Sad good-byes

The last day starts with a morning breakfast business meeting.  There are several things we definitely want to cover.  Fortunately, Victoria appears with the new BKU accountant and reviews the purchases made for the home and the schools from the funds generously donated by our community back home.  These include a month's worth of food for BKU, milk and mattresses for the Noah's Ark school, a table and chairs for the preschool, and sewing machines for girls who choose a vocational career path.

Meeting in the Banana Village dining hall

new "i-chairs" purchased for the pre-school

food supplies for the BKU kids

gleaming new Singer sewing machines

Victoria instructs us on how the machines will be used

We then walk to the dormitories and visit the younger children.  Most of the older kids are returning or have returned to schools for the first term of the new school year.  We meet a couple of young Israeli volunteers who have been here for the past month, and they encourage the kids to entertain us with some lively dance numbers.  It's wonderful but sad to hug these great children and know we may not see them again for more than a year.

Check out the YouTube dance video on the link at the left hand side of this post.

a quick hug for Jovan

Sue needs more arms

Ida looking coy

Carly ecstatic to be reunited with Praise while Sanyu gazes off

Nadine poses with some of the girls

Dan helps Obama show off his artwork

Sue & Maggie in discussion in the dorm

Obama takes over the GoPro, to the fascination of other boys

Nadine with Don - the baby has grown!

Sandra's front teeth have erupted, completing a beautiful smile

a neighbourhood child poses

Sanyu, ever beautiful

Obama sports Dan's shades for the dance moves

Praise & Don snuggle on Nadine's lap

Alan snaps the latest in his series of portraits of Jovan wearing Alan's hat, and we tour Ruby's Room, a structure built with funds donated by our friend David Moore in honour of his mother.  This building is dedicated to prayer and meditation.

Jovan makes a perfect poster boy

Ruby's room situated in a quiet corner of the property

Arnold & Sandra rocking it to the music

they started with an Indian tune then switched to an African beat

baby Joanne (left), Sue & Hope

solid gold dancers, as John Turner would say

Hope with Alan

Kato is maturing and looking well

Then it's "divide and conquer", as Carly & Scott head to Noah's Arc school while the others view the primary school supplies and the shiny new Singer pedal-operated sewing machines.  Carly is impressed by the qualified staff at Noah's Arc, the sense of good programming, and the fact that her beloved Moses appears to be happy and well.  She almost melts into a puddle when he pulls out a ragged photo of she and him together from a couple of years ago, points to her and signs "mother."

The other four are treated to a visit at Rose's house while she prepares lunch for herself and beautiful Angel.

Sue shares Rose's umbrella with baby Angel

Esther plays "mama" to Angel

Maggie gets a turn cuddling Angel

The day ends with a swim, some entertainment by a local biker dude, and a great Banana Village pizza dinner.  Dan and Nadine spend some quality time with Ronald, a BKU lad who is attending university studying pharmacy.  It's an early bedtime as we need to leave at 2 am for Entebbe airport.

Women pound rocks into gravel using hammers at the quarry we pass.  We hope education will spare our kids a similar fate.

Bikers are a rare breed in Uganda

an encore with the Big Boys

Jackie and Sue have a moment while the girls show off their Ugandan dresses

Nadine & Dan being "cool" with Ronald

George II

Sunday morning four of us take the river cruise while Scott and Carly enjoy some down time.  We are thrilled to see lots of hippos and an amazing array of birds.

Sunrise overlooking the pool bar at Paara

we pass a couple of warthogs walking to breakfast

the signs don't lie at this lodge

red-throated bee-eaters are beautiful

this family was frolicking on the grass at the boat launch

never smile at a crockodile

snake bird

the captain offers lots of great information

That evening we all do a safari game drive which yields great encounters with giraffes and three lions pulling their kill into some tall grass.

they ordered take-away tonight

The guide for our Monday morning game drive is George, and we're amazed to learn he is the son-in-law of "George of the Jungle", who entertained us greatly as our guide when we last visited Paara. George II does not disappoint, finding us a leopard on a tree limb, then spotting six lions on a plain, as well as some elephants.

we're very lucky to view this leopard

George is the one with the "walking stick"

We accompany Carly & Scott for the afternoon river cruise, exiting upstream to take the long, high climb to the top of Murchison Falls.  The spectacular views are well worth the physical discomfort.  Abraham meets us at the top and stops at Sambiya Lodge for refreshments on the return journey.  We speak with the owner of this popular fishing destination property, who moved from Michigan and built the facility 20 years ago.

unusual to see a hippo on land during daylight hours

young love

busy neighbourhood of red-throated bee eaters

this kingfisher is just one of the hundreds of bird species in Uganda

fish eagle

mother protecting her nest

long hike up to view the falls

making new friends

Murchison Falls

the entire flow of the Nile is funneled into a 7m wide opening

view from the top

a few welcome sodas after a long climb

ferry ride across the Nile at sunset

Tuesday is another long travel day, this time returning to Banana Village.  We're thrilled to get some great views of elephants while exiting the park.  The craft vendors at a different gas station prove to be uncomfortably aggressive.  We marvel at the mud hut villages in this part of the country, and the strong women carrying bundles of firewood and other loads long distances on their heads.

Tragedy strikes as we reach the outskirts of Kampala, in the form of an urgent message for Sue to contact her aunt.  Sue's father, Nelson, has suffered from chronic heart disease for about 10 years, and she is given the news that he died in his winter trailer in Florida the night before.  Susan is devastated by the event, particularly since we now must inform Alicia.  She is back in Lindsay attending college and was always quite close to her Papa Nelson.  Thankfully, Alicia's boyfriend, Taylor, and our great friends back home rally to console and watch over Alicia while her parents are half way around the world.

Susan endures the frustrations of trying to contact her uncle, who is in Florida and is now dealing with the authorities there, and trying to start arrangements from this far away.  Carly takes Scott to Kabona to expose him to some of the local night life culture.