A Hidden Beach

While I was travelling around Tanzania and Zanzibar, I realized that the one thing I missed was the water. Mbarara is known for its matoke. There are matoke plantations everywhere, literally, and since being here, I have only seen a few minor streams and rivers. However, my friend and co-worker from FAOC, Deborah, sent me a message one day telling me she was taking me to the beach. I was very skeptical at first...what beach could possibly be in Mbarara? However, once I got there, I was amazed. Hidden just outside of the city limits is a rocky area where the river flows very fast. There are waterfalls in this area and the owner of the land is converting the site into a resort and banquet center. It was really cool. Because Deborah is friends with the owner, he gave us free drinks and food. So, we drank beer, ate muchomo (goat meat...I dont know how, but I am able to eat it, well more like swallow it whole, when I have to) and watched kids fish on the river. It was a good day.

Tusker

Tusker is the name of a popular beer here, but it is also the name of a tiny little kitten that I have been delegated to care for. She was found by some other NGO workers here and they pawned her off onto us FOAC workers, knowing that we would provide better veterinary care for her. She has been fun to take care of except for the fact that she is not yet litter trained. Hopefully in time that will happen. Until then, my room has a odd aroma consisting of tuna fish and cat pee...gross!!!

On a different note, I have updated my blog entrys from my trip, so there are now photos of the gorillas and of the serengeti posted.

The Best Day of My Life

We arrived safely in Entebbe, Uganda around midnight on Saturday. We spent the night at Green Valley Hotel and Sarah left for New York that morning at 530 am. That morning Judy and I went to the Entebbe wildlife park to see the chimpanzees, and other animals, of course. When we first got to the park, we were amazed at the number of bugs around. There were swarms of lake flies that were so thick that it looked like it was snowing. We had to keep our mouths covered to prevent inhaling the flies. I still managed to swallow and inhale a few, but I think they are harmless. We wandered through the park and got some good pictures of rhinos, monkeys, lions, etc. It was great. We went to the chimpanzee area and I was lucky to meet up with Edmund, the man that I had talked to when I was at the wildlife park at the end of April, when I first passed through Entebbe. He and I talked about safaris and chimp behaviour for well over an hour, like we did the last time I was at the park. He introduced me to a volunteer program that allows people to work directly with the animals in that park. I told him that it has been my lifelong dream to work with the great apes and that I am fascinated with chimpanzees. After a long time of talking, I was just about to leave to catch our private hire ride to Kampala when Edmund asked me "can you jump the fence?" I said "of course," and followed him to a restricted area where there was a 2 year old chimpanzee named Achan sitting on the grass. Edmund called her over and she ran up and grabbed my leg. I grabbed her hands, lifted her up, and she clung to my body. She was beautiful! Her hands were so soft and it is amazing how weighless she felt because she held her own body weight. She climbed onto my head and began grooming my hair. It was amazing. When it was time to go (we were half an hour late for our ride to Kampala) I had a very hard time letting her go. It was hard because she had taken a liking to me and refused to let go of me. Edmund had to convince her to let go and he peeled her off of me. It was sad to leave but I was SOOOO happy. I am now one thousand percent that I need to work with the great apes directly. I am going to try to set up a volunteer position at the wildlife park for the end of my trip here. I can't wait! For now, that was the BEST day I have ever experienced.

One of the resident chimpanzees relaxing:

Another requesting more food:

A red-tailed monkey trying to figure out how to get the pulp out of an orange:

A habituated black rhino:

Zanzibar

I was excited to go to Zanzibar but I had NO idea just how beautiful it would be. We spent our first day in Stone Town and wandered through the mazes of ancient buildings. We ate some delicious gelato ice cream and bought some random things. The city is amazing, mostly because of the architecture and the fact that it is right on the water. We went on a sunset boat ride in the evening and toured the island. It was a perfect day. The next day, we left for the north of the island where all the beaches are. We stayed at Kendwa beach. It was AMAZING!!! I never thought a beach could so beautiful. The water was crystal blue and the white sand beaches were huge. The Indian Ocean was very warm!!! We lounged on the beach the first day and then went snorkelling the second day. Then we left the following morning to fly back to Entebbe. I was sad to leave and my experience in the airport there did not help. Zanzibar has been without electricity for the past 2 months. I guess the government is mad at them because none of the locals seem to know why they are without electricity. So first we stood outside of the airport in a huge line for an hour because without computers, internet and electricity, the airport staff were unable to check electronic airplane tickets. So they had to call a different airline center and check tickets in over the phone...it took forever! Once we got into the airport, it was time to go through security. To check our hand luggage, the guards lifted up the bags and dropped them on the counter. If there was no "clunk" that meant the luggage must be free of guns. If it "clunked" they manually searched the bag. Once clearing security, we were directed to a small waiting room that was full of people and mosquitos!!! It was aweful. There was also no running water in the airport so the bathrooms were non-functional. There was a woman in the bathroom who poured water into the non-flushing toilet and then afterwards, used a jerry can with water to wash your hands. The funniest part was the fact that the duty free store in the airport had a generator complete with airconditioning...ridiculous! But, with exception to the medieval airport from hell, Zanzibar was unforgetable. I am just sad that we were not able to spend more time there.

Tanzania Safari

We have spent the last 6 days out on safari. It has been amazing. We started at the Tarangire National Park for 1 day, then went to the Serengeti National Park for 2 days, then to the Ngorongoro Crater for 1 day and lastly to Lake Manyara. We have seen every type of wildlife imaginable. Our first day in the Serengeti, we saw many lions, 2 cheetahs and a leopard. When we were in the crater, we saw 2 adult rhinos and a baby. Such sightings are considered rare, but we had the BEST safari driver ever. He did his best to get us to the good sightings in the nick of time. There is not much else to say; I think pictures (once I post them) will do a much better job.
There were a few funny things that happened on the trip. When we were in the Tarangire Park, we had just driven up to a herd of elephants. There were many young ones in the herd, so the adults were being naturally protective. Just as we were to attempt to drive away, we realized that the battery for the vehicle had died. So, Judy, Sarah and I got out and pushed a huge12 passenger landrover with elephants very near. It was a bit freaky, but exciting nonetheless! Another scary experience happened as we were leaving the crater. There are very steap roads that lead up the side of the crater. That day had been quite wet and the dirt roads were very slippery. As we were driving up them, we came up behind a driver in another SUV who was following a passenger bus. The driver in the SUV was being soooo stupid and was aggressively honking at the bus so that he could pass. I am not sure that he understood that the road was wide enough for one car, let alone a bus, and that there was a steep cliff on the other side of the road. So, the bus attempted to slow down but began sliding down the
road, towards the cliff edge. The idiot in the SUV continued to try to pass the weaving bus, while we were reversing to avoid it from hitting us. Thankfully, the bus driver was a good one and maneuvered his bus to a stop.

For the most part, the trip went off without a hitch. We gorged on food and watched animals in nature all day. It doesn't get much better than that...well maybe it does. We are off to Zanzibar tomorrow where I plan to do nothing expect snorkel and lay on the beach!

The Susa Mountain Gorillas

Yesterday, we went to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda to trek the mountain gorillas. We took the bus from Kigali to Ruhengeri the day before and stayed at a strange hotel in that city. We had asked the woman at the hotel to arrange a ride for us in the morning so that we could travel to the park headquarters in Kinigi by 7 in the morning. We thought everything was fine until we saw her at 9 pm at night and she told us she would talk to transport people the next day. Apparently her english was not as good as her french. So we had a momentary panic. If a person does not show up by 7am at the headquarters, his/her 500 USD permit becomes invalidated. There is no way to reach the headquarters without private transport and that is virtually impossible to find at 6 in the morning in a small town. Luckily the woman had some friends at another hotel and they were able to arrange transport for us, although we didn't know this until close to 11 pm at night. In the morning, things were much better. There was a driver waiting for us just before 6, in an old van. At first, we were unsure if the man was even taking us to the right place, but once we reached the park headquarters, we realized that he had more connections than we thought. He talked to the park warden and arranged to have us see the Susa gorilla group. It is the largest group of gorillas with 39 members, a set of twins, and 3 silverbacks, which makes this group particuarly popular. Many of the tourists at the park requested the group, but our driver had connections and we were selected for the group along with 5 other people. The only catch to the Susa group is that they are the farthest away. This meant that transport was double the price (100 USD!!!) and that the gorrillas were a minimum 2 hour hike away. 2 hours didnt seem like a big deal until we started climbing up the mountain. They failed to mention that it was a strictly up hill hike. Initially this were fine until we reached the heart of the forest. Dirt flooring turned to thick mud and each step uphill was followed by a 2 step slide down the hill. I fell into a thick thorn bush, puncturing my hands and scraping my face; I fell backwards and forwards (on separate occasions) into stinging neddles; and I managed to cover my shoes, pants and hands in thick mud. I was quite the adventure and at one point, I continued to fall down the mountain because I could not help myself from laughing. After a long 2 and 1/2 hours, we heard some noise in the forest, and within a few steps, we saw the first gorilla. It was a blackback (young male) sitting so still that he looked like a statue. Once I got over my disbelief, we continued a few more feet and stubbled into a nesting area. There were huge gorillas resting in nests high in the bush, young gorillas twirling around vines the way children would on a rope tire and others feeding on bamboo shoots. It was simply amazing to watch them. We saw the twin gorillas who are 4 years old. They are the only set of twins in history to survive to this age. Apparently, one of the younger males helped the mother to raise them and this is what allowed them to survive. We were getting very comfortable with the gorillas, standing a mere 5 feet away from them. We got a bit too close though because a silverback (number 3) walked behind one of the men of the group and hit his back. Apparently he hit quite hard so we backed off a bit. As they moved through the forest, we followed them. We saw a mother with her very young infant, and she seemed comfortable passing very close to us. The young gorillas were also so busy playing at some points that they didnt realize how close they rolled towards us. At one point a young baby ran beside me and grabbed my leg. It startled me but it was cute, nonetheless. Near the end of our time with the gorillas, we found the number one silverback. He was huge. Each of us took turns taking photos of us very near him. It was definately a very amazing experience. Gorillas are beautiful creatures and it is amazing how accepting they are of people. After the long trek up the mountain, I was sure that the journey down the mountain would be less painful. I was lucky that there was less slipping and falling involved and obviously less strength, but the trip down was not good for my bad knee. It became really painful going down the mountain and near the end I was hobbling. Today, my knee is stiff and painful. It has always been weak, but I guess I pushed it too far. Oh well, the gorillas were worth it. Luckily, Sarah and Judy are carrying my bags for me while I rest. Next stop, the Serengeti...

Rwanda

On Saturday, Sarah and I left for Rwanda. I was very nervous about taking the Jaguar bus to Kigali because of my experience a few weeks earlier. I had been travelling to the village to treat some rabbits when a Jaguar bus tried to pass me on a very narrow road. The bus clipped my car, hit the sideview mirror and continued driving at 100km/hr. As the bus passed in front of me, the tail pipe flew off and almost smashed the windshield. So, I had good reason to be concerned about my safety. Sarah convinced me (rightly so) that everything would be fine, and we got on the bus, ready for a 6 hour journey. We were instructed to sit in a couple of seats by the conductor of the bus. This created a huge fight between 2 people because the bus had actually overbooked the bus, and kicked 2 people out of their seats so us whites could sit. I felt bad about this. There was a bunch of arguments from people around us and with the conductor. Luckily we couldnt understand the local language, but I think they were saying many nasty things about us. The man in front of us refused to move seats, even though he was seated in the wrong spot...and so you can see, the ride was chaotic from the start. We arrived at the Uganda-Rwanda border without a problem and we were told to get off the bus to walk across the border on foot. Sarah and I were the last to get off the bus and it seemed as though everyone from the bus had disappeared. We walked around the border clueless for 10 minutes or so until one of the patrons on the bus recognized our confusion and guided us to the customs office. He then showed us to a second office and then to the area to have our baggage checked for plastics (they are prohibited in Rwanda). This made the crossing very nice and we made a friend. When we started driving around the Rwandan hills, chaos broke out yet again. The hind luggage compartment had not been sealed properly and a womans luggage had fallen out as we were driving. The bus stopped, but the woman was only able to retrieve one of her bags. She was screaming hysterically at the bus conductor and it took a good 15 minutes before we were driving again. After this, things were fine and we arrived in Kigali safely. The bus stopped in a HUGE bus park filled with hundreds of vehicles, buses and even more people. Sarah and I had NO idea where to go or what bus to get on etc. The worst part is that taxis are hard to find here. They have public taxis, private ones, and other types. I dont understand their transport system. Luckily, the guy on the bus that helped us at the border (Steve), helped us once again. He and his friend (the stubborn guy that sat in front of us, Gift) recognized our confusion and offered to drive us to a hotel. I was nervous at first about getting in a car with 3 random men, but they seemed nice enough so off we went. Gift (the stubborn one, with a really interesting name) and his brother Innocent and their friend Steve drove us around looking for a suitable hotel. We found one and they dropped us off. We made plans to meet up again for supper and we went out for beer and bruschette (roasted goat meat, like muchomo). After supper, they drove us to the airport where we picked up Judy, our friend from Canada who is working at FAOC with us. They then dropped us off at our hotel. Our first day in Rwanda went very well, thanks to our friends that we randomly met.

Today, we went to the genocide museum which was heart-wrenching. There is not much else I can say about it. Afterwards, we took tea at the Hotel des Milles Collines. The hotel is not what I expected it to look like (partly because the hotel in the movie, Hotel Rwanda, was in South Africa, not Rwanda) but it was still nice to see.

Some random interesting things about Rwanda
1) The city is incredibly CLEAN. There is no dirt on the roads, garbage on the sidewalk, etc. This is much unlike Kampala.
2) Plastic type flip flops are illegal here. Weird.
3) It is mandatory to wear seatbelts in the front seats of vehicles only. In Uganda, wearing seatbelts is unheard of.
4) All people on bodas (motorbikes) must wear helmets and only 1 passenger per bike is allowed. In Uganda, there are no helmets and bodas there will take as many people that can fit on 1 bike.

I don't have access to the program I need to upload photos so I will post them once I return to Uganda in 2 weeks. Sarah, Judy and I are off to trek gorillas on Tuesday (I am so excited!!!) and then on Wednesday, we fly to Arusha to start our Serengeti safari adventure. We wrap up this part of the trip in Zanzibar for 3 days, then Judy and I head back to Entebbe, through Kampala and back to Mbarara.

Introducing Kenti

We spent the day in Kitooha on Friday. Kitooha is a very hilly parish that we have not spent much time at in the past. We went there to deliver a meat buck for the group to use and also to treat the goats that we passed out on Monday. When we arrived, all the ladies from the parish were collected at the church. We were very confused as to why because we were just supposed to drop the goat off and treat some other animals at the respective owner's homes. Instead, we created a makeshift agenda on the spot and held a parish meeting. We were still confused as to why there was such a big turnout for our arrival. During the meeting, we were served Bruschera, which is a fermented millet drink. It kind of tastes like liquid sour cream. I cant say whether I like it or not because I take it whenever it is offered. We talked about some future plans for the parish and then left to treat the goats. We walked around the hills/mountains, treating goats. Luckily it was a cool day. When we arrived back at the church, we were instructed to go into the church. They set up a table and served us food. They prepared beef and matoke and gave us soda. This is a HUGE deal in this parish because many of the women have no access to water themselves, let alone being able to buy soda for us. Serving meat is also a very big deal because beef especially is very expensive. The gesture was amazing and we realised that they were thanking us for the work we had been doing for them (although it has been very little) and for the work that we will be doing in the future. When we had finished eating, we passed out the meat buck who we named Kenti, after Dr. Kent who left Uganda a couple days earlier. Of course, we took photos (I will upload soon) and everyone was very happy. In the meantime, all the school children from nearby had collected in a circle around us because they saw muzungus and wanted to know what was going on. We were just getting ready to leave when one woman brought a bench outside. We were told to sit. Another woman brought out an empty jerry can and a stick. She began to use it as a drum, and the women began to sing. They performed a traditional Ugandan dance for us...it was awesome!!! Near the end, the woman invited the school children to dance with then and they did. As everyone was dancing, I was feeling particularly brave, ran in and joined the group. They ladies and children were SOOOO happy to have me dancing with them. They began hugging me and shaking my hands like crazy. The children kept touching me because they were curious to know what a muzungu felt like. It was a really amazing experience. The best part is I got it all on video!!! Afterwards, one of the women said that she was really happy to have us working in her parish. She said had always thought that whites would want to segregate themselves from the locals. She was suprised that we were happy to take her food and drink, and better yet that we interacted with them on a personal level. I was suprised to hear her say that, but I was also saddened by the fact that she had reason to say that. Interacting with the local people in Uganda has been the highlight of my travels thus far. It has been a priceless experience!!!