Lake Mburo to Lake Bunyoni

Well, at about 4am I (Pheebs) woke to the deep laughing taunts of hippos and much shuffling right outside our tent (we saw the poo to prove it). It looks like we were surrounded, what fun! At day break we were up and packed and breakfasted ready for the day ahead. We drove from the campsite through the park to the gate and eventually back onto the main road. After some time we stopped in a small town and wandered the streets for a bit to stretch our legs. We then waited for Rob to get some stamps at the local post office. While we were waiting, a young woman came out of the PO to talk to us about the child prostitutes she looks after, all aged just 13 and each one with a baby of their own. This interaction profoundly touched me (Pheebs) for some reason as I stood there with the group. We were in effect helpless and pathetic. We just stood there wanting to stay in the comfort of our protective little bubbles, afraid to step out and be counted. Afraid to let life really touch us somehow. What a brave women coming and talking to us ‘rich white people’. What amazing work she does and we did nothing. I felt tremendously guilty for our lack of support. I am sure she wanted to get money from us but she also wanted us to meet the girls. Maybe we could have helped them in other ways too but we didn’t bother to find out. Have we really become so desensitised to life that we don’t even feel the pain and suffering of a child forced to have sex with creepy men? I prayed for those girls later. I prayed for strength, courage and peace. I prayed that their pain, suffering and desperation might be taken away. I should have prayed with them and not just for them. I was a coward and I felt humbled and ashamed when we left. After this event we headed back to the truck. Chris was missing though so we had to wait while Often went to try and find her. She came back upset as the truck had not stopped where they said it would and she thought she was lost. It was not a good place to get lost in. Thankfully she came back safely, though a little shaken. We finally set off and pulled over for some lunch. There was a little concern as two locals with machetes wondered over. I think they just wanted to talk but I was a bit nervous about it to tell the truth, you never know. Still, they chatted (to Andy) and then wondered off. After that we continued on our journey along a dirt path to the site at Lake Bunyoni. We were allocated our static tent overlooking the lake and managed to get hot ‘showers’ – well hot taps anyway which was lovely. We headed for beer and chats then dinner whilst discussing life, the universe and everything.