The Kingfisher and me
There’s something in the air tonight.
I love this time of day, walking with the dogs before the sun goes down.
A pair of African Grey parrots fly overhead, squawking all the way to their roost in the big tree behind us. The Hadada Ibis congregate on the highest roof, cackling as I approach with De Boys – Baldrick and Percy – who bounce through the long (tick-infested!) grass, delighted to be free from the compound.
There’s a disgusting smell – trust the dogs to find the rotting corpse of a dog, only recognisable by its canines. Looks like someone’s dumped it here, as it’s half concealed (I bet someone had a nasty shock when they opened that sack!)
As we walk across the football pitch someone shouts out “Muzungu! Can we eat your dog for our dinner?”
It’s OK, he’s just fooling around in front of his mates. I grin back at them.
As we turn the corner back to the house, a Woodland Kingfisher darts through the air, picking insects. How relieved am I to see him!*
Who needs an alarm clock in Africa? My love-hate relationship with the Woodland Kingfisher was put to the test recently
What appear to be flying ants and dragonflies whirl around in the evening’s pink sky. A Sooty Falcon flies overhead. A second one follows. I turn around 360 degrees, necked craned, and count seven of them!
(According to Stevenson & Fanshawe’s Birds of East Africa, this group of Sooty Falcons are migrating on their passage to South Africa for winter. They’re often associated with storm fronts and termite emergences. Another tick on my bird list!)
Sooty Falcons pass over Uganda, passing south for the winter. Photo courtesy of http://www.arkive.org
After this morning’s heavy rains – across Kampala, everyone was stuck indoors and hours late for work – the ground has been heating up all day. The baked murram is now steaming and, from barely visible slits in the dirt track, scores of ants bubble up from the ground beneath my feet.
The long lacy winged ants quickly flutter into action and spiral skyward like sycamore seeds. This unexpected spectacle makes me catch my breath. As dusk settles, they pour out of the earth, upwards and away, a non-stop chain of swirling activity.
Two Woodland Kingfishers rest on their electric perch above the blossoming Bougainvillea. (Simpson wants me to hack the bush back – now it’s looking beautiful!)
After a a few minutes the earth is still and the last ants float skywards to join the huge dragonflies, buzzing around above us. The sound of insects fills my ears as we make our way back home. Is this what it’s like to have tinnitus?
Back in the compound, as I tell what I’ve witnessed, Simpson asks “so did you eat them?” We talk about the enswa, the White Termites that the Muganda find so delicious! Brenda’s eyes light up when I tell her the termites were right outside our house. Oh me, oh my, next time we’re going out there with a blanket to cover the hole and we’ll beat the ground until we fill it!
Let’s hope enswa taste better than the muzungu’s first taste of grasshoppers (nsenene)
*Regular Diary of a Muzungu readers may remember my love-hate relationship with the Kingfisher that has been waking me up at 5.30 am PRECISELY every day for almost 4 years.
I frequently curse him but last week I thought I’d lost him – and I was worried.
With the rains, the occasional giant cockroach has been appearing in the house in the middle of the night. I’m not quite the coward I once was and occasionally I manage to deal with them on my own. (Makes me feel very grown up!)
Our friendship was sealed when I discovered my housemate Simpson’s not afraid of cockroaches! My hero!
One particular night I’d zapped one with Doom. It’s a poisonous spray and I only use it as a last resort: aim Doom at insect, close eyes and spray. I’m sure they’ve got more than eight legs – I can’t bear to look at them. They wriggle and squirm – even the next morning the damn thing’s legs will still be kicking. Answer: get the broom and sweep it out of the house right away.
The next morning I’m sitting at my desk enjoying the view as the Kingfisher lands on the washing line just a few feet from my window.
It’s such a beautiful bird. But what’s that in its big red beak? An enormous cockroach! God it looks disgusting. And I panic, realising it’s probably the poisoned cockroach I’ve swept out the back door a few hours earlier…
I watch the Kingfisher struggling to swallow the big leggy insect – will it too succumb to Doom … ?
There then followed two days of silent mornings: “Please come back and wake me up every morning, please don’t let me have poisoned you” I plead.
And so Mr Kingfisher is back! I can’t be anything but happy and relieved now when I see and hear him (even at 5.30 am!)
“Don’t console yourself Charlotte – it’s a different bird that’s assumed his territory,” Julia chides me.
So what interesting wildlife have you seen during the rainy season?
And have you eaten enswa? Should I?
If you like birds, you might enjoy some of the Muzungu’s Uganda birding stories.
And if like dogs, you might enjoy more of my morning / evening dog walks around Kampala.
Are muzungus all rich?
“For us we know you are rich”
Being a Muzungu (having a white skin) defines me as rich, or so the rolex man tells me.
Let’s talk English semantics here: when he says he knows I’m rich, he could also mean he believes I am rich.
Are school fees due? I don’t think so. Nonetheless, three incidents in 24 hours this week annoyed me – they’re nothing really, but when they come at you – one after the other – they can get you down.
Part One – the Muzungu and the casino chips
Last Monday night Julia and I went to a local restaurant. It looked like a bit of a dive but we were starving. There were no other customers so we thought we might be lucky and get served quickly.
We went through the normal routine: “We are in a hurry, how long will it be?”
“It will be quick Madam” came the reply, “we have machines.”
Three quarters of an hour later, a bowl of vegetable dall and chips finally emerged (quite what those machines were, we will never know…)
Did she think the Muzungu had ordered Casino chips?
When it came to paying the bill, a sultry girl (invisible until this point), hung around the table demanding attention. She presented us with a handwritten bill for two mango juices, chips and dall.
“8500 shillings for chips!” screamed Julia. “Let me see the menu.”
“You had chicken and chips” the girl said. “No we didn’t,” Julia answered back. The remains of dall – and not chicken – were clearly there on the table in front of her.
There was some reluctant shuffling and the greasy, fingerprint-stained remains of a menu were handed to us.
“We’re not paying this bill – the menu says chips are only 3000 shillings.”
The girl picked the bill up from the table in her left hand – and with her right hand replaced it with another handwritten bill, identical except for the total.
“Why did you write two bills?” I confronted the girl. Her attempts to fleece us were so transparent, it’s laughable.
Part Two – the Muzungu and the gold-plated Rolex
The next morning in Entebbe, I pulled over at the side of the road for a quick breakfast before my meeting.
“How much is your rolex please?”
“Only 2000 shillings.”
“I don’t pay that even in Kampala!” I retorted. (I pay maximum 1500). I was half asleep but the second blatant attempt to rip me off in less than 24 hours really got my goat.
Riled, I asked him “so you think all muzungus are rich?” He laughed “For us we know you are rich.”
Gold plated Rollex – this is what I thought I was being charged for – not an omelette wrapped in a chapati
How can I explain to him that the car he sees me drive was bought with a loan from my dad? Will he appreciate the fact I spent the first 2 1/2 years of my life in Uganda working as a volunteer? Will he respect the fact that I’ve been helping a Ugandan friend through university? What will he think of the fact I employ two people that I can’t really afford to employ simply because I like them and want to support them? These thoughts go through my head time and again – but there’s no point in saying anything, he wants his bit of me just like everyone else does. And really, what’s 500 shillings to me anyway?
[500 shillings is approx 12 British pence or 20 US cents]. What a shame I am paid in shillings though, isn’t it?
Part Three – the Muzungu gets tanked up
I pulled over at the petrol station to buy fuel for the 40 something km drive back to Kampala. The attendant greets me with a fabulous grin “Good morning Madam, how are you?”
Such a lovely greeting is the norm and I reply in kind.
I know the question is coming but I’ll have to disappoint him… “Fill her up Madam?” He beams.
“Just give me 30,000” the muzungu snaps back at him.
Don’t get on the wrong side of Tank Girl Charlie!
Some days Uganda, I am just not in the mood!
I chatted all this over with Simpson and he’s right – Ugandans get treated exactly the same way. People need money.
Just don’t expect me to tip you if you get caught trying to rip me off – and at least the man at the petrol station greeted me with a smile.
So how has your week been? Did you come out on top?
If you like reading Diary of a Muzungu, please comment and share my blog with your friends. If you’re interested in writing a guest post, I would love to hear from you! Read more about writing a guest post here
Driving in Kampala – not for the nervous
Driving in Kampala? Then you’ll need to read this first!
Welcome to Diary of a Muzungu! This week’s guest post is by Mark Penhallow. Mark has been working in the roads sector in Uganda since 2001 and has recently returned to the UK after 2 years based in Kampala. Mark writes:
Ugandans are generally friendly, intelligent and considerate people, but they should never, ever be allowed anywhere close to a steering wheel (or a microphone for that matter) when, for some inexplicable reason, these admirable characteristics (plus any sense of self-preservation) seem to abandon them entirely!
If you plan to drive in or through Kampala (which is unavoidable when you visit Uganda), it’s imperative to remember that it’s a war out there and to be prepared for battle!
Some rules of engagement do exist (such as driving on the left), but these appear to be advisory only and are frequently ignored. Consequently, there is no point of waving a “Highway Code” at anyone or claiming any self-righteousness, such as “but it’s my right of way!” or “I got here first” as this merely produces looks of utter perplexion and shrugged shoulders.
One of the slower moving obstacles to avoid while driving in Kampala
How to prepare your vehicle for battle
- The bigger the vehicle, the better. “BIG IS BIG” as a windscreen sticker in one of the city’s matatu (taxis) says.
- The presence of “bull bars” on the front of your vehicle helps intimidate other road users; show them you mean business! Loud horns are important, together with full-beam lights for after dark.
- The presence of other miscellaneous items such as indicators, tyre treads, brakes and windscreen wipers is usually an indication that the vehicle belongs to an affluent foreigner or even richer NGO.
- If your vehicle does have such ancillary items, use these to fool other road users:
- Flash your lights means “go ahead” or equally the opposite “I’m coming through.”
- A right hand indicator means either “I’m pulling off to the left, so you can overtake me” or occasionally, “I’m going to turn right.”
You will notice that, yes, one meaning completely contradicts the other and could easily result in a collision – welcome to Kampala!
Now you’re prepared for battle, let me introduce you to some of your fellow road users:
Pedestrians
Pedestrians are an occupational hazard of driving in Kampala, but can usually be safely ignored by drivers. Unfortunately, instead of remaining in the narrow areas of mud or dust that line Kampala’s roadsides, they have an inconsiderate tendency to walk in the roadway instead, often getting in the way of vehicles. A sharp blast from the car horn is usually sufficient to scatter them out of your way.
Should you happen to hit one of these individuals, it’s unlikely anyone will care, as they tend to be poor and, as would appear from the state of the facilities provided for them throughout the city, the authorities clearly do not think these people are important anyway. Anyone important or rich has a car of course, so it is their needs which the authorities aim to satisfy above anyone else’s.
A note of caution! Beware of pedestrians in white uniforms, especially if they start waving little red objects at you, as they are particularly keen to greet foreigners.
Fortunately, these people are often quite fat (especially the successful ones), so are relatively easy to spot from afar. Their waving usually indicates that they are feeling hungry and want you to stop, so that they can tell you of some spectacularly imaginative reason why you should pay for their lunch. Consequently, they tend to be especially busy in the mornings, and less so after lunch. Their levels of activity also rise in the run-up to Christmas and when school fees are due.
How to deal with pedestrians in white uniforms (sometimes referred to as ‘traffic policemen’):
1. Look away and pretend you haven’t seen them: eye contact is especially foolhardy.
2. Having red number plates (denoting you work for a NGO) can be partially effective. The best avoidance tactic is to own a pair of blue (diplomatic) plates, which as you will inevitably see, allows you to do whatever you want, without having to worry about anyone else.
3. Adding a little flag to the front of your vehicle can help too (and is certainly good for your ego).
4. If you are feeling especially insecure, insignificant and unimportant, why not hire a truck full of uniformed men to escort you to the shops and restaurants around town? Make sure that your escort vehicle has a wide range of different tunes to blast through its sirens, as you speed through the traffic of Kampala. This adds variety to your trip and startles other drivers, which is always fun.
The Muzungu says: I’ve run into Kampala’s thirsty policemen more than once….
Cyclists
Cyclists are also a nuisance but, being relatively small and slow moving, they can usually be forced out of your way, as you make you way through the city in air conditioned comfort. There are a lot of cyclists but, like pedestrians, they are neither important nor rich, so their needs can safely be ignored.
Away from the city centre, boda bodas can be a lot of fun
Boda boda (motorbike taxis)
Boda bodas, upon which entire extended families travel together (plus furniture, animals and household goods), are more of a problem, as they multiply and spread like bacteria across Kampala’s urban sprawl. They comply with no rules or regulations. In fact, it is only their evident desire to perish as quickly as possible that has any impact on controlling their numbers.
Room for one more? Baboon on a boda boda
If you are ever tempted to make use of their pillion passenger services, then ensure that you have bade fond farewell to the family first, finalised your Will and paid for the best quality medical services that any insurance policy can buy.
The Muzungu: boda bodas feature in my 50 reasons why I love Uganda
Finally, a special mention must be made of the Matatus, the majority of vehicles in the city’s congested streets. These too are a law unto themselves, overloaded with passengers (human, chicken or goat), plus suitcases, hooks of matoke, sacks of farm produce and a myriad of other items indispensable to African life. It is of course far more important to load the vehicle’s roof and boot with mattresses and rain barrels than it is to be able to see the road, as Matatus claim absolute right to do any manoeuvre at any time.
A large, 4 wheel drive vehicle (as recommended above) may help to moderate the matatus’ bullying tactics, but their insatiable enthusiasm to get to the next stop before anyone else knows no bounds. If this requires driving on footpaths, verges or the wrong side of the road, then woe betide anyone who gets in their way.
So, enjoy your trip across Kampala. It will certainly be an adventure!
The Muzungu: thanks Mark for a hilarious view of driving in Kampala! Mark enjoys creative writing and is also an expert public speaker.
Do you have a story or some advice 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.
If you live in Kampala, what are your driving tips?
Be part of something BIG!
The Uganda Kob and the Grey Crested Crane adorn the country’s crest – (which bird will replace it in 20 years time when the bird is extinct?)
“Birding@50” focuses on the plight of Uganda’s national symbol, the Grey Crowned Crane.
While the country has been (for the most part) celebrating 50 years of independence, Uganda’s national symbol is in crisis. The Grey Crowned Crane is under serious threat as her wetlands habitats are polluted, eroded, degraded and built upon. Human development is swallowing up the wetlands.
Left unchallenged, the Crane will not survive, and it is estimated that the Grey Crowned (or ‘Crested’) Crane will be extinct in Uganda within just 20 years.
Ironically, the fact that Cranes are monogamous birds that pair for life is one of the factors pushing them towards extinction. Some people hold the traditional belief that eating or using a Crane product will therefore strengthen their own relationship.
NatureUganda is leading the campaign to save the Crane.
We urge individuals and the authorities to protect the wetlands. We need people to ask themselves “when did you last see a young or adult Crane? Do you see them as often now as you did when you were a child?”
It is no coincidence that as humans encroach upon the wetlands, the number of Cranes has plummeted across the country.
NatureUganda’s Achilles Byaruhanga tells us more about this sensational bird in The Crested Crane: Uganda’s symbol of beauty and serenity
So why am I talking about this?
It’s because this Saturday 20th October will be BIG BIRDING DAY 2012!
BBD is a country-wide “big birding race” between birding groups, led by experienced bird guides, who will aim to record as many bird species as possible in a single 24 hour period.
NatureUganda has 47 teams registered so far, across the country. More teams are registering, making this the biggest BBD ever!
There’s free entry for all participants birding in National Parks, Wildlife Reserves and Forest Reserves – but you need to register with NatureUganda first.
The results of the BBD race will be announced during the Big Birding festival on Saturday 27th October 2012 at Entebbe Botanic Gardens. See poster for more details!
The importance of Birds
Despite the large number of birds in Uganda – almost half the continent’s species – very few Ugandans are aware of the country’s rich diversity. The “Uganda Big Birding Day” helps promote avi-conservation and avi-tourism – bird conservation and tourism or ‘birding.’ Although avi-tourism is developing in Uganda, very few locals take part – yet! More trained bird guides are needed!
If you like birds, you might enjoy some of my other stories about birding in Uganda.
Check out all these lovely FREE events! Big Birding Day Uganda 2012
50 reasons why I love Uganda
As one of the shiny new fighter jets flies over my house, no doubt practising for this Tuesday’s independence day fly-past, I’m mulling over the week-end papers, full of stories about Uganda@50 and what the last 50 years of independence have meant to Uganda. Is the country better or worse off as an independent nation? What does the future hold? Will the celebrations be hijacked by anti-government protesters? Will there be tears before bedtime?
I’m no expert on Ugandan politics (although the muzungu is very proud of her politics degree from SOAS) – so let’s leave the analysis to the pundits and have some fun.
So, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence, I thought I’d share with you my top 50 reasons why I Love Uganda.
I Love Uganda! ’tis true
1. Airtime. Everywhere you go, every shop, bar or street corner can sell you mobile phone credit, for as little as 200 Uganda shillings (a few cents or pennies).
2. Boda boda. There are 100,000 of these motorbike taxis in Kampala. Huge fun but use with extreme caution. Don’t expect them to hang around if you have an accident. Read How to ride a boda boda.
Boda bodas Uganda
3. Birds, birds birds. I LOVE BIRDS! And Uganda has over 1000 species: pretty, beautiful, stunning, huge, noisy, elegant, comical, graceful, they’re all here.
Great Blue Turaco, Sunbird Hill. Kibale Forest edge
4. Bus Journeys. Hmmm am I crazy? Frankly, any bus journey could be your last but one of my favourite memories is taking a bus from Kasese down to Butogota. 10,000 shillings for a free Safari as we drove down through Maramagambo Forest sighting elephants. Ahh.
5. Cappuccino. I love Ugandan coffee, just don’t serve me Star coffee powder!
6. Chimps at Ngamba Island. I fell in love with the hilarious chimps.
Ngamba Island Uganda chimp fingerface www.chrisaustria.com
7. Dancing. Africans invented dance! Try keeping me off the dancefloor.
8. Dogs – ‘the boys’ Baldrick and Percy. These recycled street dogs light up my day. Always happy to see me, following me around until I give them what they want – food and a chance to escape the compound and chase a goat.
Baldrick Superdog came First in the Dog with the Waggiest Tail competition at the USPCA dog show
9. Driving in Kampala. Yes the traffic is a nightmare, yes the potholes wreck your car, but there’s something quite liberating about driving through this city at times. Careering over the wrong side of the road to dodge potholes can be fun, let’s be honest!
Idi Amin’s car Lubiri Palace Kampala
10. Dung Beetles rock!
11. Elephants brought me to Uganda. (Yeah I know, most people would just get on a plane!)
Bull elephant feeding along the Kazinga Channel. Can you spot the hippo hiding in front of him?
12. Food menus. Guaranteed entertainment. A menu is simply a guide to what may possibly be available at one given point in time. It does not reflect what is actually in the kitchen.
13. Fruit and vegetables. Huge, fresh, tasty and cheap.
14. Gorillas. I enjoyed the trek through the rainforest as much as meeting Bwindi’s Gentle Giants.
15. Grasshoppers taste greasy and smoky (best dry fried in chilli I’m told).
The muzungu’s first taste of grasshoppers
16. Greetings! I love the time and care Ugandans take to greet each other properly.
17. The Grey Crowned Crane – previously known as the Crested Crane – is Uganda’s iconic national symbol. The Crested Crane may well be extinct in Uganda within just 20 years, if degradation of the wetlands is not stopped. NatureUganda is leading the campaign to Save the Crane.
The Grey Crowned Crane – commonly known as theCrested Crane – is Uganda’s national bird. PHOTO Andy Gooch
18. Jane Bussman is a British comedy writer campaigning to have Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, caught. She’s on the ball and she’s hilarious.
19. Jinja, Source of the Nile, interesting colonial architecture, a market that is less congested than Kampala’s – and location for some memorable weekends at Nile River Camp.
20. Kampala Hash House Harriers have taken me to every bar, club – and slum! – across Kampala. The ‘drinking club with a running problem’ meets every Monday night.
21. Kibale Forest is where my friend Julia calls home, ideally at the top of a tree!
22. Lake Victoria. The world’s second largest freshwater lake – and the largest on the African continent – is where we taught our dogs to swim. Even as my feet crunched onto the tiny snails on the lake bed, I seem to have so far avoided Bilharzia! Can dogs catch it too?
A fisherman passes the beach at Munyonyo, Lake Victoria
23. Lions. Breathtaking – and a lot bigger in real life!
24. Mongooses experience in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
25. Mount Elgon. An unexpected wilderness experience, we climbed through seven habitats in four days and passed only two other groups of people. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I climb Margherita in the Rwenzori’s? One day maybe, but not without getting a LOT fitter first …
26. Muchomo roasted meat. No ‘gizzards’ (entrails) for me. I’m an occasional “chicken on a stick” woman.
27. Mighty Murchison Falls. Isn’t it annoying when you’ve heard the hype, and feel disappointed when you get there? GUARANTEE: you won’t be disappointed when you get to the top of the Falls! Read Stirring up magic at the Devil’s Cauldron, Murchison Falls.
Top of Murchison Falls – above the Devil’s Cauldron. PHOTO Allan Ssenyonga
28. Music booming out from the church on Sunday morning can drive you to distraction. I love Ugandan music – but no idea what I’m singing along to!
29. Namuwongo. Once maligned as a no-go area of Kampala (I found out after living there for a year), I love Namuwongo. Squashed between the industrial area and smarter Muyenga, it’s where I first fell in love with Uganda.
30. Owino market has everything you could ever want to buy, but it’s hard work.
31. Power cuts can drive you crazy. But the romance of candlelight has its moments 😉
32. River Nile. “Bring it on!” I screamed on my first Grade 5 white water rafting expedition. Second time around, I invited a friend to take my place; third time rafting, and I bailed out as the biggest rapids approached! Feeling nervous, learning to trust your guide, screaming with laughter as you successfully (or not!) negotiate the rapids, you’ll certainly never forget a day on the Nile.
33. Rolex or ‘rolled eggs’ – an omelette rolled up in a chapati – is my favourite street food. Bigger than a snack, although no self respecting Ugandan could possibly call a rolex a meal (since that should be served on a plate at a table). Rolex taste best at midnight in Kabalagala on the way home from a bar 😉
#TrevorNoahVisitsUganda or did he?
Trveor Noah gets his rolex fix (allegedly) in Wandegeya, Kampala
Read The rolex: celebrating Uganda’s uniqueness.
34. Safari. Every Safari is different. To say that you have “done X Park” when you visited for a day or two just doesn’t make sense. I can’t get enough game drives!
Rothschild’s Giraffe, Murchison Falls National Park
35. Sense of humour. Ugandans can charm the pants off you. Difficult situations tend to be dealt with humour, so refreshing after living in London where people resort to shouting and swearing.
36. Simpson. My ‘Ugandan brother‘ has been with me through thick and thin (in fact he became very thin when he was a student, going without food so he could afford the fare to university). He’s my hero! His graduation is 20th of October, and I have a front seat. I’m so proud of him. But wait – next up he’s going to be a pop star!
37. Smoking. Oh yes. Cigarettes are cheap and we spend most of our time outside. No stuffy rules to worry us!
38. Snakes. Would I like to find one in my shower? No, but they do fascinate me.
39. Sunrise and Sunset. A reason to get up early and a reason to have a drink in your hand 😉
April sunset from Butterfly Cottage, Sunbird Hill
40. Tilapia. Best eaten whole, with your hands, on the lake edge at Ggaba.
41. Totems. Having the Ugandan name ‘Nagawa’ – thanks to my friend Rashid – has been a huge icebreaker. It’s given me hours of fun. I’m therefore a member of the Nkima red tailed monkey clan.
42. Uganda Conservation Foundation. Anti-poaching and human wildlife conflict – a.k.a. anything to do with elephants – is the mission of UCF, whom I volunteered with for nearly three years.
43. Uganda Museum. Dusty and under resourced, the Museum is still a gem. I’ve fallen for its charms.
The Uganda Museum contains historical and cultural artefacts – and even the country’s first printing press!
44. Uganda souvenir photo map. This great fun project keeps my creative heart thumping. I’ve just created a new Uganda souvenir photo map gallery page on Facebook.
Map of Uganda courtesy of Andrew Roberts – I personalise these maps with your favourite photos to make “your own map of Uganda” – here’s just one of the many I have made
45. Uganda Waragi is a triple distilled ‘war gin.’ Handbag size bottles available ladies 😉
46. Uglish. Otherwise known as Ugandan English, this language gives us – expats and Ugandans alike – endless laughs. I tried to keep a straight face when Janero told me he had “pregnanted his girlfriend.” To read more up funny examples, check out the superb Uglish Facebook page
47. UWEC Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (once Entebbe Zoo) has a cafe overlooking the beach. Everything seems to be sold out by the time I get there – but the view’s worth it. You can see virtually all of Uganda’s big mammals at UWEC.
48. Vultures are ugly but our health depends on them. Fascinating!
49. Weather. Even when it rains, the sun comes out a few minutes later.
50. Writing Diary of a Muzungu has kept me distracted (when Ugandan TV couldn’t) and kept me sane (kind of!) when life hasn’t gone to plan. Thank you so much to everyone who reads this. You make the late nights and the missed week-ends all worthwhile.
50 reasons why I love Uganda – and I could have found more! So tell me what would be in your top 50 things you love about Uganda?
– I know my Ugandan friends will scream MATOKE! (steamed green banana – compulsory eating for many!)
Why I love elephant dung!
Visit these two brilliant community tourism projects in Ishasha: Deo’s Homestead Tour and Agartha’s Taste of Uganda Tour
Diary of a Muzungu with Deo the farmer and his family, on the edge of the elephant trench that borders Queen Elizabeth National Park. Here Deo is showing us how he burns chilli and elephant dung to deter elephants from crossing the trench into his garden
One of Deo’s sons illustrates how big an elephant’s footprint is! Maintaining the trench is a constant job. Elephants, buffalo and bushpigs can access the trench from poorly maintained sections. Standing in the elephant trench. Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park
Signpost to Deo’s Model Homestead Tour, a community tourism project in Ishasha. Leaving Kihihi trading centre, drive for 20 minutes, through the next trading centre. Deo’s is on the left, immediately before the park boundary. His homestead is a few minutes drive from the main road
You might not believe it but it was elephants – or what comes out of the back end of them – that first brought me to Uganda.
Colleagues back in London laughed out loud when I told them about the first project that the Uganda Conservation Foundation had planned for me: collecting elephant dung with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, all part of a global project to analyse and map elephant DNA and crack down on ivory poaching.
“No shit?”
As it turned out, some other lucky bugger got this job, not the muzungu. Several weeks bouncing around in a 4 x 4 looking for elusive elephants may not have been quite as glamorous as I first thought anyway …
Diary of a Muzungu’s first visit to an elephant trench. This trench, also funded by the Uganda Conservation Foundation, is at Kikarara, in south western Uganda. Ideally, it should measure 2 metres wide by 2 metres deep, to stop elephants crossing into the fields of crops
Regardless, the muzungu has a soft spot for elephant dung (yes, I know ‘I have issues’) so I was delighted to be invited on my next adventure with Julia, heading back to Ishasha, south western Uganda, to check out Deo’s Homestead Tour (originally developed and funded as part of the Ishasha Community Uplift Project).
What – no bananas? No baby Dillon to bounce on my knee?
Community tourism, elephant conservation, a chance to meet the farmers, solutions for managing ‘human wildlife conflict’ – this very cool project ticks all the right boxes for me – with OR without bananas.
Sun rises over the fields of Ishasha, south western Uganda. Deo sleeps in this guarding hut every night on his land, away from his family, on the look-out for hungry elephants that may eat or destroy his entire harvest in just a half an hour. Here he’s holding a lump of elephant dung (and a panga machete).
Deo was full of smiles and runs a great Model Homestead. This charming little girl is one of his daughters. The even more charming muzungu is Yours Truly of course, ha ha, bleary-eyed after a night’s camping with Julia and no morning tea! EH BANANGE!
Meet Deo’s family. The whole family is involved in the tour of the model homestead. We felt very welcome!
Deo explains how the tippy tap works, as his daughter gives us a demo. This simple construction of a foot-powered wooden ‘pedal’ tips the water from the jerry can. It means people can wash their hands without touching anything, and helps reduce the spread of germs. Clever eh? Community tourism in Ishasha, Uganda
After two and a half years fundraising to protect farmers such as Deo and his family from crop raiding elephants, it was quite an honour to be invited to tour Deo’s Model Homestead in Ishasha, bordering Queen Elizabeth National Park. Deo’s community tourism project was originally part of the Ishasha Community Uplift Project but has been managed by Deo himself since 2017. Deo and Agartha (a neighbouring lady farmer) stood out as exceptional members of their community group, transforming their homes (and thus their incomes and their health) into ‘model homesteads.’ Community tourism projects like these are the perfect way to show tourists how rural Ugandans live.
Below, Deo burns a combination of elephant dung and homegrown chilli as a deterrent to would-be elephant encroachers. He was very proud to show us his techniques – but boy he lives on the edge. Fancy doing this every night, just to survive?
Elephant dung deterrent used by Deo the farmer in Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park
As well as a welcoming grin, Deo of course has an extra special feature: The Elephant Trench! – and he sure is proud of it!
Visitors to the trench are invited to get their hands dirty, literally! Felex Kamalha of UCOTA does his part. Rain can make the sides of the trench crumble. Hungry animals can soon find weak areas of the trench wall and attempt to cross into the fields of crops
Huge credit to (almost Dr.) Julia Lloyd who has been working hard to develop this brilliant interactive and educational tourism experience. Developing a community project and teaching the customer service skills expected by tourists can be challenging. The project is now self-sustaining!
When crop raiding animals approach his fields, Deo beats the jerry can loudly with a stick. This helps deter the animals and alerts the family and neighbours to come and make noise too
Deo shows Diary of a Muzungu how to use a machete to prune the banana plant. Stripping the dead leaves, with a diagonal slice of the machete, prevents water collecting and rotting the stem
One of the family shows us his wooden bike. The ‘Kihihi bike’ is actually an Eastern Congolese invention known as the chukudu or chikudu, and is used for transporting heavy goods. At Deo’s the kids play on it. Deo’s model homestead is approximately half an hour from the Congolese border by road
Deo’s Homestead Tour takes in fields of maize, bananas and medicinal plants. Here one of Deo’s sons climbs a jackfruit tree to see whether it is ripe. I love this project!
Deo the farmer gets 10 out of 10 for creativity – check out his latrines!
Inside the latrines at Deo’s Model Homestead. Note the soft leaves of the ‘toilet paper’ and the banana fibre basket lid cover over the hole of the pit latrine. The latrine is clean, does not smell and has no flies – a lot cleaner than the average toilet in Kampala!
We’re off to Kihihi again next week to see how Deo’s been getting on. I wonder what stories Deo will have in store for us? Which of his livestock has the leopard run off with this time? And more importantly, have the elephants visited recently?
How to book Deo’s homestead tour, Ishasha
Deo is a working farmer so please call him one or two days before you plan to visit him to make sure he is available. His phone number is +256 (0)781 201368. (His tour was developed through the Ishasha Community Uplift Project but he now runs his tour independently).
Agartha’s “Taste of Uganda” is now the main Ishasha Community Uplift Project tourism experience. Read all about it here How to be a Mukiga woman – meet Agartha!
To book Agartha’s, call one or more days in advance. Call the Wild Frontiers office on +256 (0)41 4322551 / 0772 721155 or call Agartha directly on 0776 453121. Note that the community are working farmers and need to plan for your arrival.
Sign up to the Muzungu’s occasional newsletter to read about these and other great community tourism projects!
A disgusting day out
Looking for things to do around Kampala?
NatureUganda is a member organisation that organises affordable birdwatching trips around the country and researches numerous species, mainly birds.
Visiting the abattoir might not be top of every vegetarian’s wish list, but that didn’t stop two vegetarians from looking forward to a day out at the slaughterhouse, as part of Nature Uganda‘s annual vulture count. Interested in taking part?
Our gory tour took us to the very smelly outdoor Busega fish factory; the tidy, rustic Kyengera Abattoir and the formidable Kalerwe Abattoir, on the look-out for Hooded Vultures, Pied Crows, Brown Kites and Marabou Storks.
The annual Nature Uganda vulture count takes you to glamorous locations such as abattoirs! Here Marabou Storks congregate off Port Bell Road, Kampala
“I tried not to look at the blood and guts around me and looked down – and narrowly avoided stepping on a cow’s brain!” Said Alex the vegetarian. Not the most glamorous of day’s out for us ladies, tiptoeing around pools of dark red blood seeping into Kalerwe’s thick oozing mud…
My Nature Uganda friend Roger had painted a grim picture of last year’s annual vulture count – but I couldn’t wait to experience the horror for myself!
Living in Uganda has desensitised me to the horrors of the meat trade. A vegetarian since the age of 13, it was learning about the UK’s concrete and metal ‘factory farms’ that turned me off meat, overnight. In the UK we’re as far removed from the slaughter process as could possibly be (it’s hard to reconcile the surgical cleanliness of the plastic-wrapped portions of meat in the supermarket with the reality of what happens to the animal in the slaughterhouse). Here in Uganda, it’s back to basics: blood, guts and all.
Heaps of (cow) body parts wherever we looked in Kalerwe Abattoir, Kampala – why can’t the Chinese make ornaments and medicines out of this lot and leave Africa’s rhino and elephants alone?
So why were we putting ourselves through this?
Vultures aren’t the world’s prettiest birds – that characteristic bald head helps keep the head clean when feeding on a carcass – but they (and the Marabou Storks) are arguably the most useful, and need to be protected.
Populations of the eleven species of African vulture have declined considerably. Threats vary, but include poisoning, loss of habitat, trapping for food and witchcraft.
Vultures are nature’s most successful scavengers. Known by some as ‘Superman of the bird world,’ vultures can eat Anthrax (without dying) and quickly dispose of diseased carcasses (without catching the disease) – and no other animal will eat their carcass.
In the past decade, hundreds of vultures have been accidentally killed across East Africa after consuming poisoned animals set to kill lions and hyenas which had attacked livestock. Vultures are also intentionally poisoned by poachers because the presence of circling vultures alerts wildlife authorities to the location of poachers’ illegal activities.
Hooded Vulture soaring above Kampala. PHOTO Achilles Byaruhanga
Three Hooded Vultures, Kampala. PHOTO Veena Naik
In a recent incident, 48 vultures were poisoned near the Ishasha River on the Congo border, their bodies found scattered along a path heading back to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
In Kenya, vulture numbers in the Maasai Mara National Reserve have declined by an average of 62% since the 1970s. Vultures have some of the lowest reproductive rates among birds, making them particularly vulnerable. A decade ago none of Kenya’s eight vulture species was on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; now 6 out of 8 species are on the Red List, with populations declining at an alarming rate.
Information on Kenyan vultures edited from Summit to save Africa’s vulture populations from extinction on ‘African Raptors‘.
Hammerkop getting in on the act! Huge numbers of Marabou Storks overseeing the fish processing near Nateete, Kampala
So how is the demise of this ugly old bird linked to human health?
Following a decimation of the vulture numbers in India, there’s been an increase in disease transmission among dogs and rats. The subsequent increase in dogs and rabies is blamed for an estimated human health costs of $1.5 billion a year. If vulture numbers continue to decline in Kampala, what might be the impact on the residents of the city?
Too hot to trot! Nothing goes to waste here …molokony (cow hoof) is a popular hangover cure
Back at the abattoir, the authorities were suspicious of the muzungu wandering around with a camera – all except this guy: “You take my picture” he said.
My idea of hell – but just another day at work for this guy
Once beyond the understandably suspicious questions “are you from the Ministry of Health?” people seemed quite interested in what we were doing. Someone offered to feed the birds for us (for a fee). Another guy asked if we could solve the problem of the Marabous shitting on (and therefore destroying) his zinc roof!
At Kyengera, the unmistakable smell of burning flesh led us by the nose down to a shack where a whole cow’s head sat roasting on an open fire. For 500 shillings (the cost of two chapatis) I was invited to take a photo – or (just for laughs!) pose with the man stoking the fire and roasting the head – somehow that just seemed one step too far.
Aren’t you glad I didn’t take that last photo?
The species: in order of population size, Uganda has the following Vultures: White-backed, Hooded, Ruppell’s, Palm Nut, Lappet-faced, White-headed and Egyptian.
To learn more about the Kampala vulture counts, and other activities, visit the Nature Uganda web site.
If you like birds, check out the muzungu‘s Birds page for lots more Ugandan birding stories!
Look up! Urban birding Kampala-style
The view from Long Crested Towers, Kampala
Kampala is a dusty, polluted city of 2 million inhabitants. The crowded industrial area slap bang in the centre of town, sits cheek by jowl with a slum of 100,000 people and a creaking and inadequate sewage system pours filth into nearby Lake Victoria. Drainage channels (for the country’s voluminous heavy rains) are the preferred waste disposal solution for many a Kampala household.
Originally on seven hills, the capital’s urban sprawl now covers at least three times that many hills now, the city’s population nurtured by rapid and increased urbanisation and the world’s 3rd highest birth rate.
But for all this, Kampala is still a birder’s dream with over 300 species. Forest birds, such as Black and White Casqued Hornbills, nest in a few remaining large trees in the city environs and Palmnut Vultures nest overlooking the golf course in the middle of the city.
I work in the centre of the capital and live in Bukasa, just 4 miles outside town – or less, as the Pied Crow flies. To many Kampalans, I may as well live in De Bush!
You can set your watch by the sound of the early morning birdsong in Uganda, more or less constant throughout the year, thanks to the country’s position on the Equator. The Woodland Kingfisher wakes me at 5.30 am sharp, very sharp; its shrill call forces my head off the pillow.
Great and Long Tailed Cormorants, Cattle and Little Egrets, Marabou Storks and Pink Backed Pelicans fly south towards the lake from their roosting site atop a statuesque hardwood Mvule tree in the middle of Kyangoga slum. They’re joined by the occasional Grey-Crowned Crane, Uganda’s most elegant national symbol. Usually seen in pairs, these Cranes mate for life, a commitment which, irony of all ironies, makes their eggs highly prized as wedding gifts – or so the urban myth goes. The Crane is further highly threatened due to destruction of its wetland habitat for conversion to farmland and agriculture (Uganda is a predominantly subsistence economy).
Iridescent Ruppell’s Starlings chuckle and scold from atop the water tank, swooping down to the garden tap to drink. Northern Grey-headed Sparrows pick at the crumbs left by the dogs and Red-billed firefinches bob in and out of the Bougainvillea. The hullaballo of a giant Eastern Grey Plantain Eater makes me look up as we pass under the electricity wire by the gate.
An early morning stroll with the dogs takes me along dusty marram roads towards Lake Victoria, a sea of Papyrus (and the inevitable construction sites) separating us from the men in dugout canoes fishing for Tilapia.
Kampala is a huge building site. Banana plantations and cassava plots metamorphose overnight. Over the past three years, we’ve frequently had to double back on ourselves when confronted by yet another new fence, a wall or a pile of freshly-baked red bricks.
And yet, turn a corner, and you’re back in the village, with ducks at your feet and a herd of cows slowly ambling past you.
The dogs scamper through the rough bush next to the house, inevitably picking up ticks left by grazing livestock. Cows are a status symbol in Uganda; the more you own, the greater respect you command. The dogs’ ticks can balloon to juicy fat currants before I notice them (where are the Oxpeckers when you need them?)
An African Open-Billed Stork, picking over the freshly hoed earth for snails, flies off at the sight of the dogs. A pair of Hadada Ibis cackle comically overhead – (no chance of a lie-in once these guys land on your roof).
A White-browed Coucal watches us from its perch on a termite mound.
Further down the track, en route to Port Bell fish landing site on Lake Victoria, we watch Hooded Vultures and Marabou Storks jostle for pickings amongst a big pile of fresh slaughtered pig heads at the open-air abattoir next to the railway track. The enormous Marabou Stork has a wing span of over two metres and is a frequent flier over Kampala. They can clean up faster than the City council: every day an estimated 10,000 of these scavengers (the largest known colony in the world) clean up 1-2 tons of the capital’s rubbish.
As the day warms up, we double back across the scrub, home to Long Crested Towers.*
A Long-Crested Eagle watched me from a telegraph post when I first viewed my new house; I took it as a good sign. No looking back – only up 😉
*With a nod to one of my conservation heros, Gerald Durrell.
This post was originally written for David Lindo, the Urban Birder. He says “It’s estimated that by 2050 at least 75% of humankind will be living in cities. Many of us never leave our city environments. But within our sprawling cities there is birdlife to be found — sometimes in surprising abundance. If we open our eyes, look up and listen it will make itself known to us. What we have to do is learn how to appreciate the nature on our doorsteps and then we will fully understand the importance of worldwide conservation.”
David has a few Urban Birding tips to get you started:
- Look up
- Ignore people — see buildings as cliffs and mountainsides
- Have as your mantra: “Anything can turn up anywhere at any time”
- Enjoy yourself!
Thanks David for the inspiration and the words of encouragement!
If you like birds, check out the muzungu‘s Birds page for lots more Ugandan birding stories!
Do you want to go gorilla trekking in Rwanda?
“Welcome to your home for the next few days” said Eunice, as we sat down for afternoon tea and gorilla trekking travel advice at the outdoor reception of Le Bambou Gorilla Resort, Kinigi in Rwanda.
After 12 hours on the bus, 10 hours from Kampala to Kigali and another 2 hours onto Kinigi, we were delighted to be able to stretch our legs. (I think next time I’ll fly!)
A troupe of dancers from the local village welcomed us with singing and dancing and we watched as passers-by gathered in a neighbouring field to enjoy the singing. What a beautiful way to start our stay. The music stayed with me as we were shown to our private cabin, set among pretty flower gardens. Made of solid volcanic rock, the cabins give you a feeling of total seclusion from the outside world. It felt like home right away, even more so when at dusk a man appeared at our door, his arms laden with firewood, to light a fire for us. It was cold up in the mountains. (Staying on the edge of Volcanoes National Park should have been a clue to the weather, I guess!)
What’s on the breakfast menu?
We ate well at Le Bambou Gorilla! Breakfast comprised freshly fried samosas, delicious omelettes and the tastiest yellow yolked eggs, the best passionfruit juice we’d ever tasted, local honey (crystallised in the cool mountain air), tea or coffee (Rwandese of course!) and more fabulous fresh fruit. There was, of course, the ubiquitous Blueband margarine! – the favourite spread on many an East African breakfast table.
How much is gorilla trekking in Rwanda?
Many people only know Kinigi or Musanze for gorilla trekking, but there’s a variety of ways to spend your time. Enjoying the peace and the wonderful views should not be underestimated!
Here are the current prices to track gorillas in Rwanda. We didn’t trek the gorillas that week-end – although I have since. Trekking the gorillas in Rwanda is quite a different experience to Diary of a Muzungu’s gorilla trekking in Uganda – but both were superb!
If you need advice on buying Rwanda gorilla permits, please contact the Muzungu.
What tourist activities are there in Kinigi area of Rwanda?
The local area, formerly known as Ruhengeri, is best known for being the Rwandan access point to see the Mountain Gorillas and so, on our first morning, we hitched a lift down to the entrance to Volcanoes National Park, just for a nose. Here you can visit the site of Kwita Izina the annual Gorilla Naming Ceremony, see beautiful bamboo huts, read more about the life of the Mountain Gorilla and visit a good quality craft shop, whose profits all benefit the local community. I came back to Kampala laden with baskets and woven pots!
- To really get a feel for a place, a visit to the local market is an absolute must. As our hosts toured Musanze market doing their weekly shop, we caused quite a stir by trying the Yellow Passionfruit and the Tree Tomatoes (a cross between Passion fruit and Pomegranate) and sharing our fresh popcorn with the local kids.
- Cultural village and village walk.
- Musanze Caves, on the outskirts of Musanze town (not far from Kinigi) are a relatively new attraction, now open to tourists. Guided tours are available.
Any Rwanda travel tips to share?
- The Rwandese speak Kinyarwanda, a Bantu language similar to those of Western Uganda and Burundi. Although English is now the official ‘lingua franca’ language, many people still only speak French – or speak neither English nor French! Travel with a phrase book or a local guide if you can.
- Beware the Akabanga chilli oil! The small plastic bottle – on every dining table – of what looks like eyedrops is in fact a noxious equivalent of West Indian scotch bonnet sauce. Seek directions before use!
- Tourist visas: British passport holders (like me) have to purchase an entry visa. Boo. Luckily, Rwandese entry visas can be purchased on arrival. You can also buy them online before traveling.
Travel tips: how do you travel from Uganda to Kinigi, Rwanda?
- Public transport is available virtually all the way to the lodge. (We traveled from Kampala, through Kigali). It’s easy, safe and cheap.
- Although many people would prefer to drive or fly, if you’re on a budget – or simply want to have a more African experience – a selection of bus services run several times a day between Kampala to Kigali. Smaller buses then go north to Musanze, from where you can take a car or ‘moto’ motorbike taxi onto Le Bambou.
- We chose to travel from Kampala with Jaguar Executive Coaches, recommended to us by Ugandans who have made the trip many times. The buses were clean, on time, comfortable (enough) and we and our luggage all arrived intact, both legs of the trip.
Le Bambou Gorilla Village, Kinigi, Rwanda is a small independent lodge owned by Jacky Gatera and Emmanuel Mujawayzu.
DISCLOSURE: This blog is based on my personal experience. I was lucky enough to be given a free night’s stay in return for this blog post. For more information, read the Muzungu’s Terms and Conditions. This is an edited version of a lodge review I wrote for The Eye Magazine Rwanda.
Have you been gorilla trekking in Rwanda? What are your Rwanda travel tips?
Down in the slum, after the rain
A glimpse of life in Namuwongo ‘go down’ along Kampala’s railway track
Marabou Storks along the railway line in Kampala. Photo Achilles Byaruhanga, www.NatureUganda.org
The air is damp and heavy, the air is cool and last week’s fine, dusty marram earth is compacted beneath our feet. Limbs have been torn off the Pawpaw tree the other side of the compound wall and a single giant leaf, over four metres long, has been torn off the Palm tree. It lies there on the grass looking pathetic, no longer the majestic bough waving in the breeze.
It’s rained hard for the last two days. It’s a blessed relief for us all, although Baldrick’s been curled up in a tight ball on the doormat; he lives outside and the cold has got into his bones. He thinks nothing of stretching out in the sun in the heat of the day for hours: my Ugandan dog.
I decide to take advantage of the cool morning to go for a long walk and we take the short route down the path onto the railway line. It’s a sea of mud and empty cavera carrier bags. Water runs freely and collects in greenish grey puddles suffocated with plastic rubbish. The ducks are caked in mud and oil and the giant Marabou Storks peer down at us from atop the rubbish dumps.
I pick my way up and down the smooth marram pathway that winds its way between the makeshift shacks and public latrines. Here, all life happens out in the open, either side of the path: women deep fry cassava in big open woks just a foot from the main path. Children sit on dirty wooden benches next to open charcoal stoves, surrounded by plastic basins of washing-up, giant beaten aluminium pots of beans and converted oil drums brewing god knows what.
A man wants me to buy smoked dried fish.
“Salina ssente” I say – “I don’t have any money” – unwilling to open my bag in an area I don’t know and glad I won’t have to buy these fish that are covered in flies.
Two women hold a large piece of tripe over a bucket, one of them sawing it into two pieces. Muddy ‘Irish’ potatoes spill out of a sack onto the piles of black shiny charcoal.
To see a muzungu down in the slum must be quite unusual and I don’t hear the same number of greetings I get elsewhere. When I do speak, I’m aware many people don’t speak Luganda; many are refugees from northern Uganda or even further afield, South Sudan.
Wherever they’re from, the children still speak as one of course: “muzungu-how-are-you?” comes the chorus.
This is one of many walks that have taken me through the slum. It’s as fascinating as it is grim.
I used to live a stone’s throw away from Namuwongo ‘go down.’ The noise from the shanty town along the railway tracks was a constant backdrop to my life. I miss it. Here’s more about the terrible effects of the heavy rains on life in the slum
I was embarrassed recently to dispose my rubbish in Namuwongo slum.
Imagine: elephants swimming to an island!
Last week I had an elephant encounter at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe.
Baby elephant Charles loves to play football! Here he is at five months old
When you first encounter this baby elephant Charlie, thoughts of murder are far from your mind.
Originally from Queen Elizabeth National Park, Charles was brought to UWEC (a.k.a. the zoo) at the tender age of three weeks old, a victim of poachers that tragically saw him orphaned and then abandoned.
Fishermen of Hamukungu fishing village found baby Charles abandoned on the shores of an island on Lake George, trying to swim. Since there were no other elephants nearby, and the baby was about to drown, the rescuers loaded Charles into their wooden dugout canoe and paddled him back to Hamukungu.
Can you imagine – seeing a baby elephant being paddled across the lake!
The fishermen were compensated for their quick-thinking by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and fisherman Charles was delighted for the elephant to be named after him!
Two days after the dramatic marine rescue, the carcass of an adult male elephant with six bullet wounds to the head and thoracic regions (indicative of poachers) was found submerged, next to the same island. It’s suspected that ivory poachers may have scared the elephant family away, leaving behind the newborn baby.
On arrival at UWEC a week later, baby Charles was weak, exhausted, and extremely thirsty. He was believed to be about a week old, as the umbilical cord was still attached. He did not know how to suckle; neither did he know the taste of milk.
Bull elephant feeding along the Kazinga Channel. Can you spot the hippo?
Organisations like the Uganda Conservation Foundation are working hard with UWA to stop poaching, remind local people of the penalties for poaching and the benefits of community conservation. UCF is building the capacity of UWA to work on the waterways of Queen Elizabeth by providing boats, professional marine ranger training and ranger accommodation posts. Uganda’s National Parks were once teeming with wildlife but the politically unstable years of the 1970s and 80s killed off all the rhino and Queen Elizabeth’s elephant population dropped by approximately 80%. The population has been slowly recovering but tragically, the international trade in ivory is undergoing an unprecedented increase. At least 13 Ugandan elephants were killed for ivory in 2011 and they desperately need more protection.
To visit Charles or donate milk to feed him, contact UWEC on 0414 320 520 or 0414 320 169. UWEC is open every day from 8 am till 6 pm. You can also find UWEC on Facebook.
Can you play the Xylophone?
Check out the guys playing the giant xylophone at Kikorongo!
“Community tourism” bundles up a diverse range of activities – and can be great fun! – as a lucky group of us found out on a three-day UCOTA / Pearls of Uganda trip in and around Queen Elizabeth National Park recently.
Community tourism offers you the chance to find out first-hand what it’s like to farm your land (with the constant threat from hungry elephants) or to farm salt as people have done for 10,000 years on a crater lake (not a job for the squeamish).
Harvesting salt in Lake Katwe – and I complain about my job sometimes? A full post about this incredibly tough lifestyle to follow …
Watch a clip of the Women’s Dance Group at Kikorongo, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda
After the dance display at Kikorongo, I got a chance to try my hand at playing the enormous wooden xylophone. Admittedly, I was pretty rubbish.
Honey never tasted so good!
Like bees around the proverbial pot of honey, we couldn’t wait to dive into the fresh honeycomb at the BBC (Bunyangabu Beekeeping Cooperative). We wolfed down big dessertspoons of it, spitting out the waxy residue “like chewing gum.” The BBC is a training centre for would-be beekeepers. They also process and sell the finished products (honey, candles and Propolis).
Community tourism is a learning experience too. Did you know you can wash your clothes with the flesh of a pawpaw? Or that locally grown flowers can produce red, green, yellow, orange, blue, maroon and brown colour dyes?
Cissy poses amongst the multicoloured raffia – used to weave baskets at Rubona Basket Weavers’ Assoc
At the Foundation for Youth Development Agro-Tour in Kichwamba, the very knowledgable Benjamin pointed out the Trees of the Gods and the medicinal uses of the various plants and trees, as he took us all on a walk through the banana plantation.
Did you know that the Neem tree can treat an astounding 135 diseases? (I wish I had one in my compound – they even deter mosquitoes and insects!) Tawny Prinia, Northern Bishop and African Blue Flycatchers were a few of the birds we saw (apparently there are 250 species along Kyambura escarpment).
A serious moment! At the cave of the God of the Hunters, Kichwamba. Note the pile of elephant dung!
Midway on our walk, we paused to pay our respects to the God of the Hunters at the cave, as Benjamin talked about hunting rituals and the importance of totems to conservation.
Time was too short to cut herbs and bathe in the river running through the cave below the wonderful Nyanz’ibiri ‘Between Two Lakes’ Community Eco-campsite – next time! – and perhaps then Felex, I really will sleep in the beautiful Banyaruguru hut!
A very frumpy-looking Muzungu checking out the traditional accommodation option (hey we’d been on the road 3 days, ok?!)
To find out more about these and many other fascinating days out, visit the UCOTA / Pearls of Uganda web sites or contact the Muzungu for Uganda travel ideas.
Have you visited any of the Pearls of Uganda community tourism projects? Which ones would you recommend?
