Upon Lake Bunyonyi

8 Km from Kabale town and high above in an old volcanic crater sits serene and beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. Enormous and shaped like a star fish, the Lake has many islands and inlets and so affords the seeker of solace plenty of opportunity to “get away from it all.” It is a great blessing for our team to be able to go and do exactly that from time to time.

It was our second visit, having gone there in January last year and we never fail to be taken by the peace, quiet and stillness of the place. It is almost eerie. We took a long-boat ride out to an island that has a restaurant and together with our team here (David & Kathryn; Graeme, Lisa and Damon), we enjoyed a fine meal… all at the outrageous cost of around $5 per head.

After lunch and at David’s instigation and insistence, we walked around the the entire perimeter of the island. Phew! We were all happy to arrive at the jetty, although David was overheard to make a few snide remarks about “old geezers walking slowly.” His day will come!

Sunday was a shock to my system with having to preach at Edwards church in the morning and then again at one of the ever-happening conferences in the afternoon (at the very sleepy time of 3pm). Having been out of the way of ministry for several months, it was a bit of an effort to crank up the boilers again.

Monday saw us back to our busy social schedule – visiting various ministries, dining with the Wards, an English family out here working with street kids; and visiting a village where two of our children come from… a real eye opener. The villages are devastated by the effects of AIDS and there are children, old people and not much in between. It is estimated that there are still thousands of orphans out there. Our children know that and it makes them sad. They want them to have the same opportunity they have.

Today (Tuesday) will be our last in Kabale this trip before we head off to Queen Elizabeth Park and Game Reserve for two days. Then Saturday it’s off to South Africa where we will have a week together with Rod and Jan Best. Can’t wait.

Jesus loves the little Children.. all the children of the world...

It is a joy unspeakable for us to be in Uganda with the children we have helped rescue from awful situations. To hear them share of their gratitude and to witness their joy and laughter is so rewarding for us. Many have just recently lost their parents and endured such atrocities that it is amazing that they are even able to smile, let alone laugh.

One girl, Joyce, had just had a weekend back at her village for a visit during school holidays and she shared, amid tears, about how sad it is to see the circumstances of the other children there compared to her new life. These children speak in such a mature way, given they are only seven or less.

It was also a great joy to see our daughter Liz at the Kampala airport. She joined us for the long journey south to Kabale and is being impacted by what she sees here.

Yesterday we went to another ministry, the Drop-in Centre, where street kids of about 5-16 years gather each day for a meal and a bath. An English couple runs the ministry on a shoe-string budget.

Not many pics this blog, as the connection (dial up) is very slow. David and Kathryn are well and flourishing and Graeme, Lisa and Damon are all doing well and busy.

Off to see the children again, then a board meeting this afternoon for the children's home.

Friends, Romans, Citizens.... lend me your "eyes"

This blog post is a bit rushed as we sit in the Bristish Airways Lounge at Rome Airport. The Italian holidays are ending as we head off to London and onto Uganda - a long flight. We are looking forward to seeing our daughter Liz at Entebbe airport and of course, our team in Kabale.

Italy has been wonderful and we're already scheming about how we can come back here again sometime. We left Florence a day early and had an unscheduled afternoon in Rome. we got a great hotel at Lastminute.com - right in the centre of Rome and within easy walking distance of many great sites (see pics). Although we only arrived by train at 4pm Saturday, by 7pm we had visited the Spanish steps, Fountain Trevi, the Piazza Venezzia and the Colesseum. All VERY impressive places.

There is a camera opportunity on EVERY corner in Rome. Ruins, ancient buildings, art, amazing designer shops. At the Spanish steps we stumbled into the street that houses every designer brand (see pics) and they've been there a while.

There are three pics included from Florence - my favorites. They are Gary next to the Michelangelo Sculpture La Pieta, the Ponte Veccio and the close-up of the cathedral door frieze that Mikey boy dubbed the Paradise doors - amazing work and artistry.

Getting our rental car back to downtown Florence was an adventure! we had it all figured on the map and then had our plans dashed by roadworks and one way streets. Just when we were about to give up in dispair, we looked up and lo we were outside the rental car place!! Pays to pray!

So, to Uganda where the internet connections are dubious at best. Hope to be able to blog something at sometime... but, who knows?????? A big ciao from both of us.

Leaning, leaning....

Yesterday saw us successfully negotiate the Italian Autostrade system and travel some 450kms in our little Nissan Micra (we have done over 600km on just over half a tank of gas). Interestingly, despite their reputation for outrageous driving, we’re finding that driving here is easier than at home and the signage and signals etc are the best we’ve come across anywhere.

First stop was Pisa, which without the leaning tower would not be otherwise worthy of visiting. However, the tower IS worth a bo-peep. Coming down to the overcast and humid coast from the elevated cool of our hotel, the first lady realised she had applied too many clothing layers! Interestingly, it is just near Pisa where the story of the wooden toy Pinoccio was inspired and so there are various references to wee chap with the long nose.

After Pisa it was off up the coast toward Genova for a stop at the little coastal villages of Cinque Terre or five lands – more actually, five villages. Chris Richards at Northside College encouraged us to go there and we’re glad that he did. The 5 villages are quaint little clusters built on the steep sides of coastal cliffs, tucked into the “V” between the ridges. They pull their fishing boats up into the streets and then climb the steep steps and paths that lead to their houses. The photos fail to capture just how steep the streets and steps are. As you can see we tucked into a very nice late lunch (4pm) of fresh Bass. Yum.

The climb back up the car was tough going for Judy and our clothing was drenched by the time we got there, especially for those of us who wore too much!! To get to Cinque Terre we had to pass through the port city of La Spezia. From the hills it reminded us so much of our native Wellington that we included a photo here.

Near our hotel and in the middle of no-where, we stumbled upon a large Designer Clothing Outlet mall – all the famous brands from this part of the world… Ralph Lauren, Benetton, etc. However, the thing that most fascinated the chocoholic in our team was the big Lindt Choc Shoppe. The pic shows her drooling in front of the huge bins of the world’s best. After a moment of worrying about the extra weight in our luggage, I quickly realised that even with the best intentions of gifts for folk back home, it wasn’t even going to make it out of Italy!! CIAO, CIAO.

Amore Amalfi

The journey from Palermo to Naples by ferry was one of our best travel days ever. We’re soooo glad that Ricardo at our Palermo B&B convinced us to forego the train. The 8 hours spent sailing on the Mediterranean during summer … well, it doesn’t get any better. Coming into Naples at dusk, we sailed past the Isle of Capri and caught our first glimpse of Vesuvius towering over Naples. She last erupted about 1940 but the locals speak of expected activity again soon.

We are finding the Italians so much more friendly and helpful than the Maltese and our hotel guys in Naples were exceptional, even though the hotel was only about 2 star. We have resisted going on tours so far on our journey, but we made an exception for the much anticipated trip along the famed Amalfi Coast. The scene of so many Hollywood movies, we have long held a desire to visit. We started out at midday after a long snooze-in and lunched at a restaurant on the side of Vesuvius, near the ruins of Pompei.

After lunch, our skilled driver negotiated the narrow, cliff top road which led to the towns of Salerno, Politano and finally, Amalfi. The pics show how high up the road is above the teal blue ocean beaches. We loved every minute of it. I said to Judy, “the airfare to Italy is worth it just to see that part.” In all my travels over 30 years, I’ve never seen anything so picturesque. For centuries, the towns on the coast were accessible only by boat and the history speaks of residences for pirates, kings, caesars and so on. Again, the antiquity of this part of the world is fascinating to us. Naples has a 3000 year history!

Guiseppe at church had told us of the famed Naples pizza and on Sunday night we discovered for ourselves how that we had never really eaten pizza before!

Monday was travel day again and a mad scramble in the Naples Central Stazione to get on board a bullet train which sped us to Florence in just 3 hours, which included a stop in Rome. The train travels so fast that the scenes outside the window are just a blur… hence no photos. We were nervous about picking up our rental car in downtown Florence to drive to our country hotel, using the Autostrad system. However, after prayer we started out in our little Nissan Micra. We did it without once taking a wrong turn! Judy’s navigation was amazing and after not driving on the right-hand side for 15 years, I found it much like riding a bike… it all came back pretty quick and I didn’t try to change gears with the door handle once!

What can I say about the Tuscan countryside? It is all it’s cracked up to be and more. Absolutely stunning! Our hotel is fantastic and set in a valley amongst country estates of olive orchards, conifers and typical Tuscan scenery. We have a lovely room with our own little yard of lawn and courtyard. The staff are wonderful and we can hardly believe that we have a week here for less than $500. We had an afternoon drive and there are many little quaint villages just minutes from here. Today we’ll rest after the stress of travel and then we can strike out for nearby Pisa, Florence and other places.

Lots of pics to come from “under the Tuscan sun….”

Off to Italy

Today (Friday) at 6pm we take the short flight from Malta to Palermo, Sicily where we will spend the night in a hotel and then board the ferry early Saturday for the trip to Naples. We will spend two nights in Naples, exploring the famous Amalfi Coast, before boarding the train or bus again Monday to arrive in Florence where we will spend 6 nights. We plan to get a rental car in Florence to enable us to get around the Tuscan countryside.

So, if you don't hear from us for a few days it's because we're travelling, but as soon as we're settled in Tuscany for that week, we'll get a blog posting up.

Ciao for now

Amazing Mdina

Mdina has been around in some form or another for 4,000 years! It boggles my mind. The Phoenicians gave it the current name... one that simply means "walled city." They constructed the walls and gave it the fortress look. The width of the walls can be seen in the pic - wide enough for a car to drive along. They reckon that the Apostle Paul sheltered here after his shipwreck on the island.

One enters through the gate (pic) and encounters the ancient Cathedral ... about 1300 AD. Mdina is in the middle of the island and high on a hill overlooking Mosta and Bugibba (where we stay) and I took a pic of both places from the walls of Mdina. They call it the silent city and it is. Some say because there are no cars, others because the residents (descendants of the nobles) just stay indoors. Certainly the narrow streets seem deserted, apart from the tourists.

Well, here we had a peaceful day... Judy at last found her knight in shining armour; we discovered the cutest little restaurant through a little door in the wall and ate a mediterranean platter (the little man in the green/yellow top summed up the meal); Gary took a break on steps that led to no-where and we wandered aimlessly on timeless cobblestones enjoying the rather weird feeling of walking on streets that date to antiquity and (perhaps) upon which the great apostle himself trod.

Hmmm... now where is that tomato paste and Maltese bread....??