Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Driving to Arua
There were 8 of us on the bus, most of us armed with cameras of some sort, but our driver had just warned us that we were crossing the Nile at a location in which we could not take pictures because the Ugandan government did not want pictures taken of the bridge that goes over the Nile (this is common in many other countries–no pictures of hospitals, schools, bridges, government buildings, etc. that could compromise national security). Talk about my heart breaking! Just as we got close to said location–close enough to hear the crashing and roaring of the falls–we saw several adorable little monkeys in the road. We were squealing with delight (well, us women were), but no photographs were allowed. We drove on, rolled slowly over the Nile River, took in as much as we could to commit it to memory, and then took off.
It wasn’t but a few minutes later that our driver slowed once again to point out the many baboons that were in the road and ditch. BABOONS!! We all gasped/squealed/murmured with delight…and then our driver said that we were far enough past the bridge that we COULD take pictures! Cameras were snapping away…all while Natalie was warning us to keep the windows closed because baboons are aggressive enough to reach in and snatch things away from you!
A couple of hours later, we were truckin’ down a highway when our driver slammed on the brakes and then started to back up. This time, there was a heard of Cobb (Natalie calls them near-deer) and a lone warthog at a watering hole. Hello African Safari Adventure! Once again, cameras are snapping away and we’re all exclaiming how amazing this drive is, and laughing about how blessed we are. As we pull away from that location, I say aloud, “Now if only we could see elephants!”
Snapshot of Tuesday:
-Early breakfast/packing/loading up our luggage onto the bus
-Road trip from Kampala to Arua
-Seeing God’s wildlife creations while road tripping
-Dinner with a missionary family in Arua
-Going to bed EARLY
I’ll start with this picture. I made little “Where in the world is Mrs. Ginter?” maps for each of my students before I left so they could see where I was in East Africa each day. You can see on the map that we drove almost the entire length of Uganda that Tuesday, from Kampala (pink dot) to Arua (green dot)…
In 2010, I took a shot of Buay from the Hendersons’ porch that looked something like this. I decided to replicate that pose…
Signs in Kampala are some of the funniest things to see. This one was awesome!
Soooo, we were sitting in traffic not moving when a street vendor walking up alongside our bus and started trying to sell sunglasses. I already had a pair, but I started looking at what he was holding, and then I selected a pair and began the negotiation.
Vendor: I give you good price. 40,000.
Me: No, ssebo, that’s too much. I pay you 10,000.
Vendor: I cannot do. 40,000.
Me: Ssebo, I will give you 20,000 and I take.
Vendor: 20,000.
I totally overpaid for these cheap “Prada” glasses, but later in the trip I was SO glad that I did!
Crazy traffic and life playing out in Kampala…
Here are the baboons…
And the near-deer…
And Pumba…
So, we had just pulled away from the warthog and I said, “Now if only we could see elephants!” Literally only minutes later, our driver once again slammed on the brakes and threw the bus into reverse. We had no idea what it was for until he pointed at these ELEPHANTS coming out of the bush!!!! I nearly had a heart attack I was so excited!! They just kept coming and coming until we could see an entire HERD OF ELEPHANTS!!
We all gave many thanks and praise to God for creating such amazing, beautiful, majestic creatures AND for allowing us the great privilege of seeing them. People pay hundreds of dollars on safaris to see what we got to see for free on our road trip to Arua. Kuoth gua e long!
As our road trip progressed, the scenery changed drastically from the lush, tropical landscape of Kampala to the more arid, sparse landscape of Northern Uganda. We started seeing mud huts instead of brick homes, and it began to feel much more rural.