San Marcos Baptist Bible Camp, Stagecoach Road, Santa Barbara, California. 34 31 57N  119 49 50W (Longitude, Latitude: degrees, minutes, seconds - oh, how I long for the UK's national grid system) In the middle of nowhere!  You follow San Marcos Pass Road (Highway 154) for about 7 miles from Santa Barbara into the mountains, turn off onto Stagecoach road, which hugs the side of the canyon wall with not much on one side. This road descends for a distance, round the head of the canyon and then back under the main road which passes on a wide span bridge some 200-300 feet above you (the photograph doesn't do it justice as the canyon is hidden from sight - if you use a magnifying glass you may just be able to see tiny cars crossing the bridge). After more bends and views steeply downwards the entrance gateway to the camp is reached. All is not yet over, the road again descending, steep and twisty, a road that some car drivers would not venture down, with the now usual nothingness on one side. We are, however not in a car, but in a full size coach, which has to shunt back and forth to get round some of the bends. The camp at the bottom is excellent, completely unlike our "Camp from Hell" in the summer. This is more like heaven. The six berth huts have thermostatically controlled gas heaters and the food is of excellent quality and quantity. Christmas Eve and Day are cloudless skies and warm in the daytime, and cloudless skies and cold at night. Sunday is cloudy and by evening it is raining. Monday it rains all day and by evening we have storm force winds as well. Many rock falls occur on the mountain roads and a major mudslide closes the northbound main coastal highway and the traffic is diverted over the mountain pass. Christmas day is great; guess who go the job of Santa Claus? Yes, you guessed it, ho, ho, ho!  I must point out that we only had a Santa because: The children had seen the displays in peoples houses during the preceding months. They have been taught that its only a modern "tradition" in the west. They know that Jesus is the real reason for Christmas. It is the only time they will be able to experience this tradition - it doesn't happen in Uganda, they are too poor to give presents. In Uganda they live and work just to survive from day to day; no weekends away, holidays, new clothes, fancy meals. The picture shows Santa and Mrs Claus (Auntie Karen) - no, I'm not really that fat! The kids each got a stocking filled with small toys, candy, cookies, a wrist watch to help them tell the time, a prayer notebook and a pocket calendar. In addition they each got a pocket photo album for their souvenir photographs, and a CD player complete with 2 CD's. This will be used on Saturdays; their day off. Words cannot describe their reaction when these presents were opened - you had to be there. In the afternoon the kids watched some cartoons (we have a video projector and a 12 ft x 8ft screen) This is a treat for them as they are not allowed to watch any screens, eat cookies, candy, cake, chocolate etc. at any other time. In fact due to the inclement weather during the following days, they watched a film each day. Christmas dinner was served in the evening and the camp staff and their families joined us to eat. The meal was, as we expected, excellent; Roast ham and turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables and salad. The plates were piled high and most had second helpings as well. Pies and cheesecake followed On the Monday afternoon Abraham and Edith, ably supported by myself, Karen and a few of the kids, prepared a Ugandan meal, a kind of meat stew lightly flavoured with curry powder, served with mashed potatoes, chapattis and roast bananas.  ROAST BANANAS???? It was the best we could do. In Uganda they eat Matoke, a type of green banana or plantain.  Abraham mixed the chapattis, the kids rolled them out and Maureen cooked them. Everyone, including the camp staff ate it. Yummy, Yummy.

This is Maureen, our expert chapatti cooker Dressed up like a Queen in her homemade hat