Yesterday I wrote a blogpost about our safari, but I didn't include everything. Every story can be written from a few different perspectives. The last part of the trip reminded me about that in particular, so I am going to tell you the story of the "dark side." I have been able to laugh about it and I hope you find it a bit humorous too.
After our first 2-3 hours driving, we stopped at a place in Kampala that we really like called Cafe' Javas. It has decent restrooms and good food and coffee drinks. Ezra went to use the men's bathroom on his own, and was taking a while so I went to check on him. I stood outside and called to him to see if he needed anything. He told me he locked himself in the stall and could not get out. There was a high window which he climbed up into to talk to me, of course. I tried to stand on my tip toes in order to see what to do about the lock and I rolled my ankle. So I am lying on the ground in pain and Ezra is trapped in the bathroom. I called David on my phone and eventually he got Ezra out and I was able to walk. (My ankle is still swollen and painful at times, but it wasn't a major sprain.)
Then we got into the vans to drive what should have been about 5 more hours, which turned into 8-9. There was road construction, so only one lane was supposed to go at a time, but no one obeys any traffic rules here. It is mayhem. And when they are working on one side, they have to throw huge rocks on it to keep people from driving on it and ruining it.
We finally arrived, got everyone fed, settled in bed and then I heard a bat flying in our room. After a while, I finally was able to go to sleep. Four hours later Elijah woke ready to go on safari; an hour after that everyone was ready to get up for the day at 4:30am.
After our first 2-3 hours driving, we stopped at a place in Kampala that we really like called Cafe' Javas. It has decent restrooms and good food and coffee drinks. Ezra went to use the men's bathroom on his own, and was taking a while so I went to check on him. I stood outside and called to him to see if he needed anything. He told me he locked himself in the stall and could not get out. There was a high window which he climbed up into to talk to me, of course. I tried to stand on my tip toes in order to see what to do about the lock and I rolled my ankle. So I am lying on the ground in pain and Ezra is trapped in the bathroom. I called David on my phone and eventually he got Ezra out and I was able to walk. (My ankle is still swollen and painful at times, but it wasn't a major sprain.)
Then we got into the vans to drive what should have been about 5 more hours, which turned into 8-9. There was road construction, so only one lane was supposed to go at a time, but no one obeys any traffic rules here. It is mayhem. And when they are working on one side, they have to throw huge rocks on it to keep people from driving on it and ruining it.
We finally arrived, got everyone fed, settled in bed and then I heard a bat flying in our room. After a while, I finally was able to go to sleep. Four hours later Elijah woke ready to go on safari; an hour after that everyone was ready to get up for the day at 4:30am.
Since we were always in a hurry to get to the ferry crossing or to make it to the boat safari on time and Zeke was fussy and tired, I was often needing to carry him and walk quickly along uneven gravel paths with a bad ankle. For the most part we arrived on time, but Zeke and I were almost always hurrying to bring up the rear of the group.
The walking paths were rough on the ankles, but the driving paths were rougher on the neck and back. We all are pretty stiff from bouncing around on the dirt roads. The van took quite a beating too. As we were preparing to leave the rhino sanctuary we found that we had a flat tire.
We started the trip with Zeke sick, but now everyone is coughing, has running noses and is feeling bad. On our return trip, everyone was sleeping in the van and Zeke woke up and had diarrhea in his car seat. We returned to GSF at 9:45pm and the generator was running. The generator always turns off at 10pm. The hot water heater is always off unless it is being used for energy conservation, so there was no hot water. I turned it on as soon as we arrived, but I still had to wash Zeke's diarrhea off in an uncomfortably cold shower. I got him in bed, then the power was out. I took a cold shower by lantern light, and then went to bed listening to the critters in the attic.
heater is always off unless it is being used for energy conservation, so there was no hot water. I turned it on as soon as we arrived, but I still had to wash Zeke's diarrhea off in an uncomfortably cold shower. I got him in bed, then the power was out. I took a cold shower by lantern light, and then went to bed listening to the critters in the attic.
Ok, this version of the story sounds pretty terrible, but it really was an awesome trip. I loved it and am so glad we went even though we had all of these trials. Most of these things feel a bit like "par for the course" for life in Uganda, honestly. I am learning to laugh at these situations and just go with it. I was grouchy and easily angered with David for a bit, but God helped me see that and I have repented of it.
I thought that it would be interesting to put together all the challenges to show the two ways to look at life. That is what Linda Dillow does in her book Calm My Anxious Heart when talking about contentment with circumstances. In her book she also refers to Philippians 4 in which the Apostle Paul says that he has "learned the secret of being content in every situation." I cannot say that yet, but I am definitely growing in this way. Please reread my blogpost "Christmas safari" to get the better version. I am very thankful for our wonderful trip. That is the version I will remember! Well, I'm going to go boil some water to make coffee. :) I hope you are able to see life with thankfulness and joy today! "This is the day The Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
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