Sept. 14 - Of to Jinja and the "Source of the Nile"

Got up early and just the 2 of us set out for Jinja where the Nile begins at Lake Victoria. This was a belated anniversary get away.  We had our 32^nd anniversary on August 30^th but were too busy to do anything special.  We stopped on the way to Jinja at Mabira Forest preserve and hired a birding guide to find the little critters for us in the thick rain forest.  Then we went to the Nile and hired a boat for an hour tour of the Nile.  The birding was great and the guide very helpful.  We saw some magnificent kingfishers along with a host of other water and shore birds.  Our favorite is the little Malachite Kingfisher which is an almost unbelievable brilliant blue on its back and head, a great example of God’s creativity and sense of beauty. We did note that the other crewman had to bale out the bottom of the aged wooden craft every so often.  They gave us life vests to wear that did not buckle up.  Guess they’re required but don’t specify they have to function!  Good news is the Nile is warm and we both know how to swim which is good as tomorrow we raft the Nile.  The 3 other women vets from America will join us for a time of getting to know each other and bonding before the conference (and just plain old fun).

Prayer requests:

-         Val’s jeep is broken down in the remote NE and it is hard to find a reliable mechanic there.  Could take weeks to order parts and fix it.  Pray for a speedy and correct fix both for her and us.  It was to be our transport to and around the remote northeastern area where Val works

-         Rest and refreshment for Val.  She has had continual visitors lately, had to take public transportation from Karamoja to Kampala (a very uncomfortabl,e long day trip) and has been dealing with difficult conditions in Karamoja.

-         The difficult conditions are flooding and mud. All the roads are unpaved.  They are having unusually heavy rains here but especially in Karaamoja.  At one point they ended up in waist high water in a hired vehicle and had to make their way out on foot and leave the vehicle.  Pray we will be able to make it out to Karamoja for the 2 ½ weeks we planned to spend working there with Val.  Pray for the people in that area as it is making their lives even more difficult.