Goodbye Blighty, Hello Africa!

I have arrived in Uganda!!!! My plane landed this morning and I stepped out to beautiful sunshine (we have had a thunderstorm since! : / ). Thank you to everyone for all your prayers - the whole journey, right from leaving home went so smoothly. We got to the airport in plenty of time so that I could check all my bags in and then enjoy a long sit down, drink and a chat (& some of my favourite crisps - thanks mum :) with my beautiful and very special family and my amazing and wonderful friend who had come to see me off. I had a very tearful goodbye at the airport. It was as hard as I had been thinking (and dreading) it might be and a really tough moment to go through. I haven't cried so much in a very long time! It was a strange mixture of emotions to be feeling all at once ranging from sadness and huge amounts of tears to excitement and expectancy. I had to compose myself when I went through security as I was walking through the airport on my own and I knew people must have been looking at me crying and thinking I was a freak! I had a good flight and was sat next to an angel who lifted my hand luggage (all 11.5kgs of it!) into and out of the overhead locker. I had been panicking about this as I can't even reach the overhead lockers let alone lift that weight above my head! I got my visa in Entebbe airport easily when I arrived. Big thanks to all who had been praying for my luggage as all 8 of my suitcases came through straight away, nothing went missing and a lovely airport porter helped me lift them all and wheel them to my taxi where Lawrence, my taxi driver was waiting. One smooth, uncomplicated journey!! To think I was worried about how I would manage on my own - as it turns out from when all 8 suitcases were lifted into the cars at home by Mick, Jimmy and Leah I never picked one of them up again until we got to the guest house and I helped unload them from the taxi. Amazing - I didn't do anything except get totally looked after the whole journey. I shouldn't have spent all those hours worrying!

 

Lawrence drove me from the airport to Matoke Inn guest house. Along the roadside I spotted so many signs and little shops displaying signs for Coca-Cola – I should have kept a count!! Matoke Inn is a 40 minute drive from Entebbe International Airport which is the only International airport for Uganda. Matoke is operated by Africa Inland Mission and has it's name from Matoke which is a particular type of banana which is part of the local staple diet and is eaten cooked.

The Inn is known for its beautiful surroundings and also for its peace and quiet. It is set in a large garden compound and enjoys tropical and semi tropical flowers and birds. I haven’t explored much yet but have heard a wide range of birds, chickens and monkeys!! Matoke is only 15 miles or so north of the equator and has an altitude of approximately 3000 feet above sea level which makes the climate very pleasant. It is also just a mile or two from Lake Victoria Which is the second largest inland lake in the world.

I am staying here with 3 girls from the US who have also come here at the start of their trip. They are going off to different projects over the next few days and we are all going to be doing our Orientation together this week. They have been acclimatising to jet-lag so I have enjoyed a quiet, relaxing and chilled out day today.

My first impressions of Uganda:

The lovely hot sunshine.

The warm, friendly welcome I have received.

It’s very green and there is a lot of orange/red mud everywhere.

Never-ending supply of tea in the guest house! My tea habit has been well supplied since my arrival.

The locals brilliant English – apparently there are 30-40 different tribal languages spoken here (National language is English) but from first impressions I won’t have to spend too much time studying :)

My temporary bedroom!