Field Trip

I've found that often Westerners tend to have a very romanticized, National Geographic influenced idea of what Africa is like and what it must be like to live there. While there are certainly parts of Africa that meet those expectations, we're so blessed in Mbarara to have (fairly) consistent electricity and running water. We live in comfortable homes, and many families own microwaves and even have cable television. Often I don't feel like we're living in Africa, but then something will happen to remind me that I really am far from my Midwestern homeland.

On Friday, the Skinner family, Kelsea, and I took a field trip to Lake Mburo National Park.

Yes, we went on a safari drive and boat ride for a school field trip!

This incredible opportunity doesn't exist in the U.S. Even seeing animals in nationally renowned zoos doesn't quite compare to seeing them in their natural habitat.

Although it poured nearly every morning last week, the weather was perfect for us on Friday! It was evident, though, that there had been a lot of rain recently. Before getting to the park's main gate, we encountered quite a few very large streams flowing across the road. One looked especially treacherous, but after assessing the situation and getting some advice from a boda driver, Joel successfully got us across! At that moment, Dara and Dade declared it to be the best field trip ever! And we hadn't even made it to the park yet.

Once inside the park, we spent the morning driving around spotting all kinds of animals. There's a family of lions that live at Lake Mburo and a few leopards have been spotted recently, but they're seen very rarely and must've been hiding far from the main roads while we were there. However, we did see vervet monkeys, baboons, warthogs, impala, kob, water buffalo, zebra, hippos, crocodiles, mongeese, various breeds of antelope, and topis.

 

Uganda is one of the top places in the world for bird-watching, so we also saw some beautiful birds like these fish eagles and a gorgeous malachite kingfisher.

Before our boat ride, we had a picnic lunch near the lake. There were some warthogs grazing nearby (Did you know they eat kneeling down?), but they were preoccupied with eating and didn't seem to mind our presence. Suddenly, one must've decided our lunch was better than his, and slowly but steadily started walking towards the vehicle. Dara dashed up to the roof rack while Kelsea, Dade, and I took cover inside the car. Joel and Jill braved the confrontational pig from the tailgate. I was amazed at how close he got and how long he stuck around! Eventually he gave up after realizing we weren't about to share with him.

It was great to have a purely fun day with our wonderful students and to experience a thrill of living in Uganda with them! Dara is passionate and knowledgeable about animals, so going on safari with her is like having a personal tour guide. And if you're lucky enough to get one of Dade's tours of Uganda, you won't soon forget it. "This is dust. Dust is extremely common in Uganda. These holes in the ground are toilets. They are very common in Uganda."

I'm reminded of God's supreme imagination when I see his amazing and funny creations. Two-legged and four-legged...!

I'm also thankful that Joel and Jill have entrusted Dade's education to me this year. I know I've said it before, but it's an honor and joy to be his teacher and friend!

While daily life here tends to have just as much of a normal routine as it does in America, it's days like these that remind me how far from home we really are. And how incredibly blessed we are to have opportunities like this!