Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Posted Some More Pictures
Today I left Ddegeya for the last time. I am currently in Backpackers Hostel for the next two days before I head back to the states. I am taking advantage of the fast internet and uploading some pictures and blogs. you should click on the link and check out some of my newer pictures. :).
Thursday, April 2, 2009
3:00am Wake Up Call
Last night we had a small visitor. A rat. Throughout our time here we have had several rat experiences. They all end the same way (except for this most current one). Steve and I get fed up staying awake at night waiting for it to climb over us in bed and John buys rat poison. A few day later a terrible smell is coming from one of our beds and we find a dead rat underneath.
Last night however, I woke up to go to the bath room at around one o’clock and heard another little visitor (I really shouldn’t say little Steve compares them to house cats). I went back to bed and woke up around three to hear Steve moving his bed, john’s bed, all of the suitcases underneath the beds, and tearing down the blinds trying to kill the rat with a banana fiber doll one of the kids made me.
After much debate (me saying we should go to bed and buy rat poison and Steve saying that he was going to kill that mother fucker). We found the rat once again on a window sill. Steve moved the last piece of untouched furniture (our shelving) and we created a tunnel out of a palm leaf matt, a tarp, and a sheet from where the rat was hiding to the door. I then went outside to scare the rat from its hiding place by banging another banana fiber doll against the window while Steve threw banana fiber dolls at the end of the tunnel to make sure the rat traveled in the right direction. Around 3:45 I hear Steve shout in triumph as the rat scurries out the door. We then spent the next half hour cleaning the mess we made. But we did sleep well for the last hour and a half of the night.
Since I’m not very funny, you should visit Steve’s Blog and read about this from there. There is a link to his blog on the right hand side at of this web page.
Last night however, I woke up to go to the bath room at around one o’clock and heard another little visitor (I really shouldn’t say little Steve compares them to house cats). I went back to bed and woke up around three to hear Steve moving his bed, john’s bed, all of the suitcases underneath the beds, and tearing down the blinds trying to kill the rat with a banana fiber doll one of the kids made me.
After much debate (me saying we should go to bed and buy rat poison and Steve saying that he was going to kill that mother fucker). We found the rat once again on a window sill. Steve moved the last piece of untouched furniture (our shelving) and we created a tunnel out of a palm leaf matt, a tarp, and a sheet from where the rat was hiding to the door. I then went outside to scare the rat from its hiding place by banging another banana fiber doll against the window while Steve threw banana fiber dolls at the end of the tunnel to make sure the rat traveled in the right direction. Around 3:45 I hear Steve shout in triumph as the rat scurries out the door. We then spent the next half hour cleaning the mess we made. But we did sleep well for the last hour and a half of the night.
Since I’m not very funny, you should visit Steve’s Blog and read about this from there. There is a link to his blog on the right hand side at of this web page.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
10 things I Have Learned While In Uganda
During my time here I have learned many many things here is a list of some of them:
1. How to use a squatty potty like a pro.
2. Cook matooke, rice, posho, ground nuts, and beans all in a hand made banana leaf steamer on a charcoal stove.
3. Navigate the public taxi system.
4. Ride and drive a piki piki (motorcycle)
5. Identify and grow local produce such as cabbage, beans, corn, carrots, onions, green peppers, greens, cassava, pineapple, yams, and eggplant.
6. Fetch water from the boar whole.
7. How to kill, clean, and cook a whole chicken,
8. Wash my clothes, towel, and sheets by hand in under an hour.
9. Dig with a hoe.
10. Catch a rat in the middle of the night (refer to next blog).
1. How to use a squatty potty like a pro.
2. Cook matooke, rice, posho, ground nuts, and beans all in a hand made banana leaf steamer on a charcoal stove.
3. Navigate the public taxi system.
4. Ride and drive a piki piki (motorcycle)
5. Identify and grow local produce such as cabbage, beans, corn, carrots, onions, green peppers, greens, cassava, pineapple, yams, and eggplant.
6. Fetch water from the boar whole.
7. How to kill, clean, and cook a whole chicken,
8. Wash my clothes, towel, and sheets by hand in under an hour.
9. Dig with a hoe.
10. Catch a rat in the middle of the night (refer to next blog).
Friday, March 20, 2009
Long Time No Blog
Medical Mission
From February 2nd to February 15th a medical mission with four attendings, two residence, five medical students, a nurse, an architect, one of the women in charge of the scholars program and a photographer came. This was the first medical mission Steve and I were here for and it was supper intense and supper fun. I wish that I could give a shout out to everyone like Steve and make my blog funny and entertaining, but I can’t so I encourage anyone who is reading this to also visit Steve’s blog to get a more complete view of what the medical mission was like.
A typical day ran from 7 am to 11:00 pm. We would get up in the morning set up the pharmacy and clean the large clinic building. The first patients had arrived hours ago and were seated in the shade outside the clinic’s front door. By the time the doors actually opened 30 to 40 patients eagerly waited to be seen by a doctor. Throughout the day the doctors addressed many of the common heath problems here like back pain, stomach pain, malaria, etc. However, they also gave out donated glasses, did mini surgeries (such as removing keloids, small tumors, and cleaning out abscesses), and dealt with prolapsed uteruses. We also had many runs to Kinoni/Masaka to pick up much needed drugs, lab supplies, and food stuffs. Throughout the week we also go to visit the scholars and some schools they could potentially go to.
The two coolest medical things I saw was Stephanie cleaning out her first abscess and Dave removing two keliods. Clean the abscess was like popping a huge zit (it looked very satisfying – lots of pus!).
One of my favorite parts of the medical mission was socializing with everyone who came. Everyone was so cool and it was awesome to get to know them all. After seven months of monastic life it was so much fun, especially the night time parties.
Pieter
Some of the most cutting edge research on HIV is actually done in Rakai a large town about two hours south of Ddegeya. Studies have shown that that circumcising males reduces the risk of HIV transmission during sexual intercourse up to 50% of the time. So, a couple weeks after the medical mission I went to Kampala to pick up a middle aged doctor from Chicago named Pieter who was coming in to perform circumcisions. So while I was eagerly yelling “Pieter, Pieter Smit” to every middle aged man who walked out of the gate, a young man with a hiking backpack on came up to me and said “Are you Becky”. Pieter ended up being a first year surgical resident at the Staten Island Hospital.
Throughout the week Pieter preformed six circumcisions. The first and most notable was Peter’s (the boy who lives in the house next to the clinic). During his circumcision he yelled many things, but the funniest moment was when he yelled that the town’s malalu “crazy man” told him that if he hung around the clinic too often the white man would come and cut off his penis.
Anther funny moment concerning circumcisions happened a couple days ago when John asked Kazungu (one of the younger boys who was circumcised) how he was doing. Kazungu calmly replied by asking when his foreskin was going to grow back?
From February 2nd to February 15th a medical mission with four attendings, two residence, five medical students, a nurse, an architect, one of the women in charge of the scholars program and a photographer came. This was the first medical mission Steve and I were here for and it was supper intense and supper fun. I wish that I could give a shout out to everyone like Steve and make my blog funny and entertaining, but I can’t so I encourage anyone who is reading this to also visit Steve’s blog to get a more complete view of what the medical mission was like.
A typical day ran from 7 am to 11:00 pm. We would get up in the morning set up the pharmacy and clean the large clinic building. The first patients had arrived hours ago and were seated in the shade outside the clinic’s front door. By the time the doors actually opened 30 to 40 patients eagerly waited to be seen by a doctor. Throughout the day the doctors addressed many of the common heath problems here like back pain, stomach pain, malaria, etc. However, they also gave out donated glasses, did mini surgeries (such as removing keloids, small tumors, and cleaning out abscesses), and dealt with prolapsed uteruses. We also had many runs to Kinoni/Masaka to pick up much needed drugs, lab supplies, and food stuffs. Throughout the week we also go to visit the scholars and some schools they could potentially go to.
The two coolest medical things I saw was Stephanie cleaning out her first abscess and Dave removing two keliods. Clean the abscess was like popping a huge zit (it looked very satisfying – lots of pus!).
One of my favorite parts of the medical mission was socializing with everyone who came. Everyone was so cool and it was awesome to get to know them all. After seven months of monastic life it was so much fun, especially the night time parties.
Pieter
Some of the most cutting edge research on HIV is actually done in Rakai a large town about two hours south of Ddegeya. Studies have shown that that circumcising males reduces the risk of HIV transmission during sexual intercourse up to 50% of the time. So, a couple weeks after the medical mission I went to Kampala to pick up a middle aged doctor from Chicago named Pieter who was coming in to perform circumcisions. So while I was eagerly yelling “Pieter, Pieter Smit” to every middle aged man who walked out of the gate, a young man with a hiking backpack on came up to me and said “Are you Becky”. Pieter ended up being a first year surgical resident at the Staten Island Hospital.
Throughout the week Pieter preformed six circumcisions. The first and most notable was Peter’s (the boy who lives in the house next to the clinic). During his circumcision he yelled many things, but the funniest moment was when he yelled that the town’s malalu “crazy man” told him that if he hung around the clinic too often the white man would come and cut off his penis.
Anther funny moment concerning circumcisions happened a couple days ago when John asked Kazungu (one of the younger boys who was circumcised) how he was doing. Kazungu calmly replied by asking when his foreskin was going to grow back?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The R&B song "Obama, Obama, Obama ..."
Today Obama will be inaugurated as Americas 44th president. All Ugandans are going nuts. In Kampala they are selling Obama t-shirts and they are selling quite fast. Everyone has changed their cell phone rings to an R&B song about Obama. It goes "Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama ..." And they are all trying to figure out when the inauguration will be played on the T.V.
I’m not going to lie, like them I am very excited. I was supposed to go back to Ddegeye today after a weekend in Kampala, but I am going to stay an extra day so that I can see the inauguration.
11:00 January 20, 2009 …
I just watched the inauguration at a small bar on Kampala Rd. called Slow Boat Pub and Restaurant. It was very inspiring. Everyone in the pub went wild every time Obama or his family came on the screen and everyone booed every time George Bush went on the screen. As I talked to several people around the pub, I was impressed with how well informed they were about the ceremony (many people knew that they had installed heaters underneath the main parties seats so to keep them warm). People also knew a lot about Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden. At least half the people I saw were wearing Obama t-shirts. I thought Obama made a great speech. I was really inspired by his comment on helping the world around us (both domestic and foreign) and by comment about how if we work together we can overcome the obstacles we face today.
I’m not going to lie, like them I am very excited. I was supposed to go back to Ddegeye today after a weekend in Kampala, but I am going to stay an extra day so that I can see the inauguration.
11:00 January 20, 2009 …
I just watched the inauguration at a small bar on Kampala Rd. called Slow Boat Pub and Restaurant. It was very inspiring. Everyone in the pub went wild every time Obama or his family came on the screen and everyone booed every time George Bush went on the screen. As I talked to several people around the pub, I was impressed with how well informed they were about the ceremony (many people knew that they had installed heaters underneath the main parties seats so to keep them warm). People also knew a lot about Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden. At least half the people I saw were wearing Obama t-shirts. I thought Obama made a great speech. I was really inspired by his comment on helping the world around us (both domestic and foreign) and by comment about how if we work together we can overcome the obstacles we face today.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Random Stuff
Nsua ne Nsenene
So I don’t know if I should make this public knowledge, but I ate live bugs. Just joking I ate cooked bugs. Late in October there is a season called nsua season. nsua are large white ants. They are everywhere, sort of like locusts attacking for about two weeks and then disappear again. Many of the kids eat them raw with the wings still attached. It was nsua season while the morning program was still going on and I was often completely grossed out when a kid would come up to me with wings sticking out of their mouth from eating the ants they found on the ground. Adults and older kids have the sense to wait until the ants are cooked. Their legs, wings, and antenna are pulled off then they are fried in a little bit of oil and salted once they cool.
Nsenene are a type of grasshopper. While nsenene do not swarm like nsua they only come for about a month every year. For about half of November and half of December every major town has large lights surrounded by iron sheets set up to catch the grasshoppers. The grasshoppers are attacked to the light and then fly into the iron sheet and then slide down the iron sheet into a large mettle basin. The nsenene have enough natural fats that they are just fried dry and then served plain. I really liked the nsenene and I would recommend that anyone who comes should try some.
Laying Bricks Construction
Engeye is currently expanding rapidly. The most recent addition is a building that has been under construction for quite some time, the laboratory. Since John has come back two men have been hard at work building this brick and concrete structure by hand. They don’t use any machines, not even to mix the concrete. The other day they let me try laying bricks. I was terrible, well actually not as bad as I thought I would be, it is just really hard to tell when the bricks are level even when using a plumb line. It is also really tiring. Concrete is really heavy. After about a ten foot section I was feeling it in my muscles, I can’t imagine being the person to mix the concrete.
Making American Food
A few weeks before Steve and I left for vacation we tried cooking pasta and tomato sauce for the clinic staff. First of all I thought it would go over really well. Considering most of the food eaten here consists of a large portion of a heavy starch with some sort of sauce poured on top I thought pasta would go over well. Steve, Hagar!, and I got together around 3 o’clock and started preparing. By eight o’clock we had a massive pot of pasta and tomato sauce that no one liked. I think the biggest problem with it was that it did not have any salt in it. Ugandans cook with tons of salt, I think it is because they have been told that the iodine in the salt is good for you because it stops goiters (which did used to be extremely prevalent). However, you only need a very small amount of iodine combat goiters. But once used to the taste of tons of salt, you like it. Susan we put the salt on the table just in case, I think they liked the salt more than the dish itself.
Learning to Ride a Piki Piki
After my parents left, I had a little trouble adjusting back to life alone in the village (steve was not back yet). So smart girl that I am, I decided to distract myself by having Francis teach me how to ride a Piki Piki (motor cycle). I have actually ridden a motorbike(a less powerful automatic version of motorcycles) before and therefore sort of knew what I was doing. I was doing pretty well until he started taking me up hills. And even after the hills I wasn’t doing to badly until I broke the gear changing peddle and we had to go putt putt all the way home in first gear. Woops. Luckily the Piki Piki was really easy to fix and the Piki Piki is not traumatized. I think Francis was a little embarrassed traveling by crowds of people at ten miles per hour with a while girl on the back of the bike.
Chicken Coops
Thanks to the money that the Union Campus has raised, we have started a chicken distribution program. So far we have given 10 chickens to 10 different children. We are giving the chickens to children for two reasons. First the goal of giving out the chickens is to increase the amount of protein in the child’s diet and second to teach the child ways they can generate income. Giving the chickens to the children and not the parent ensure that the parent won’t just kill the chicken and eat it for dinner, because the child will be upset and come tell us if their parent killed “their chicken”. In addition to receiving the chicken and being required to eat its eggs, each child must raise at least one chick to give to another child (maybe a friend or sibling) thus expanding the program. We also helped build the ten chicken coops the chickens will be living in (or so we thought). People are too scared that someone will come by and steel the chicken at night, so the chicken sleeps inside the house, and because they let the chickens’ free range during the day so there is really no point in having the coops. Some of the children have shown real interest in the program. I am hoping these children will not only be interested in raising the chicken so that they can eat the eggs, but use the chicken as an opportunity to learn how to generate income and increase assets (by not only choosing to raise one chicken to give away, but increase the number of chickens they have and thus increase the number of eggs they get). In the end we hope to double the number of chickens we have given out so far.
We have not checked on the chickens yet, this is something I plan to do this week. I am a little worried that some of them might have “disappeared” over the Christmas holiday. Here in Uganda the Christmas tradition is to cook a huge feast including whatever meat (beef, pork, chicken) you have for Christmas. I am a little worried some of our chickens have fallen victim.
So I don’t know if I should make this public knowledge, but I ate live bugs. Just joking I ate cooked bugs. Late in October there is a season called nsua season. nsua are large white ants. They are everywhere, sort of like locusts attacking for about two weeks and then disappear again. Many of the kids eat them raw with the wings still attached. It was nsua season while the morning program was still going on and I was often completely grossed out when a kid would come up to me with wings sticking out of their mouth from eating the ants they found on the ground. Adults and older kids have the sense to wait until the ants are cooked. Their legs, wings, and antenna are pulled off then they are fried in a little bit of oil and salted once they cool.
Nsenene are a type of grasshopper. While nsenene do not swarm like nsua they only come for about a month every year. For about half of November and half of December every major town has large lights surrounded by iron sheets set up to catch the grasshoppers. The grasshoppers are attacked to the light and then fly into the iron sheet and then slide down the iron sheet into a large mettle basin. The nsenene have enough natural fats that they are just fried dry and then served plain. I really liked the nsenene and I would recommend that anyone who comes should try some.
Laying Bricks Construction
Engeye is currently expanding rapidly. The most recent addition is a building that has been under construction for quite some time, the laboratory. Since John has come back two men have been hard at work building this brick and concrete structure by hand. They don’t use any machines, not even to mix the concrete. The other day they let me try laying bricks. I was terrible, well actually not as bad as I thought I would be, it is just really hard to tell when the bricks are level even when using a plumb line. It is also really tiring. Concrete is really heavy. After about a ten foot section I was feeling it in my muscles, I can’t imagine being the person to mix the concrete.
Making American Food
A few weeks before Steve and I left for vacation we tried cooking pasta and tomato sauce for the clinic staff. First of all I thought it would go over really well. Considering most of the food eaten here consists of a large portion of a heavy starch with some sort of sauce poured on top I thought pasta would go over well. Steve, Hagar!, and I got together around 3 o’clock and started preparing. By eight o’clock we had a massive pot of pasta and tomato sauce that no one liked. I think the biggest problem with it was that it did not have any salt in it. Ugandans cook with tons of salt, I think it is because they have been told that the iodine in the salt is good for you because it stops goiters (which did used to be extremely prevalent). However, you only need a very small amount of iodine combat goiters. But once used to the taste of tons of salt, you like it. Susan we put the salt on the table just in case, I think they liked the salt more than the dish itself.
Learning to Ride a Piki Piki
After my parents left, I had a little trouble adjusting back to life alone in the village (steve was not back yet). So smart girl that I am, I decided to distract myself by having Francis teach me how to ride a Piki Piki (motor cycle). I have actually ridden a motorbike(a less powerful automatic version of motorcycles) before and therefore sort of knew what I was doing. I was doing pretty well until he started taking me up hills. And even after the hills I wasn’t doing to badly until I broke the gear changing peddle and we had to go putt putt all the way home in first gear. Woops. Luckily the Piki Piki was really easy to fix and the Piki Piki is not traumatized. I think Francis was a little embarrassed traveling by crowds of people at ten miles per hour with a while girl on the back of the bike.
Chicken Coops
Thanks to the money that the Union Campus has raised, we have started a chicken distribution program. So far we have given 10 chickens to 10 different children. We are giving the chickens to children for two reasons. First the goal of giving out the chickens is to increase the amount of protein in the child’s diet and second to teach the child ways they can generate income. Giving the chickens to the children and not the parent ensure that the parent won’t just kill the chicken and eat it for dinner, because the child will be upset and come tell us if their parent killed “their chicken”. In addition to receiving the chicken and being required to eat its eggs, each child must raise at least one chick to give to another child (maybe a friend or sibling) thus expanding the program. We also helped build the ten chicken coops the chickens will be living in (or so we thought). People are too scared that someone will come by and steel the chicken at night, so the chicken sleeps inside the house, and because they let the chickens’ free range during the day so there is really no point in having the coops. Some of the children have shown real interest in the program. I am hoping these children will not only be interested in raising the chicken so that they can eat the eggs, but use the chicken as an opportunity to learn how to generate income and increase assets (by not only choosing to raise one chicken to give away, but increase the number of chickens they have and thus increase the number of eggs they get). In the end we hope to double the number of chickens we have given out so far.
We have not checked on the chickens yet, this is something I plan to do this week. I am a little worried that some of them might have “disappeared” over the Christmas holiday. Here in Uganda the Christmas tradition is to cook a huge feast including whatever meat (beef, pork, chicken) you have for Christmas. I am a little worried some of our chickens have fallen victim.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Traveling Over Christmas Holiday
I just took a two week holiday and traveled around Uganda with my parents. We spent the majority of our time seeing the landscape and looking at animals. This is a blog about all the animals and cool landscapes I saw on during my travels.
Lake Bunyoni
Lake Bunyoni is the one of the deepest and largest freshwater lakes in Uganda. It is about the size of one of the great lakes and is surrounded by high mountains on all sides and doted with little islands. Lake Bunyoni has one of Uganda’s largest bird populations and you can see a number or rare birds while staying there. While there I stayed on one of the Islands in the middle of the lake. This was the first time I had a chance to stay at a completely eco-friendly hotel. It was quiet interesting they had everything from eco-friendly toilets where all users had to sit to solar heated showers.
In addition to bird watching Lake Bunyoni is the only fresh water in Uganda that does not have bilharzia. Bilharzia is a type of snail that carries parasites that can be transited to humans through the skin. While easily treatable, I would not recommend swimming elsewhere in Uganda. Therefore, this was the first time I have been able to swim since I’ve been here.
Lake Bunyoni is also a three day weekend spot for Uganda’s wealthy citizens (all of whom reside in Kampala). It is about an eight hour drive from Kampala. You can also tell that many of the hotels cater to the very wealthy Indian population in Kampala because many of the menus boasted several Indian dishes.
Gorillas
After traveling to Lake Bunyoni we continued traveling southwest and crossed the Rwandan border. In Rwanda we went Gorilla tracking. In order to go tracking we had to bushwhack up Mt. Sabinyo (a dormant volcano). About an hour into a climb through bamboo forests and lush bushes, we reached the Gorillas. In all we spent about an hour with a family of thirteen gorillas, there was one dominant male silver back, six females, and six babies. One of the babies was only 3 months old and could not move on its own yet. In addition one of the females was six months pregnant, she was such a picky eater, she would lumber over to a patch of bamboo shoots, and then carefully pull one from the ground and peel it until she reached the sweet middle. Sometimes she would pick off small pieces that were not sweet enough. They were so human like, they would watch us and stair at us the way we were starring at them.
While we were in Rwanda I met the current local Peace Corps medical officer. The Peace Corps is restarting their program in Rwanda this year after having closed the program 14 years ago. As I talked to her about Rwanda I learned some interesting facts. Every month the government declares a public clean up day. The police walk around forcing everyone to clean up in front of their houses and stores. While this definitely over the top, Rwanda is not covered in trash the way Uganda is. In addition the roads are much better. However, I was in an area that receives tons of money from tourism.
Volcanoes
Next we traveled back over the border and spent the next two nights in Traveler’s Rest Hotel. This hotel was originally owned by the “father” of gorilla tourism, Walter Baumgartel. When the hotel was built the forest came right up to where the hotel grounds end. It was also the place where Dian Fossey stayed when she did her research on gorillas. This was such a great place to stay because of all the reading material they kept. They had every single national geographic with anything to do with Uganda in it, and shelves full of books on Ugandan wildlife, culture, and history.
While we stayed at the Traveler’s Rest Hotel we spent our days in Mgahinga National Park. While this park’s main attraction is gorilla and golden monkey tracking it also boast three large dormant volcanoes: Mt. Muhavura, Mt. Gahinga, and Mt. Sabinyo. The park shares these three volcanoes with the DRC and Rwanda. If you climb Sabinyo you can stand in all three without a visa. My father and I decided to climb Mt. Gahinga while my mother and brother went Golden Money Tracking. This was a really interesting hike. Mt. Gahinga has very different flora than I have every seen. The majority of the climb was spent in a virgin bamboo forest. While this was interesting, the most fascinating part was when we entered the alpine zone and there were no lichen covered rocks and small pine trees, but large trees covered in this moss called grandfather’s beard. The moss hung off the branches in long hairy strands. At the top we were able to walk around the swamp that had formed in the crater.
Game Park
We finished up our travel in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This is one of Uganda’s largest national parks covering almost 2000 square meters. The majority of the park is savannah and grassland, although, there are sections that have varied terrain. For example, the Kyambura gorge boasts a tropical rainforest that had a wide variety of animals including chimpanzees. Within the park is also the Kazinga Channel. This is the body of water linking Lake George and Lake Edward and is the home to thousands of hippos and pelicans.
Our time here was really fun. We got to see lions, hyenas, fighting buffalo, elephants, baboons, several types of antelope, hippos, pelicans, chimpanzees, and countless numbers of rare birds. I got to see my first owl; it was really cool it looked just like all the cartoon owls.
Kampala
We spent a day in Kampala buying souvenirs and various items. My favorite moment was at the souvenir market when my mom was bargaining with some woman and she kept saying “I just bought a set of these salad tongs over there for 5,000Ush that is the most I’ll pay” and I walked straight up and said “No mom, you bought those salad tongs for 6,000 Ush.” Another great moment was when my brother was trying to buy a wooden mask and he asked for a discount because it had a small crack in it and the woman replied “I’ll give it to you, but you know these antiques, they have been handled poorly in the past.”
Our fun ended with a night Kampala. There is a large Indian population here and we went to one of the best Indian restaurants in town, Hanndi. Not only did the place have creative dishes (definitely not the place to play it safe and get the chicken tikki marsala), but the atmosphere consisted of a nice mix of family restaurant and night on the town. I am definitely making Steve go there with me next time we are in Kampala.
Lake Bunyoni
Lake Bunyoni is the one of the deepest and largest freshwater lakes in Uganda. It is about the size of one of the great lakes and is surrounded by high mountains on all sides and doted with little islands. Lake Bunyoni has one of Uganda’s largest bird populations and you can see a number or rare birds while staying there. While there I stayed on one of the Islands in the middle of the lake. This was the first time I had a chance to stay at a completely eco-friendly hotel. It was quiet interesting they had everything from eco-friendly toilets where all users had to sit to solar heated showers.
In addition to bird watching Lake Bunyoni is the only fresh water in Uganda that does not have bilharzia. Bilharzia is a type of snail that carries parasites that can be transited to humans through the skin. While easily treatable, I would not recommend swimming elsewhere in Uganda. Therefore, this was the first time I have been able to swim since I’ve been here.
Lake Bunyoni is also a three day weekend spot for Uganda’s wealthy citizens (all of whom reside in Kampala). It is about an eight hour drive from Kampala. You can also tell that many of the hotels cater to the very wealthy Indian population in Kampala because many of the menus boasted several Indian dishes.
Gorillas
After traveling to Lake Bunyoni we continued traveling southwest and crossed the Rwandan border. In Rwanda we went Gorilla tracking. In order to go tracking we had to bushwhack up Mt. Sabinyo (a dormant volcano). About an hour into a climb through bamboo forests and lush bushes, we reached the Gorillas. In all we spent about an hour with a family of thirteen gorillas, there was one dominant male silver back, six females, and six babies. One of the babies was only 3 months old and could not move on its own yet. In addition one of the females was six months pregnant, she was such a picky eater, she would lumber over to a patch of bamboo shoots, and then carefully pull one from the ground and peel it until she reached the sweet middle. Sometimes she would pick off small pieces that were not sweet enough. They were so human like, they would watch us and stair at us the way we were starring at them.
While we were in Rwanda I met the current local Peace Corps medical officer. The Peace Corps is restarting their program in Rwanda this year after having closed the program 14 years ago. As I talked to her about Rwanda I learned some interesting facts. Every month the government declares a public clean up day. The police walk around forcing everyone to clean up in front of their houses and stores. While this definitely over the top, Rwanda is not covered in trash the way Uganda is. In addition the roads are much better. However, I was in an area that receives tons of money from tourism.
Volcanoes
Next we traveled back over the border and spent the next two nights in Traveler’s Rest Hotel. This hotel was originally owned by the “father” of gorilla tourism, Walter Baumgartel. When the hotel was built the forest came right up to where the hotel grounds end. It was also the place where Dian Fossey stayed when she did her research on gorillas. This was such a great place to stay because of all the reading material they kept. They had every single national geographic with anything to do with Uganda in it, and shelves full of books on Ugandan wildlife, culture, and history.
While we stayed at the Traveler’s Rest Hotel we spent our days in Mgahinga National Park. While this park’s main attraction is gorilla and golden monkey tracking it also boast three large dormant volcanoes: Mt. Muhavura, Mt. Gahinga, and Mt. Sabinyo. The park shares these three volcanoes with the DRC and Rwanda. If you climb Sabinyo you can stand in all three without a visa. My father and I decided to climb Mt. Gahinga while my mother and brother went Golden Money Tracking. This was a really interesting hike. Mt. Gahinga has very different flora than I have every seen. The majority of the climb was spent in a virgin bamboo forest. While this was interesting, the most fascinating part was when we entered the alpine zone and there were no lichen covered rocks and small pine trees, but large trees covered in this moss called grandfather’s beard. The moss hung off the branches in long hairy strands. At the top we were able to walk around the swamp that had formed in the crater.
Game Park
We finished up our travel in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This is one of Uganda’s largest national parks covering almost 2000 square meters. The majority of the park is savannah and grassland, although, there are sections that have varied terrain. For example, the Kyambura gorge boasts a tropical rainforest that had a wide variety of animals including chimpanzees. Within the park is also the Kazinga Channel. This is the body of water linking Lake George and Lake Edward and is the home to thousands of hippos and pelicans.
Our time here was really fun. We got to see lions, hyenas, fighting buffalo, elephants, baboons, several types of antelope, hippos, pelicans, chimpanzees, and countless numbers of rare birds. I got to see my first owl; it was really cool it looked just like all the cartoon owls.
Kampala
We spent a day in Kampala buying souvenirs and various items. My favorite moment was at the souvenir market when my mom was bargaining with some woman and she kept saying “I just bought a set of these salad tongs over there for 5,000Ush that is the most I’ll pay” and I walked straight up and said “No mom, you bought those salad tongs for 6,000 Ush.” Another great moment was when my brother was trying to buy a wooden mask and he asked for a discount because it had a small crack in it and the woman replied “I’ll give it to you, but you know these antiques, they have been handled poorly in the past.”
Our fun ended with a night Kampala. There is a large Indian population here and we went to one of the best Indian restaurants in town, Hanndi. Not only did the place have creative dishes (definitely not the place to play it safe and get the chicken tikki marsala), but the atmosphere consisted of a nice mix of family restaurant and night on the town. I am definitely making Steve go there with me next time we are in Kampala.
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