Uganda - February 8, 2013

The volunteer group is now reduced to five.  Patty and Sue were on a 5 a.m. flight to Amsterdam, and Laurie left on a 7 a.m. bus to Kenya where she was going to spend a few days on her own with GUW projects in Nyoga.  After another buffet breakfast (am getting tired of the same food, even when it's reasonably well done), I wandered around the grounds taking pictures of our luxurious surroundings.  Too bad we won't have time to use most of the amenities.

The grounds are extensive, and the hotel quite large.  There was a lot of staff on hand but not many hotel residents apparent. (Of course, many might have been doing business since it was mid-morning when I was wandering around.)

There is a beautiful beach, although I understand that one should not swim in Lake Victoria for fear of picking up parasites which enter through the skin.  Also two pools, one for splashing and one for swimming, were available -- and empty.

The hotel lobby area is huge.  I found it impersonal and not that attractive; to me it appeared the purpose was to impress, not to provide gracious living.

The one amenity I really appreciated, and used, was a lovely bathroom.  In addition to the large shower, there was a bathtub on the other side of the room.  But no time to soak (and it's really too hot to enjoy that anyway).  Air conditioning that works well is not among the hotel's amenities.






We had originally planned to go to the African market in Kampala for a final shopping spree.  After yesterday's disastrous bus journey and the dreadful traffic in Kampala, no one wanted to get on the bus to travel that distance.  There were several shops with local crafts located on the hotel grounds which we decided would be good enough.  I did a little shopping for myself while Cammie, Mary, and Pat did more major shopping for items that can appear in the Give Us Wings boutique at the fundraising dinner.  Here is Cammie making her way from one shop to the next.

The hotel offered WiFi so I spent much of the afternoon catching up on and posting to this blog.  The others began the process of packing the extra suitcases we'd brought (originally filled with supplies for the St. John's clinic) with the crafts purchased for the GUW sale.  Cammie and Mary's room became a packing area.

The room had to be cleared by the 5 p.m. extended checkout time so we packed the bus and headed out for a final dinner.

Sam knew of the Boma guesthouse and restaurant where we had a great celebratory meal.  We had all survived!  Sam and Ham were included in the dinner and given our thanks and a final gift/tip.

On the bus for our final ride -- to the airport.  Arrived about 8:30 with Sam and Ham helping with all our luggage to the airport door.  Then we were on our own to check in and wait for the scheduled 11:30 p.m. departure.  Because of a mechanical problem with the hydraulic lift used for baggage (at least it wasn't a problem with the plane), we were half an hour late in departure.  But we did get on our way. . . !