We were in the money

It was a slowish journey back last night but better than the night before. We started a team meeting before dinner and then stopped after the food started arriving. I think the kitchen at the hotel is quite small: we always pre order in the morning before we leave and there is usually about an hours gap between the first and last meals being served. Not that it really matters as there is always good conversation to be had round the table.

The team meeting continued after dinner. Meg and I made our apologies and we started counting the (very) large pile of notes on front of us. We calculated that the number we were working towards was 24,780,000 shillings. We made piles of 1 million notes and the piles grew. After we got to 24 million we kept our fingers crossed that the remaining notes would total the 780.000 we were looking for. Amazingly it all worked out exactly.

We then carefully transported all the cash to reception where Fiona, who sadly for her was on duty, duly recounted all the money and fortunately reached the same amount. Sighs of relief all round and a well earned Nile beer for Meg and me.

In the morning Juliet, Simon, Becs and I met with some of the Ugandan team before we set off for Lake Victoria and a 30 minute boat trip to the Serenada eco resort.

There we were greeted by a wonderful gentleman called Ibrahim who bought the land 37 years ago and had been gradually developing it. He is a format Ugandan ambassador to many countries and was the Ugandan Foreign Minister.

We had a tour round the resort and then took a canoe trip through the papyrus having to do a rather inelegant limbo under an inconveniently situated bridge.

We had an excellent lunch in the beautiful dining room overlooking the Lake. It’s been a very relaxing day and much needed for many of us.