Relaxation on the Nile River, Sad Farewells and More of the Same........

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Hi everyone
Well it's been a month since my last blog entry and there's been a lot happening in that time. Kath I have been finding our feet in Kampala and also enjoying spending time with Jacs before she headed off back to the land downunder.

Jac's leaving week(s) started with an Aussie bbq night a PCA. A feast of sausages, green and potato salads, bread rolls and fruit salad and cake was gobbled up by the hungry boys and girls along with bottles of soda. These kids are used to beans and posho (maize meal cooked into a mashed potato consistency) fo pretty much every lunch and dinner so this was a real treat! We thought we'd done well with the quantities as well until we heard the next day that they were waiting for the next course when we told them the meal was finished!

We also decided to take a few days to get out of Kampala and head to Jinja on the Nile River. It's about 80kms out of the city, a trip that would usually take about an hour a home but we were taking a matatu...a minivan that is filled to the absolute brim with people, chickens and other things. The trip started with heading to the new taxi park....don't ask me why it's called "new" cause it looks pretty old to me. We waited here for around and hour before the van had filled up with people all heading he same way, we then started the journey which involved plenty of overtaking on blind corners ad the creation of a 3rd land on a 2 lane road.....I had my eyes closed for pretty much the whole journey! So anyway we made it to the "Nile Porch" our home for the next 2 nights and were very happy with our luxury "tents" acommodation. I write "tents" because they had permanent walls with canvas windows and doors. They were right on the riverbank and the sound of rushing water from the river was amazing to listen to.

We didn't do much while we were there, just ate, drank, went for a leisurely walk to the falls nearby, lay by the pool and did a bit more eating and drinking....and before we knew it we had to pack our bags and look matatu to take us back to the city.....fortunately we were able to flag down a private car that took us all the way back to our hotel so didn't have to deal with chooks around our feet etc..... That night we headed out to Steak Out; a club in Kampala where the night doesn't start until about 11pm! We got home at about 3.30 that night......or should I say morning!

Jacs also treated the kids at PCA to a pizza night on her last night here......another feast and more soda that left the kids bouncing off the walls..I guess their not used to all that sugar! They had prepared some letters and each gave a little speech telling how Jacs had touched their lives which were a true testiment to the work that she has been doing here over the last 5 months. They (and we) are going to miss her!

I've been spending most of my time with PCA recently, I've offered to help improve the bookeeping system that they are using and it's been keeping me busy in between reading with some of the boys, helping the older children with their schoolwork (my maths & science knowledge is being put to the test and I'm realising how little I know about english grammer!) and having some very interesting chats with them on a mad range of subjects.....lots of fun. I spent some time today taking little Shukuran to the clinic as she has malaria....at the age of 4 she's not handling it very well. Most of the children in the home have had malaria and come down with it regularly.....even with mosquito nets it's an expected part of life here and doesn't even warrant a day off school for the older children!

And that's about all from me this time....I'll try to update you a bit more regularly in future. We're heading to Murchison Falls tomorrow for 3 days so will hopefully have some more safari shots etc to upload in my next blog.

Catch you again soon
Trace
X

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Photos

Action Shot on the Nile River
Kayaking madness at the Bujugali Falls on the Nile River....and no that is not me!

A Nile while sitting beside the Nile
Nile Beer that is....

The menu at Maggies
Liver and chips anyone? But don't get too excited because it probably won't be available and you'll have to have beans and rice!

Comments

[Troy Brown]

Your alive...
Hey Tracey, I thought I had been wiped!! Great to hear from you as always. I have been in your home town for the last three weeks but am now back in Adelaide. It rained every day I was there so was quite looking forward to coming home. Go Live went well but I won't be in a hurry to do another one for a while. Looks like your trip is going well and you will have memories to last a lifetime. I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Take care and best wishes Troy.xxxx