Tuesday 23rd: At Robert’s insistence (quite rightly), we got up before dawn and crept out of Babu’s house although the guard dogs gave us away! We reached Lake Mburo National Park as it was getting light – and were greeted by lots of cheeky Vervet Monkeys at the gate.

We soon had our first encounter with zebras (Burchell’s). They are so beautiful and gentle, each one with its own unique set of stripes. We saw only a few at a time – nothing like the hundreds Roger and I watched stampeding early one morning many years ago when we were out on a guided walk with a ranger.  The only other place to see Zebras in Uganda is Kidepo Park. There was a small group of Cape Buffalo with a calf – and then giraffes (Rothschild’s), which took as much interest in us as we did in them. But it was some time before I noticed a huge Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl (the largest owl in Africa) was also watching us from a tree near the giraffes!

 

As usual, Robert was very good at remembering all the tracks around the Park, taking us to different habitats. We saw a good variety of birds (36 species including several new ones to add to my Uganda life-time list). The animal Robert and I were most keen to see was the Eland, a rare and elusive antelope, the largest in the world. Thanks to his keen eyesight, we found a male standing still on a hillock surveying his world, including a few females in the long grass below him which we soon lost sight of. But he remained where he was while we drove round to a better spot to sit and watch him. We got tired of him and moved on to find more wildlife before he tired of us!

 

We parked near the café beside Lake Mburo where there is a large area surrounded by bushes which is safe for walking around. There was quite a large herd of Impala, one of the most delicate of all antelopes, a Warthog family and a troupe of rowdy teenage Baboons which were having lots of fun playing on a temporary shelter made of a tarpaulin draped over a simple framework of metal poles. They were climbing up the poles, sliding down the sloping canvas, swinging on the trees behind and chasing each other all over the structure at breakneck speeds – without too much arguing! It was lovely just strolling around taking photos of the animals, who are used to people here, as well as birds, butterflies and other insects.

 

After lunch overlooking the lake, we continued exploring the Park along different tracks, spotting a few more animals and some interesting birds. But the middle of the day is when most animals slink away to rest among the bushes!

 

The Park is too large to fence it, so the wild animals, especially the Zebra, often roam over the boundary and mix with the large herds of magnificent Ankole Cattle which are a sign of wealth. They are often seen in UK zoos but this is where they originate from, hence the name Ankole, the kingdom where Mbarara and Lake Mburo National Park are situated.

 

Back in Mbarara after a wonderful day, we bought fruit in a market while Robert helped a mechanic repair the driver’s automatic window, which entailed taking the inside of the door to pieces! At Babu’s home, Peace had once again baked a delicious cake which we had with tea and roasted groundnuts on the verandah. I was taken by surprise when I was given a beautiful inscribed wooden ‘plaque’ (much too nice to use as a bread board), a small millet basket and a photo for framing from all the Nganwa family. They also asked me to bring another of each item for my brother, Dennis, and his family. I’ll leave you to decide what the birds are (their silhouettes are unmistakable)!

       “A friend loves at all times”

Wednesday, January 24th:  The time had come to start our return journeys back to our various homes. Parting, especially when you don’t know if and when you will ever see each other again, is sad and difficult so we tried to make the most of every last minute amidst the packing and on the drive back to Entebbe, including times of praying together. Peace came with us to Entebbe and we all stayed at Hapa’s home again although only his wife, Alice, was at home. She had broken her wrist since we last saw her. I went to bed at a sensible time while the “younger” ones went out partying! Unfortunately, Robert had his phone snatched from his hand while he was walking.

Thursday, January 25th: We all went together to take Patrick to the airport at 7.00am, exactly two weeks after Felicity had gone. Patrick is a dear friend whose gentle humour makes him fun to be with. He was also a great help and companion to Robert. Will we ever see him again? He went back to his family (Claudia, Luigi and Vanessa) in Madagascar and to his work as a tour guide and his project of designing and making alternative eco ‘charcoal’ briquettes and cooking stoves.

I spent the rest of the morning sorting out and packing, and talking and praying with Robert. Peace fetched William Nganwa from Kampala for lunch. William and I had revised together during school holidays for our ‘A’ levels and then shared some of the same lectures at The (Royal) London Hospital in the mid 1960s. He is suffering from dementia but was very relaxed and happy over lunch, with his strong sense of humour shining through. “What do you mean that you are saying your final goodbyes?” he asked. “Well, I shan’t be coming back to Uganda again.” “Yes you will. You’re coming back for my funeral!” “Oh, right! So when will that be?” “I don’t know. You’ll have to have a conversation with him up there!”

Robert and Kerstin took me and Inna to the airport after lunch. Having started our goodbyes several days before, perhaps it was no bad thing that Robert, as “the driver”, wasn’t allowed to park but had to drop us with our luggage and drive straight off! It was good that Kerstin was with him – she returned to Soroti with Robert for another week. They drove straight back, getting home at about 9.00pm. Our journey went well (apart from the awful process of checking in – the new Departures building has done nothing to ease that as no new facilities or machines have been installed inside it!), with none of the delays Felicity had had two weeks before. Inna and I were home by lunchtime on Friday, 26th, exactly a month after we left home. Modern technology makes it easier than before to keep in touch, and even share photos and ‘see’ each other, but I miss not being able to write or receive proper letters as there is now no postal service in Uganda. Our phones have certainly been busy over the last three weeks!

SPECIAL THANK-YOUS

What a privilege and joy this final trip to Uganda has been. It has made me especially thankful to so many throughout my life without which this visit would not have been possible. I have been very blessed – and hope that I have been able to share some of those blessings with others. So a big thank you to:

• My parents (they died in 2006 and 2010), who brought me into this world in Uganda and who nurtured me without being sucked into the closed and narrow evangelicalism of the Anglican church at that time in southwest Uganda. They helped me discover how to cross cultures, enabling me to have my first Ugandan friends who are still my friends nearly 80 years later.
• God, who has kept and guided me, even if I didn’t realise it at the time, throughout my life and has given me a home in Uganda and many special friends who are as close as family.
• Roger, who has loved me as I am for nearly 60 years, accepted and appreciated my Uganda roots, supported, encouraged and enabled me to continue to belong and have homes and ‘family’ in Uganda.
• My family (children and grandchildren) who have also valued and shared my roots and my involvement in Teso over the past 35 years.
•  My friends in Teso who have opened and shared their homes and lives with me, given me a name (Arakit), a place in their families and even adopted me as a sister, mother, grandmother – what an amazing privilege.
• My wider friends and family in the UK and elsewhere who have come on my life’s ‘journey’ with me, at home and in Uganda, and supported me in so many ways.
• The amazing TESS family of sponsored students who are now all adults, qualified and making such a difference within their own families and communities, in Teso and even further afield. I am so proud of what you are all doing and the bonds between us all.
• All of you who have been involved in this, my final, visit to Uganda – for your love and friendship, your prayers, support and company, for hosting us and helping with plans and arrangements, for coming with me and looking after me, and to Robert for hours of safe driving and looking after the vehicle, for his company and laughter, for his wisdom and love.

It is hard to express a life-time of gratitude in a few words! But without all of you, your faithfulness and generosity, I certainly wouldn’t have had such an interesting and enriched life, making me the person I am today. Of course there have been hurts and difficulties along the way, sometimes leaving me with painful memories (and, of course, leaving others hurt as well). Robert challenged me (at least) when he said to us one day on this trip, as we were travelling together, “Forgiving people is my way of blessing them”.  This trip has brought some measure of healing and, with help, I managed to forgive where necessary. But of course, growing, loving, healing, forgiving, changing, appreciating, learning is an ongoing, life-long process. Thank God for his blessings.