Lyths in Uganda

dave.lyth@gmail.com helen.lyth@gmail.com

Monday, 28 December 2009

Christmas with Christa




For 2 months we counted the days till our daughter Christa’s visit – together with 2 suitcases of important goods and letters. After picking her up we drove to SW Uganda, where Dave spent 6 years growing up as a teenager.

We spent two cold nights at 8,000 ft perched above a nearby lake, and one on an island, enjoying flowers, bird watching, and paddling dugout canoes.

Getting home involved 11 hours of rough twisty spectacular mountain roads, and a night in a game park. We saw rare birds (shoebilled stork), tree-climbing lions, and were seen off by elephants and hippos.

In Kagando there was a farewell service for 7 departing staff, that included carols and nativity drama, and gifts including 3 bicycles, a goat and a cow. The service ended with a meal in chapel for several hundred with a roast pig and a cow!

Christmas day we joined the chapel staff to take lunch to the local prison, and hold a service for them. In the evening we had a meal and games with neighbours. Boxing day we visited our language teacher’s mountainside home for lunch, and a lively service in his local church. See YouTube clip here.

Next morning we were off at sunrise on a 7 hours climb of the steep 2,500 ft Ruwenzori ridges that face us. Helen’s knee and Christa’s ankle coped with the steep inclines.