Project Diary

Today was really the day. It was back to Uganda, back to civilisation. Before we left, there was a meeting under the mango tree. Present were dignitaries of immigration, the church, hospital, etc.

We have agreed that the next time we go out, probably in June, we will have escorts from the police or the army and immigration. So that nobody gets any ideas when the drilling vehicles come. Also, 24-hour police or military guard at the site. At 9 o'clock we really went back to Uganda. Immigration escorted us to the border. In Oleba / Uganda we got into a taxi and drove to Arua. Immigration there was already closed. It was noon. So we had to take a taxi to Vurra, 18 km away. Immigration was open there. I got my new Uganda visa. Corona Test Result: Normal We all had to show our Coronatest. They believed that I had one. Even though it was already 8 days old. No one asked how old I was. Deleo and Dixon had to go to the doctor. He was right next door in the container. They took a temperature: 36.2C. Result: NORMAL Ronny had crossed the border the day before and was asked for his Corona Certificate. As he didn't have one, he had to pay 1000 shillings (0.25 euros). Who has a Corona Certificate??? Around 1.30 pm we were at Margit and Rossi's place in Arua. We had lunch. At 3 pm we went back to Lira. In the meantime, the Hilux had been repaired in the workshop. After 20 km, the diesel pump had problems again. The mechanic had not repaired the pump after all, but charged 250 Euros. We had no choice but to continue on to Lira. The progress was slow. About 80km before Lira, someone from Deleo's team came to meet us. It was already night. At a well-lit petrol station we transferred the luggage into the LandCruiser and changed cars. At 10.45 pm we arrived in Lira. Despite the curfew, we were not stopped. The room is luxury: air conditioning, even if it doesn't work, toilet and shower. + +