Oh we had such a fun time on Friday. I was able to go with some of the top students from each class and a few teachers to Entebbe Wildlife Center. Basically this was the zoo, but in my opinion, way better because the animal were more in their natural environment, it wasn’t as busy, and we had an informative tour. 
After a little nerviousness when I got a call from Edward at 5:45am that the driver and the bus had not come to pick up the kids yet, all the details got worked out and we were on the road, with 21 kids and 7 adults by 7:00 am. The kids were so funny in the bus. Remember, many of them have not ridden in a car more than a handful of times, have never been farther than Mbale, and have not seen all the sights of a big city, much less the wild animals of their country.
Most of them had a difficult time staying seated because there was too much to see… wetlands, trains, people fishing, other big trucks, the forest, tea plantations, and then the big city-Kampala. I giggled to myself so much when we went through Kampala because the things that fascinated these kids were things that I take for granted and don’t think twice about. For example, when we came across the first stop-light and it was pointed out to the kids, they proceeded to all shout the color as it changed. “Green! Green means go so why are we still stopped. Green means go!” But although they mastered the meanings of the stop-light, they didn’t exactly get the concept of Kampala traffic jam!
Brenda and the other kids eating brunch... chicken on a stick, gonga (roasted sweet bananas) and juice. I like the face of the kid wearing pink behind Brenda.
When we reached the Wildlife Center we met with our guide Peace, who I had been talking to over the phone in preparation. She was a wonderful guide- full of life and really interactive with the kids. We were able to see all sorts of animals-antelope, monkeys, lion, baboon, birds, zebra, rhino, warthogs, hyena, buffalo, and snakes. Interesting note: there are only 4 rhino’s in all of Uganda. And lions sleep 22 hours in the day.
Touching a grandma tortoise.
The Crested Crane- Uganda's National Bird
In front of Lake Victoria
But in all honesty, my favorite part of the day was watching the kids get to take a donkey ride. Of course they had never been on a donkey before so they sat 2s and went around in a small circle but LOVED it. The most amusing part was with one stubborn donkey that tried to “jump/buck” with its first 2 groups. Naster was one of them and she just held on and giggled the whole time. It was overall a wonderful trip.
After a little nerviousness when I got a call from Edward at 5:45am that the driver and the bus had not come to pick up the kids yet, all the details got worked out and we were on the road, with 21 kids and 7 adults by 7:00 am. The kids were so funny in the bus. Remember, many of them have not ridden in a car more than a handful of times, have never been farther than Mbale, and have not seen all the sights of a big city, much less the wild animals of their country.
Most of them had a difficult time staying seated because there was too much to see… wetlands, trains, people fishing, other big trucks, the forest, tea plantations, and then the big city-Kampala. I giggled to myself so much when we went through Kampala because the things that fascinated these kids were things that I take for granted and don’t think twice about. For example, when we came across the first stop-light and it was pointed out to the kids, they proceeded to all shout the color as it changed. “Green! Green means go so why are we still stopped. Green means go!” But although they mastered the meanings of the stop-light, they didn’t exactly get the concept of Kampala traffic jam!
Brenda and the other kids eating brunch... chicken on a stick, gonga (roasted sweet bananas) and juice. I like the face of the kid wearing pink behind Brenda.When we reached the Wildlife Center we met with our guide Peace, who I had been talking to over the phone in preparation. She was a wonderful guide- full of life and really interactive with the kids. We were able to see all sorts of animals-antelope, monkeys, lion, baboon, birds, zebra, rhino, warthogs, hyena, buffalo, and snakes. Interesting note: there are only 4 rhino’s in all of Uganda. And lions sleep 22 hours in the day.
The Crested Crane- Uganda's National Bird In front of Lake VictoriaBut in all honesty, my favorite part of the day was watching the kids get to take a donkey ride. Of course they had never been on a donkey before so they sat 2s and went around in a small circle but LOVED it. The most amusing part was with one stubborn donkey that tried to “jump/buck” with its first 2 groups. Naster was one of them and she just held on and giggled the whole time. It was overall a wonderful trip.
4 comments:
what a fun story...I love to hear how excited they get with everything! :) Love ya Nat,
Ash
My heart is blessed. Experiencing these things for the first time with the kids. How precious! So much chicken for them to eat in one sitting!!!
I thank God for blessing you too the way He is. You have an amazing life filled with so much joy. Thanks for sharing it with us.
See you in three weeks!
Hugs,
Cathy
so special!
such beautiful pictures... love your perspectives and views, nat! when can we get another blog update? :)
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