Vacation with the DC girls

Wow what a crazy week with the DC girls. Jill and Sarah and Betsy all flew in last weekend and on Monday we left Kampala to go on safari and take a trip down to Rwanda to visit Myal.

Looking at the schedule I thought there would be no way we would be able to accomplish everything on the list. I just figured the van would break down, or it would rain and delay us leaving, or some other typical deviation that is my life here. But none of those things happened and we actually were able to see and do everything we had planned – a first in Africa :)

Monday we left for Queen Elizabeth National Park and when we got there 7 hours later we jumped out of the van and immediately went on a chimpanzee tracking excursion through the forest. I stupidly thought we would be on some nice path and would just walk around…ok I admit I thought it would be like a zoo. I was wrong. We were hiking through the woods, not on a path most of the time, and covered with bugs and insects. It only took our guide like 10 minutes and he had found the chimps. It was incredible. One came down from the tree and sat in front of us for like 15 minutes and let us take his picture. We were only 8 feet away.

Tuesday morning we got up at the crack of dawn and went on safari. We saw 4 of the Big Five. We got within just a few feet of elephants, buffalo, lions, hippos, warthogs, impala, and even some birds. I had never seen a lion that close or in the wild. We went on a boat cruise that afternoon and saw more hippos, elephants and buffalo. The water was amazing and the sky is just so big and so blue here. I hate to admit it but I think I like looking at sky and water more than animals. I loved the cruise and just relaxing on the water and taking in the gorgeous scenery.

Wednesday we made our way to Kigali, Rwanda to visit Myal. We had gotten a phone call earlier in the week saying he had been in a motorcycle accident and broken his collar bone. When we got there he was moving a bit slow and had a sling on his arm and shoulder. It is a miracle that the broken collar bone was the only damage done when a car hit him and knocked him off his bike. We spent the day just hanging out and talking and then had a time to pray with him that night before he was getting on his plane to go to South Africa for surgery. Seeing him and hearing his story made me very aware of just how lucky I have been moving around Kampala on boda and never getting in an accident. I am so glad we were able to spend the day with him and just offer some encouragement and support.

Thursday we spent the day in Kigali and went to the Genocide Memorial and did some shopping. The memorial was incredibly sad and even angering at some points. It is hard to believe that almost 1million people could be killed in 100 days and the world stood by and did nothing. This was a planned attack against a specific tribe and thousands were killed for one reason…they were from the wrong tribe. That’s insane. Why do we as humans assume one race, one tribe, or one people group is better than another? I was upset to read the stories in the museum about the lack of support these people received from outside Rwanda. The world literally stood by and watched. After the museum we did a little craft shopping and then headed back to Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda. Rwanda is gorgeous with its rolling hills and beautiful countryside. Kigali is very organized and very clean. The girls were laughing at me as I pointed out rubbish (trash) bins, and paved roads and street lights and sidewalks. It seems funny, but these just aren’t things we have in Kampala and our city is 3 times bigger.

We got back to Lake Bunyonyi at sunset and we took out the canoes on the lake. This seemed like a brilliant idea initially until we were in the canoes, away from shore, and realized none of us know how to do this. Jill and I were in one canoe and for the life of us we could not figure out how to go in a straight line. We spent a lot of time going in circles. Betsy and Sarah somehow figured things out a bit quicker but then even after taking their advice we still ended up going in circles. We were convinced our dug out canoe was obviously broken :) We had a “race” back to shore that ended with us paddling backwards since somehow that made us go straight. Hysterical.

We left early Friday morning after having breakfast and going to the overlook point to see all the islands that are part of Lake Bunyonyi. We had an 8 hour drive back to Kampala. We slept, read, talked and generally just enjoyed the countryside. We went to dinner in town that night…which looking back was probably a bad idea. We were exhausted but I wanted to take them to my favorite restaurant for some good food. We got into an accident in our taxi on the way to town and traffic in general was just awful. It took almost an hour and 45 minutes to get to the restaurant that is about 6 miles from my house. Love it. We had the joy though of walking through town at night and when it was very congested. I don’t think the girls were quite prepared for the craziness of it all.

Saturday we were invited for a late lunch at Diana’s house. Doreen met us in town to help guide us to her place. These are the two women in the PR Department at Dwelling Places and I was so excited that the girls got to meet both of them. Diana and Doreen told stories about the office and just generally picked on each other. It was a great afternoon and we had a ton of laughs. We had to make our way back through town later that day and I was relieved when we got to taxi park to find an empty taxi for Mutundwe. We didn’t even have to push to get on. What a relief.

The girls all left on Sunday to fly home. Betsy back to Mozambique and Sarah and Jill back to DC. It was such an amazing week to be around people I knew so well and who knew me. We laughed and told jokes and shared stories and even did a Bible study every night. I think that was the highlight for me…I do Bible studies on my own but it’s just not the same as doing it in a group. We spent the last evening praying for one another and praying for my last month in Uganda. I am so very grateful that God sent these women to encourage me my last few weeks out here and for the prayer and Bible study we had all week. It was exactly what I needed.