3:45 am Good morning! Wake up!
4:45 am Van arrives to pick us up at Adrift Campground.
5:00 am Leave Jinja in van to Kampala
7:00 am Arrive in Kampala. Unload van and place belongings onto a bus with assistance from a local. The bus station is extremely chaotic, there is no schedule of bus times or any identification for which bus goes where…thankfully the national language in Uganda is English, and you can ask for help!
7:05 am Use toilet for 200 shillings a person. Note to future Racers: Bring extra money to use toilet in other countries. Every little bit adds up!
7:10 am We discover that our bus does not leave until 10:00 am. Our contact tells us on the telephone someone else will meet us, and help us get to another bus.
7:30 am We unload bus and some gentlemen using wheelbarrows transport our belongings to another bus about a 15 minute walk away. We get asked by every person we walk by, “Where are you going?” The people in Uganda are so helpful!
8:00 am We are finally sitting on the bus. Many people come aboard to sell watches, books, water (big size and small size), and stale muffins. I begin to feel a bit lightheaded from the carbon monoxide fumes that are being released from the surrounding buses.
9:00 am Our bus departs!
9:30 am Bathroom break as the bus fills up on fuel from a local gas station. Squatty potties in Uganda are simply a hole in the ground. Girls, practice your aim! In Asia there was water to clean up any messes, not so here in Uganda! People walk by our windows selling chappottis, meat on a stick, pineapple, and fried bananas. I and Derek purchase some pineapple for 500 shillings (about 25 cents U.S.)
I am seated next to the cutest baby boy named Joseph. I give him a small stuffed owl made by Steph’s sister.
3:00 pm We arrive in Lira! We kindly ask through the window, for the people outside to not place our bags in the mud. Another contact meets us after we get off the bus. Our bags are placed in a wheelbarrow and a strong young man carries them a long distance to a restaurant. On our walk to the restaurant, we encounter a large Ugandan man dancing naked in the streets.
4:00 pm We load our bags on top of a jeep and attempt to fit our team of seven in with 3 other people. This does not work out so well, as there is not enough room for all of us and all our gear. We begin to exit the vehicle, and a mad rush of locals try to enter as we are leaving. Jamie kindly asks a woman, “Can you please wait until we get out?” The woman obliges, and then rushes in after we leave. If you want a ride somewhere, you need to get in quick! We are very hungry at this point (granola bars, pineapple, and bananas have been our sustenance for the day). Steph and Garrett stay with the bags, while the rest of us walk 20 minutes to a restaurant Brody had been to a year and a half ago on his trip to Uganda. I order a vegetarian sandwhich, Derek orders a burger. I briefly use the internet to email family we are almost at our ministry site.
5:30 We all load up into another jeep and fit quite snugly next to each other and our bags. We are on our final leg of our trip to Rackoko, Pader. About a half hour into the ride, I break out a chocolate bar to share and celebrate with our team that we are almost there!
6:30 We discover we are still an hour away from our ministry site. I ask if we can pull over to use the toilet, because I can’t make it that far. I do a 007 move and somersault out of the vehicle to go relieve myself in the bushes.
6:35 pm On the road again! Lots of potholes and little wiggle room make this ride feel almost like a snug as a bug roller coaster!
8:30 pm We arrive at our ministry site! We are welcomed with such hospitality as people come to carry our bags for us to our rooms.
8:40 pm We have coffee and supper as we talk with our contact.
9:40 pm Our security guard suddenly lifts his bare foot and stomps on a small rat, bringing it to immediate death, in mid conversation with us.
11:00 pm We head to our rooms. I take a quick sponge bath and get some things situated.
11:56 pm I set my alarm for the morning and fall into a deep slumber.
Another travel day in the books! This was one of the most eventful and longest travel days yet! We are thankful for your prayers for safety and healing! Derek’s neck is doing much better and we are both in good health! Praise God!
We are also very happy to announce that we are FULLY FUNDED for our Adventures in Missions account! Praise God for His faithfulness in providing! A huge THANK YOU to all of you who have supported us with finances and prayers! If you would like to continue supporting us, there are many extra costs on the Race that our initial fundraising does not cover. Things like all the gear we had to purchase to travel and live with for the year, extra food, clothing, and other regular expenses that you would encounter at home…not much changes when you travel. 🙂 So please feel free to continue helping us not worry about financial stress when things come up. Unfortunately, money sent to our AIM account once we are fully funded does not go directly towards us. So, you can send it to Christina's parents instead, and they will make sure it goes towards our World Race expenses. Their address is as follows:
Thomas Urso
1352 Red Pine Trail
Wellington, FL 33414
