Safe and sound in Uganda.

Well I suppose I should update my adventures. I ended up traveling up here on Saturday since that worked out better for Jason and Linda. When I bought my tickets they had a seating chart of the bus. I made sure to get one near the front since that would probably give a better ride. As soon as we were leaving Dan pointed out that there were 2 types of buses and my seat number was on the rear bench of one bus. Grrrrrr. Saturday morning bright and early I was at the bus and asked the conductor which bus it was I was riding on. Turns out there should be 2 buses each morning but since they had sold so few tickets they were only sending one. I was sent in to get a new seat assignment. Yep you guessed it, rear. Upon being seated I found the lady seated next to me had been given a new number too. A few short seconds later a man who had traveled from Tanzania the day before and been bumped from the evening bus was after the seat next to me. People were called and it was decided that he should just sit the next row up. A few minutes later someone came for his seat. This time he was not budging. And mad too. In the end it they were overbooked by 3 people. The conductor and spare driver ended up on a thin cushion in the stair well for most of the trip. The three extra people sat on the bench behind the driver where those two sit and we were off. After 3 hours I decided I was shook enough and also would like a better view of the road. I switched out with our Tanzanian friend. Our driver was utterly fearless. Most of the trip was spent between 25-55mph, what with the speed bumps and bad roads and slow traffic. In the 4 hours I spent at the front of the bus we passed tons of slower vehicles but were only passed by 2. We did, however, manage to run 2 motorcycles and one car off the shoulder as we just stayed in their lane as we passed someone. We also passed 2 semis that were on their side. The road in parts looked like a Texas farm to market road with no center line and only enough tar for two trucks to pass, but only. Three or four times I was sure we would lose our mirror.

Tea trees

Most of the trip was rural countryside and only interesting to someone interested in corn. We did however, pass tea farms which are always idyllic.

The trip took longer than expected, which was to be expected. I got in late after the kiddos had been put to bed. I was worried that they would not cotton to me but about 6:30 I heard small voices outside my door. Within minutes I was on the couch under a pile of small Carpenters, each vying to be heard. Good times.