On our way home ...

Our time in Uganda is coming to an end, and we are all sad to say good-bye even though we are simultaneously eager to be reunited with family and friends back home.

We enjoyed our last big outing yesterday afternoon - a river trip up the Nile River to the bottom of the Murchison Falls.

This smaller boat tied up at the rock just before our boat, and this is as close as we could safely get to the falls. The white foam is a natural and never-ending occurence caused by the force of the falls and a combination of dirt and animal scat. Our boat was larger and a double-decker with a covered top which thankfully protected us from the scorching mid-day sun .

Once we had our turn at the rock, the boat crew temporarily tied up there and said we could get out onto the rock for a quick photo. Jill P. and Heather were the first to jump at the chance. Surprisingly, our SS Naz group and one other man on the boat ride were the only ones to take advantage of this great opportunity. the other passengers had no interest or were too scared. Their loss!!

The one "new" creature we saw along the river, which we had not see on our previous safari outings, was the crocodile. The first few we spotted slipped into the water so fast that we barely had time to get our cameras out. But this one, about 6 feet long, was very accommodating and stayed put for several minutes so we could get plenty of snapshots.

We also saw so many groups of hippos (called "schools" just like fish) lazing in the water that they became commonplace and not worth photographing. There were also many interesting varieties of birds, such as the African Eagle - similar to the American Eagle but with more white feathers.

After the riverboat trip, We spent our last afternoon at the Paraa Safari Lodge relaxing in the swimming pool before dinner (maybe inspired by the hippos?), then packed our bags and prepared for the long trip home.

This morning we headed out at 7:00 to take the ferry across the Nile and drive back to Kampala.





The ferry coming from the other side had such a full load that it took 3 tries - and required rebalancing the load by moving cars back - before it could make it up onto the shore for disembarking.

We waited patiently on the shore for our vehicles to get on and then we boarded, bidding a very fond farewell to the Murchison Falls National Park.

We are now back in Kampala the Guest House, preparing to leave for the airport at 6 p.m. and take off at about 10 p.m. for the first of our three flights to get home. We needed to stop by the Watoto Central Church en route back from the safari, so we couldn't resist one more quick shopping session at the Living Hope craft store. Then we enjoyed a nice lunch at the same American-style restaurant where we ate on Saturday as our final group outing in Kampala.

It's been an amazing trip, filled with heartwarming as well as heartbreaking experiences, wonderful people we will never forget, and more blessing than we can begin to count. We are so thankful to Watoto and the many friendly Ugandans we met here for making us feel so welcome and so appreciated!!

We'll send another post when we arrive back in Salem. Thanks again to all of you for following our adventures and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Blessings,

The SS Nazarene Watoto Team