HOMEWARD BOUND!!!

KAREN:

Our Uganda experience is now officially over! Eight months, 33.5 weeks, 235 days and we now find ourselves homeward bound as we sit in Dubai airport waiting for our connecting flight onwards to Manchester. It's quite a culture shock to be in such an extravagant and immaculately clean environment after the simplicity of Uganda...and constantly being covered in a hue of orange dust!

Uganda is a phenomenal country and our experience has far exceeded our expectations. To have the opportunity to work at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital (GRRH) has been a true honour. The hospitality of the Acholi people has been remarkable as we were always welcomed us with open arms! We have been proud to call Gulu our home and make so many friends both from the local and the international community. After 22years of civil war in Northern Uganda and being subjected to so much suffering, loss and poverty, you could expect much sorrow, oppression and negativity. Instead the people are the most upbeat, happy and friendliest individuals we have ever met, contented by the simple pleasures in life. They are a true inspiration!

DEBBIE:

The last 8 months has been filled with such a fantastic range of adventures, professional learning and personal development. Our work was intense and at times very difficult but our whole experience at GRRH was one that we will treasure for years to come. There were many extremely sad and demanding days but our spirits were raised so much by those few patients who against the odds survived. Simple procedures and processes proved to be complicated due to the lack of resources and huge number of patients on the ward but this meant that we felt even more proud of all of our achievements. We developed such strong relationships with the hospital staff and found it interesting to learn about our colleagues' lives and stories of living in Gulu during the war. As Karen has said, the people that we have met are all so inspiring and it is hard to believe the suffering and hardship that they have been exposed to. We are very proud of the work that we have done at the hospital and feel that we have made many lifelong friendships.

Leaving Uganda has caused us to experience such a range of emotions. We are both so very excited to see all our families and friends! We're also feeling saddened that this incredible experience is now over. We had both always dreamed of working in Africa and having made that dream a reality has been amazing. Leaving friends and the ever changing international community behind in Gulu has also been difficult but we now have future opportunities to visit these great friends in some beautiful places around the world. In the last few days in Uganda we found ourselves soaking up the sights and sounds even more and trying so hard to capture those special details that we just can't let ourselves forget, for example: the vast sky that is full of cartoon-clouds, the ever smiling faces of Ugandan people as they greet you, ten thousand people trying to fit into an 11 seater matatu (minibus), the sight of someone tucking into a plate piled unbelievably high with pocho, rice and beans, the buzzing, social activity of the market place, the way people carry 30 kilos on their heads like it's no big deal, the way that the children look at you in awe when you walk past them because they've never seen a 'mzungu' (white person) before....the list goes on and on and on.

KAREN:

We hope you have enjoyed following our journey and that our blog has brought you all closer to Gulu and to Uganda and to the reality of life in a developing country. We sincerely thank our families for their endless love and support and for sharing in our smiles, our tears, our adventures, our trials and our tribulations. To all our friends and colleagues - we thank you for the ongoing support, emails and messages which have been hugely appreciated and encouraging, particularly after a difficult day at work!

...photos to follow once once we are re-united with a decent internet connection back home!

So from Uganda, and from the Gulu Girls it is officially over and out!

FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

Apologies as this entry was written nearly a week ago but due to no power or internet uploading has been delayed!

KAREN:

Time seems to have been flying by on our travels as we now find ourselves in our final two weeks in Uganda! The countdown to home brings a mixture of feelings from excitement and elation at the thought of seeing our families and friends, to sadness that our 8-month Uganda experience is drawing to a close. To be spending time exploring Uganda is definately proving to be the perfect way to end our adventures and definately a good reward after 6 months of hard work in Gulu!

Our journey has now brought us to east Uganda where we are staying in the Mount Elgon region. At 4321m Mount Elgon is the second highest peak in Uganda, and the eighth highest mountain in East Africa. I'd like to say that we have great intentions of making the four day climb but I'd be lying...the pain in our legs after one day of walking, mostly uphill I must add, has left us wondering if our legs really do belong to us so instead we'll continue to admire the mountain from the surrounding areas! Being in the mountains we are very aware of the drop in temperature and are wondering how on earth we will cope as we return to the milder climate of the UK despite the reports we have heard about recent good weather back home!

Not to neglect our clinical interests, on our travels we have found ourselves visiting two different health care establishments. Firstly, whilst in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to trek the mountain gorillas, we visited the local hospital which we stumbled upon in a quest to locate internet facilities. Serving a catchment area of 60,000 people, this 60-bedded missionary hospital proved to have an impressive set up. By African standards, the hospital was spotlessly clean and appeared to be well organised. Schemes such as the sale of reduced-priced mosquito nets seem to be having a positive impact on the health of the community as well as the introduction of a low-cost health insurance whereby patients make an annual contribution of 6000 Uganda Shilling, approximately £2. It was encouraging to see such an efficient clinical environment here in Uganda giving us hope for the long term collaboration between the University Hospital of South Manchester (UHSM) and Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.

Our next clinical visit took us further north to a small suburb of Masaka called Kamatuuza, approximately 3 hours west of Kampala. We knew of a doctor from Cheshire who has set up a paediatric health centre in this district as part of the work of the charity 'Just Care'. It turned out that she was visiting the region from the UK and so we arranged to visit. In true Uganda style , nothing is ever that simple! The journey began with a taxi driver assuring us he 'knew the place' when asked if he could drive us the supposed 20 minute route to Kamatuuza. Whilst the driver ate a nutritious breakfast of cake and soda at the wheel, we began to feel doubtful that he knew where he was going as the journey appeared to take a long time. 45km and almost an hour later he proclaimed to have arrived at our destination yet there was no health centre nor indeed any signs of civilisation. Eventually we learnt from an intrigued collection of local people that there were two places called Kamatuuza in the region and the one we wanted was 60km away in the other direction! The driver didn't seem to understand why this was a problem and drove off leaving us stranded at the side of the road! Eventually, after a long and squashed drive where a 6 seater car somehow managed to accommodate 12 adults and a baby, we reached the correct destination...3 hours late! The warm welcome we received from Dr Pauline and her team certainly compensated for the frustrating start to our day. We accompanied them as they distributed mosquito nets, mattresses and clothing to families within the community before visiting the children's health centre. Again this proved to be another well run and organised health facility run by a small team of friendly staff giving Just Care cause to feel very proud of their work!

DEBBIE:

After our intrepid travels through Queen Elizabeth National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park we made our way further south. After several nights filled with an array of animal noises we were extremely happy to arrive at the tranquil and peaceful Lake Bunyoni. We travelled from the mainland to one of the 29 islands by dugout canoe and settled into our accommodation named a 'geodome', which consisted of a very basic hut with no door! Having been used to the scorching heat of the north for 6 months we weren't convinced that we would survive the cold of the night by the lake (with rather drafty accommodation!) A sleeping bag and 3 blankets each helped us to survive the night and the view that we woke up to the following morning was absolutely breathtaking! We spent an amazing 5 days reading books, relaxing and exploring the islands!

After resting in Lake Bunyoni and visiting our friends to learn about their inspiring projects in Masaka we travelled to Lake Mburo. Having seen lions, elephants, hyenas, gorillas, hippos and giraffes in Uganda there was only one species that we still had to tick of our list - zebras! We went on a beautiful boat trip on the lake where we saw many hippos and different varieties of birds. We then went on a game drive early in the morning and saw a herd of zebras meaning that our Ugandan animal spotting was complete!

Animal Kingdom!

DEBBIE:

The beginning of our trip involved a few slight setbacks in the form of purse-theft in Kampala followed by tricky bank troubles in Fort Portal. However, after a couple of stressful days we put these inconveniences behind us and started to enjoy our newfound relaxed and stress-free lifestyle!

Fort Portal, in Western Uganda at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains, offered us the chance to stay at the interestingly named ‘Exotic Lodge’ which cost us a grand total of £1 each for accommodation per night! Although far from exotic the rooms were clean and the staff were kind, which made our stay really enjoyable. The weather here was a far cry from the super hot Gulu that we were used to but with our raincoats packed we decided to take a trip out of the town to explore the countryside on mountain bikes. The views from the hills were quite spectacular and as we were cycling we constantly heard the choruses of the local children shouting ‘how are you, how are you, how are you!!!’ Mzungus (white people) on bicycles seemed to cause the locals a lot of amusement as they stared and giggled at us. We were unfortunate to get stuck in an almighty rain shower on the way back to Fort Portal but we warmed up with some good local style food back at the lodge.

KAREN:

Our onward travel took us to the Mweya Peninsula in Queen Elizabeth National Park – 1978 sq km of animal heaven! Staying deep within the park perimeters, the night air was filled with the sound of roaring lions, laughing hyenas, grunting hippos (‘ho ho ho’) and trumpeting elephants. Hearing activity outside our bedroom we were astounded by the sight of two elephants passing by our window! Watching the rangers trying to move them on was like a game of cat-and-mouse as more elephants continued to arrive and tear down trees! During our time in the park we saw hundreds of elephants, often way too close for comfort as they came within metres of our vehicle. An evening game drive proved to be the most exciting but perhaps the most hair-raising and exhilarating of our experiences. Driving back to our accommodation, a sizeable herd of elephants reluctantly took their time to clear from the road. A few minutes later a baby elephant stood alone in the road distressed at being parted from the main herd. Almost immediately a hippo ran across our path followed by 2 savage hyenas. We sadly learned that the elephant calf later became dinner for the hyenas. I can only describe Queen Elizabeth National Park as one of the most magical places on earth!

DEBBIE:

From the north of Queen Elizabeth National Park we travelled south to Ishasha, hoping to see the native tree climbing lions. After 7 hours of game driving in Mweya without spotting any lions, we were hoping to catch some down in Ishasha. As we drove from the park gate I heard a gasp from Karen sitting in the front seat of the car and we stopped to see 2 lionesses sitting by the side of the road!! We were also lucky enough on our game drive the next day to see a male and a female lion on the roadside. We were ecstatic to finally see these amazing creatures.

Our accommodation resembled a local style hut with great views over the savannah. The ranger who guarded the site was not too reassuring when he told us that, the previous night, the campsite had been stalked by 4 lions! The evening was full of animal noises (which was slightly scary) and we had a visit from a bat in the middle of the night which caused us some amusement as we tried to coax it out of our room!

KAREN:

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park became our next stop. With an altitude span of 1160-2607 metres, the steep rolling rain forest mountain scenery and countless tea plantations felt very unlike Africa! The purpose of our visit...to trek the endangered mountain gorillas. The Ugandan jungle-forest is home to half of the 700 surviving gorillas worldwide. The remaining populations live over the borders in Rwanda and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conservation efforts only allow the Uganda Wildlife Authority to release 24 permits a day to trek 3 different gorilla families within the park and so it is a privilege to view these magnificent animals. Our trek followed the path of the Rushegura gorilla family. Lead by a humungous silver back male we were fortunate to view 16 of the 19 family members, including two babies. Such breath-taking animals! Visitors are restricted to 1 hour viewing and a 7 metre distance rule to prevent the gorillas becoming overly familiar with human contact and to reduce the risk of disease transmission. As we watched on, the unruly group ran down the hill onto community land and wreaked havoc in a banana plantation, causing much damage to the crop, and indeed the livelihood of a local farmer. Pulling down trees and crushing the crops, the animals had a right old feast, swallowing bananas whole before the rangers eventually chased them away. We were relieved to hear from the land owner that gorilla-trespass is only a bi-annual event.

To have viewed so many animals in the wild has felt like a dream come true and the most magnificent reward for all our efforts and hard work over the last 6 months. May the good times continue to roll in our remaining 3 weeks in Uganda!

(Disclaimer: Photos to follow when decent internet connection available, in the mean time we encourage you to use your imagination! Thank you very much for your patience!)

Good Bye Gulu!

KAREN:

The time has come to say goodbye to Gulu! Our mission is now complete! What an incredible 6 months we have had here in Uganda! Whilst volunteering at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital has been the challenge of a life time, we will forever cherish the memories and friends created by this experience. Goodbyes have been far from easy...

DEBBIE:

We've had a week of saying our goodbyes to the great people of Gulu...and what an emotional week it turned out to be! We were overwhelmed by the reactions of our Gulu friends to our leaving.

Our friend Rosemary who is a tailor in the market spent a whole afternoon trying to find us at the hospital and around town to present us with a bag and two purses each that she had made for us! Such a generous gift from someone who has very little for herself. She found us sheltering from the rain in the local cafe where, minutes earlier, we had reduced our waitress friend Maggie to tears when we had told her that we were leaving the next day. We had explained a week previously that we were leaving Gulu but Maggie said that she had thought we were joking! She then wrote us both lovely cards thanking us for being great friends to her and her niece Rita. A phone call then came through saying that Flavia, one of the nurses from the hospital, had arrived at our house with gifts for us! Flavia left us two wonderful figurines of Acholi people in Ugandan dress on bicycles which will be great reminders of the alternative travel that occurs in Gulu! Karen's had a pregnant lady on the back of the bicycle and mine had a huge pile of Matoke strapped to the back! (savoury green bananas). The kindness shown to us has been amazing.

We were fortunate to be able to share our final week with some very enthusiastic colleagues from UHSM who were busy teaching the medical students of Gulu University. It was a great opportunity to share some of our experiences and have a small piece of Manchester with us as we said goodbye to Gulu. The group were full of great characters and although the week was extremely busy for all involved (courtesy of the Icelandic volcano!) we enjoyed having them to stay and we hope that they enjoyed their visit...despite a gas leak, constant power cuts, water shortage and then, ironically, a flooded house!!!

KAREN:

The hospital arranged a farewell party in our honour. Expecting nothing more than a small gathering of staff, we were quite taken aback when an hour before the party we were presented with a formal agenda of speeches, and a marquee was erected in the hospital grounds! It really brought home to us how much our work has been recognised and valued by the hospital staff. Many kind words of gratitude were spoken compounding the emotions we were already feeling at saying goodbye to people that have not only been our colleagues but also our friends. Sadness soon turned to laughter when the 'Master of Ceremony' declared that at the end of our speech, Debbie and I were to demonstrate our best Acholi dance moves! We hope and pray the video footage is never made public!

DEBBIE:

Our final contribution to the Medical Ward at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital was one of the most satisfying achievements that we could mention. With the remainder of the money from the Easter distribution and some new donations, we hoped to provide every bed on the Medical Ward with a mattress with a waterproof cover. Unfortunately, when we went to the market to do some research with the Senior Principal Nursing Officer from the hospital we found that the best quality mattresses were far more expensive than we had anticipated. We decided to order mattresses for half of the ward, feeling frustrated that we were unable to fund the whole ward. It has been extremely upsetting for us to see so many sick patients lying on bare bed springs and we really wanted to change this for all of the patients.

In a great turn of events, after Marian Surgenor, our Global Health Link Lead, discussed the situation at the hospital, the Medical Superintendent agreed to match what we had been able to buy ensuring that the WHOLE ward could have new mattresses! Karen and I were overjoyed and can't wait for them to be delivered next week! Thank you to all those who donated towards making our patients on the Medical Ward much more comfortable.

KAREN:

Despite all the tears, frustrations and sorrows, our Gulu experience has been nothing short of amazing and thankfully the good times have far outweighed the bad. It would however, be fair to say that coming to terms with the clinical conditions at the hospital was difficult to say the least. Words and photos fail to do justice to the poor conditions and the reality of life in Northern Uganda. Working in a developing country, we expected resources to be limited but when basic necessities like gloves, needles, syringes and cannulas weren't available, with a constant absence of essential drugs, it made for a desperate situation.

I like to hope that Debbie and I have made a difference, even if its just a ripple in an expansive ocean. If nothing else, we made patients and their relatives smile as we amusingly attempted to master the local Acholi language! In a farewell speech, one of the consultants commented that he thinks patient number may have increased during our time at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital as many local people wanted to be cared for by the two 'mzungu' (white) nurses in town...I'm not sure our aim was to actually increase the burden on hospital facilities!

The support shown to us by our families, friends, and UK colleagues has been overwhelming and has meant so much and been extremely encouraging. We were particularly spurred on in our final weeks when we learnt that we had received a 'One Talented Team' award from the University Hospital of South Manchester (UHSM) for our work in Gulu - we are now officially award winning nurses! Now the time has come to hang up or uniforms and spend the next 5 weeks travelling around the South, East and West of this beautiful country that we have been fortunate to call 'home' for the last 6 months. Watch this space for the next chapter of the Karen-and-Debbie Uganda travel adventures!

Our Mission is almost Complete!

KAREN:

As our time in Gulu draws to an end we have been reflecting on what an amazing experience we have had in Uganda. The last six months have been challenging to say the very least but thankfully the good time have far outweighed our sorrow and frustrations!

We finished work at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital last Friday. Saying that we still have a series of lectures and presentations to make and so our mission in not yet complete! Our send off from the hospital staff was very moving with much praise from the Senior Principle Nursing Officer and the Chief Nurse for all our efforts at the hospital. By the end of their speeches we resorted to feeling like we were once again 10 years old and the 'teachers pet!' We were glad to have an opportunity to offer our thanks to the staff for all their support and new found friendships. Our official duties were completed by the staff singing us the Uganda Nursing Anthem:

"We have been chose, we have been chosen (high pitched!)

Chosen by God, chosen by God,

Chosen to be Nurses, chosen to be Nurses,

Our Holy people, to love and serve."

A thank-you and farewell party is being planned by the hospital staff in our honour for tomorrow night! Such gratitude has been show to us for our work and many of the nurses have thanked us by inviting us to their homes and preparing us a feast of local specialities: beef or chicken stew (chewy meat no longer repulses us!), malekwang (green leaf in peanut and sesame sauce), posho (a white bouncy lump of maize), kal (a brown bouncy lump of millet), rice, chapatti, sweet potato, bans (obligatory!), boo (pronounced 'bo') and dodo (chopped flavoured green leaves). One spread even included the local delicacy of 'bush rat' - you may well wretch - I certainly did! The challenge is to eat until you are ready to explode...and then eat a little more! We are always humbled by such a spread of food as people here have so very little yet always share so much. The average pay of a nurse is £100-£200 a month and often wages are late in being paid.

Our friends homes have ranged from modest houses to simple mud huts. With the UK housing market being so expensive we are contemplating building ourselves mud huts on our return to Britain! To be invited to a local village is something we always feel is a real honour especially when the whole community want to greet us and the children run up to us shouting "mwnw, mwnw, mwnw!" (white person) with such excitement and giggle when we respond with a smile or a wave! With such pride, Sister Caroline, our Chief Nurse, took us for a walk around her village introducing us to the community by our Acholi names: Lamaro Karen - meaning I show passion and dedication, and Aber Deborah meaning beautiful good girl. Traditionally if an Acholi name is shared with an elder, a chicken should be offered which means that by now we would have our own chicken farm! Sister Caroline showed us the spring where water is collected for cleaning and washing and the bore hole from where drinking water is pumped. The heavy canisters of water are then carried home on the heads of local women. She also gave us a cookery lesson teaching us how to prepare local food and showed us how to plant ground nuts on her land. We are now officially Gulu Girls!

DEBBIE:

Along with the great friends that we have made by working with the nurses at the hospital we must also mention the patients. We've met some truly inspirational patients and relatives on the ward who cope with so much in such a humbling way. Relatives here (referred to as the patients 'attendant') have to care for their family member 24 hours a day and their dedication is amazing. Some people, however, do not have adult family members to preform this vital role and so the responsibility falls on their children. Here is an example:

A patient was admitted onto the ward and was very sick with chest problems. When she arrived she was sitting on the floor by her bed looking like she didn't have the energy to move. A young girl followed and began attending to the woman and helping her into bed. This young girl, aged around 6 or 7 years, was the sole carer for this patient: her mother. Each day she cooked food, fetched water and cleaned clothes for her mum. The girl and her mother had very few belongings and it transpired they had fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda for safety, speaking volumes about the state of affairs in the Congo. The isolation felt by this mother must have been huge as she could not speak the local Gulu language of Acholi and spoke little English. Thankfully one or two nurses were able to speak her native tongue of Swahili but these staff were few in number.

One day on the ward we brought some sparkly masks left over from a Christmas parcel we had received. The little girl was fascinated with the mask and wore it all day! From this day forward we were considered to be her friends and every time she saw us she ran up the ward to give us a cuddle and a huge beaming smile! Her mother was diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB) and thankfully started on the appropriate treatment but remains very sick. This situation seemed so desperate to us but is simply accepted by these two strong-willed ladies who coped so well. Extraordinary!

An Easter Present...

At Christmas time some friends from the company 'Cargill Cotton' worked hard to raise money for our patients at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and we also received some very kind donations from friends and relatives. With the money we had planned to give each patient at the hospital a small Christmas gift. Unfortunately, Karen fell ill the week before Christmas and so we were unable to carry this out. However, as Easter came around we thought we'd try again and provide an Easter distribution instead!

We decided to give each patient a very English treat - tea, milk, biscuits and sugar! With 250 beds at the hospital the scale of organisation could not be underestimated as Karen and I went to the market and bought 300 sachets of tea, 15 kilos of sugar and 23 litres of milk! We made some of the market sellers very happy that day. We also needed something to package the gifts in and so we went to an older man in the market who sits selling plastic bags all day. Whenever we see him he always tests our Acholi language skills and gets very excited when we can answer his greetings! When I asked him for 300 'caveras' (bags) I don't think he could believe his ears! He was overjoyed when I handed over 30,000 shillings (just under 10 pounds).

On wednesday night, while the local bakery were making the 600 biscuits we had ordered, Karen and I started a production line arranging the sugar and tea into all of the bags. This job took us 3 hours into the night and left Karen and I feeling slightly hysterical with tiredness and absolutely covered in tea and sugar!

Thursday was distribution day. After hiring a vehicle to transport everything to the hospital one of the lecturers at the medical faculty very kindly let us use his office to sort out what was to go where (we rewarded him with some left over biscuits). We started by going to the Nutrition Ward and Paediatric Unit where the mothers were extremely grateful for our little gifts and we had a great time greeting all of the patients and talking to the staff. We even got a round of applause when leaving the Paediatric Ward! We then went to the TB Ward, Acute Paediatric Unit, Casualty, Surgical Ward, Medical Ward, Maternity Wing, and Mental Health Unit. We had some amazing reactions while going around the hospital. One older lady in the Surgical Ward gave both of us a huge hug and had the biggest grin on her face - it was priceless. We had extra parcels and so managed to share these with members of staff that were on duty who were also very grateful. Such a small present caused such excitement around the hospital, it was so great to see. Thank you so much to all of our donors for allowing us to distribute an Easter present to each and every one of our patients! It was a day that Karen and I will never forget.

A Taste of Paradise!

I had a dream of powder white sand beaches, vibrant aqua marine crystal waters set against perfect blue skies, palm trees in abundance, endless rays of sunshine, and a daily feast of freshly caught fish brought directly off fishermen on the beach...then I realised that in fact I hadn't been sleeping... we had been on holiday to Zanzibar!

Physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted, Debbie and I pressed the 'stop' button and along with our friends Apolo and Ben, left Gulu for a holiday. Zanzibar is radiantly beautiful and can only be described as paradise on earth! Words and photos cannot do any justice to this picture-perfect Tanzanian island. A traditional palm-roofed house was where we lucky enough to call home for a week - 'White Sands' so aptly named for its idyllic beach front location with jaw-dropping views across the ocean. One morning sleeping out under the stars, I was lucky enough to awaken to the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen - I thought my eyes were deceiving me as the burning red sun rippled through the clouds with the colours glowing vibrantly as they reflected off the peaceful waters. A sensational way to wake up!

Uganda is a remarkably beautiful country and we have enjoyed many a weekend adventure visiting the Rwenzori Mountains, exploring game parks, trekking rhinos, white water rafting, camping on the banks of the river Nile, and swimming in waterfalls and crater lakes. This time we decided to head a bit further afield and experience a bit more of East Africa and stay in a place with very few physical demands. Whilst both Debbie and I are relishing the opportunity to work in a resource-limited developing country, owing to the nature of our work at the hospital, there is only so long that it is possible to work without a break. And Zanzibar certainly proved a perfect way to recharge the batteries.

We filled our days swimming in the sea, reading, relaxing on the beach, and playing frisbee (yes indeed we really are big kids at heart!) and cooking up a daily fish feast of the fisherman's catch of the day - snapper (red, white, and black), sting ray, barracuda, lobster, and blue fish as well as others that remain nameless but tasted delicious! Physical activity extended to include windsurfing and I'm proud to say I am now 20meters proficient even if I did spend more time crash landing into the sea than upright on the board! For me a highlight was swimming with wild dolphins off the south coast of the island- a truly magical and unforgettable experience!

Our week in Zanzibar was poles apart from our life in Uganda. We knew we were back in Gulu when we returned home to a weekend minus power, an inconsistent mains-water supply, an empty gas cylinder, and a red ant invasion. As we sat on the porch with a glass of (poor quality) red wine toasting our holiday, we were attacked by flying ants and moths nose dived and drowned in our wine ...a proper local-style Gulu experience, and we wouldn't have it any other way!