We are on term break right now. The Ugandan school calendar is year round and so is our mission school’s. CSB is on a three week break and RMS takes about four weeks off. Various team members have departed to visit family in countries diverse. Meanwhile a few families and singles, including us, have joined together to enjoy a little down time in our own beautiful country of residence.
Yesterday we departed early, making it over the mountains and into Fort Portal by midday. Later we hit true “adventure” as one of the vehicles encountered serious enough mechanical difficulties to warrant repairs at a local garage. Fortunately we found one that seemed reputable enough. The mechanic seemed to have some idea what he was doing ( we always wonder whether the mechanics themselves have ever driven a vehicle). In fact this guy was quite good. Repairs necessitated looking for the problem, finding missing small parts then heading into the center of town on a motorcycle to search high and low for the part before finally having it made and then returning to put the piece on. This went on twice ( a total of about four hours) before we were finally on our way again. Vehicle fixed, thank you GOD!
Now we were driving through a game park on our way to the little lodge where we spend our first night, Kingfisher West. Since our repairs had taken so long we drove through the park at the best possible time, a few hours before sunset. We saw so many animals including three groups of elephants and baboons, bush buck, water buck, warthogs. What beauty. We crossed the equator and entered the southern hemisphere.
This morning we awoke to the most gorgeous of views. Kingfisher West is a series of bondas or small round grass covered buildings set on a ridge overlooking Queen Elizabeth National Park (the game park we drove through to arrive here.) The tree-covered savannah stretches into the horizon as far as the eye can see. Sunsets and sunrises are gorgeous. If you watch closely you can see elephants moving through the trees, at times, and at night you can hear the calls of lions and hyenas. As the sun rose, David and I wandered out to our tiny terrace overlooking the park and sat in silence enjoying the beauty. Later Naomi and then finally Quinn wandered out to soak in our warmth and remind us how lucky we are to live here as they watched for the kingfisher birds this resort takes it’s name from.