It has been about a month since I was in Kaberamaido, Uganda. 

As I was out late the other night (in Salt Lake City, UT - where I live), my friend glanced heaven bound and said "look at all the stars".  I looked up...the sky was sprinkle with some stars but nothing like I have seen in Kaberamaido.  I quickly flashed back to one of the nights I had been playing late with our children (on our property in Kaberamaido).  

There is no electricity in Kaberamaido.  Quite truthfully, there is no electricity for about a 75+ mile radius. The only way there are lights at night - is for a few people who can afford a generator.  We have one for the children but it runs only for a couple of hours after the sun goes down. 

It was time for the children to head to bed.  As the "lights turned off", I walked back to the volunteer house  (about a long city block walk).   It was pitch black out...but the sky was incredible.  Every inch of space was filled with stars. Bright ones and small ones, clusters of many to a smattering of a few...but packed so tightly together.....the sky lit up brighter than a Christmas tree.   It was difficult for me to find the constellations I grew up with. They were buried among the numerous shining stars.  I could not believe the amount stars.  I stopped immediately and just stared until the crook in my neck told me it was time to move on.

The beauty of that night sky is almost impossible to put in words.  It is one of those 'you got to see it for yourself' kind of moments.  I thought of all the nights I camped as a child with my family.   As the day gave away to dusk and dusk to night, my dad would point out different star constellations.  I only wished he was with me that night - to share in the spectacular night stars.  He passed away in 2002.  But on second thought, maybe he was...whispering in my ear - each constellation’s name as I found it amongst the crowded starry night. 

I am so blessed to see the grandeur of an African evening night. 

By the time I got back to the volunteer house, everyone had already headed to bed.  I quietly slipped into my room, changed into my jammies and crawled under my mosquito netting.  I laid there reflecting on the evening with the children.  You would think that out in Kaberamaido, it would be peaceful and quiet…no close neighbors, no radios, no barking dogs, no noisy cars…..think again.

There is a lively orchestra that performs a symphony – every night!!!  It is made up of every kind of frog, bug and bird that wants to perform late into the evening.  We sleep with our windows opened due to the heat – so it is as if I have front row seats to the performance each night.  I had to smile as my thoughts of the children were accompanied by this wild collection of performers all trying to out play the next.  You would think it would be a chaotic ‘noise’ but it was not.  They played an African melody that is not performed anywhere else.   

A priceless memory that I look forward to revisiting on my next trip to Africa.