First day away

Well, we managed to get away. I might say only just because we did not manage all the jobs on Thursday, so Friday morning bright and early saw us in Jinja town buying necessities, visiting banks and generally moving fast. In fact even on Thursday night things did not go quite the way we would have hoped. There were relationships to work on, handing over of things to be done and with the painting of the house and workers there until 7, it was generally a very busy day. Then, when we thought we would pack (at about 9.30 - 10), the solar lights failed. It has been a very non-sunny period recently. Apparently the wet season has come but at a different time to ever before. So, the battery has not charged enough for all the use of the lights all day with the painter etc. A little earlier the power had also gone out, but this is so common that we just expect it. Hence, packing was not easy under the light of the desk lamps.
So, most of the packing done, not all and the driver coming for us at 10.00, it was all go. A quick visit to the village, with quick waves - not a great way to say goodbye but I don't think there were too many tears. We made it though and were waving goodbye at 10.00. Stopped off in Kampala to get our money back on some hair clippers. We managed it fine, I think the fact that we had two pairs and neither had worked helped. Plenty of phone calls to deal with final things, both me(Anne) remembering things and Ron getting calls. Then, a good run to the airport and ready to book in. We managed to get our luggage upgraded to business but not us! Unfortunately, we were also notified at check-in that the plane had been delayed. This delay went longer than expected.... So, we waited quite a bit longer at Entebbe for the plane. Later, we discovered that some people who were aboard had planned to get off at Addis Addaba and had to come to Entebee first, so I don't think they were happy. Finally we got going and looking a the time with only two hours at Dubai, we wondered what would happen and inquired of the air hostess. She simply said that since there were others that we would probably be all right. The trip to Dubai was probably the worst that we have had with Emirates, the staff must have had to do a lot more with the extra people. However, for us it was a bit trying as we were so tired before going. So, we get to Dubai - since our seat was as close to First class you can get, we were out as quickly as possible, thinking that since there was 20 minutes before the plane left that we were booked on. However, after going to the transfer desk, we discovered that we had been off loaded because the luggage would not be ready to transfer. So, we then had 6 hours at Dubai - just what you want at 2 am in the morning. We did manage a little sleep and had a buffet breakfast provided (us and hundreds of others) and then made it to board the plane. Then, there were so many planes that we had to wait, but in the waiting process they discovered something about the electricals that that had to be checked. They got the all clear but there was no airspace!!! The trip from Dubai to London was uneventful for us and we managed to catch some sleep between the food supplies. Really pleased to see our luggage arrive in London, so thought ah, now comes holiday. Wrong, still a wait to go. Ron booked the rental car online, so we thought this will just be a quick pick up. Wrong, it took 50 minutes from arriving at the desk to getting the car! Anyway, nice Ford Focus and on the smooth, smooth road. We arrived safely in Herne Bay, staying in a lovely hotel.
Settled in, and found a Tesco Express - such fun, "look at this", "remember these" and "only that much". We walked out without buying anything, the ice cream would melt if we bought it then. Bought fish and chips by the sea, yes, the sea and sand and watched English children play on the semi-sand. Beautiful clear blue sky and so so English. Back to Tesco and bought supplies, of course including the Vienetta ice cream (only 1.53 pounds). Followed by a luxurious bath, cleaned some things up (sorry housekeeping about the hand towel) and then a beautiful night's sleep! We are on holidays. Sorry, forgot to take the camera to the beach - will have to put in a photo of it later.
There are a couple of other blog posts that are on the go about Uganda that will be in the wrong spot probably when I complete them.