We are heading back to Kampala today to spend one more day with Norah and decreasing the chance of missing our flight by trying to do all the travel in one Day. The one thing I didn’t write about was having dinner with Chan, Florence and Nestar. It was wonderful to see Florence and Nestar. Florence is the same animated, kindhearted and realistic person she was 5 years ago and Nestar is growing like a string bean into an intelligent young woman who told me people call her crazy because she smiles so much. Florence is currently working with a Spanish volunteer organization, but only has volunteers May through August. The remainder of the year she is at home and manages her small matoke farm. Nestar is on break and spending it in the village with ... read more

While we have spent time in other people’s homes and experiencing a bit of typical Ugandan life, today was particularly difficult. Chan and Derek have acquired a rural clinic from the ministry of heath which employs one doctor and nurse. The hope was to provide their organizational members easier access to healthcare. However, two major problems exist: the clinic is quite a trek on poor roads and difficult to navigate in rain, second the nurse and doctor only come and open the clinic 2 to 4 times per month because the government is 6 months behind in their salaries. Therefore, people show up everyday hoping to receive treatment and medications only to sit all day and not be seen. They come everyday because they are unsure which days the staff will show up. In the mean ... read more

We were programmed to meet Norah to visit the Amabeere Caves this morning but rain made the world stop as boda drivers refused to come drive to town and very few people move in the rain. Florence used to call me a stupid girl when I tried because I was asking to get sick. Eventually the sky cleared and we were off to the caves. The caves are not very large, they are the only ones in Uganda with stalagmites, stalactites and aspheres. The other great feature is a waterfall you can walk behind. Today it was roaring due to the recent rainfall. Our guide Robert was very educated on the area: the cave history, the people who lived in them and the crater lakes. These lakes were formed by volcanic eruptions. The build up of ... read more

The morning started with an eventful bus departure. We were late for the bus but it hadn’t departed and as Shelby ran to the bathroom, I found seats. I asked the person next to me where he was heading. He said Kampala (Fort Portal and Kampala are not close). The bus started pulling out, Shelby wasn’t on the bus out, I was trying to get of to ask about the trek, and a worker was pounding on the bus trying to get it to wait for Shelby. As Shelby was jumping on I was trying to get off. I asked the worker if it was going to Fort Portal, he said there is no bus from Masindi to Fort Portal, you go to Kampala first than transfer. We got on the bus mentally preparing for the ... read more

The day started early enough for to see the sun rise. The road on the way to and in the park is under construction as a Chinese company expands it to a 4 lane paved road from a two lane dirt road. This is necessary because Uganda discovered oil in the park and is working on a pipeline to Tanzania and needs road infrastructure. There are now two workers camps in a village near the park more than tripling its population. Immediately upon entering the park, baboons are everywhere. So many we thought this was the game drive. We stood corrected when we reached the ferry landing to transport the car across the Nile. Then giraffes became more plentiful than trees. There were several times when we were no more than 10 yards from them. We ... read more