Today was moving day as we travelled to Arua our third and final stop on this trip to Northern Uganda, we are now in the very North west of the country just 10km from the Congo border and close to South Sudan.

After the previous journeys on this trip it would be safe to say that we left the hotel this morning with a certain degree of trepidation especially after being informed that we would need to take 2 buses not 1. Although Gulu to Arua is only around 120km as the crow flies there is no direct route so we first had to catch a bus that followed the route back to Lira for about 1.30 hours. All started well as we boarded the bus at 8.15 and hit the road at 8.30, the next stage of the trip was not so well planned, departing the bus a Karuma, basically a truck stop in the middle of nowhere the idea was to sit and wait for the Gaagaa bus from Kampala to Arua. The only issue here being no one seemed to know when the bus might arrive and if it did whether there would be any spaces available.

Luck was on our side on both fronts as we only had to wait around 2 hours before the bus rolled into town and luckily we grabbed 3 of the 4 spaces still available, a fairly comfortable if a bit hot and sweaty 4 hour journey then passed without incident and we arrived at the hotel just before 4 o’clock.

Although the best looking hotel of the three with spacious gardens and a pool, looks can be deceiving as we have been informed that the there will only be electricity from 6 at night and that our rooms are next to the very loud generator. I’m also not sure either of us will be brave enough to try the rather murky waters of the pool, more encouraging is the 20 page menu so hopefully we will eat well tonight ready to start again with another 30 teachers in the morning.

The only shade we could find while waiting for the Gaagaa bus.

If there had been no seats available this may have been our next option.

It’s amazing what you see out here, can you spot the suprise in this picture?