Another day on the road…. CWB Tutor Coach James Savory reports back on the third of Team Uganda’s lengthy road trips, this time a jaunt to the northern Uganda town of Lira, another stop where until recently cricket was unknown….  

Today we left Arua for Lira, another 5-6 hour trip on the minibus. With yesterday being our rest day, most of us were in better shape than when we made the long journey to Arua just a few days before. The 300km journey today took us through some of the most breathtaking scenery Uganda has to offer, we were even treated to the sights of elephants, thanks to the eagle eyes of driver Joseph and Nadeem.

Mat meanwhile had his own interaction with the local wildlife, getting stung by a wasp, which after surviving the initial trauma met its end courtesy of team leader John’s right flip flop.

Thankfully, the journey was a smooth one and Nad kept spirits high by providing the soundtrack for the journey.

Keen to keep our transfer time to a minimum (best not to mention why), we didn’t stop for lunch but Natasha helped us stave off any hunger by producing firstly a packet of cookies and then bourbon creams. Eventually we did pull over and the team enjoyed a snack of maize (corn on the cob) being cooked by the roadside. Shell enjoyed hers so much she gave the lady a pair of flip-flops for the small child she had with her.

Team Uganda agreed Lee would be a huge loss.

Tomorrow it will be back to work, tutoring the teachers of Lira, for the first time this trip without Lee, who we waved goodbye to this morning as he left us to join up with Team Rwanda. Lee has been an invaluable member of the team, with his wealth of experience volunteering for CWB in Africa, his enthusiastic coaching, blogging and not to mention his banter, it will all seem very strange without him.