Wow so much has happened in the last twenty-four hours. We began getting emails, texts and phone messages about the severity of the corona virus pandemic and then learned that the administration had restricted travel from Europe. Our return trip included a layover in Brussels, so we started feeling a bit nervous. After lots of thought and research we decided that we’d better bolt. It’s sad to not finish this trip as planned but as much as I love it here, I don’t want to be separated from my home and family for an uncertain length of time. Helen and I talked about it a lot and she agreed that we’d better think about plan B.

And to the rescue came my sweet son Zak saying he’d be happy to help. We were having trouble contacting to the airlines to see what was going on, so he started the research and immediately reached out to Tony, my darling son in law, who got online and found a flight to take us home. Pisie, my extraordinary daughter, acted as intermediary and full on support. I am so blessed. I love that Zak started a group on WhatsApp called “Get Ellie home”. My text dinged all night with questions about booking tickets and Helen woke me several times when I would have slept through everything. Misha will help with the final leg of transporting us to Schenectady. It surely takes a village.

We cancelled everything today and drove right to Hippoz Hotel instead of staying in Jinja. We’ll be a lot closer to the airport Saturday and won’t have to fret about time.

Mostly the day was about driving and organizing things. As always, I loved watching the Kenyan and then Ugandan landscape. There were more cows and goats and Friday markets teaming with people. So much to see.

We said goodbye to Godfrey, our driver, at the Nile Hotel, left a gift for Maureen’s sponsored daughter Gladys and hit the road for Kampala. It was sad saying goodbye to our new friend Godfrey who was a total delight. I’m sure we will see him again. Phoebe drove the rest of the way but took back roads that kept us off main highways bulging with Friday night traffic. I loved that we went through papyrus fields and thought about how much Maureen loves the look of this plant. I was thrilled to be able to show it to Helen who’d never seen it.

We arrived in the light, repacked everything, had dinner and sent Phoebe home to get a good night’s rest. I’m hoping we get to see Father Francis tomorrow on the way to the airport and we are going to try to buy some fabric to bring home.

With the way things are in the world right now I’ll be happy to see my family and friends and perhaps stay put for a while – at least until this crisis resolves itself. I hope everyone is safe and I send good thoughts to those who are in danger. I hope this is over soon. Good-bye Uganda.