November 5, 2014
Fort Portal is located in Western Uganda and is where the international team has been staying during the period of insecurity in Beni territory. It is very much a tourist destination because it is near two national parks, has a view of the Rwenzori mountains, and has a collection of crater lakes. In the first few days of our stay we took time to enjoy some of the surrounding nature. On one day the group of us returned to Kyaninga Lodge to see it during daylight. I was so glad we went back because the view was spectacular. We hiked down to the crater lake that offered a completely different perspective of the landscape. Another day Jessica and I went to visit an old friend of hers from her university and he took us to the Holy Cross Novitiate outside of town that was also on a crater lake. I never get tired of looking at the African sky!
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November 5, 2014
The night before we left for Uganda Jessica shared that it was her one year anniversary of being in Beni. To celebrate she pulled out some yummy chocolates. The wrappers had messages and mine said, “An exhale moment deserves delicious chocolate.” We agreed that the upcoming journey to Uganda was going to be a much-needed “exhale moment”. That evening there was a city wide protest against the insecurity. We heard gunshots fired as police disbursed the crowd, but at the time we didn’t know what was going on. We huddled in a corner praying and singing. The tension of that evening confirmed that we had made the right decision to leave, however difficult it would be to part from our community of friends and colleagues.
Early the next morning we headed off. We fit all seven of us in one taxi because it didn’t make sense to pay for two cars when we could squeeze into one. The four ladies sat in the back and the boys sat on Jon’s lap in the front. When we were about half way on the Kasindi road, I had a strange moment when I began loosing feeling and then movement in my hands. We had to pull over two different times so that I could shake it out. I think my body was finally responding to the fatigue and stress of the last few days. Finally I laid down and closed my eyes which seemed to help for the rest of the way to the border. We had no problem crossing the border into Uganda and the rest of the journey was smooth. We even took a small detour south to play tourist and straddle the equator.
Alexander Mdogo (the Little) beside the chocolate wrapper. I really need to take him out more.
Back seat selfie!
Push-ups on the side of the road to get feeling back into my hands.
Hello Uganda!
The boys can say that they have been held across the equator.
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