Finally a sleep in!

On Sunday we headed back to Kampala after only 24 hours in Gulu. Mike and Tanya have been here for a week and a half now and finally they had the opportunity to sleep in past 6:00 on Sunday morning. We keep telling Mike that we are going to turn him into a morning person, but he is not convinced that will happen.
After a wonderful breakfast at the guesthouse, we had the opportunity to spend more time chatting with George. We really wanted to take Mike and Tanya to see the water supply where all the local people go to get their water. The problem is that the community has now put up a chain link fence so the route to the water source is a very long one. If George had taken us there, he would have missed church and we didn’t want that to happen.
As we were leaving the guesthouse, we met some more friends who live outside the walls of the guesthouse. Betty (16 years old) and her mother both remembered us and were very glad to see us. The most pleasant and amazing surprise was Betty’s older sister, Emma. She has had a stroke and last year when we met her, she was unable to speak. Lorenda walked up to her, shook her hand, greeted her and asked if she remembers us. To Lorenda’s surprise, she answered, “Welcome, of course I remember you.” It was such a delight to see the healing in this young woman’s life. Betty is attending school and says she is doing well in her first year of high school. We drove Betty to Watoto Church and then started on our way back to Kampala.
The road between Gulu and Kampala really is absolutely brutal, but the big trucks and buses don’t slow down any. You really wonder why on earth anyone would drive on that highway…but there is so much to see. There is a bridge that crosses the Nile River south of Gulu and the view is breathtaking! There is a little waterfall and some rapids- the river is flowing very swiftly there, it is absolutely beautiful! There is also always wildlife right at that point on the highway. On the way up we saw monkeys at this spot and on the way home we saw a huge family (at least 30) baboons- great big ones, all the way down to tiny ones that appeared to be just a few days old.
All along the road and off into the fields there are hundreds and hundreds (likely thousands and thousands) of mango trees that are just loaded with mangoes. In Gulu the mangoes are going to be ready in the next couple of weeks. I am not sure when the ones in the south will be ready- I know our kids are hoping it will be in June!
In northern Uganda people live in mud huts with thatched roofs. It is so amazing to drive along the highway and see these huts for as far as the eye can see. It really is a truly African experience!
So in spite of the horrible, awful highway, the trip to Gulu was a great experience! I would recommend it to anyone who comes to Uganda.