Going On a Lion Hunt

 Not much could have me up and out by 6 AM, but the prospect of seeing animals in their natural habitat did just that.  The roof of our van was popped up to allow for standing and we left Paraa before sun up. The first thing we saw was a herd of water buffalo, but only their beady eyes in the darkness.  As the sun came up over the savannah, we began to see more and more. Water buffalo, did-dik, kob and water buck were plentiful.  The first thrill came when we spotted a tower of giraffe and a couple of elephants. So regal and powerful.  One giraffe surprised us by being brown with black spots instead of the standard yellow and brown.  Some of the animals had battle scars, evidence of life in the wild.  Norma Jean gained the nickname “Eagle Eye” as she spotted the first of three female lions we saw that morning.  She was lying not far from the kob and giraffes. With belly full from breakfast, the others were safe for now.  Pastor Roy got some great shots with his high power camera while most of us tried with our cell phones.  As we drove, we caught a glimpse of the Congo just beyond Lake Albert.  We fell in love with warthogs during our adventure; first, a family of them on the savannah, and then, to our joy and amusement, a dozen of them, big and small, came by the hotel pool while we were swimming!  They came to rest under a shade tree by our rooms.  They were a highlight of our time.  So fun. We saw a small herd of elephants.  My and Jean’s personal favorite.  They hung out with us for quite some time.  Leathery giants lumbering across the land, flapping ears and eating from the lush vegetation.  After safari, we had breakfast and swam in the beautiful pool.  A quick afternoon rain shower delayed our boat trip on The Nile.  Rain has not lasted long here, and so, we were boarding within the hour.  Our captain was Justin.  He was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor.  He guided us toward Murchison Falls and showed us many things along the way.  He noted the hippos are as plentiful in the Nile as boda-boda’s are in Kampala.  He was right!  We also saw many beautiful birds including the African eagle, some elephants, and a small crocodile sunning itself.  As we had dinner that night, we reflected on the beauty and wonder of God’s amazing world using Psalm 8.  Safari was a perfect and satisfying reward for all of our hard work over the past couple of weeks.  We are incredibly blessed to be here experiencing all things Uganda.

Blessings,

Carna

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT AN AWESOME God we serve! Today we had the privilege of going to BUKASA PRIMARY SCHOOL and doing some jja jja visits. We arrived in the morning and set up our clinic. I had the honor of being part of the Visual Aquity team with AmyLynn, Dina,Sunday and Alexander(a local young man). Today we served the students and faculty of Bukasa. It was so much fun working with them! They are so proud of their new glasses or sunglasses. They sang some songs for us and the kids enjoyed watching what we were doing and having their pictures taken. They love to see themselves in the pictures. In the afternoon I went with AmyLynn and a lovely young social worker named Nora. We walk from the school into the main part of the village to meet with the jja jja's. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up food gift bags. We take rice, beans, bread, corn meal,sugar for their families and we also took some toiletries and stuffed animals and an article of clothing for a child. They are so appreciative ...
Read more

Worship Ugandan Style

Sunday, July 20 The internet was down for the weekend, and our posts were lost in cyberspace on Monday, so hopefully these messages will reach you this time... After a breakfast of crepes with Nutella, we split into groups and headed to two different churches.  Rob and I, along with Sally, Norma Jean, and Donna went to Mutunga Chuch of God with Logan Stevenson.  The rest of the group attended Bakasa Church of God.  When we arrived at church, we were greeted at the van with joyful tribal shrieking.  They were so excited to see us!  We were escorted to the first two rows of chairs where worship had already begun.  These people really know how to praise God with song and dance... Lots of dancing!  A group of children sang and danced, another group performed a dance, and a young man wearing a "Snowboarder" shirt danced also.  We're certain that he has never hit the slopes, but after seeing his moves, Sally said she's pretty sure that Michael Jacks...
Read more

Monday, July 28,2014

Monday,Monday....sounds like a song.  Today was catch up day.  Catch up on laundry, some more shopping, and napping!  I participated in all three!  So since this was a rest day I would like to reflect on the past few weeks and some of  the people I met that inspired  me.   Generous was the pastor of the church in  Kasubu.  This woman's faith and her servant heart for trying to make an impoverished village better.  She knew the only way possible was through her trust and love for her Savior Jesus Christ.  Her drive and love of God was inspiring. She has touched.my life forever.   Mosses and Sundae are our two drivers who have been with us all two weeks.  Mosses smile is so contagious that you can't be sad around him.  He is kind and soft spoken. He loves Jesus and his life is one of a true servant of God.  Sundae is the enforcer of the two.  Younger in years he took charge the one day when the crowd got unr...
Read more