We have arrived!

One passport security check, three flights (one with many screaming children), a day and a half travelling and  a short layover in Brussels and we have arrived at the JGI in Entebbe. Well we actually arrived Saturday night local time but it has been a whirlwind of exploring, sleeping, meeting new people and power outages in the past two and a half days. Our first day was spent exploring the zoo, which is along the lake and the animals are the closest I have ever seen - rhinos 3 feet away, monkeys sitting at and on our lunch table and camels and donkeys roaming freely. We also had the opportunity to watch a school group of African children see a large body of water for the first time. A strange idea indeed for us who have grown up along the great lakes to remember some people have  never seen water you can't see across. We  experienced our first power outage sunday morning at lunch, but the ingenious cafe owners just cooked a bbq buffet for us of local fare - local potatoes, seasoned bbq fish, spicy rice, bananas, watermelon and pineapple (and some green thing that might have been seaweed, I'm not sure). It was all very delicious and we enjoyed sitting by the lake while we acclimatized to the idea of being in Africa. Later that afternoon we explored town and found the important stuff - hospital , bank, grocers, and pharmacy. Everyone seems very friendly and the weather albeit a little humid is beautiful.

Yesterday we met the woman in charge of the enviromental education programs here at the Ugandan JGI, Aidan. Aidan has made us feel quite at home and is very friendly, thoughtful and is working hard to arrange all of our individual travel plans and needs for the next few weeks. The office here has lunch together everyday so we are taking full avantage of the safe, cheap yummy local food. We are also being kept company by two dogs who act as  security and entertainment. In addition there is a cat who catches birds and bats and a chicken and a rooster that act as our alarm clock at 6:00 am. Today we  are looking forward to visiting a local school and planning our workshops in the afternoon. I have also become quite the bug catcher (although I still screamed like a little girl) saving our new friend Shannon from a dropping overhead spider and later catching a wounded bat in a basket. Although miss rough and tough still had  to ask the housekeeper how to use the oven. The more things change the more they stay the same :) Jenny and I are doing very well and seem to remember what the other forgets, and its great to be doing this together. I'm sure we will have much more to report once we actually get out and about. Stay tuned!