We Made It!

Greetings from Uganda!

After two days of jetlag, wonderful British flight attendants, walking (lots of it), travel mix, and on-flight movies, we finally arrived at the Entebbe Airport at about 7:30 this morning...but that's the short version of the story. :)

Anticipant adventurers in the Herald Towers lobby

We set out on Sunday evening for JFK and, despite the volcanic ash in Iceland, managed to still take off for London before midnight. I'd forgotten how luxurious an airplane can be. With the exception of the Lean Cuisine-esque dinners, we were treated like kings, which was fortunate because we were pretty exhausted by the time we reached London at what felt like very early in the morning (London time it was nearly noon). Kiley led us on a beautiful day trip into the city of London. The Tube managed to make me feel motion sick, so I (Betsy) took two Dramamines and was really loopy the rest of the day...okay, so the entire team felt loopy, drugs or no drugs. Despite our sleep deprivation, we managed to see the most famous sites, including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace (below) and the Westminster Abbey.

Above: Kate "makes a call" on one of London's famous telly booths *cue Lady Gaga "Telephone" song*

Our flight out of London was smooth and we snoozed all the way down to the equator. In the early morning we were greeted by a brilliant African sunrise--we made it!! We embarked on a bumpy bus ride to the outskirts of Kampala, where our inn is located. I've never seen so many bananas and mangoes in my life--the people carry loads of them on their heads. Children stared and sometimes waved at the crazy exhausted white people driving down the bumpy roads--it was great. It's amazing how many different kids of trees there are here, and how pleasant the weather is for being on the equator (we're on a plateau). It's rainy season, so we've experienced a cloudless sky, intense wind, huge cumulonimbus clouds and a torrential downpour all before dinner.

A view of the beautiful trees and landscape

Our very bumpy bus ride (Kampala streets are full of craters!)

Kiley's view of a Kampala suberb

Today is dedicated to getting to know the city and resting up. So far we've been a beautiful hilltop view of Kampala and had some delectable mango juice with breakfast. More later...keep praying for continued safety...it's been a thrilling adventure thus far.

Much love,

Betsy