Out Of Town

The intensity of work continued as the second week with the team was spent painting a school. It was rewarding to have the opportunity to do something that was tangible, as relationships that are built are harder to record. However, the similar days merged together and in no time it was the end of the week and Lorna and I were heading off out of Mbale.

As we are are overlapping for four weeks, we decided that the activities which took place outside of Mbale would be done together (safety in numbers and all that). Our first stop was Kampala, which was the starting point of our safari trip up at Murchison Falls. The safari took place over three days and started with  a 'hike' (we managed in  flip flops) to the top of the falls. The following day we crossed the River Nile at sun rise (which was appropriately accompanied by one of our safari companions humming the 'Lion King'). We headed off on a four hour game drive that morning and saw just about every animal you'd expect in East Africa. Later we took a boat trip up the River Nile to the bottom of the falls, where we sipped on a Nile Special which we shared between us. It was a struggle to finish the beer, but we both felt it was worth it to say we  had drank a Nile on the Nile! The last day of our safari consisted of the rhino tracking, where we stood less than 30 metres away from  six of Uganda's rhinos (out of their total of twelve). The guide prepared us for the vicious nature of these creatures, but to be honest they were pretty lazy!

The next part of our trip took us to Jinja, where we took part in a five day retreat. The retreat centre was based at the edge of the River Nile in the most stunning gardens I have ever seen. This place was the closest thing to paradise that I had ever experienced. Our time there was such a blessing; God revealed Himself in new ways and also revealed aspects of my own character, which had never been brought to light before. After a busy few weeks, the slower pace and quiets times were gratefully welcomed! 

After the retreat, we travelled to another part of Jinja to take part in a day of white water rafting. At the beginning of the day, I was led to believe that we were in the lazy, 'chilled-out' raft, who only paddled when it was absolutely vital and encouraged the sun during the tanning opportunities between rapids. How very wrong I was. We were heading towards our second-last rapid and Lorna (and our friend Emma) were sitting at the front of the boat, while the rest of us took our weight to the back. As we closed in on the rapid, I soon realised that their positioning at the front of the boat was no longer particularly wise. The next thing I knew, I was under the water and the raft had capsized. Capsizing had never been an issue before, except this time we were heading towards a rather large rock, which could potentially cause complications. As we got closer, I was lifted from the water onto the top of the upside down raft. Clambering on, we tried to lift Lorna from the water but she slipped through our hands, which was followed by a distressed wail from myself, as I had failed to save my friend! Lorna paid that day with eight stitches in between her baby toes, but in her words "it was all worth it!" 

After tweaking plans slightly, which included Lorna travelling to Kampala to find an adequate surgery to mend her up, we finally made it back to Mbale. After a week of travels, I will be spending my last week here in Mbale before flying back to the UK on Sunday. 

Love Han xxx