Why orphanage tours are wrong
Children aren’t tourist attractions. Why orphanage tours are wrong
The good the bad and the ugly of volunteer travel. Photo Gates Foundation
Welcome to Diary of a Muzungu! This week’s guest post is by Mark Riley, Co-Founder of Alternative Care Initiatives, an organisation working with the Ugandan government and others on child welfare reforms in Uganda and East Africa. In this article, Mark argues that there are many ways we can help vulnerable children but orphanage tours are not one of them. He asks that we all carefully consider whether a day tour to an orphanage or volunteering with orphans is really the best way to support these children.
Why orphanage tours should not be on a tourist itinerary
On the face of it, you would think that volunteering in an orphanage is a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone involved. On one hand, volunteers can do something they feel is making a positive impact and experience something completely different to their own world, while the children are nursed, cuddled and cared for by a volunteer. The tour operator, by linking the two together, delivers a package that everyone is happy with. So, what could be wrong with that?
Think before you visit or volunteer at an orphanage… is there a better way you can support these children?
It does not take much research to understand the way in which volunteering in orphanages can often have devastating and long-term effects on the children.
Research on the subject is overwhelming and various studies support this conclusion. A report by Better Care Network demonstrates that children living in institutions do not always receive high quality interaction when they most need it and, as a result, are at much higher risk of long-term developmental vulnerabilities. Also, there is evidence that children growing up in institutions do not manifest these development handicaps until adulthood when they try to integrate within society. As these children pass into adulthood and become independent (often with difficulty) they look at their peers who have been brought up in communities and realise their sense of loss and disconnection.
Orphanages, orphanage tourism and volunteering: the case of East Africa
In East Africa, there are situations where orphanages exist solely to provide a volunteering and mission experience. Additionally, although reunification, foster care and domestic adoption are on the rise across East Africa, orphanages that offer voluntourism packages have little or no incentive to reunify children under their care with their families or find family-based alternatives while volunteering and mission trips exist, since volunteers and mission trips would be redundant if the orphanages were empty!
“… Not only does [volunteering] encourage the expansion of residential care centres, but it also makes children [more] vulnerable to abuse.”
Where are the children’s voices?
Often the voices that are unheard in this debate are of the children who experience volunteers and mission trips while they are in orphanages. In comparison to the reportage or blogs of volunteers, there is minimal record of the experience of the children they visit.
In 2016, Stephen Ucembe, founder of Kenyan Care Leavers, wrote very eloquently about growing up in a Kenyan orphanage and the negative impact that volunteers and mission trips had on his childhood.
“Dressed in a uniform of blue shorts and yellow and blue t-shirts branded with the name of the orphanage, we were gathered under a tree for shade, standing at the centre of the institution to wait for the visitors. We never called them volunteers then, but visitors..[…]
The institution staff had taught us a routine. They paraded us, and as soon as the visitors arrived in tour vans we had to exude joy. Indeed, we jumped up and down, and raptured in unison with song and dance that welcomed them.
We knew that the only way to ensure they came back again to help the institution was by how much they smiled at our entertainment, and by the tears, sadness or sympathy that came when they were told that we were “orphans”. I remember the senior staff on duty standing at the centre of a circle of volunteers pronouncing how some of us had been abandoned by their parents, how others had been picked from the streets and others rejected by families.
Silently I felt sad and miserable to have people gawk at me and have cameras flashing at our faces. Most of the volunteers were taken round the institution to see where we slept, where our food was cooked, and told of upcoming projects. Some committed to help, and others gave a one off donation. Some of these encounters were brief, they pulled down their sunglasses, walked back to the vans and from the vehicles they waved us goodbye. At this point some of us had gotten used to their coming and going, but others not – especially the younger ones: tears knocked at their eyelids. They tried not to cry in an environment where crying was almost taboo. This practice with visitors had become a routine that made many of us feel even more alienated, isolated, stigmatized, helpless, hopeless, and weak.”
Although Stephen’s account should have been a wake-up call for the tourism industry, this was not so. In fact, one global tour operator that offers ‘orphanage volunteering’ asked for Stephen’s personal testimony to be removed from the website. This demonstrates that some orphanages, especially those that offer voluntourism, are money-making ventures with the tourists deemed more important than the voice of individuals like Stephen and those he speaks for.
Alternative Care Initiatives, a Ugandan NGO, has a Care Leavers programme, which has engaged with over 100 young people who have lived in various care facilities in Uganda. They have made some startling findings with regards to volunteering and mission trips. Morris, a member of the Care Leavers’ team, grew up in what many consider a ‘good’ orphanage in Jinja. Although the orphanage was well funded and Morris was well fed, attended a good school and did not personally experience the levels of abuse and neglect that many others report, Morris still believes that not enough was done to support him and his siblings to remain in their community. This lack of support, Morris believes, contributed to the fractured relationship he has with members of his extended family. In retrospect, he feels that the constant flow of Western mission trips and volunteers, while exciting at first, distorted his view of foreigners and of the world. The constant thread of the experiences of children who grew up in the orphanage is that the foreigners came with gifts and kindness, and then left as quickly as they came, which left then bereft and with a twisted view of the world.
Children in Ongako sub-county, Gulu, Uganda. PHOTO Jan Sharp
Morris avers that some of the people he knew in care, especially those growing up in children’s villages, were neither Ugandans nor Westerners and therefore always felt like ‘hybrids’. They witnessed and experienced much of Western culture but cannot attain or reach it. Likewise, they don’t really feel Ugandan. The idea of going to the village and helping communities ‘dig’, which is what most Ugandans from rural communities do, is appalling to them. It’s just not what they signed up for. Thus the orphanage system is creating long-term problems and disenfranchising people from their communities and roots.
These anecdotes demonstrate how volunteers and mission trips can have devastating and long-term impact on children and require a change of mind-set as well as the rigorous enforcement of child protection policies. The UN Guidelines on Alternative Care prioritise family strengthening and family-based care over institutional care, and are now widely accepted and incorporated into national policies and frameworks. Visiting orphanages is not only negative for the children but also against global, regional and country-specific polices and laws. It is encouraging that Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, are fully embracing family-based care and recognising that orphanages are not a part of the long-term, child protection system. However, authorities in all the countries need to do more.
Anna McKeon:”I volunteered at an orphanage and now I campaign against it.” Click here to read the personal account of an inexperienced international volunteer in orphanages in Thailand and Kenya. She shares the top five lessons she learned about volunteering and why it is harmful to volunteer in childcare institutions #StopOrphanTrips
Although this sort of volunteering in orphanages is declining globally, voluntourism and mission trips still play a central role in sustaining orphanages in East Africa and this will continue to negatively affect the wider child protection system. Consequently, there is need for tourism stakeholders to promote alternative voluntourism packages. Government agencies should enforce child protection policies and ensure orphanages adhere to national laws as well as global best practices, which will minimise the exposure of children, especially vulnerable ones, to social, cognitive, physical and psychological harm.
How can the tourism industry help?
East Africa has some of the world’s most amazing people, wildlife and landscapes and a visitor to this region never leaves disappointed. However, children should not be offered as a part of the tour itinerary. There is an abundance of satisfying activities which do not include visiting and sustaining orphanages and the damage that comes with such visits. Interested visitors who want an authentic holiday experience can take advantage of homestays or consider skills-based voluntourism in various sectors. This is not to suggest that tourists and other initiatives should not help children and the community – rather help in the right way.
DON’T
- – Even if an orphanage says it is government-approved, don’t visit.
- – Don’t put orphanage tours on your itineraries.
- – Do not attend orphan dance shows. They do not give vulnerable children the care they need.
- – Volunteers should not work directly with children.
Volunteering with children may feel good but could be harmful. There are some better ways to help them.
A group of curious Ugandan children peer in the classroom of a village school
DO
- – If tourists want to meet local children and young people, this should be arranged through schools, churches and communities.
- – Visitors can ask how they can share their professional skills with the local staff who care for these children.
- – The placement of volunteer (professionally qualified) medical or childcare experts in orphanages may be acceptable with a medium or long-term commitment.
- – Tourism industry professionals and tourists who are interested in supporting children may wish to donate to support the work of the organisations listed below.
- – Please share and discuss the messages discussed in this article.
References and further reading
Mark Riley, Alternative Care Initiatives “Volunteers are fuelling the growth of orphanages in Uganda. They need to stop.”
Better Care Network. (2014). Better volunteering, better care
Fox, N., Almas, A., Degnan, K., Nelson, C., & Zeanah, C. (2011). The effects of severe psychosocial deprivation and foster care intervention on cognitive development at 8 years of age: findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry: 52(9), 919928.
United Nations. (2010). Resolution 64/ 142: Guidelines for the alternative care of children. UN: New York.
You can follow #StopOrphanTrips to read more research, advice and personal testimonies.
To contact Mark Riley directly tel +256 (0) 7842 50921 or email mark.riley@alternative-care-initiatives.org
This is a summary of an article that was first published in the East Africa Sustainable Tourism Report Issue 6, 2017. Sustainable Travel & Tourism Agenda – STTA
The Muzungu: thanks Mark for sharing your insights. I remember watching an orphan dance once and wondering why the kids looked so uninterested in us. I thought they would be happy to see us. Now I understand how many times visitors have come and gone in their young lives, and how that must affect them.
If the issue of orphans and young children interests you, read a related guest post Ugandans Adopt – “Why I do what I do.”
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Please read my Guests Posts page for guidelines on the kinds of stories I feature on Diary of a Muzungu.
More ‘lunatic’ than ‘express’ – a train ride through history
Have you travelled on the Lunatic Express?
This is the muzungu’s personal account of the ‘Lunatic Express’ train journey from Nairobi to Mombasa, Kenya, an epic adventure bar none! Read all about East Africa’s railway history, Tsavo’s man-eating lions and the muzungu’s train survival tips.
- – No. of KM journey: 530
- – No. of Kenyan shillings for 2nd class ticket: 3,385 (USD 33)
- – No. of hours delay leaving Nairobi Railway Station: 10
- – No. of hours on train journey (forecast): 13
- – No. of hours on train journey (actual): 23
- – No. of degrees Celsius on the train: 40+
- – No. of beers consumed: not enough
- – No. of National Parks traversed for free: 2
- – No. of elephants seen on Tsavo safari: 3
The name should have been warning enough… yet, behind every travel nightmare is the makings of a good travel blog. (Oh, the situations the muzungu gets herself into in the search for a good story!)
We travelled in the light of the Full Moon or should I say: we travelled under the effects of the full moon. Lunacy indeed!
What made the Muzungu want to embark on this notorious train journey?
My ride on Kampala’s passenger train service made me want to discover more of East Africa’s rail network, and its history.
Daydreaming about my next train adventure gave me a reason to plan a trip to Kenya’s coast: the first leg from Kampala to Nairobi was by bus (although once upon a time, you could do the whole trip by train). I knew that one day passengers would again be able to cross East Africa by train but before that happened, I wanted to experience the original Lunatic Express train – so I could compare it with the new one. Of romance and railways is my follow-up story, written 2018, and compares the Lunatic Express, the bus and the Standard Gauge Railway! But first…
What is the Lunatic* Express?
Although the entire 660 mile (just over 1000 km) length of the Uganda Railway actually runs through Kenya – from Mombasa to Kisumu on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria – the railway derives its name from its final destination: Uganda. Sources states that the purpose of the railway was “to protect British colonial interests from the Germans.” The fact that the Uganda Railway opened up trade across Uganda and Kenya was simply a ‘by the way.’
Charles Miller came up with the term ‘Lunatic Express’ in his 1971 book The Lunatic Express: An Entertainment in Imperialism to describe the challenges – and calamities – of the Uganda Railway’s construction, notably:
- – 2,500 (of 32,000 workmen) died during construction, mostly from disease
- – 28 Indian “coolies” (‘workers’ to you and me) were killed by the man-eating lions of Tsavo
- – 135 African laborers were also killed by said Tsavo man-eaters. It’s interesting that 28 is generally the number of people recorded as killed by lions. However, according to Ugandans at Heart / ‘EKB’ Ekitibwa Kya Buganda “the Africans were considered not important enough for an accurate count or record to be kept.” The actual toll of all men killed by lions must therefore be 163+ /- [scroll down for more about those pesky pussy cats…]
- Very demanding terrain
- Lack of water / drought
- “Hostile natives” (hardly bloody surprising)
- Derailments and collisions
*A lunatic endeavour is something considered to be extremely foolish or eccentric. The word lunatic is derived from the Latin word luna, meaning moon. The Latin word lunaticus means “moon-struck” and a lunatic someone who is “affected with periodic insanity, dependent on the changes of the moon.”
How to book your tickets for the Lunatic Express
The start was very promising. The call to the booking office at Nairobi Railway Station confirmed that it would be cheaper for us to purchase tickets in Nairobi than to buy them in advance online. So far, so good …
Upon arrival at Nairobi Railway Station, the humourless security woman insisted I delete my photos of the front of the station. (Lord knows there must already be enough photos in circulation, what difference would mine make?)
The interior of Nairobi Railway Station is an exact replica of Kampala Railway Station, with all its original features in place. In Nairobi however, someone has tried to give the place a modern facelift, circling the century-old fittings with bright gaudy paint. Not a good look.
Generally, Nairobi Railway Station is in a shocking state of repair. (By contrast, the interiors and platforms of Kampala Railway Station remain in near perfect condition, having been closed to the public for 30 years).
We purchased our Lunatic Express tickets from the wonderfully helpful Evelyn and Elias. My friends opted for a two bunk first class compartment while I opted for second class. Our tickets cost 4,405 KES (approx 43 USD) first class and 3,385 KES (approx 33 USD) second class and included breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The train passes through 530 km (300 miles) of East Africa, from Kenya’s capital Nairobi to the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. I was most looking forward to traversing Tsavo National Park (now split into East Tsavo and West Tsavo), most famous for the man-eating lions, as many unfortunates were to discover to their peril back in 1898.
The train was forecast to leave at 7 PM on Good Friday. As Evelyn took our booking, she asked for our phone numbers “for when (not if) there is a delay.” I didn’t think much about that; we just booked our tickets and went on our way.
The Lunatic Express: day of our departure
Keen to embark on my first train Safari, I decided to get to the railway station early – unusually for me: several hours early.
In the meantime, Evelyn called my friend Julia to advise of a delay. The train would not depart until 10 PM so we headed into town to kill time in a bar. Generous helpings of goat and ugali later, another phone call advised us: the Lunatic Express departure time was likely to be 11.30 pm or midnight. Needless to say, when we arrived at the station, there was no sign of the train. It had not arrived from Mombasa. A number of very annoyed bazungu tourists requested refunds.
Children were curled up asleep with their parents on hard wooden benches. In the sofa area – in total darkness, thanks to a power cut – a man at a tiny bar served people while holding a small torch. Inside the station was a retro lounge bar of a bygone era.
We were invited to board the train at 3 am. At 5 o’clock in the morning – 10 hours later than the advertised departure time – our train rumbled out of Nairobi Railway Station. The muzungu was curled up asleep in the top bunk of compartment B in coach 2326 by then.
I woke up on a moving train, crossing the savannah.
I had only slept four hours in two days but I was too excited to go back to sleep. What’s more, the compartment was quickly heating up (the weather in Nairobi had been roasting hot). I tried to pull down the window, but it refused to open more than a few inches.
A member of staff walked along the corridor outside my compartment and announced “breakfast will be ready soon.”
“Soon” turned out to be an hour or more later!
Our journey from Nairobi pushed us into a coastal heatwave. Rather than travel in the relative cool of the night, our late departure meant we traversed the 483 km in the heat of the day, our train absorbing every ray of the hot sun.
Kampala and Nairobi had been hotter than normal and I had been dreading the predicted heatwave at the Kenyan coast. However, after 23 hours in our mobile sauna, I felt thoroughly acclimatised!
“There really should be a swimming pool on the roof of the train,” Julia said.
“Don’t you think they should first switch on the ceiling fans, fix the air conditioning and make it possible for us to open the windows?!” I suggested.
Much like Nairobi Railway Station, the Lunatic Express train is in a state of total neglect. There were few locks on the toilet doors, none on compartments (except when inside) and just two power sockets per carriage.
Yet there were glimpses of the train’s former splendour. Although from the outside, the Lunatic Express is a non-descript modern train, the interior features wooden benches, some 1930s-style fittings, cup holders and other metal fittings engraved with Rft Valley Railway, faded old posters and the occasional piece of original silver tableware.
My favourite piece of tableware was the metal butter dish. I loved its air of faded opulence. Julia removed the lid to reveal a messy dollop of cheap Blue Band margarine. Humph!
Travel on the Lunatic Express is not a gourmet experience
These days, everything about the Lunatic Express is cheap (including the train tickets, if I’m honest). But like they say: “you get what you pay for” and our three meals were basic and not particularly appetising. Dinner was simply a second serving of lunch.
Cooked breakfast (eggs, sausages and baked beans) included cheap sliced white sugary bread (toasted one side only! To save time? To save money?) The weak-tasting coffee was of the instant variety (in Kenya? In one of the world’s major coffee producing countries?) But ignore that: I loved the way the waiters expertly poured our hot beverages from beautiful old tea and coffeepots, while the train rumbled along.
From the train windows, we watched the landscape change as we passed through open countryside, mile after mile, kilometre after kilometre.
We saw the occasional human: a young girl collecting firewood, a man tending a flock of goats and cows.
As we rattled through one of the numerous derelict railway stations and outposts, I observed a woman and baby watching us. People approached our slowly-moving train. A handful of children shouted at us for money.
A safari through Tsavo – and no park fees to pay!
A real draw for me was the chance to experience a train safari – and I was not disappointed.
Tsavo is Kenya’s largest national park and covers nearly 22,000 sq km. It is one of the world’s largest. The construction of the railway split the park into two: Tsavo East National Park and Tsavo West National Park.
Crossing Tsavo, beyond a new viaduct, everyone moved to one side of the train carriage to watch elephants. I also spotted baboons and Thomson’s Gazelles.
We moved too quickly to identify many birds but I couldn’t miss a vibrant Lilac-breasted Roller, and larger bird species like Marabou Storks, and a Chanting Grey Goshawk perched on the roof of a derelict railway building next to the track.
Two children shouted that they had “seen a lion lying in the grass.” Their mother and I exchanged looks of doubt and held back our sniggers.
The story of Tsavo’s man-eating lions is gripping! Keep reading…
How apt. By the light of the Full Moon, the Lunatic Express arrived in Mombasa.
As we sensed our journey coming to an end, Julia and I got a new lease of life. (Or was that the half bottle of vodka in my bag?) We bounced along the train corridor, to and from the buffet car, gently thrown left and right; it was like being on a ship.
I had lost my concept of time… one staff member said we were an hour from Mombasa; another estimated two and a half hours. Everyone – staff included – moped around listlessly in the heat. Few people had phone battery left (for much of the journey there was no phone network anyway).
The shadows of palm tress silhouetted against the moonlit sky waved us “karibu” – WELCOME into the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.
The marathon endurance trip was finally behind us.
Several very sweaty hours and a few cold beers later, the Lunatic Express arrived at the coast. The advertised 13 hour journey was actually a 43 hour adventure from start to finish.
How to ride a tuk tuk
Thanks to the brilliant Jane Spilsbury at the Watamu Marine Association, we had a booking at Regency Park Hotel. We had a rough idea of how much to pay for a taxi from Mombasa station, thanks to RVR train staff member George, who organized our taxi. We’d bonded with our Norwegian train companions by this stage and shared the phone number of our hotel.
“Do you want to share a taxi with us?” I suggested.
“I’m not sure there will be enough room, will there?” One asked. We were five people with five sets of luggage.
“Let’s see,” I said, “we can try.”
Our lumbering great taxi driver was there on the platform to meet us. We walked towards his taxi … a tuk tuk!
We all laughed out loud. “I think we need another vehicle!” Someone said.
The giant taxi driver proceeded to pack all our bags and all five of us into his miniscule motor. How would our tall friend fit in? He shared the driver’s seat with him – one bum cheek each!
There may have been no red carpet at Mombasa, no fanfare of trumpets, yet we arrived at our hotel in style.
Parting thoughts
No-one can board the Lunatic Express train without seeing its potential and bemoaning the very poor facilities. Back in the day, this would have been a state-of-the-art train experience. All the facilities are there, including air conditioning and announcement system. There are also locks on toilet doors. (Sadly few of these work anymore). Few of the train windows open, even if the muzungu asks a strong man to assist her, and many of the window mosquito nets are torn.
Beyond that, we found the train to be clean enough (even if the bedding was patched in places). The staff were helpful, although there were no explanations for the train’s late arrival in Nairobi, late departure and even later arrival in Mombasa! At certain points our train was stuck moving behind a slow goods train. On other occasions, our train had to pull into sidings to let a goods train pass on the single track.
This train journey really could be a spectacular experience. Let’s hope it will be again when the new Standard Gauge Railway is complete and the rolling stock is upgraded.
For much of the length of the trip, we rolled parallel to the new railway line. Many sections appear to be complete; in other areas, it’s still a construction site.
At the time of writing (2016), the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network was set to expand to Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda. In Uganda, it will comprise of three major routes with a total route length of 1,614km. The SGR will stretch to the DRC border.
End of the line for ‘Lunatic Express?’ Kenya begins multi-billion dollar railway.
How to survive the Lunatic Express! An essential packing list
- – A flexible itinerary
- – African concept of time!
- – GSOH good sense of humour 🙂
- – Toilet paper
- – Soap
- – Hand gel / wipes
- – Mosquito repellent
- – Earplugs
- – Playing cards or other non-electronic amusements – power sockets are hard to find
- – Rechargers / Smartphone power packs
- – A map of East Africa so you can trace your route
- – Snacks
- – Cold beers, sodas and water are available and not expensive.
- – An ice box
- – Strong liquor!
- – Cigarettes? Smokers opened a side door and sat on the steps as we moved slowly along
- – A fan
- – Kichoi (or sarong), flip-flops / sandals, shorts and T-shirts / vests.
- – A mirror! I did not see / use / even thinking of using a mirror on the train (as the photos probably tell!)
- – Contacts for a hotel in Mombasa “for when there is a delay.”
More survival tips for travelling the Lunatic Express
- – The Glory Hotel in Mombasa was recommended to us, but full, so we stayed at Regency Park Hotel. The staff were helpful and the breakfast was generous. Choose from rooms with fans or air conditioning). Pay 300 – 500 KES for a cab/tuk tuk from Mombasa Railway Station.
- – You may think you’re going to save one day by travelling overnight but if the train delays, you are likely to miss that important meeting, flight or even wedding! And if you don’t sleep very well, you will lose a day catching up on sleep as well. I’d say: only take the Lunatic Express train from Nairobi to Mombasa when you have two or three days to spare.
- – Although second class accommodation means four people share a compartment, it is bigger than the first class two-person compartment – and thus allows more air to circulate. Incredibly important if you’re travelling during a heatwave!
- – I later realized only a few passengers got off the train at Mombasa. They must have decided to sleep there until they were chucked off the train (and save renting a hotel room like we did).
- – Shower in the sink – cos there ain’t nothing else!
- – Get to know your travel companions right away. You will surely end up interacting at some point on the journey, so leave behind your sensibilities and connect with them early on. Remember: what happens on the train stays on the train! 😉
Despite the lack of communication, zero explanation and no apology for the delays, we thoroughly enjoyed our adventure on the Lunatic Express train to Mombasa. We maintained our sense of humour throughout!
Thanks to the ever smiling George. He received every complaint with a big smile and ran up and down the train all day and night trying to keep everyone happy.
Are you interested in the history of East Africa’s railways?
Nairobi is the biggest city in East Africa. It is immense.
It’s incredible to believe that Nairobi sprang up around the railway, just a little over 100 years ago. From my account of today’s rundown Lunatic Express service, you might dismiss the railways in East Africa – but history tells a very different story.
If you are interested in history, I highly recommend these articles:
Following the line of Kenya’s development is as easy as following the development of railway lines through the country.
Why did so many railway workers get killed by lions?
“The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and other East African Adventures” recalls the nine month period of terror during 1898 when over 100 men were killed by two man-eating lions. This book made British engineer Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Patterson, D.S.O. a celebrity.
“Night after night, workers disappeared in ones and twos…” and an American hunter was called in…
Arriving in the continent he has dreamed of forever, Patterson meets his project. There are problems with it: competing French and German rivals, ethnic hatred among the crews and, on Patterson’s first day there, a worker is attacked by a lion. He goes to “sort it out” by shooting the beast with one shot; gaining the admiration of his crews, lifting spirits, adding motivation to complete the bridge, and unleashing a nightmare.
Only weeks after the shooting the camp is suddenly besieged by a pair of giant man-eating lions. Their first “kill” is Mahina (Henry Cele), considered the strongest man in the camp. This serves to unnerve every man on the project, including Indian rabble-rouser Abdullah, who doesn’t like Patterson from the start. Nerves jangle and fray as the lions repeatedly and relentlessly attack and attack and attack! They strike under the cover of night AND during the heat of day; They kill not for hunger, not for sport, but simply because they like it. Men are dragged from their beds and mauled to death in the tall grasses; the hospital becomes a blood-bathe; Laborers aren’t safe as the beasts leap out and snatch them from their work. Everything is falling apart and Patterson is at his wit’s end as Beaumont arrives to make matters worse. And still the lions attack and attack and attack.
Enter Big Game Hunter Charles Remington who is as determined to destroy the lions as the lions seem determined to eat every man in camp.
From a review of The Ghost and the Darkness, a 1996 Oscar-winning film, staring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas.
Have you traveled on the ‘Lunatic Express’ train from Nairobi to Mombasa?
Writing about these journeys prompts other people to share their experiences.
“I took the train in 1982 when I was a student. I travelled down to the coast with my fishing rods. I didn’t get a (sleeping) compartment. I threw my fishing rods in the overhead bag rack, climbed up and slept there for the whole journey, from Nairobi to Mombasa.”
Richard ‘Bug’ from Watamu
That’s an uncomfortable way to spend 12+ hours, believe me!
Once upon a time, the train ran all the way from Kampala through Nairobi on to Mombasa.
Nairobi was very different in those days. Even before the train reached Nairobi airport, you were in the bush. There were first-class compartments and a first-class dining car.
Back in the day, the train drivers were all Sikhs.
Mike from Kampala (It all sounded pretty fabulous!)
What are your train travel tips? And what are your memories of the Lunatic Express during its heyday?
If you’ve enjoyed this article, please share it! And if you enjoy my East African travel stories, sign up to the Muzungu’s occasional newsletter
Why do I Blog? 10 Surprising Life Lessons from a Self-Confessed Blogaholic
Why do I blog? 10 Surprising Life Lessons from a Self-Confessed Blogaholic
Diary of a Muzungu. Ggaba landing site. PHOTO Isabel Romano, Diario de Abordo
1. Blogging is my friend.
2. Blogging is my creative outlet.
3. Blogging is my personal space when things in my life don’t work out the way I want them to.
Perception versus reality
4. Blogging = time out…
Blogging is my arena in which to:
5. … make mistakes
6. … win new clients
7. … make new friends
8. … learn new skills
9. … tell the world WHAT AN AMAZING PLACE UGANDA IS.
We all have to start somewhere…
I was a blogger before blogging was invented.
At boarding school, I wrote long letters home. When I was a teenager, I kept a secret diary (well, I thought I did, until – horror of horrors – my mum revealed some years later that she had read it!)
When I traveled, I wrote long letters home. When my relationship was going nowhere, I kept a secret diary.
When I gave up my old life in London to leave for Uganda, I started writing my blog – even before I’d started packing my suitcase.
A few of my many Uganda diaries. Diary of a Muzungu
A blog – an online Diary – of a Muzungu was the natural progression.
[I’m embarrassed at its ordinariness now but this was my first ever blog post, in 2008. And my mum was the first to comment – don’t mums rock?]
Stop making excuses Just-Do-It
10. A blogger has no time to be bored – the next story beckons. There are always ideas to research, to mull over, to discuss with friends.
11. “Are you writing about this in your Diary?” – has been an invitation to:
– go gorilla trekking in Rwanda
– meet the Omukama [traditional tribal King] at his Palace in Bunyoro, western Uganda
– attend the VIP launch of the inaugural Kampala Art Biennale
– meet my totem – the Red Tailed Monkey – in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
– experience Uganda’s solar eclipse! …
and so many other life-affirming East African experiences.
Some people spend a lifetime searching – but I Have Found My Niche and it is here in Uganda.
The five year evolution of my blog – from crappy updates on Blogger to self-hosted WordPress Wow!ness – reflects the development of my own aspirations and my professionalism as a blogger.
Diary of a Muzungu charts my progress. It shows me that if you really want something…
12. … JUST DO IT.
NEVER NEVER NEVER Give Up, said Winston Churchill. By Jove, he was spot on.
You don’t even need to put on those fake trainers 😉
Just Do It trainer heels
Do you write a blog?
What does blogging mean to you? I’d love to read your experiences!
Diary of a Muzungu’s travel highlights – across Uganda and Kenya
The Muzungu’s travel highlights of 2012 – Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls, community tourism in Mabira Forest, Lonely Planet, Nairobi – and two Royal Weddings!
Life in Uganda has tested me in many ways and 2012 was ‘challenging’ as we say around here – but I’m still here ‘living the dream’ (on a good day!)
The year ended on a real high, literally – waking up on Christmas Day in a treehouse overlooking Kibale Forest to the sound of chimpanzees and forest birds.
We had a feast! – with “all the trimmings” of a British Christmas dinner, including bread sauce, crackers, naff jokes, silly hats and Christmas stockings, all imported specially for the occasion.
Kibale Forest to Queen Elizabeth National Park
After Christmas we put the Baby Car (a.k.a. Mimi) through her paces. Our party of twelve people went on a 4 wheel driving adventure along the muddy marram tracks across heavenly crater lake country, en route to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a couple of days Safari, a luxury overnight in Volcanoes’ Kyambura Lodge and the most brilliant water safari and birdwatching day out on a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel. Simpson saw his first hippos and crocodiles! – I adore the waterways’ incredible birdlife (TWITCH!)
It’s almost a year since my last trip for our epic bird-ringing week-end at Julia’s amazing home in Kibale Forest – maybe that’s where I’ll write my book? Chimp alert! or muzungu bolthole?
From there Julia and I travelled to the wide open savannah of Ishasha where we’d jumped in an elephant trench and had a go at maintaining the matooke (banana) plantation – all in a day’s work for the Bazungu!
Why I love elephant dung! tells the story.
Back in Kampala, my photographer friend Javi and I rocked up to State House, the President’s office. Javi asked me to collaborate with him on a book about Uganda and we have the makings of a great project – we just need someone to pay for it! And so we spent Valentine’s Day sweltering on the veranda as our 10 a.m. meeting got put back and back and back. By 4 p.m. we finally had our slot with one of the President’s Permanent Secretaries, a charming lady called Grace: but alas the answer was NO.
We didn’t get to meet The Man With The Hat (The Big Man) either. Boo, hoo Valentine’s Day, no red rose, no book deal, not nuffink.
September saw the launch of the Uganda photo souvenir map Facebook page. The Uganda map is designed by Andrew Roberts, a UCF Director and co-editor of the Bradt travel guide. Special thanks to ‘Chimp Girl’ Julia Lloyd and Harriet ‘Ebola’ Fowler for commissioning photo maps and for all your support! Each montage is individually created with your photos and 10% of sales go to the Uganda Conservation Foundation to help fight poaching in the National Parks – now at its worst level in decades.
Poaching is fuelled mostly by the growth of the Chinese middle classes and facilitated by China’s growing networks and investments in East Africa. Check out my friend Anne-Marie’s brilliant article about poaching in Uganda, entitled There is a lot of it about.
In October, I was delighted to welcome fellow Lonely Planet* blogger, Isabel Romano, on her first trip to Africa. After a visit to Ggaba market on Lake Victoria and a relaxing lunch at Cassia Lodge taking in the view, Ronald and I introduced her to a very different view of Kampala: a visit to Namuwongo slum.
To find out more about some of the excellent development work in Namuwongo slums, check out Events for Namuwongo on Facebook.
My friend Ronald is a professional dog trainer based in Kampala. I love my walks with him and De Boys – Baldrick and Percy!
Namuwongo is dear to my heart – the first place I lived in Uganda.
Murchison Falls National Park
I celebrated my birthday with Red Chilli’s at their camp in Murchison Falls National Park, where we partied all week-end to celebrate the camp’s tenth birthday. A percentage of all the camp’s profits go to support the Steve Willis Memorial Fund.
Anne-Marie and I should have known better: as we entered the Park, we opened the car doors in exactly the wrong spot letting vicious biting Tsetse flies loose in the car. We spent the weekend itching, scratching and regretting it!
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Tembo Canteen on Mweya Peninsula in Queen Elizabeth is possibly the best location in the world to endure three days of PowerPoint presentations, with Mike Cant’s talk about mongooses being the highlight. Kabina squashed on a hard wooden benche, I loved reconnecting with my conservation friends for UWA’s research symposium: Dianah, Phionah and Richard from NatureUganda, Aggie and Dr Margaret from UWA, Gladys of Conservation Through Public Health, Alex, Erik and Emmanuel from UCF, Alastair and Andy from Wildlife Conservation Society. Poaching, invasive species, climate change and human wildlife conflict are just some of the big issues UWA is challenged with.
The weekend finished with a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel. The eager eyes of a warden even spotted a leopard, a distant dot high up on the hillside! We certainly didn’t expect to see a leopard in broad daylight from the boat, but that’s the wonderful thing about going on Safari – every outing is different.
Birds and bird watching in Uganda
By the way, if you like birds you might enjoy some of the muzungu’s Uganda birding stories, now grouped on one handy page inspired by attending the UK Bird Fair and hanging out with expert birders Roger, Malcolm, David Lindo ‘the Urban Birder’ and Aussie Chris Watson.
The best community tourism projects in Uganda are promoted by UCOTA
The UCOTA community tourism fam trip was another highlight. We had a lot of fun, as you will read in – Can you play the Xylophone? – and got to meet the real people living on the edges of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Theirs is not an easy life.
A wave of patriotism flooded Uganda in 2012 as the country celebrated 50 years of independence. Needless to say it also brought up a lot of discontent, mostly aimed at the current regime’s 26 years in power. My contribution to the party? 50 reasons why I love Uganda – my most popular blog ever.
A moment of feeling homesick…
I felt a twinge of homesickness as I thought of all my friends and family celebrating the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and the London Olympics. British expat friends dressed in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack and gathered round a TV set in Kololo to watch the celebrations along the Thames.
Uganda was delighted to welcome home the Marathon gold Olympic medallist Kipsoro. It seemed to be a typical Ugandan achievement – mpole, mpole ‘slowly by slowly’ – wait until the very last event to win a medal…! Ugandans are rightly proud of this homegrown talent, who actually trained in next door Kenya.
Running across East Africa, with the Hash House Harriers – and a Royal Wedding
I know a lot of talented runners. Kampala’s Seven Hills race (or does Kampala have 22 hills now?) certainly keeps us fit! At 1000 metres above sea level, rumour has it that if we train here in Kampala, we return to the lower lands of Europe with more stamina. (I certainly huffed and puffed my way up Tank Hill in Muyenga, Kampala for a few months before I acclimatised to the increase in altitude).
Regular Diary of a Muzungu blog readers will know of my Monday evening antics with the Kampala Hash House Harriers, that have taken me to all corners of Kampala, Jinja, Nairobi and even Ethiopia. I felt a million Muganda ladies sigh (and maybe a couple of Muzungu ones too) as the Buganda Kingdom announced the engagement of our friend Prince David Wassaja. We wish you all de best Federo! The Muzungu was honoured to be invited to the Buganda Royal Wedding.
Northern Uganda comes to Kampala
In April we welcomed back the sometimes controversial comedienne Jane Bussman to Kampala for another run of her award-winning show, entitled “The worst date ever – or how it took a comedy writer to expose Africa’s secret war.” It was a sell-out night in Kampala. All proceeds from Jane’s show went to complete construction of a house for ex-LRA child soldiers in Northern Uganda.
Meeting new tribes in Nairobi, Kenya
Check out the Muzungu with my new friends – the guy looks very cute! Kenya is only a bus ride away and I need to explore the country further!
The two are not connected 😉
Griffin Falls Ecocamp, Mabira Forest, Jinja
Set in the heart of Mabira Forest, Griffin Falls campsite is a charming little hideaway.
The banda accommodation and food are basic and cheap; if you’re happy with cold bucket showers and a kerosene lamp, you’ll love this place. Isla and I hired bikes for a guided tour of the Forest and the Falls and I even saw my first Grey Cheeked Mangabey! Hussein and Peter (tel +256(0)751949368 / +256(0)751955671) are very friendly and knowledgeable about the forest’s birds and trees, under threat from so-called developers. The campsite is a real gem.
PHEW! Well I’ve worn myself out just reliving all of that lot…! Time for a lie-down now…
So what does the New Year hold for the Muzungu?
2013 is my year – and hopefully Uganda’s too, after National Geographic voted Uganda one of the top 20 places to visit in 2013.
*Sadly, after four years, Lonely Planet has dropped its links with Diary of a Muzungu and the 100s of other travel bloggers featured on its web site, after Lonely Planet was sold to the BBC. Farewell #lp we’ve had a good run. We in Uganda loved being Lonely Planet’s no. 1 destination to visit in 2012 and working with Lonely Planet bloggers to create a free downloadable book of photography was a personal highlight.
Diary of a Muzungu now accepts guest posts so if you have a story you want to share with the world, please get in touch! Thanks to my first guest blogger Mark Penhallow for a hilarious blog about Driving in Kampala
If you haven’t visited Uganda yet, feel free to explore my blog or drop the Muzungu an email for more Uganda and East Africa travel ideas. Wishing you an adventure-filled New Year!
The Muzungu’s travel highlights of 2011 – Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Turkey!
Travel highlights – from across Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Ethiopia and Turkey
If 2011 was busy, 2012 looks set to be busier still! Here are a few of 2011’s highlights for Diary of a Muzungu, Uganda travel blog …
Nairobi to Lake Naivasha Relay – local Maasai watched bemused as 100 Hashers ran through Hell’s Gate National Park
Travel to Kenya
The annual Naivasha Relay (84 km from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha) is one of the highlights of Nairobi Hash House Harriers’ calendar.
40 Ugandan Hashers travelled from Kampala to Kenya for the week-end party (I mean run!) I ran my share of tghe relay- 3 km to be exact – ‘good enough’ as we say in UG.
The weekend started with a 12 hour bus journey: The real ‘boda boda’ experience – travelling sidesaddle into Kenya.
Travel across Rwanda
A full day’s travelling by bus across Uganda, through Kigali, and onto the fabulous Volcanoes National Park (Parc Nationale des Virungas) to stay at Le Bambou Gorilla Village in Kinigi.
The muzungu travelled with her personal physician
Rwanda’s reputation precedes it in many positive ways nowadays.
The smooth tarmac in Kigali made a pleasant change from Uganda’s potholes; the legal obligation to wear a helmet on a boda boda (motorbike taxi) in Kigali came as a bit of a shock after Kampala’s very relaxed attitude to road safety!
A flight to South Africa via Nairobi
TIP: next time you fly, look at the map before you select your seat – choose a window seat, check which side of the plane to sit and have your camera ready. Some of my most memorable travel moments of 2011 have been from on high (and I haven’t even joined the Mile High Club yet!)
- Mount Kilimanjaro through the clouds;
- Traversing the seemingly endless azure blue of Lake Malawi;
- Skirting around the edges of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater;
- Seeing volcanoes emerge over the horizon as we approached Nairobi;
- The shot of Kilimanjaro – en route to Johannesburg – is a favourite. Sigh …
Daybreak at 30,000 feet – Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance
Johannesburg, South Africa
U2′s ‘Beautiful Day’ will forever remind me of a great ten days in Johannesburg, with a great friend and her beautiful daughter, and something deeper – retracing my political and musical roots:
South Africa – Under a blood red sky with U2
Thank you Holly! For the trip, for the friendship and for being a part of my journey as a Voluntary Service Overseas volunteer.
Ethiopia
Hashing – the ‘drinking club with a running problem’ – led me on a very merry dance (hic!) around Ethiopia for two truly memorable weeks. I can’t stop reliving and writing about Ethiopia, here’s one of my posts:
Africa Hash, Ethiopia – Feeling IRIE in Addis Ababa
Traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony overlooking Tissisat Falls
A stopover in Istanbul, Turkey
On a trip back home to the UK, I stopped over in Istanbul for a day. Istanbul looks like my kind of place.
A day in … Istanbul got me thinking about how much I’d like to be travelling and writing about travel full-time.
Travel across Uganda
This year, I was excited to take part in the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s new tourism experience: Walking with Mongooses, a really fun and informative day out in Queen Elizabeth National Park. You may have watched the BBC’s ‘Banded Brothers’ TV series, all about these fascinating fellas.
Muzungu with Mongooses at Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park
This year has been a year for:
WRITING – articles for The Eye Magazine Rwanda, Uganda’s Business Today magazine and writing and producing Uganda Matters, the annual newsletter for the Uganda Conservation Foundation.
Diary of a Muzungu has been featuring on Lonely Planet since 2009 (PHEW! no wonder I’m knackered!)
Diary of a Muzungu was a Lonely Planet Featured Blogger from 2009 to 2012
CONNECTING – with published authors, Lonely Planet bloggers and the global travel blogosphere. Thanks in particular to Todd Wassel at Todd’s Wanderings, for the beautiful and fantabulous Around the World with 40 Lonely Planet bloggers ebook; Mazarine Treyz of Wildwoman Fundraising for her boundless creativity and energy; Wandering Trader Marcello Arrambide who dropped by Kampala and shared some awesome tips on travel blogging. Writing and blogging can be an introspective way to spend your spare time – but you guys keep me motivated. Thank you so much!
CHANGING CAREERS – I’ve always said that in Uganda, “business is social and social is business” and I like it that way…
After two and a half years as a VSO volunteer for the Uganda Conservation Foundation, it was time to move on and employ a local man to take over my role. I’m so proud to have been part of UCF (work trips to the Bush – safari yeah!)
A big achievement. Launch of the Pan African Conservation Education training manual, Ggaba PTC, Kampala with the Uganda Conservation Foundation team and Voluntary Service Overseas,
Despite the global recession, UCF’s donors continue to support our work with the Uganda Conservation Foundation. The Uganda Wildlife Authority is so pleased with UCF’s work in Queen Elizabeth National Park that UCF is now working with them to tackle poaching and human wildlife conflict in Murchison Falls National Park. (Damn, that’s one trip I missed out on!) As you can see, I still talk about UCF in the present tense and I’ll continue to do as much as I can to promote this fantastic charity.
Life as a VSO volunteer in Uganda has certainly had its ups and downs. It’s been a truly incredible three years so far. I love life in Uganda – but it does sometimes get the better of me:
Shotgun wedding – a surreal and intense day
Here’s a bit more about life as a volunteer in Uganda –
Still counting myself lucky! 2 years on …
So why am I still in Uganda? Here’s one reason – one of my favourite blogs from last year:
Early morning sights and sounds
Happy New Year everyone!
A quick glimpse of Nairobi nightlife
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi
“Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats as we approach Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta Airport.”
I’m slightly apprehensive leaving Uganda as I leave behind the familiarity of the Luganda greetings that I’ve been having such fun with over the last nine months. I feel like an outsider again. Will everyone speak English in Kenya?
I’m excited to visit my third African country. The Customs Officer is apologetic that the much-lauded East African Tourist Visa only exists in theory [this was 2009]. My Ugandan work permit should allow me to travel freely throughout East Africa but I still get charged $10 for my transit visa. “Would you like to pay in dollars, pounds or Euros?” he asks me. I get a blank look when I ask to pay in Ugandan Shillings.
Travelling from Uganda to South Africa via Nairobi gently eases me back into the developed world. Smooth roads! Streetlights! Motorbike riders wearing helmets! People wearing jackets and coats! People even wearing shoes! As I watch Nairobi’s pedestrians on their way home from work, I’m struck by how affluent the average Kenyan looks in comparison to the vast majority of Ugandans.
I’m conscious of the world having shifted as Nairobi’s international airport tannoy broadcasts details for flights east to Mumbai and Dubai and onwards into Africa: Lagos, Khartoum and Lusaka. Nairobi is a major transport hub (I’m only stopping here on my way to South Africa) and I’ve never seen such an array of beautiful traditional clothes: African, Islamic and even Latin American.
I’m delighted to be staying with Faith, a Kenyan lady I met at ‘Africa Hash’ in Kampala back in May. ‘Hashing’ as we call it – for ‘drinkers with a running problem’ – is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’ll be staying with another Hasher in Cape Town too.
Faith gives me a great big hug. She offers to share her bed with me which I’m fine with until I meet the Dutch couple also staying with her. The lady is scary. She is of Amazonian build and was a national shotput champion in the 1970s. She doesn’t seem to have changed her hairstyle since then; lank grey plaits hang either side of her face and she looks through me as if I’m not there. I hesitate for one moment: have I unwittingly signed up to a foursome? Will the video be going on sale shortly in downtown Amsterdam?
In Faith’s Nairobi apartment, we sit around and watch TV. It’s strange to be sat on a three-piece sofa; the room has thick curtains and carpets. How positively English it all feels! It’s a far cry from my volunteer accommodation in Kampala.
Early evening we pile into the car and my new friends give me a guided tour of Nairobi. I feel quite safe. The traffic is ridiculous but it’s a nice-looking city, very north European in feel. We drive through Nairobi West, a more Kenyan part of town, where men sit outside one of dozens of small bars selling Guinness. “This is where I want to come next time!” I tell Faith.
We stop ‘for a quick drink’ but Hashers don’t stop at one and, before we know, it’s one o’clock in the morning and we’re at the club next door.
The Congolese band have gone home for the night but “Creamed Rice” (a well-respected Kenyan lawyer) and I chase each other round the dancefloor. I can’t stop giggling as I plan my return trip to Nairobi. Next stop Johannesburg.
