Uganda Retrospective

Gallery: Ngamba Island

ugandaretrospective — Wed, 1 Oct 2008 04:17:00 GMT

Gallery: Busingiro

ugandaretrospective — Sat, 24 May 2008 14:21:00 GMT

Gallery: Kalinzu

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:08:00 GMT

In the Shadow of Dr. Jane

ugandaretrospective — Thu, 1 May 2008 11:29:00 GMT

When does a trip actually begin? When you board the plane? When you purchase your tickets? Or when you first start dreaming of the destination? I couldn’t have known it at the time but this trip began more than 35 years ago. I had returned to college after three years in the Army and a tour in Vietnam and had decided to become a science teacher. At the advice of the head of the biology department I read In the Shadow of Man, by Dr. Jane Goodall. In 1972 she was nearly as unknown as David Greybeard, Flo, Frodo, and the other chimpanzees of Gombe but that book stayed with me.

Jane Goodall became a fixture in National Geographic and on Public Television in the next three decades and we followed her stories. As a result, Connie and I ‘adopted’ two orphaned chimps from the Jane Goodall Institute in 2002. Petit Prince lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Baluku resides on Ngamba Island in Lake Victoria, Uganda. The following year we were invited to an intimate fund-raising event in Denver with Dr. Jane. She is petite, gracious and emits a radiance that is difficult to describe. Her dedication to making the world a better place for humans as well as chimpanzees is infectious . . . so infectious that when we met with her again in autumn of 2005 we signed on as volunteers for six months in the forests of Uganda. This is our story.

Epilogue

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:47:00 GMT

Many months have passed since our last entry. We spent the rest of 2006 traveling throughout Africa and the Middle East including a Tanzanian safari, two weeks in Ethiopia, 5 weeks in Egypt, a month in Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. We celebrated the New Year in Israel and finished our trip in March in Turkey. But that's another journal.

Back in the States we did laundry and took care of medical issues and such. Then in June we drove to Alaska for a summer of camping. In October drove east to Washington DC for the 30th Anniversary of the Jane Goodall Institute, finally bringing our trip full circle.

Jeff Corwin hosted the black tie event at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium. Dr. Jane, as expected, was entertaining the dignitaries at the VIP reception. When she heard we were there she came out saying, "if they won't let you in there then I will come out here!" Gracious to the max! With all her duties she took the time to thank us personally for the work we did in Uganda.

We surprised Debby Cox, our Uganda supervisor, who had seen us only in shorts and T-shirts, usually paint splattered and also met some of the women from Disney's Animal Kingdom who provided the teaching aids we used. We were impressed with the entire event, especially with some of the younger people who are active in the institute. It is an organization worth looking into if you are interested in conservation.

Just Hop on the Bus, Gus

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 02:05:00 GMT

Stephanie dropped us at the Garden City Mall in Kampala and after a tearful goodbye we got our photos developed, had lunch and cabbed to the Scandinavian Bus station for our long trip to Arusha. The bus was packed, had no air-con and was not as luxurious as advertised. African music was eventually replaced by the worst movie this side of Bollywood but the road noise drowned out the worst of it. The roads were pot-holed and dusty an even with earplugs, sleep was nearly impossible.

We crossed into Kenya around 7:00pm and walked across no-man’s land to the border in the dark. Most passengers took boda-bodas for the quarter mile trip but we decided to walk. Somehow we managed to walk past immigration and had to be fetched from the bus to get our transit visas. It was really dark and anyone could have missed it. Honest! A 24 hour transit visa costs $20 while a 90-day tourist visa is $50 – just another way to rip off tourists.

We changed buses in Nairobi around 4:45am to an even less luxurious bus. Our seat was the last row, the worst place for the bumpy four and a half hours to Arusha, Tanzania. All I can report on the little bit of Kenya I saw was they appear to have electricity and the houses are more substantial than bandas. The people still try hard to separate you from your money no matter what currency you carry, a major calling in Africa. As a result of our distrust we still have some Ugandan money we will never use.

We arrived in Arusha a little after 9:00am, tired, filthy and a bit out of sorts and in no mood to be fleeced by cabbies. We negotiated a price to the Outpost Lodge where we had reservations. Hot showers – you’ll have to travel as we do to appreciate their importance – a nap and lunch took up the rest of the day and we are relaxing in the shade.

The Plumber's Tale

ugandaretrospective — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 10:01:00 GMT

The chimp house is a zoo despite Debby’s departure. Liz returned from Congo, Ben and Claire, his honey arrived from the U.K., Stu is here from Caniyo Pebidi and Freddy is still here. Now Alice and Rachel who will go to Busingiro came for their volunteer gig. The end result had Ben and Claire sharing the floor in CSWCT, Freddy and Stu in a tent, and Carol went to the Golf View Hotel last night.

With all these people the cistern went dry so I used the opportunity to replace the sink faucet before everyone got up. Then Freddy and I fixed a hose to the cistern so it would fill more quickly. So now we can s--t, shower and shave courtesy of J&F.

Carol and Stephanie gave us an exit interview and we unloaded on them – but in a nice way. I’m glad Carol was there because she transcends the education/conservation gap and doesn’t have any axes to grind. We hope that the volunteers that follow, especially those on the education side, reap some benefits from our experience.

We are hanging out and writing e-mails. We did get some disturbing news, not totally unexpected, from Kara. The new company at Kinyara is buying out what remains of the Booker-Tate contract, so Richard, Kara, Chris and Rose will be forced to move on. And JGI will have to start at square one with the Indian company who we are told, are not good stewards of the environment. Maybe Chris and Rose will meet up with us somewhere in Egypt or Jordan.

I took a boda to the airport for a final withdrawal of shillings. We will need about 500,000/= to send our stuff home and another box to Cairo. We haven’t had rain in more than two weeks but I got caught in a storm on the way back. Not too bad but the skies reallyopened up once I returned.

The tent that Freddy and Stu were sharing, which is in sad shape to begin with, gained nothing from Freddy’s inexpert installation (I hesitate to use the word ‘erection”!) and the wind blew the fly completely off. What to say about Freddy? He was ‘fired’ from CSWCT by his orphan chimp and just sits about. He’s hoping to find another position at Lake Mburo but missed his appointment today. He wants to own – not work at but own – and adventure travel company despite the fact he doesn’t participate in any of those activities. I think he’s an un-ambitious dreamer who can go nowhere sans computer, music and cell phone.

Our plan is to mail things off on Monday and hang out in Kampala Tuesday until our bus departs. It’s an overnight journey about 18 hours via Nairobi to Arusha so we won’t see much. But it is much less expensive than flying.

Chimps and Chumps

ugandaretrospective — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 03:47:00 GMT

I accepted a new role on Tuesday, JGI plumber in residence. I fiddled with the shower and Debby re-routed the water supply to the cistern and we have showers, hot ones, when there is power. I replaced the float assembly in the toilet and that’s functioning as well. Stephanie and Debby also bought a new faucet assembly but I haven’t found the tools to attempt it yet. Debby and Stephanie also presented us with a gift, an inscribed copy of Dr. Jane’s “40 years of Gombe.” Debby is off to Congo and we will be heading to Ngamba Island early Wednesday.

Now for the highlight of the trip, saving the best for last. Debby arranged wih Richard at the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the outfit that shares the building and runs the sanctuary on Ngamba Island for us to visit for a couple of days. We first became supporters of JGI in 2002 when we ‘adopted’ two orphaned chimps. Petit Prince lives in a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bakulu lives on Ngamba Island and now we were going to meet him.

We left at 8:00am for the two hour journey by motorized canoe, one on major steroids. We went with a dozen tourists, many from Melbourne, got the introduction and watched the feeding. There are 39 chimps ranging in age from three to twenty years, all of them rescued from traps, illegal animal trade, entertainment and other un-chimpanzee activities. They are introduced to a square kilometer island and a mostly natural lifestyle. Because of its limited area the island cannot sustain so many and their food must be supplement with fruits, veggies, pasho, millet gruel, hard-boiled eggs, and such. There aren’t enough trees for them to build new nests each night so they return to their caged enclosure to sleep high up in hammocks that they line with straw. As in the wild, they develop their own society with its alpha individuals and form coalitions and cliques.

The handlers throw fresh eggplants, carrots, peppers, melons papayas, and of course, bananas provided by locals on neighboring islands, and the largest alpha individuals hoard what they can but all receive enough. Every effort is made to include locals in the profits of eco-tourism, just as all the possible environmentally friendly measures are taken – solar power, composting toilets, rubbish segregation.

Sometimes a carrot or a banana falls outside the electrified fence and an enterprising ape will use a stick to pull it in - tool use at its most primitive. Of course, there is usually another chimp waiting to steal the prize, basic exploitation. There is hooting and hollering and fighting and playing and more often than not our chimp, Bakulu, is at the center of it.

After the feeding we joined the others for lunch and they boarded the boat for the return but we stayed. Lawrence, a Ugandan veterinarian who runs the site showed us around. They have done a good job and the welfare of the animals comes first. They have a good clinic and each chimp gets an annual physical, mature females are given Norplant’s contraceptive implants, good for five years. By the way, Lawrence attended a conference of vets at DeWildt just after we left, another small world.

Isaac is the other champion. He is the interpretive teacher and escort and is fantastic. His love of the chimps and for his job is obvious and his manner is disarming and infectious. They work 12 days on and 4 off; 8 on and 5 off each month, returning to their families on the mainland.

We did some birding until the chimps returned to their cages for a snack and sleep and were joined by Peter and Fiona from the U.K. who would also spent the night, but in the luxury safari tents reserved for paying clients while we would use staff housing. The evening dynamics were interesting because they were trying to integrate the dominant juvenile into the main population, a potentially violent situation. But on this night, there was no conflict.

We watched the morning wake up, a noisy affair. Surprisingly there was little activity during the night, a good thing since our room was only a few meters from the sleeping chimps. Then, dressed in coveralls and gumboots, we went with ten of the “youngsters” on a forest walk. You can't bring a camera or even sunglasses or a watch because chimps are cureous, devious and strong and they will take what they want. They even reach into your pockets looking for things. The smallest, Nakuu, loves to be carried. She would climb on Connie’s back and just relax. Billie also wanted to be carried but he weighs 30 kilograms and that’s too much. The rest would run past chasing each other or swing down on vines or jump on us from trees. Sometimes we would wrestle or stop and groom them or tickle them just sit and cuddle. One look into their liquid brown eyes can reach your soul. Towards the end of the walk I sat to groom Bakulu and he returned the favor picking ants from my arm with his three-fingered left hand, a souvenir of a fight when he first arrived. Quite the morning!

It is important to note the precautions taken to protect the chimpanzees. Since they are susceptible to the same diseases as humans, visitors must have received all of the major vaccinations. Even though we each had measles as kids we had to get vaccinated before we could walk with the chimps. Fortunately we anticipated this and received them back in April in Kampala.

TASO; The Aids Support Organization

ugandaretrospective — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 03:16:00 GMT

Wehave been back at headquarters for more than a week and already miss the solitude of Busingiro. But we have had many errands to run and missions to accomplish, not to mention tons of laundry. The machine makes it easier and probably does a better job but the water works only to half of the house and I feel like Mickey Mouse in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” as I haul bucket after bucket of water to fill the semi-automatic washer.

But we accomplished all of 0ur tasks: 1) change our flights; 2) get Tanzanian visas; 3) develop photos; and 4) make bus reservations to Arusha. Stephany dropped us off near – not at – the Speke Hotel, our landmark in Kampala. We were able to change our flights from Nairobi – Addis Ababa to Dar es Salaam – Addis via Kilamanjaro for only $13 each.

Sally dropped off the painting of a rural market that we commissioned from Moses. He evidently hadn't finished it when we left Masindi and rather than disappoint us by saying so, just never met us. But all is forgiven and we are very pleased. He even included his working sketches which will look great framed. Now to get it home. We have divided our things into several piles, some to go with us and some to be mailed home, an expensive proposition. We can take 30 kilograms to Ethiopia but only ten to Zanzibar. We have donated cots, sleeping bags, etc. to JGI and today took some spare clothing, medicines and syringes to TASO, The AIDS Support Organization.

Even if Uganda’s HIV rate is the reported 6%, that’s more than 1.25 million people. It’s much better than the 50-60% of a few years ago but that means many people have died. We don’t know much about TASO except that any town of size has an office and their trucks and Honda dirt bikes cruise the dirt roads. If the Entebbe office is any indication they are very much in demand; the place was packed. On Friday they were distributing food and we saw many boda-bodas with rice or maize bags on the back or tied between the driver’s legs.

Emma, our young Australian friend, doesn’t believe AIDS is as bad of a disease as we make it sound. After all, there are drugs that can keep one alive and they are given out free in Uganda. Yes, my Christian friend, but they are the old medications, not the new cocktails. They must be taken on a regular schedule, not a strong part of African culture and even then they don’t cure HIV/AIDS. Just go look at the people awaiting help at TASO and think of the millions affected, not just those infected, and maybe you will see it from a different perspective.

Bye-Bye Busingiro

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:58:00 GMT

We became a little more adventurous on our final days, exploring the villages and forest edges. It began on Wednesday when I trailed Vincent and his ten U.K. clients on a search for the brown twinspot and the gray-headed olive back, two birds Connie considers common. So later in the day Connie and I went back and all the way to the top of the hill where the cellular tower is. Not much for birds but a great overlook for the forest and several picturesque villages where muzungus are a rarity.

Yesterday we went along the forest edge and followed a trail to the spring that’s the source of our water. There may be a more direct route than ours but even so it was nearly a half mile and the old woman who carries water for us does so several times a week with 45 pounds on her head. And she charges us 250/=, about 14 cents.

Last night the full moon broke through the clouds and we had our first sunny morning in two weeks. We are all packed, everything is inventoried and we are about ready to turn over the keys and retire the colors. Dinner with Richard, Kara, Chris, and Rose, hot showers and the first of many, we hope, nights in a bed with linens.

We moved our gear to the center to make it easier on Richard or Kara and waited around reading and nodding off. We were visited by the blue monkeys, black and white colobus, and the baboons and also heard the chimps for the first time in a month, but the red-tailed monkeys usually so visible didn’t stop by to say good-bye.

Richard arrived about 3:30pm, we loaded up and said our farewells. The staff and even the little guy, Emile, lined up like in one of those movies about British colonials and their servants. BBB and his little buddy shook our hands and we were off. Richard said there were a lot of cane trucks on the road so he took us on the “scenic” route passed Rwempwisi Primary School and into a maze of cane fields. He needed a GPS at first to learn all the turns but did fine today.

Chris and Rose joined us for dinner. Good food, good drink, and good company made our last night here special. We didn’t get to bed until after ten, very late for me. But we got to see a night time cane fire, intentionally set prior to harvest. The flames rise high but move quickly and burn out.

Ants

ugandaretrospective — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:46:00 GMT

Connie noted that we have had rain, sometimes a shower, sometimes a deluge, every day since 28 July. And this isn’t considered the rainy season! Like the rain, birders keep arriving. Yesterday Elias (Far Horizon) and Herbert (Bird Uganda) were both here, Elias with 10 and Herbert with a couple. All were equipped with the latest in spotting scopes, cameras and such. They get excited over birds Connie considers ordinary. Our treasury, (park fees and float) counting both shillings and dollars is over 2,000,000/= so we will bring some back to Entebbe.

Two nights in a row young backpackers arrived after dark on their way to or from Murchison Falls. Some had camping gear while others were hoping for a banda. As adventurous as we are we wouldn’t consider getting dropped of literally in the middle of nowhere after dark. The Lonely Planet guidebook, even the ’06 editions, can’t keep up with changes and are just guides, not holy scripture, although many of us consider it our bible. I let them stay in the center probably a bad precedent but what else could I do? Once this “holiday rush” is over things should quiet down and we will encourage Debby to let the backpackers’ haunts know about the changes both here and at Caniyo Pebidi.

Africa is a place of ants – other insects, of course, but it’s the ants I notice. From nearly microscopic to over an inch long, they comprise a staggering number of species and probably googles of individuals. Anything dead, dying or otherwise edible is covered in minutes and quickly devoured. But it’s the driver ants which I have also called (wrongly?) soldier or army ants that fascinate.

They are often seen crossing the path like a rivulet in inch to a foot in width, packed with ants all hurrying along. As I watched a two-inch wide column, before the outrider’ bites drove me off, I estimated 20 per second streamed by, 1200/minute; 72,000/hour. And this went on for hours. Today the flow is 25 inches wide with some eddies and calm areas around the swifter currents. How many? Where are they going? Why? Woe to the creature that rests in their path. They swarm and bite, injecting a drop of stinging formic acid that feels just as you imagine it would. And they are on the only path to our latrine!

Paradise

ugandaretrospective — Sun, 6 Aug 2006 13:28:00 GMT

Friday night with Vincent off for the week-end, Passy in Masindi and Amnon in his village, Emile, the little guy who acts as caretaker and custodian, spent the night to keep watch. Of course no one told us so I was surprised to see him there in the morning with his homemade bow and three arrows with crude barbed iron tips. But he has a toothache and needs it extracted and, of course, he has no money. I gave him a couple of Tylenol and the 5,000/= he needs for the dentist. Can you imagine the quality of care he will receive for $2.50?

It was a rainy, dismal morning but we got the center swept out, de-webbed, and even mopped the floor for Peter from JGI , a travel agent from Jane’s Peak Society and a potential major donor. I put out all the educational materials preparatory to explaining the program and waited. And waited. They finally arrived at 1:45pm . The group consisted of Sylvie from JGI HQ, Rob also from D.C. Lori and Helen from Jane’s Peak and “EJ” from Tulsa. In his mid-20s he’s much too young to be a major donor. Lori runs the travel stuff for Jane’s Peak. Helen is older and I think does funding. Sylvie, who we e-mailed prior to the trip is a fund raiser. After they scarfed down a quick lunch Amnon and I gave them a run through of the program and he took them on a forest walk. An interesting bunch, they asked the right questions, seemed impressed with what we have done and headed off for SONSO around 4:00pm. The reason they were so late is because it was raining. Wusses!

I am re-reading “Angle of Repose” by Wallace Stenger. The heroine, the story teller’s grandmother, followed her mining engineer husband around the continent in the latter half of the 19^th century. They lived in shacks, shanties and cabins in California, Colorado, and Idaho and about the latter she said, “I would rather be picturesquely uncomfortable than comfortably dull”. That about sums it up. Despite the inconveniences – 50 yards to the toilet, 100 yards to the fridge, carrying 45 pounds of water the same distance, and bucket showers – living here at Busingiro is the most relaxed and naturally enjoyable experience. It is free of human noise, not even airplane sounds. It is cool even at noon and the moonlight tonight shining through the trees is magical. Our neighbors are monkeys, birds and butterflies. The Garden of Eden may be in Uganda.

Visitors and More Visitors

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 4 Aug 2006 12:58:00 GMT

We have had more visitors in the past 3 days than in the past 3 months. The Busingiro area is a major destination for bird watchers from around the world. Monday afternoon a couple from Capetown arrived in their pick-up camper to do some birding. I had an immediate flashback to Rocinante, Steinbeck’s home-on-wheels in “Travels with Charlie”. They have been modifying it for five years though it will never achieve perfection. That’s the way we campers are! They have driven as far north as possible through Zambia and Tanzania and will return through Malawi and Mozambique. It’s quite a trip in the converted Land Rover. But these are not the “real adventurers”.

Along the way, they met a couple from Australia who are traveling on a Harley Davidson. Before they began their trip they registered the engine and chassis serial numbers and have now covered 450,000 kilometers and visited 168 countries on the same Harley. Their goal is all 190-something nations recognized by the United Nations! And we whinge about a rainy ride to Masindi….. check them out through Google: Forwood is the name. Explorer’s Club material I should think.

We checked in with Kara at Kinyara yesterday. She is the only white woman on Kinyara, the others have sought safe haven from the strikers in Kampala. She is staying with Richard who is weak but improving. Jack (GM) McLean has brought in private security police to keep order until thinks are settled but no one is permitted entry just now.

More campers, also from South Africa arrived and took Vincent to the “Royal Mile”. They also live in Capetown and have their three boys in tow. So much for peace and quiet for a while. They didn’t object to the prices nor to the booking surcharge but refused the 1900/= exchange rate opting for 1850/=, a saving of $1.50 – hardly worth arguing over.

At dinner time in rolls a bus with a group of students and their chaperones from the U.K. They got a late start from Masindi where they are building a school nearby and wouldn’t be able to reach Nile Safari Camp before dark – nor could they afford it. Connie called New Court on the off-chance Sally had 13 beds but no luck there. So they are bedded down on the floor in the education center and cooking in the pavilion avoiding the freshly painted floor. I guess Stephanie doesn’t have to know. We’ll chalk it up to good PR and a desire for us muzungu volunteers to stick together. But I suspect it will be an earplug night.

We each had a restless night, no wonder. The baboons barked off and on, probably sensing a leopard on the prowl and it was warm and muggy and perhaps we ate too much pasta. On top of which it was a hectic day, the last class day for this term.

I got up early on Friday to make sure our unexpected company cleared out on time. They invited us to join them at Nile Safari Camp, a nice gesture, but we passed. They did make a 10,000/= donation to A,V, and P which I guess was appreciated, but I heard no “asantes”. Vincent went to “Royal Mile” with an elderly (actually my age) single woman birder. She impressed me, traveling alone from her home in Zurich where she is known as “our crazy aunt”, but says she has gotten used to it.

While Amnon and I taught the morning session the three South African boys audited the class. Rupert, the eldest, reminds me of my nephew Tyler at 13, the same angelic face, but unlike my nephew, he is already a serious birder. Amnon, by the way, taught classification for the first time and added a few very good tricks that we have noted and will incorporate.

Another couple from Switzerland, arrived at lunch time and as the weather was threatening they opted to watch and photograph the afternoon session rather than bird so Vincent got another chance to teach. Vincent and Amnon have turned out to be much better than I expected or even hoped and I wonder if they can pick up from here next term. Next to arrive was a group from Makwere University School of Eco-tourism but their NFA guides handled them. Ronnie from Masindi who is trying to get an Eco-tourism internship came once again. I hope something works out for him. He’s a nice kid and very persistent. Lotsa pasta for supper. The fridge is getting empty and there is lots of room on our shelves so the end must be near.

Neither of us is anxious to do anymore riding so Vincent is doing the school pick-ups and Masindi errands today. He may as well get used to it. After a bath I expected a quiet day while Amnon finished the painting. But our U.K. kids returned for a picnic and a forest walk and Joffa delivered the rest of the furniture. Not unexpected considering Africans’ lack of attention to detail, the glass is covered with varnish, there are obvious flaws in the work and the locks don’t function – not a Norm Abram project for sure. But that’s the last tick on our list assuming Vincent gets the passenger seat on the bike. As the Lone Ranger said. “Well, Tonto, our work here is done. Hi, ho, Silver”

Strike!

ugandaretrospective — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:42:00 GMT

The final count on Saturday was 33 villagers and Amnon expanded upon my rules; respect our privacy and property, no hunting and no cutting of trees. He added cutting of poles, gathering of firewood, shooting baboons, snaring, and other transgressions. I guess it went over OK with only a few areas for compromise. Personally I don’t have a problem with them harvesting downed trees for firewood and I realize they require poles for their bandas. Maybe Vincent, Amnon, Ben and the NFA can sort it out. My big gripe occurs outside the protected preserve where they cut and burn the small connecting strips of forest to clear more fields.

So we went to Kara’s for dinner, showers and a sleep over. It was a nice evening, fish pie and red wine and ice cream, but Richard wasn’t quite himself. By morning he was pretty ill so we scrapped the Rhino Sanctuary outing and Connie and I went into Masindi on our last or at least next-to-last supply run. Now that Vincent is riding, he can take care of official business. We have survived the motorcycle trips so far and have no desire to press our luck. We had lunch at New Court View and talked to some orphanage managers from North Carolina who know about the Welcome Home Orphanage in Jinja, and started home under threatening skies. The inter-rainy season seemed pretty short.

As the skies darkened and the thunder grew nearer we opted for a sheltering stop at Kinyara and rather than bother Richard and Kara we parked at Chris and Roses’ and waited for clearing skies. This turned out to be a good move. The gullies along the road home were rapids, the ruts were filled with running water and the settlement yards were flooded. We stayed dry but were chilled to the bone despite long trousers and our rain gear. The locals in their torn shirts and dresses looked half frozen.

Kara had planned to pick us up this morning to visit a R&S project at Karongo. Mostly they wanted us to take photos so we hoped to use Kara’s digital since both of ours have new rolls and won’t get developed until Zanzibar or Cairo. She called to cancel early today. Richard is no better – an infection, not malaria as we suspected – but that’s not why she can’t come. It seems the Kinyara workers have called a strike and have locked down the compound imprisoning everyone.

Supported by the area tribal king they are protesting the Indian takeover of the Sugar Works. They don’t like Indians generally and fear their wages will be reduced and their pensions and benefits will no longer be guaranteed. True or not this again demonstrates how quickly racism, tribalism, and ignorance can mobilize a people.

Vincent believes that many of the out growers will stop growing cane in protest an may even burn the Kinyara fields. Since nearly half of the cane comes from out growers this will greatly affect the profit picture. Maybe Booker-Tate has another breath or two left and our friends’ jobs may be secure. Or not. Vincent also thinks many of the Uganda managers may refuse to work for the Indians and will take their skills elsewhere. We will have to follow the developments.

Dwayne

ugandaretrospective — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:42:00 GMT

As we were ready to eat Vincent announced he had a birding client for Saturday and could he do that rather than the neighborhood meeting. Chris, his client-to-be, works for the British Society for the Protection of Birds, the U.K. equivalent of the Audubon Society. Certainly it was OK and as a professional (semi-pro?) courtesy I said that if Chris would take care of Vincent there would be no charge – and no record. And by the way, could we join them?

So we left Amnon and Passy to meet with the natives and joined them at the “royal mile”. Chris was interesting and Vincent knows his stuff – Connie added five new birds and we saw several old beauties including the emerald cuckoo and the blue-breasted kingfisher.

Then we met Dwayne (or Duane). He seems unconcerned with the spelling. Chimpanzees are like that, you know. Dwayne is about 40 and has enough gray on his back to prove it. He is the alpha male of the SONSO group and was knuckling his way along side the road checking the status of the fruit crop so he could report back to the troop. He was closely trailed by his human shadows, SONSO staff with a hand-held computer to monitor his activities. We wondered how Vernon Reynolds collected all his grooming and copulation numbers. Dwayne isn’t tame but he is so comfortable with humans that I can’t consider him “wild” in the sense of the other chimps we have seen.

We arrived back home around noon and I asked Amnon how the meeting with the locals went. We wanted to show them what we were doing and explain the rules about hunting and wood-cutting and generally be good neighbors. Vincent had scheduled it for 9:00am but no one had come by noon. Amnon was optimistic that they would come by 2:00pm or so. Talked about dashed hopes (mashed dopes?) or making an impact. Impossible when ‘yes’ means ‘no’, ‘now-now’ becomes ‘later’ and ‘soon’ is ‘never’. We must accept low standards that we seldom achieve. Even BBB who smiled like the Cheshire cat and shook my hand when I gave him a t-shirt and shorts (a little paint splattered and too large, but clean!) appeared today shirtless in his tattered shorts. As C. Brown would say, “good grief”.

P.S. It’s 2:00pm. BBB is wearing my t-shirt and there are 21 villagers in the center. Patience, my son, have patience.

School Daze II

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 12:31:00 GMT

We received a call late (for us!) last night from the matatu owner confirming today’s pick up with a little Ugandan entrepreneur-ism thrown in. We would call it extortion. He wanted some more money thrown it on top of the 120,000/= per day we agreed on – a little something for him. Uh, like sorry, dude!

This followed a visit from Elias, Far Horizon’s tour operator who had ten Japanese birders for a half-day today and a couple of hours on Monday. He was negotiating for Vincent’s services on Tuesday morning despite the fact that Vincent explained he must teach. We came to a compromise that Vincent could guide if he were delivered back here in time for the afternoon session and that it would not happen again. I also encouraged him to work through “Let’s Go Travel” who should be aware of scheduling issues.

I mention this because the class would now be taught by Sparky a.k.a. the grinning idiot and me, the muzunzu who can not speak English. Some dynamic duo! And Kara would be visiting to document all for posterity. I handled the pre-assignment and classification and Amnon did “How Big is Africa” and “Threats to Wildlife”. Not to brag but I did an outstanding job, language barrier and all. And Amnon was nothing less than fantastic. He took to heart the script I prepared, kept to the key message and dripped with personality.

So now I worried about the afternoon group – how well would Vincent perform? Somewhere along the ‘royal mile’ with the Japanese he must have stumbled upon a cache of personality. There were a few areas that need some smoothing out but otherwise they were BRILLIANT! Amnon (go figure!) hit a home run when he told the kids during “actions you can take to protect wildlife that they can’t rely on rely on foreigners to do it for them; they must save the environment themselves. Bravo! If they can keep up the enthusiasm and sincerity the program, despite Stephanie’s disengagement, will be a success. Robert and Lawrence could learn something from them.

Wednesday was quiet; a riding lesson for Vincent who once had a motorcycle permit, and Amnon who may never get one. Vincent needed only to get used to the machine but Amnon has no experience and Vincent can teach him once we are gone. Rain most of the afternoon put an early stop to the lessons.

Thursday morning’s class, Kalengeija P.S., was a disaster. Vincent went along with Kato, our driver, to show him the way, which turned out to be blocked by a fallen tree. Vincent knew an alternate route so the kids arrived at 9:15am – no big deal. Somewhere along the way, however, Vincent forgot how the program goes. Perhaps the rain short-circuited a memory bank or maybe it was just the African syndrome we have heard so much about. Someone will, for instance, set a table with the fork on the right, despite constant reminders that it belongs on the left. Finally, under threat of dismissal and dismemberment, he begins to get it right and continues to do so for several years. The one day, for no reason, he goes back to the old way.

Whatever! Amnon did very well, but Vincent’s “classification” was worse than awful. Granted, it’s the most difficult lesson and even Tammy couldn’t get it to flow smoothly. Amnon hasn’t even attempted it. But Vincent did well Tuesday afternoon and totally butchered it Thursday morning.

Once the kids left I taught it again to them. We tightened it up and clarified some of the fuzzy areas and to his credit Vincent carried it off well for the afternoon group with just a couple of coaching from the wings.

Joffa and Peter delivered the cabinet bases so now we have some handy, lockable storage and they look good. The tops await the glass and the table and bench (which I had hoped to cancel) will arrive next week. With the tapestries on the ceiling, the posters hung and the cabinets the center is looking pretty spiffy.

Habituation

ugandaretrospective — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 12:22:00 GMT

Around these parts you hear a lot about it. Wild animals are naturally wary of humans and rightly so. Those that haven’t developed that sense are called dinner. The average Ugandan when asked what do you do when you see a chimp, monkey, baboon (select all that apply) says “kill it!” But animals that avoid potentially dangerous humans don’t distinguish between hunters and researchers making life difficult for the latter. Tourists who pay hundreds to see gorillas or chimpanzees feel they should have a fair chance of seeing same, so certain select groups of animals have been targeted for habituation which consists of following them around until the animals throw their hands up in despair and say “what the heck”.

The chimpanzees at Caniyo Pebidi are being habituated for eco-tourism as are all the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda. The researchers at SONSO have habituated their chimps as have the Japanese at Kalinzu and now SONSO researchers are habituation blue monkeys too. This doesn’t appear too difficult as our blue monkeys and red-tails too, have accepted us without any effort on our part. They regularly feed in the trees above us alternating between curiously staring at us and totally ignoring us. Baboons need no habituation; they will move in a take over the neighborhood.

One of the women researchers at SONSO is studying the effects of stress on the chimpanzees. While habitat encroachment and hunting are major contributors to stress, she fears that one of the greatest stressors may be the researchers themselves. Probably true if the study topics in Vernon Reynolds’s book “Chimpanzees of Budongo Forest” is the standard. They study everything from grooming techniques and bowel movements to frequency and duration of copulations!

We have our own habituation program going on with the local kids. At first they would run whenever they saw us, then come back and smile. Now they watch us work from a close, but safe, distance and their bravest member actually touched my hand. We call him, “belly button boy” or “triple b” because of his distended belly has the ugliest, biggest, umbilical scar imaginable. I recently learned that he is called “Opeeno” by his village, which in the local language means – you guessed it – belly button. He has no shirt to hide it and his shorts are tatters so when I retire my splattered but serviceable painting clothes, I will give them to him.

Passy’s boyfriend, James, told me stories about some of the schools in the new Bulisa district, specifically Butiyaba on Lake Albert. The people still believe in witchcraft and have actually tortured the teachers because they are from the wrong tribe, so James has been forced to close the school, not phasing the parents one bit. We are trying to bring the people into the 21^st century and they cling to the 15^th.

We met Richard and Kara at Kinyara and rode with them to Karajubu P.S. for the music festival. The kids were great all singing something about an owl and a pussycat but the teachers and (dis)organizers were able to mess things up and in the confusion we escaped to Masindi for lunch and our final visit to the paint store. We ate at the Masindi Hotel, a bit of elegance in old Masindi town. It’s the former (1923) Uganda Railway Hotel and R&K’s favorite spot for a curry fix. A nice treat and quite tasty. A quick check of the internet at their place and we rode home avoiding the rain clouds and cheating death once more.

A note about Kinyara: The management company Richard and Chris work for lost their bid to buy the Sugar Works and it appears their jobs will go away in about 90 days. So they are all scrambling – well not Chris who is on holiday and hasn’t heard the news.

School Daze

ugandaretrospective — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 12:18:00 GMT

This entry is being made on the off chance that someday I might want to recall the first day of the Busingiro Environmental Education Program – but at present it seems pretty remote.

The practice run was scheduled for yesterday with parents of P-6 students from St Joseph’s Busingiro but on Saturday it was announced that there would be special elections on Tuesday so the parents would come on Wednesday and the kids on Tuesday. Then the elections were postponed – this is Africa, remember – so the parents, a.k.a. guinea pigs, came Tuesday and their kids came today.

Amnon, the grinning idiot of a teacher, didn’t show up until after 9:00am. Seems Sparky (my other name for him) got a late start to Masindi on Monday and ended up spending the night. So Vincent and I got things ready and when Sparky showed up I had a near terminal case of the red ass. They hadn’t seen me angry and I doubt they want to see it again.

We have had all the materials for the program for a month now and I have only gone through it once with them. That’s all they thought they would need! And there was no additional individual practice either! The guys said it would be easy. They were wrong. It was a disaster.

We did a de-brief and some instruction yesterday afternoon and this morning went a lot better but it still needs work. The SONSO girls, Anna, Sarah, and Zarin came by to watch and I missed some of the lessons while escorting them around. After the kids left I took the guys through several lessons and expected they would practice this afternoon while I went to Masindi for propane but they sat around waiting for some birders who never showed. They are not doing well with the transition from NFA guides to JGI teachers. We will see how much initiative they show tomorrow.

Murchinson Falls

ugandaretrospective — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:08:00 GMT

After ten weeks in Busingiro we took our first road trip. Like many places named by their British “discoverers,” Lakes Victoria, Albert and George, Mr. Murchison never laid eyes on his namesake falls. Baker (or Speke) honored Murchison who was the director of the Royal Geographic Society. The falls aren’t impressive because of their size or their height but are famous because the mighty Nile is channeled into a gorge only 6 meters wide. It’s quite interesting, even from a distance.

The holiday began on Friday when we were invited to spend the night with Richard and Kara, although they would not be there but at a gathering at Nyabyeya Forestry College. We arrived as Kara and her friends were playing Mah Jong. Fatima is from Ethiopia, very exotic looking and married to a Brit and Pat is from Kenya via Seychelles.

When Richard and Kara left we walked to the club for hotdogs, deciding not to stick around until 9:00 for steak. Stuart and Luke were there celebrating the birthdays of some of the Sonso girls, all in their 20s and from Canada, UK, and Holland. They all looked like they would be more at home at the Tri-Delt sorority house than in Budongo Forest, but they are all involved in research.

Back at Kara’s, showered and caught up on emails, we relaxed and waited for R&K and discussed the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, two future stops on our trip. I guess we can devise an alternate plan. Breakfast was another treat with Kara’s homemade bread and freshly brewed coffee. Then it was 100 Km by motorbike to MFNP.

Cassim met us at the gate and let us in for free, saving us $60 in park fees. He knew we were going to Parra, not Pebidi, and we will have to get him some money without getting him in trouble. The ride went without mishap until Connie got caught in some ruts and dropped her bike. It was a real scare for both of us but aside from some bruises (topical and ego) and road rash and a bent bit or two, no major harm was done. The unplanned stop introduced us to some Murchison wildlife no one had told us about, tsetse flies, zillions of the evil things. It’s not like they sense your presence and gather, they are there waiting. And they attack like sharks. Surely someone could have warned us, “Oh, and mind the tsetse flies!” And one needn’t stop, merely slowing below 25 kph is enough for them to attach. At higher speeds they rush towards your face shield like black snowflakes.

We arrived at Red Chile dirty, bruised and bitten in time for lunch and in need of adult beverages. Red Chile is on the south side of the Nile at the Parra ferry crossing. Most of the game is on the north side but to view it you need a guide ($30) and a vehicle, not a bike, so we birded on our side and arranged for a Sunday morning boat trip to the falls. Dinner was cheap – beef curry for me and fish for Connie – followed y showers and sleep.

We joined a large group of forestry/conservation students from Makwere College and set off on a rainy Mile morning. We saw lots of birds, hundreds of hippos (there are about 2000 in all), buffalo, antelope, warthogs, elephants and countless crocodiles before we reached our destination about 500 meters from the base of the falls. You could hop off there and hike to the top, catching the 2 PM boat back and arriving at 5:00, but we didn’t bring lunch and weren’t too keen on battling gee f *@%-ing tsetse flies.

We augmented our fruit with Red Chile’s anemic sandwiches and Nile Special lager and birded along the river for a while. A group of ten elephants including four young’uns splashed across the river from us among the hippos and warthogs. Then it was time to catch the four o’clock ferry across to Parra where we could tank up the bikes. It’s 100+ kilometers from Masindi and our bikes can go 200 kilometers on a tank – max, so we were worried to hear there was no power but were saved when the guy arrived with the hand crank. There was no return ferry until 6:00pm so we had a couple of burgers at the oh-so-very-posh Parra Lodge. We even checked out one of the rooms suitable for Hemingway but at nearly $200 a bit much for us.

The Red Chili camp area was packed as we settled in our non-ensuite room, neatly encircled by canvas safari tents and the inevitable noises. An unexpected thunderstorm drowned out the noise but didn’t do much to cool things down. We are so fortunate here in Busingiro – quiet and cool and no tsetse flies! A little birding this morning and we head home.

Sally has returned from the UK and we talked with her while we ate our toasted cheese sandwiches. The ride back was dusty but once home I bathed and checked things out. All is in readiness for tomorrow’s first students except due to a just-announced election it will be kids and the adults will follow Wednesday.

Mind Photos

ugandaretrospective — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:04:00 GMT

Unlike the National Geographic ratio of 1,000 photographs taken for each one printed, my “mind photos” are all perfectly framed and exposed and the subjects are brilliant. The only thing lacking is an actual camera.

Today we went into Masindi (more paint, don’t cha know?) by way of Nyabyeya and Ashaba Primary School. The youngest kids, 4 years old, were fascinated and fascinating. They looked like clones and ewre as cute as kittens. CLICK!

On the way back there is a section where the road dips below the level of the can fields so you are looking up at the workers swinging their hoes in the dark soil. It could have been a scene from North Carolina or Mississippi two hundred years ago. CLICK!

A little farther along fifty or so cane cutters straggled along the road heading from lunch. Their dark skins were blackened even more from the soot left when the fields were fired prior to harvesting and their cover-alls were filthy and tattered. Change the background and replace the cane knives with picks and shovels and they could have been miners in West Virginia or Wales. CLICK!

When we returned home we noticed that my license plate has gone missing. Fallen off or, more likely, nicked. UDA386F, where are you?