to help us remember his country, but it is also unique to see people making that very thing right before your eyes and contribute to their income.

This week we had the opportunity to visit our two friend's boys again and take donations to their baby homes. One particular home has older children and we spent a lot of time there. I loved these children and their love for Jesus. It is truly amazing the faith Ugandans have. Everyone we encountered loved Jesus and was so grateful for all He had done for them. Even those living in extreme poverty, without a family, praised Jesus every moment they got, and yet all I could think was how much we have back in the States and yet I fail to thank Him like I should. My favorite thing about the country of Uganda was the people's love for our Lord. Some people will tell you that they want to come to the USA, but I think they have their own little piece of heaven in Uganda. They have something that we are missing here. They completely depend on the Lord day in and day out, they turn to nothing else, and it is beautiful.

rice for the home

giving activity books to the children

sweet message from the sidewalk chalk we handed out

D loved the Ndere Cultural Center and so did we! It is basically a Ugandan luau complete with local food and dancing. D was mesmerized by all of the music and dancing. During the presentation they asked the children to come up for games. I went to the edge of the steps and let D run up with the other children. He then proceeded to put on a show of running back and forth from me to the presenter capturing the audience and being a complete ham. It was one of my first "why yes, that is my super cute little boy/I am a little embarrassed" moments. :) The food was the best Ugandan meal we ate and oh so good!

To complete this week we headed 4 hours North for a SAFARI! A safari was one of those once in a lifetime things we never thought we would actually get to do. We had the choice of staying in a American style resort with air conditioning or another comparable resort that was an "eco" lodge meaning it did not have air conditioning and was more outdoorsy. Our driver suggested we stay at the "eco" lodge to get the true safari experience, so we passed up air conditioning and went for it. The drive out there is four hours, two of which are on a VERY bumping, red dirt road. As we got into the park we began seeing baboons and other wildlife.

We stopped before our lodge to go chimp trekking. This was something only L and I did and it was an amazing experience. Our driver had told us it was completely safe and our guide would have a gun in case anything happened, but much to our surprise, she did not and we were dropped off on the side of the road and told to walk into the jungle to begin our trek - OH MY. She would listen for the chimps calls and then take us in different directions to find them - eventually we did find several and we stood just feet away from them. SO AMAZING. We watched them for about an hour in their natural habitat and then headed back.

As we arrived to our resort lodge we were greeted with fresh mango juice in sugar rimmed glasses (one of which D dropped and broke upon arrival!). Our lodge sat right on the edge of the Nile river and as we walked up we could see elephants across on the bank of the Nile...talk about surreal. Our cabin had two twin beds and a baby bed for D. It had an outdoor and enclosed balcony as well as a ladder for the staff to climb each morning at your designated time and pour warm water for your shower...so neat. That first night we swam in the pool overlooking the Nile, ate dinner at the resort and then settled into our cabin for bedtime.

All night there was a torrential downpour. The hardest, loudest rain I have ever heard complete with hippo noises that sounded like they were right outside our cabin. I was scared and made L share his twin bed with me ;) The next morning it was still raining but we ate breakfast and headed out early for our game drive. As we headed to the game drive in the rain, our SUV swerved back and forth in the red mud, while D and I held on for dear life in the backseat (they do not use car seats in Uganda). Eventually we got stuck, in the dark, in rural Africa, in the mud. I was terrified and began praying. L had to get out and push us out, luckily that worked and we were on our way.

our balcony

our cabin and ladder to bring the water

resort lounge

resort view

We crossed the hippo infested Nile to get to the game drive, hoping the ferry would not hit one! We had a wonderful time and saw giraffes, lions, exotic birds, hippos, elephants, antelope, buffalo, monkeys, and more. D LOVED it and picked up on all the names of the animals too, quite educational :) I said "wow!" so much that he started repeating that too. It was SO surreal and beautiful. It felt like we were living the Lion King movie. The land was beautiful, the animals were beautiful, God's creation is just breathtaking.

After lunch and a nap we went on a Nile boat tour where we saw more birds, hippos, elephants, alligators, and a huge waterfall. The best part of this trip was when the whole boat was silent while people were trying to capture pictures of exotic birds and our precious son starting screaming which made all the birds fly away...oh parenthood!

Our last night we had dinner with several bugs, protein right?!?, and our Ugandan friend with us exclaimed "These bugs are being undisciplined!" - why yes, you are exactly right...they are! Haha. We then dodged bats down the dark path to our cabin. In the middle of the night I woke up to a bat that was circling our mosquito nets and woke L so he could remind me I was not going to die. He tried to get it out of our cabin but as he opened the door he saw many more bats waiting to come in, so we slept with a bat that night. Thank goodness for mosquito nets!

crossing the Nile

hippos!

On the way back from the safari L even tried "meat on a stick" from the side of the road where the locals make it. He claims it was wonderful and it never made him sick :) I was brave in many ways in Uganda...eating meat from a stick was not one of them.

park exit

This week was so surreal and enjoyable in too many ways to count. We were so grateful for this time and all we were able to do. God certainly does not half way do anything...seeing His creation up close and personal was magical and something we will always treasure.