Egrets at the Headwaters of DeNile

On the long ride to Mbale we made two stops. We stopped at a place called the Kingfisher Resort which is on the west bank of the Nile near where it drains lake Victoria. I have stopped here before and for 50,000 shillings ($22) you can rent a boat (and driver) who will take you to the headwaters (or the Source) of the Nile River. The Nile is the longest river in the world. Water from where we stood takes 3 months to reach the Mediterranean Sea a journey of over 4000 miles.

Traveling with who I travel with we were making jokes about standing at the "Source of De Nile" (Denial is NOT a river in Egypt -- apparently it is a river in Uganda and the Sudan and .  . .). This led us to note that there were these lovely little white birds that we discovered were "Egrets" -- so now we are examining our "Egrets at the Source of De Nile" and on it went. It is fun to travel with clever people and a little word play time was great.

The Source of the Nile is one of the four places Gandhi's ashes were scattered. On the east bank of the Nile there is a monument announcing this fact. We also saw a huge Monitor lizard (or is it Molitor?) on the banks of the Nile must have been 5 feet long.

After our Boat ride we went to visit Jose' and Sol - two American ex patriots who, when I saw them last were working for the Alpha Omega Seminary near Jinja but are now running a training program for rural pastors in the region. Since this is very similar work to what we are doing we spent a good lunch comparing notes and getting caught up. They are doing excellent work and we hope to reconnect with them along the way.

The long road to Mbale took us to the main city in that region. It was interesting to see the mountains suddenly rise up in front of us. Our plan tomorrow is to visit Sippi Falls and to do some light hiking. This will be our last "tourist" day as we begin work teaching and preaching, etc. the day after. I think it was a good idea for those of us who have been in Uganda before, to see something different and to meet some new folks who are doing the Lord's work in different vineyards.

We ended the day with a good team meeting.

Tomorrow -- Sippi Falls, the long climb
drbj