I love this place!

We had a very good day today!  We travelled with Doreen and our friend Mushabe to meet Doreen's grandmother and other relatives.  They are in a rural location so we had to drive down potholed dirt roads for a very long way. Her grandma does not know her age but her oldest child is 78 so she must be at least 95.  The grandfather lived to 107!

Afterwards we went to visit our very dear friends Tugume and his wife Merab for a big feast. It was so good to see them and their family.

I do so love the red dirt, matooke plants, the small villages and the kids waving at us.

Photos are of Tugume and family and Doreen's grandma, brother Derrick and other relatives.

Tukore School

We spent a wonderful afternoon at this school where Doreen's mum, Agaba Eva, lives and works.  It is a special needs school and Eva mainly teaches deaf children.

A feast was made for us! Matooke, rice, posho, cabbage, avocado, potatoes, beans, beef, chicken, rabbit. I am stuffed!!  Narya munonga (I ate a lot).

I almost forgot how lovely the landscape is on the way to our former home. Matooke plantations and big hills.  Tukore is near the college which is how we met Doreen's mum and chose Doreen as the one we would help sponsor.

I am feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the attention we get everywhere.  I felt that the first few months we lived here, but got used to it.

Children of staff at Tukore danced for us.

Mbarara continued

My last two posts got mixed up.  Must have been the result of too many bottles of Club beer!

We walked through town today and noticed many changes since we lived here.  Many new shops including a chain supermarket called Nakumatt.  3 floors of groceries, household goods, electronics, appliances, bakery, meat counter, etc.  We were very impressed.  The store opened less than 6 months ago.  When we lived here we would shop at the open air market for fruit and veg, at 4 or 5 shops trying to find mzungu food and products.  Often the stores were out of what I wanted.  I would have been so grateful to have had the Nakumatt when we lived here! 

Getting used to trying not to trip on uneven sidewalks or step into big holes.  Enjoying the weather today as the rain has kept the temps down.  Love wearing sandals, short sleeves and capris.

I have booked a 3-day safari tour to Murchison Falls for Doreen, Danny and I beginning Feb. 1st.

Very glad I have a stylus to type this blog with!

Mbarara main street from balcony of Hotel Classic restaurant.

Mbarara

Road between Masaka and Mbarara was excellent!  No potholes!

Busy week planned...friends to see and a new one to meet.

Met our dear friend (son) Evaristo at our hotel for dinner.  We met him at Bishop Stuart College while we lived there.  He got the highest scores as a student there and is a teacher.

Enjoying using some of the local language with waiters/waitresses and clerks.

Watched a Mexican soap opera with the worst dubbing and cartoon-like voices.  Hilarious.

Road to Mbarara

We stopped at the equator for photos. Mushabe, Doreen, Danny.

Stopping soon in Masaka for traditional buffet lunch. Enjoying seeing the matooke plantations, the hills and the roadside stalls of fruit and veg and other goods.

Now in Mbarara in hotel.  Nice suite with a fan.  Good food. We used to eat here often when we lived here. 

Met up with friend Evaristo.

Kampala

Very familiar...
Sitting in traffic and many young men walking between cars trying to sell airtime, small garden tools, shoes etc etc.

Potholes!! Bad drivers.

Fumes from cars and motorbike taxis.

Small kids yelling "mzungu how are you?"

Pork muchomo (BBQ) and chips.

Club beer, bottled water.

Wearing capris and sandals.

Pickpockets.

All the zeros on the money.  Taking one million shillings out of ATM.

Heading to Mbarara today for a week in a hotel and will visit friends.  Our dear friend, Mushabe, is driving us around.  Unfortunate that the price of petrol is very high.

Doreen loves her Kindle and has started reading Wuthering Heights.  Most Ugandans have not heard of ebooks as credit/debit cards are rarely used here.  Cards are only used in ATMs here.

Uganda

Danny and I arrived yesterday.  As always Emirates Airlines was superb.  The flight from Glasgow to Dubai was the better flight though - more leg room, a very good chicken tikka masala for dinner.  We spoiled ourselves a bit by staying at the hotel inside the terminal for a few hours sleep and hot shower before the flight to Entebbe instead of booking a lounge.

Our 'daughter' Doreen and her roommates cooked us the traditional dinner I had been wanting...beans in gravy, matooke, posho, avocado.

Kampala is hot, crowded, dusty and has far to many cars..just like I remembered it.

Tomorrow we head to Mbarara, our second home, for a week or more.

Test post- off to Uganda

First time posting to my blog using my android phone.  Hoping I can get good enough connections via Orange in Uganda to post often during the month we will be there.

I won't be able to upload any photos from my camera while we are there but will share from my phone's camera only.

Since typing on a phone is a tedious process (and a PITA) posts will be short.

Happy New Year!!

I don't do resolutions any more.  I have decided though to write a wee note every day about the day, about what happened, about anything....

One week before we leave for Uganda.  Started actually packing today.  I thought I was packing light, but it just isn't possible.  And it's not a lot of clothes, it's other things.  First aid kit, protein, dried fruit, nut snacks.  We have a lot of gifts for Doreen, our Ugandan daughter, and a few things for other friends as well.  The camera and all the lenses and accessories is the most cumbersome of anything I'm bringing.  But I can hardly leave it behind!!  Uganda is a serious photo op!

2013 will be a busy travel year:

• Jan/Feb Uganda
• Feb France
• June/July Michigan
• Sept/Oct sister and hopefully brother coming to visit - trips to Ireland and around Scotland
• End of Dec or early Jan Australia and Thailand for niece's wedding 

I am not bringing my netbook nor spending a lot of time in internet cafes, but we will be getting sim cards for our smartphones which will include internet options. I can post to my blog from my phone, but the photos will be lower quality as they can only be the ones I've taken with my phone.  A full blog with the high quality photos will be posted after we return home.  

Grandson and more.....

Danny and I spent the weekend in Inverness where his daughter, her husband and their darling son live.  Mason will be 8 months old on the 21st.

A few photos of the River Ness in the middle of the city:

Three weeks from today we leave for a 4 week trip to Uganda. I hope to be able to post from my android phone while there.  The photos will not be highest quality due to the slowness of the internet there and I'll only be able to post the photos taken with my phone.

Very strange not being in Michigan with my family for the holidays.  We look forward to a long summer visit with nice weather and opportunities to enjoy being outdoors with the grandkids and the rest of the family.