Uganda

"Ki kati" from Uganda! We left Bovey Castle on Tuesday and travelled to London via helicopter! It was my first helicopter ride, so that was very cool. We poked around London briefly, eating gelatto at Harrod's before heading to the airport. When we arrived, Marybeth (nanny mom) was refused entry into Uganda because her passport expires in two months, and Ugandan law only permits entry if your passport expires in six months or more! She she wasn't able to board the plane, and instead had to stay in London while we headed to Uganda :( Fortunately, she was able to get an expidited passport and was able to get a flight the next day. So she should be joining us shortly, but we sure missed her yesterday - as you all know moms are the glue that holds a family together, not to mention that she has been heavily involved in the planning of this trip and knows best what is going on! Two of the Johnstons' former au pairs from Austria have joined us for the Uganda portion of the trip, so Clayton is well taken care of!

Uganda looks just like Tanzania although everyone here speaks English (at least here in Kampala). We have a great driver/tourguide named Ivan who knows a number of people from my church, so that is a fun connection. We are staying in the gorgeous Serena Hotel in Kampala for two nights, resting up and visiting various ministries. Yesterday we were supposed to visit the Baby Watato orphanage, but they had just set up a new rule of no visitors who haven't been in Uganda for at least one week - in order to avoid Swine Flu. There hasn't been a case of SF in Africa yet, but they are understandably concerned about it with so many babies with weakened immune systems. I hope we'll be able to go before we leave, but our schedule is rather full. Instead we visited a local primary school to play with the kids and then ate dinner at the home of a Ugandan man who works for a local ministry. We enjoyed hearing about the ministry, meeting his family, and eating a delicious Ugandan feast (the food here is SO much better than in England!) But we were also glad to get back to the hotel because most of us couldn't sleep on the overnight plane ride so hadn't slept in 48 hours!

Bovey Castle

So even though we're just in England the internet connection is not steady and every time I try to blog it goes out! Anyway, we are staying here at beautiful Bovey Castle in Devon. The grounds here are amazing and we've been playing tennis and croquet, fishing and shooting bows & arrows and driving the golf cart like maniacs (not me)! I love vacationing with the Johnstons because we stay up until past midnight playing Scrabble and making prank calls (sorry if you received a call from Sushi World!) and then sleep in late. Clayton's rash is all but gone but please pray it doesn't come back! He's still kind of sleep deprived but we've been having fun. For some reason he decided my last name is "Shanen" and keeps calling me "Kari Shanen". I think it's really cute :)

We're Really Leaving!

I guess Clayton is doing ok (see entry below) because we are leaving! See you all later this summer!

Another Safari

In October I started nannying for an amazing family who take me on amazing vacations :) In April we went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for an incredible week playing on the beach. Now we are headed to England and Uganda! I extended for an extra week so I can go to Tanzania to visit family and friends.


Clayton and I in Mexico

We leave tomorrow but Clayton has a virus which is causing a fever and head to toe rash! So it remains to be seen if we will leave tomorrow or not...

Since I'll be in Uganda over my birthday, my sweet roommate Sarah surprised me with a cake at our small group Bible study tonight! Moments after this picture was taken I proceded to light my hair on fire while blowing out the candles! Ok, so that sounds a bit extreme but I did singe the ends of my hair pretty good...you know that hideous smell of burnt hair??