More kids

The kids entertaining themselves with Snakes and Ladders

Coming back from the market in a matatu

We had a snack at the Sheraton in downtown Kampala.

Amy and Carl arrived Tuesday night. They were in good shape considering the long flights. What a delight to have them here. Amy was unfortunately awakened early Wed. morning by the rooster in the yard behind us, but Carl managed to sleep well. We have taken them on boda bodas and matatus to shop and look around town the last couple days.

Unfortunately, yesterday's plans were changed because Paul, who we thought was better from his week of sickness, woke up feeling ill again. We all piled in a special hire and accompanied him to the doctor (well, kind of accompanied him - there's this great little coffee shop right next door to the doctor's office...). Apparently he just has a garden-variety virus, but it has wiped him out. Hopefully he'll be better when we leave on safari Mon.

On the way home from the doctor's office our special was stopped by the traffic police not far from our home. The officer disapproved of the form of i.d. the driver had, but mostly he took him to task for having five passengers instead of the legal limit of four. This may indeed be a rule, but it appears minor in light of the complete disregard for safety and common sense drivers constantly show. For instance, when we were caught in a traffic jam on our way to the airport Tues. night, our special hire driver (a different one) crossed through the oncoming traffic to the opposite lane's shoulder, drove along the shoulder for awhile dodging pedestrians and parked cars, then blocked traffic to cut back into our lane. That is the kind of thing they need traffic police for!

Anyway, when this officer stopped us, Carl and I, in an attempt to defuse the situation, got out of the taxi, hoping that since now we were under the legal limit of passengers our driver would be let go. We felt bad for having put him in this situation. The driver offered the policeman a bribe but the officer refused it. He told our driver to pull over to a parking area and said he would impound the car. The driver pretended to pull over but instead drove off. He stopped just around a bend in the road and told Paul, Amy and Scott to get out of the car fast. He didn't even take the time to have them pay. He drove off, leaving them to walk the rest of the way home. They had to walk past the traffic officer, who seemed unperturbed.

In the afternoon Amy, Carl, Scott and I went to Oweno, the big downtown market. Amy and Carl handled the crush well. Carl got a soccer jersey and Amy bought fabric to have a skirt made. Today is a low key day without much planned as we wait for Tracy to arrive.