Monday morning we left Jinja bright and early to head first to, then through, Kampala and home to Bundi. Our plan was a sunrise walk down to Lake Victoria ( the Kingfisher, where we stay in Jinja edges the lake) then a quick early breakfast and starting off by 7.
Breakfast was delayed despite our having ordered the night before (mufffins, bacon, and African tea) because, we found out almost an hour later, there was not yet milk. It was coming. We decided just to drink black tea and the already made muffins and got on the road at eight.
Driving to Kampala was unremarkable and we were surprised and pleased to find ourselves on schedule when we pulled into Kampala two hours later to finish our shopping. We needed to buy our fresh vegetables to take back into Bundibugyo. Though we are blessed to have some vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, and cabbage constantly and readily available here in the village, Kampala is a source of some veggies that we carry in so that we eat them at least a few weeks out of every few months; brocolli, green beans, and celery.
Having bought our cornucopia of goodness we arrived back at the Christmas house (aka “evacuation central”) to pick up the teachers, Sarah and Ashley, and load our vehicle. Since we needed to carry in our food supplies for the next three months as well as the assorted trunks and luggage brought from America, loading took some time. But finally we were ready. As a teammate commented, you know it’s been a good restock when your vehicle looks like the Beverly Hillbillies as you head back in. And ours did. Our famous last words as we crammed more items onto the roof and covered them with our extra large luggage net; “thank goodness there is no sign of rain.” Our tarp was here in Bundibugyo and not in it’s usual place in the vehicle.
One hour out out of Kampala and the good news was that nothing had budged from the roof rack during the higher speeds and intense bumps outside the city. The bad news? It was raining. And not just rain but a total downpour, making driving difficult. We pulled over quickly to grab a few key items that would not survive any water off the roof. Ashley and Sarah, Naomi and Quinn grew more crowded in the backseat as the items joined them. A few miles down the road we saw our chance for a tarp as we spied a coffee bean processing yard with piles of coffee wrapped in tarps under the rain. David pulled us as far over as possible onto the shoulder of the busy road and hit the rain again to plead for a tarp. Ugandans emerged from the building and began shoveling coffee beans off the tarp and onto another. Only fifteen minutes later, totally drenched, David emerged victorious with his dirty, soaking tarp. We wondered if we would even need it, ever hopeful that the rain was soon over. David stuffed it under the cargo net and drove to a safer roadside spot to install it.
As David and I both climbed out this time to try to install our tarp without removing the entire cargo net, the driving rain turned to hail. As we climbed to the roof of our Land Cruiser with giant lorries rushing past on the road, grape-size hail began to beat us around the heads. Totally soaking wet, we retreated to behind the vehicle with the tarp over our heads and had a sweet, stolen kiss in the rain while hoping for the punishing hail to end. It got lighter, with small ice chunks flying through the air and we climbed up again to install the tarp. Fifteen minutes later, the tarp was in place enough to travel and we started off slowly. David and I shook with cold as we sat in our soaked clothing in the car; dreading the thought of five more hours of travel in these conditions and without a change of clothes or a towel.
Driving took forever. Between the winds and our hasty tarp installation, we had to stop multiple times to adjust the roof situation. Tremendous winds and rain continued and we slowly moved on. Eventually the sun came out and the rains stopped for a few minutes and we were able to remove the cargo net and properly install our tarp. The rains resumed a few minutes later but we were set. There was no stopping us now!
We finally reached Fort Portal, the last city before the mountains that head to our rural village area, very late afternoon. We debated for the last hour of driving into Fort Portal whether we could safely make it over the mountain. Getting stuck there at night is not a safe situation and with only the minimum time needed to travel over we had no safety margin for the frequent tire and car problems that occur on the bad roads we drive here. We went for it, not slowing in Fort Portal even for a bathroom trip, we headed over the mountains full speed ahead, praying all the way.
Thankfully, almost three hours later we finally arrived here in Bundibugyo. We drove in to a hot dinner with the Myhres, a welcome gift as we were still soaked from the rains and wishing badly for hot showers. A hot meal was next best. We arrived into our home at nine pm; amazed by the wonderful smells of gardenias in our garden and freshly picked to welcome us in our home. The mountains surrounded us and the cool clean air of the village was a welcome relief after the heat and smog of Kampala the last few weeks. Our home felt, homey. Warm, welcoming and friendly. Amazingly clean thanks to the hard work of those who help us in our home. I forgot how few things we have and yet how abundant it feels. We went to bed happy.