Into the wilderness

David:


We're back.  And, rather surprisingly, alive. Our safari trip was, for the most part, a fantastic chance to see the wildlife that Uganda has to offer.  We met lions, elephants, lots of buffalo, two menacing pythons, hippos, a crocodile and numerous birds in different shapes and colours.  


We stayed for 3 nights at Katara Lodge - and we would highly recommend this to anyone thinking of heading to Queen Elizabeth Park.  Brilliant views over the savanna with sunsets and gin to match - in fact see the pics below for evidence.  It's well run by Pascal and his well-trained team, and easily worth the bumpy ride down the track to reach the oasis of wonderful service and ambience of calm.  Our fourth night was spent at Ishasha Camp - involving slightly more trepidation (staff have to accompany you back to your tent to fend off hippos and lions) but tasty biscuits.


The highlight was seeing the lions.  Nine of them, including cubs, lazed about with paws in the air all very chilled out, whilst all the wildlife around them kept a very close eye on their movements.  They really are the kings of the jungle.  Our driver Paul shared his enthusiasm for safari animals throughout and his skills allowed us to see so much over our trip.


Our experience of chimpanzee safari was unfortunately rather different.  We were taken down into a rainforested gorge.  Having descended the steep and muddy slope, we were then advised to watch where we put our feet and hands, as poisonous spiders and snakes were around.  There was also the risk of coming across hippos or lions, hence why our guide was carrying a gun to scare them off.  Unsure whether our guide was creating an air of suspense (gee, thanks) or actually giving us a realistic risk assessment, we opted for the optimistic view.  However soon we were faced with a 40 foot traverse commando-style across a log over the fast-flowing (and ?piranha/hippo/snake infested river) - but we required no assertiveness training to refuse.  Had we been confused for a team of SAS soldiers in Uganda for a survival exercise?


As a result of our (very collective) decision not to take such a risk, we had to take another path, which involved ducking and diving under and over fallen trees and through seriously boggy undergrowth.  Fine for Scotland, in fact really quite good fun.  However with the constant reminders of poisonous and dangerous animals, not such a walk in the park.  At one point when clambering over a particularly difficult section, our guide remarked quite seriously "be careful, last time we had an accident, it was a terrible situation".  'Nuff said.  


We still don't really know if there was much of an act going on.  However, given that we were in a proper proper rainforest, it didn't seem too far from the truth.  In the end we saw a baby chimp, not the community of chimps we were expecting to find.  However on getting back into our car, I just felt very lucky to be alive, and appreciated the sun-downers even more that evening.


Since returning home yesterday, we've been taking it easy in the hot and humid weather.  Tomorrow I visit Reach Out - it will be interesting to see what my folks have been up to all this time.  So far I get the impression that it's all been safari tours and sunset drinks, but tomorrow I expect that illusion to be shattered quite dramatically!

First impressions all over again...

David:

It's 7.30pm.  An excited Glaswegian shriek is heard in the mids of the arrivals area of Entebbe airport.  The locals don't quite know what to do... but I know that my mum has made it down from Kampala to see me off the plane.  It's been a long nine hour flight, made longer by my excitement to get here, but a familiar feeling of enthusiastic trepidation returns from my arrivals in the past to Nepal and Cambodia.  Our driver, James, expertly picks his way through the congested road away from Entebbe.  It's now 8pm, and whilst Scottish rush hour traffic knows it's time to chill out by now, there is a sense that the night is very much yet young!  He's under strict instructions to take the road slowly (and safely), however this isn't a view shared by other drivers.

So my first few hours of Uganda are flavoured with car fumes, a hot and humid climate, and a realisation that Uganda doesn't seem to sleep.  Whilst James picks his way through the congestion, I am amazed to see so many people out and about.  The atmosphere against the background of crickets exudes friendliness and welcome. 

Today was my first experience of Kampala in daylight, and even though it's a public holiday, there is still an air of business amongst the stallholders of the market.  Bright yellow, green and red make up the pallet of unimaginable quantities of bananas, oranges (yes, oranges are green here) and tomatoes.  Mum and dad are showing me the sights (and the driving, this time under Dad's command) of crazy but friendly Kampala.  

We stop off at the VSO office, a tranquil retreat for all volunteers... and then head on into the centre.  We do the taxi park - think Buchanan Street Bus Station but a million times bigger and busier - which, like the rest of Kampala has potholes even to envy Glasgow.  Organised chaos describes it well, but with the 14-seater taxi buses only leaving when full, there is a heavy suggestion of efficiency. 



We pop into the Garden Centre for lunch, and immediately at least 8 waiters from different restaurants swoop on us with their menus.  This is the expected reception at the food hall, where 3 lunchers could choose from 3 (or more) completely different restaurants - including Italian, Chinese and Lebanese.  I haven't seen this before, but it's a nice idea!

Hoggs like hills and so later in the afternoon we go for a wander up the back of mum and dad's house.  A winding path takes us past village houses, with smiles and shouts of "hello" from every direction.  A genuine inquisitiveness - moreso for my camera - is evident, and here's some of the children who insisted on taking their turn for a photo!

We end the day with some shopping, drinks on the veranda with my parents' neighbours, and a fantastic meal at Katch the Sun (sic) - a new one for the "recommended" list.  In 24 hours I have developed some fast first impressions of Kampala.  I am reminded once again how sound and smell are the missing links to the sights that photographs can only frame.  I like it.  I like it a lot.  And I still have 11 days to go!

Weraba (goodbye) from Uganda.

Collaboration

31st May, 2010
We have had a busy month with more visitors. Two students, Carolyn and Danielle have been over from Edinburgh for four weeks working on Reach Out Studies for their MSc dissertations. They are studying at the Institute of International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, and their coming here is the first step towards a collaboration between Reach Out, Makerere School of Public Health here in Kampala and IIHD.
Carolyn and Danielle stayed with us the first weekend so that we could show them round and let them get orientated, and then they moved to Red Chilli, which is  a great place for meeting up with others, including a good few working on research projects. 

We took them to Ndere Cultural Centre and then took them to a dance class so that they could try it out for themselves. They have had an amazing experience here, and it reminds us just how special an organization Reach Out is and what an easy place Uganda is to live in, perfect lush climate, safe and full of lovely gentle people. 

Then Carol and Bregje came, both previously research fellows working on studies with me and now friends of ourselves and of one another. Carol comes from South Africa and Bregje is Dutch and has spent a considerable amount of time in Malawi, so we had lots of comparisons. They stayed with us for a weekend to do Kampala, including a trip by boat on Lake Victoria to a local market. 

Then  they went off on safari including gorilla-tracking at Bwindi and game watching in Queen Elizabeth NP for five days and we all went to Jinja for the weekend before Carol went home. By coincidence at Jinja we met another VSO couple, Renate and Ian who were also staying at Gately on Nile. Renate is originally from South Africa so Carol and Renate had a lot to discuss. They have a people carrier so all six of us were able to go to the Source of the Nile and the Bujagali Falls together, which was fun as usual with lots of birds to see.

(The falls are due to disappear in the next few years when a new dam is constructed down river)
On our return to Kampala on Sunday we made our customary stop at Mabira Forest. We had a 2 hour walk with a great guide. He showed us where we could expect to see snakes basking in  the sun but none put in appearance for us. 

Our most dangerous encounter was with this strangler fig but we moved too fast for it. (I reckon we would have moved too fast for the snakes if we had encountered them!)

 

Bregje stayed on three days to meet people at Makerere School of Public Health and Reach Out, and we had some very productive meetings and made plans for collaborative working and to apply for funding to facilitate the process.
On Sunday after our gym and swim regime, we went for lunch with the same twp VSo ers and also Debs who is a public health doctor working in Lira in the north of the country. VSO have put a good few new volunteers in Lira and Gulu to give support to the people there now that the war is over and there is a need to set up health care etc. It is very different working there and conditions seems more challenging than life in Kampala where we can shop in supermarkets ( and even see Sex and the City 2 on Saturday evening). I think I would have to try it out to see which I prefer for a year. However, recently we have had a lot of power cuts at home and work and our computers at work were affected by a virus which has made the last two weeks very unproductive and frustrating.
Now we are getting extremely excited about the arrival of our son David tomorrow evening. On Friday we go off on safari with him to Queen Elizabeth Park NP for a few days, having done the other big game reserve at Murchison Falls with Hamish and Morven at Christmas.

Looking up the Nile from Bujagali towards Jinja and Lake Victoria

The Crater Lakes

5th May 2010

We have been away for a few days to the West of Uganda. First we went to Fort Portal for a night, and had dinner with another VSOer who we met on a preparation course last May in the UK. As usual, it was great to catch up and compare notes. We had another woman from the same course, who is now in a rural part of Rwanda, staying with us in Kampala for a few days with her boyfriend just before we left. It seemed strange to think back to all the exercises we all did  together using participatory approaches and pretending we were subsistence farmers learning about micro-finance schemes!

Fort Portal is around 300 km west of Kampala and the journey should take about 4 hours. We set off at 7.30 am last Friday. We had heard that the road is good (not like the Kampala/Mbarara road) so at 10 am we were a little disappointed, after taking the usual hour to get to the other side of Kampala, to find ourselves 70 km from Kampala. 

The road from Kampala to Mityana is almost continuous road works with frequent fierce speed bumps  The road beyond Mityana improves dramatically until you think you’re back in Scotland and maybe in the Borders with rolling hills and green lush countryside. 


 
The journey took us 6 hours. Fort Portal is a contrast to other parts of Uganda that we know. It is a very neat and tidy town with lots of signposts and road markings, rare for Uganda. The backdrop is the grand Rwenzori mountains aka the Mountains of the Moon. Its two highest peaks are the third and fourth highest in Africa.

After our night in Fort Portal we went south to the Crater Lakes (about 45 minutes) and stayed in Ndali Lodge which is perched on a cliff top overlooking one of the lakes. The staff were excellent.

The main building has the dining room and a comfortable bar each with spectacular views on both sides. 

We stayed in one of the 8 cottages with a view of the Rwenzori mountains to the west and the distant Lake Edward to the south. 

As we have come to expect the bird life was amazing. 

Here are three Cinnamon-Chested Bee-Eaters perched in a bush not 10 feet from our cottage.





 



On Saturday we had a tour of the nearby vanilla farm and factory. 

We saw the pods growing in the fields and the preparation and packing in the factory.

 

Some appear to be dispatched to Newcastle and subsequently turn up on the shelves at Waitrose (Ndali brand). Go and have a look and tell us that you have seen them. 

On Sunday we had a good tour of the lakes with a guide. 

The drive between two of the lakes was quite exciting as we travelled over the hills on a poor track in the rain. The 4x4 was essential – never really used it before. There were some anxious moments as we descended some steep slippery slopes and other sections where I feared grounding and getting stuck. But looking back it was good fun. 



Later we did some walking on our own – well almost. 

There were four very friendly dogs at the lodge who insisted on keeping us company. 

One of the dogs slept outside our cottage every night in the base of the coffee table.

The journey back to  Kampala didn’t seem as bad as the journey out probably because the last section of road works was expected. Now we are back in the chaos and traffic jams of Kampala. 

 

At work we have two grandmothers and a  member of staff going off to a conference in Swaziland – the conference is devoted to grandmothers and their role in caring for orphans. It is a major problem as older people in Africa expect to be cared for by their children and these women not only lose their children from HIV/AIDS but become totally responsible for caring for their grandchildren, with no financial support. Reach Out helps them with school fees and sometimes with food, but have started a piggery for grannies to make their own living. They are given piglets, a sty and a month’s supply of pig food, and it seems to work very well. They are then obliged to give a set of piglets away every so often to help others get started. A lot of time has been spent helping them get their presentation together and well practiced before they fly off tomorrow. The photo is of Granny Rita practicing her part, like many older women she wears a gomezi every day as well as for special occasions. There are always jokes about not being allowed on the plane in their traditional dress, but it is just great to see them going off for a few days, the first time out of Uganda and on a plane.

Over the next few weeks we are looking forward to receiving a number of visitors from the UK ending with our son, David arriving in June. We are always pleased to hear from readers of our blog so drop us an email or leave a comment if we haven’t been in touch for some time.