The Last Post

Tomorrow, I will be electronics free. I have managed to sell my iPhone, my iPad and my computer as all needed to be upgraded anyway at home. Rather than have the items sent to the recycling depot, they are still good and can serve another person quite well.

So this is my last blog post. Thank you to everyone who read it and commented; it was great to get feedback about our experiences here.

What I wanted to end with is a list of "what I won't will miss" and "what I will miss" for you to enjoy.

What I won't miss...
- weevils in my pasta (although one or two make the pasta still edible and they float to the top when they are thrown into boiling water)
- weevils in my popcorn (there is just no way to pick those out)
- Sunday church that shook my walls from 8am-noon each week
- the horny billy goat next door
- the jerk who honked his horn repeatedly and for a long time when his askari took longer than 2.5 seconds to open the gate
- the burning garbage
- ants, cockroaches, flying ants, mosquitoes, and other nasty little bugs
- the mosquito net
- bread that has to be kept in the fridge to prevent it from going moldy
- jams
- the Congolese bar at 3am
- the incessant noise


What I will miss...
- my special friends who have been so wonderful to spend time with this year
- Andrew and Anna who fit into the first category but who also hold a special place in my heart for their dedication to ISEE
- Apollo for his amazing driving, his laugh, his special strut, his political talks
- Edgar for always keeping the compound beautiful
- Simba the wonderdog and Saturday pancakes
- the amazing birds that come to visit
- the beautiful landscape
- passion fruit
- avocado, pineapple, mango, pawpaw and sometimes even jackfruit in small doses
- matooke, posho, boah, dodo, nakati
- going to eat local food with Apollo
- all our ISEE work and the amazing mamas
- my avocado seedling
- my handsome newspaper man
- the people who now recognize us and greet us
- the dvd store
- passionfruit jam and odi
- the tremendous thunderstorms
- the amazing skies, sunrises and sunsets
- learning Lugandan
- the neighbour's friendly wave when I hang out the laundry

But what I will miss most of all is being in Uganda!

The adventure will continue...



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My Avocado Seedling

Meet my avocado tree. I planted it just before we went to South Africa in February. I started the seed in December in water and thought it needed to be planted before we were away for a week.




I always create a garden or grow plants when we are away for a while; I had several plants in China that I gave to the gate man in Tai Ping Dian when we left (he had a beautiful oasis of plants in his front room) but potted plants here in Uganda seem a bit counter-intuitive. There are many roadside nurseries in Uganda but all the plants are in massive pots or in the garden.




My contribution to the environment here is my avocado. Simba has promised to watch it for me to make sure it's not chopped down.

I tried to grow cluster onions but they started growing i. Rainy season and died the first hot day. Then they started growing again in the next rainy sason but have died again. I think I don't really know how to grow these types of onions. It's not as simple as just pulling them apart and planting them apparently!

I did plant ginger that we have harvested and used for tea. There are still some roots in the soil that are now starting to sprout again.

I planted my poinsettia from Christmas too. No-one knows what it is so hopefully it won't become an invasive species and take over Uganda. I doubt it'll bloom again because there is no colder season.

I wonder if any of it will still be around next year!


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The chicken in the room

When we returned from Lamwo and spent the night in Kitgum before going to Gulu, Grace bought a chicken that she decided to leave in the van overnight. Anyone who knows me knows that I could not possibly leave a chicken in a van overnight. So I put it in a box and it moved into our guest house room. So instead of the elephant in the room, we have decided to talk about the chicken in the room.

My chicken in the room is called corruption. I am not talking about big C Corruption in politics, I'm talking about the little day to day corruption thats we encounter. In the past month, we have had two incidents with traffic enforcement officers looking for money.

Usually the time when school fees are due or at Christmas, the traffic police pull more cars over and "find" major infractions that should be ticketed but for a small monetary donation to the school fees/christmas fund, the ticket is waved and just a warning is given. Everyone jokes about it but it continues because people continue to pay these bribes.

Today, we are driving home from Jinja and there is a section with construction where all traffic comes to crawl and possible stand-still. As we were crawling along in our lane, a mini-bus comes in the magical centre lane that is often invented when someone feels traffic is going too slowly and creates this new lane.

There we are, crawling along, and this mini-bus comes along and decides it wants to come in front of us. Apollo continues to move along slowly but the mini-bus continues to move forward. This is often how traffic moves along. One moves and then another tries to squeeze in and eventually everyone gets into the appropriate lane.

Suddenly the mini-bus pushes forward faster than the regulation squashing into a lane speed and Apollo has to move onto the shoulder to get out of the way. At that exact moment, a police officer turns and sees us on the shoulder. He flags us over.

"Why are you driving on the shoulder? Trying to pass on the shoulder? Why are you not in the lane to drive?" And on and on and on.

Apollo, Andrew and Corey attempt to make the portly piggy eyed man understand that we had actually been pushed into the lane.

"Why move over? If he is pushing you, you are not allowed to move into the shoulder lane. It is not a lane for driving."

"So you would have him knock us? Then we must stop and spend five hours of your time trying to determine who is at fault."

"You cannot drive on the shoulder."

Then Apollo switches to Lugandan to try to explain what happened.

"Don't speak Lugandan to me. I don't speak Lugandan. You speak English."

Well, this is BS because they all speak Lugandan. So Andrew and Apollo continue to explain what happened and the officer continues to say we were in the wrong. What he is hoping for is for an "I'm sorry, here's a little something something for your trouble." But he picked on the wrong van of mzungu.

He could see that he was losing this battle. His enthusiasm was waning and luckily, a truck decided this was a great time to drive in the oncoming lane to try to get further forward instead of waiting in the line of traffic. The officer blew his whistle and waved that truck over. He then half-heartedly waved back at us to continue on our way.

"I will say sorry if I am wrong and I will pay a ticket but I will not if I have not done anything wrong."

No sir, you are not getting any of our money.

Let's now move to another incident that happened about 3 weeks ago. We had just bought the 16 sewing machines and the tables for Lamwo so the van was rather full of boxes. We turned a corner and were flagged over.

"Yes Sir?" Apollo asks as we all say good afternoon and smile sweetly at the officer. This usually works to be waved on our way.

"Let me see your license." Apollo takes out his license for the officer to look at. The officer mentions Apollo's last name which identifies him as being from the central region. The officer then switches to Luganda.

This set off warning bells in my brain because the officer obviously did not want us to understand what he was saying. The officer then starts to tear a strip off Apollo.

"What's going on?" I asked Andrew.

"We have boxes on the seats. The officer is showing our permit that says we are a PMO vehicle, people mover only. So no boxes."

"Honestly? We can move people but no boxes? You have got be kidding me."

The officer continues to berate Apollo and point to the sticker on the window.

"Can I speak?" I ask Andrew.

"Just keep your mouth shut."

"Give me a ticket," says Apollo. "We will go pay it."

"You should not have boxes on your seats!"

Apollo eventually got out and went to speak with the officer from behind the van. However, he did not give him any money. Eventually the officer gave him a stern warning and said he would be watching for our van in the future.

When Apollo came back into the van, we said to him, "That man wanted a bribe!" He laughed.

"You know," he said, "I told the officer to give me a ticket and I would go to pay. But he does not want to give me a ticket. He wants to keep yelling at me and saying he will give me a ticket but he does not because if he gives me a ticket, I will go to the station and pay. He will not get any money."

Are those boxes on your seats I see?

Is that a bribe on your mind I detect?

Banange Uganda.

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Life in a Northern Town...

Remember that song? Sung by Dream Academy in 1985. A lovely song about a lovely town. So peaceful and serene, just like being in Nonai, Lamwo district, Northern Uganda.

Well, all the North really. There is something about this place that makes me breathe a sigh of relief and just slow down.

We've been North since Tuesday and this beautiful part of the world has offered me more incredible experiences. I love it here and would be happy with what it has offed me so far but this past week, I have had two more unbelievable, moving, humbling experiences.

We presented to 100 girls at Lalak primary on Friday. They were in grades 6 and 7 but must have been between 13 and 18 years old. This age at these grades is not unusual. After the presentation, Grace asked us if we would walk to her village to see her aunty and the homes that she built. The 100 girls followed us and sang all along the way. It gave me shivers to be walking through the bush, along a narrow red dirt path, just managing to see the thatched roofs over the tall grass with the voice of 100 girls all around us. It was hauntingly beautiful.

The other event was after Corey had spent a morning interviewing the elders in Nonai about their lives. He asked them about their happiest childhood memory, how had the environment changed in their lifetime and what advice would they give the youth. He sat under a mango tree and spoke with four elders while others came along and listened to the conversation. A the end of the interviews, he gave them all a hygiene kit (all we had as a gift) but asked Simon what ISEE could offer to them as a thank you.

Simon suggested a goat.

On Saturday (really? Only yesterday?) we all piled into the van to Nonai to offer a goat. We parked under the proverbial mango tree and the elders came to greet us again. Simon spoke with the chairman to tell him what we wanted to do. Then someone came across the road with a billy goat.

At the same time, a child led an older woman across the street. She held one end of a stick and walked behind the child who held the other end.

Negotiations ensued and finally a price was agreed upon.

"She is asking 100,000 shillings but we have negotiated to 90,000."

"Who owns the goat?" I asked.

"This blind lady." It was the woman who was led across the street.

"Do we have to pay 90,000? Can we pay 100,000?"

"If you want to support her because she is blind, you can give her 100,000."

"I don't want to support her because she is blind, I want to pay her what she feels her goat is worth."

This is negotiating between $45 and $40.

I went to the woman and shook her hand, introduced myself and said Ofoyo Matek. Thank you very much. She pointed to her eyes and shook her head. I reassured her that being blind was not an issue in these negotiations and then put the envelope of money in her hand. I assume Simon or Grace told her that she got the full 100,000 because she thanked me more than once.

Then the rope holding the goat was given to me.

I turned to the most respected elder representative and presented to goat to him on behalf of ISEE as a thank you to the elders for sharing their stories and for welcoming us so warmly to their village. We all shook hands and exchanged Ofoyo Matek, the women sang and ululated, and the goat was led away.

The elder women then presented with a large bag of simsim (sesame seeds) that they had harvested as a thank you to us for being part of their community. When Grace presented me with the bag and I opened it, I said, "Simsim!" The ladies all laughed and said "simsim!" back to me. I think they were impressed that I knew what it was and that I knew the local name.

We then piled into the van and headed back to Lukung trading centre (I would call it a village but they call it a trading centre because it has shops along the one main street.) "Odong Maber!" Stay well!

During all of this, I suggested to Andrew and Charlie that they take out a football to play with the children. The village boys instantly came over to kick the ball around but the girls watched from the sidelines. Sometimes if the ball would come to them, they would kick it back into the circle but they didn't come forward to play. Apollo joined the group but each time the ball came to him, he lined it up and pointed to one of the girls then kicked to her so that she could play too. I was touched by his gesture to get the girls involved as well. We left them a smaller ball that they started using for volleyball. It was great to get all the kids involved in playing, boys and girls.

Now maybe the goat we bought was just returned to the same pen that it came from and the money was used for something else. Maybe the goat will be eaten as part of a feast for the whole village instead of being sold at market. Who cares?

My heart is full of Northern memories. Life in a Northern town... Maybe I should teach them that song!

How will I be able to say goodbye?


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Goodbye Little Darlings!

I cannot believe that the school year is actually over. I had to say goodbye to all my little darlings on Friday the 13th but I managed to convince Corey to subject himself to the little plague carriers and take my photo with all the classes.

This is Miss Mary's Kindergarten class. I did not have a lot to do with them because many of them didn't speak English and to be honest, a room full of 2 and 3 year olds terrifies me. They are certainly cute though and Ruby to my left chatted with me on a regular basis.

Do you remember this photo of Joy?

She cried every day for the whole month of February and often spent time in my office either sleeping on a mat or sniffling in my arms. She's the one in pink on my right (above). She's become quite a confident little girl!

This is Miss Christine's Reception class. These children are 3-4 years old. I did not teach them but I seemed to have a lot to do with them. Rehan on my lap was always crying in my office because someone had slighted her or "Miss Chrsitine, he doesn't like me," because she wouldn't let Rehan speak or play with a certain toy. Lemeri, in the middle on my right, and I spent many mornings together when he first arrived because he spoke no English, had been left with a relative by his parents, and had not attended school. His transition was quite difficult. Ryan, next to Miss Chrsitine, was just a doll, always polite and smiley. Israel, between the two girls, played with the same green piece of plastic that looks like a steering wheel every break and lunch hour. And Deng, in the suit next to me, was a violent little creature when he arrived but after me picking him up a couple of times and making him stay in the library where he threw a tantrum, he became a well behaved little boy. I even sometimes saw him smile.

Then there is Joshua. He arrived late so I had my photo taken with just him. Two or three times a week he would come into my office and say, "My knee/finger/arm/elbow pains me." He loved the bandaids with all the designs on them. Between the time of him telling me about his pain and me putting the bandaid on, the pain often had moved to another spot!

Miss Erinah's Year 1 class was another group I spent only a little time with. I mostly helped Erinah with the boys' discipline and worked with Tina, on my left, who made it her business to tattle on everything that was happening in the school.

Miss Christine's year 2 class is the group I worked with all year. We did guided reading and Reading A to Z together and when Miss Christine was away, I would TOC in her class. They were lovely and despite having some challenging students, she managed to always be cheerful and they were always calm.

I taught Year 3 English and Geography for second term and I also had the opportunity to teach other lessons with Ms. Rose over the course of the year. Aqeel, back row in the middle, always said to me, "God bless you Miss Erika. You remind me of my Mum." I met his Mum several times and she is a lovely lady. Phiuff!

I taught Year 4 Novel study this term as we all took a piece of the class since Ms. Esther was away on maternity leave and no new teacher was hired. We had a lot of fun giggling through The Twits!

Now year 5 was a group I could have taught all year. They were challenging but full of spunk and incredible creativity. They were always in trouble for lack of discipline but I think they were full of potential. I taught Year 5 and 6 together in term 2 and we read The City of Ember together. The students had great ideas and insight about the novel and asked lots of questions. This last term, these students often came to my office in the morning to shake my hand and say hello. They also came several times a week to take library books. It was great to see them really get hooked on reading!

I didn't get a group photo of the Year 6 class because they wrote Cambridge exams and ended the week before the other classes. I did manage to catch Siem, Manan and Pierrot as they did their Lamda exam. This was another lovely group and their exam results were really positive.

We ended the day with a cake and then everyone went home. It was great because it was disorganized as usual so everyone scattered and disappeared before I was able to do the going away speech that I had been asked to deliver. So much better!

Goodbye KIS! Thank you students for a wonderful year. You were a pleasure to work with and I wish you all the best in the years to come!

 

  Goodbye Miss Grace! I'll miss you.

Locusts Anyone?

On my first trip to Uganda, my friend Muhamad spoke about eating grasshoppers. These are a seasonal delicacy that are only available during the rainy season, when the grasshoppers come to the city. Because we always travelled in July, grasshoppers were not available. One year, Muhamad said he had tried to save some for me but they had spoilt so he had to throw them away.

When we knew we were coming for a full year, Muhamad and I made a deal about eating grasshoppers: I would eat them if he ate octopus. I brought a can of Spanish octopus in tomato sauce for us to eat at Christmas and Muhamad graciously tried it. Not sure how much he enjoyed it but he did indeed try it. So that left me with the task of eating grasshoppers.

But Corey as my witness, I kept asking people to help me get grasshoppers but despite their promises to provide me with these tasty snacks, no-one came through.

Yesterday, Muhamad, Hanifah and Zainab came for supper. I texted Muhamad and asked him to bring grasshoppers. I knew that if they were still available, he would get them for me.

"A small small amount please," I texted.
"We will get many and help you eat them," was the reply.

Muhamad arrived with a 3x5 container stuffed full of grasshoppers. They don't take up much space so there were hundreds. This is how they are sold at Nakasero market. Fresh fried and stuffed into these convenient travel containers so that you can eat them on the go.

Harvesting and preparing grasshoppers goes like this: very large metal sheets are set up at an angle with barrels underneath. At night, spotlights shine on the metal sheets and the grasshoppers are attracted to the light however, they can't get purchase on the metal and slide down into the barrels. Before cooking, the hind legs are removed because they get caught in your throat as they have little hooks on them. The grasshoppers are thrown into a hot pan for frying but there is no oil in the pan because, as Muhamad said, "they make their own oil when you fry them."

The first one was hard as are all new strange culinary experiences but really, they only taste of crispy oil. I hesitated a bit before eating it and joked about Muhamad hesitating when he took his first bite of octopus. I think the taste sensation would have been much stronger for Muahamd than it was for me. These tasted like tiny chips. I had expected a slightly fishy flavour but there isn't any flavour. They are supposed to be a great source of protein though and scientists speculate that as the population grows, we will all have to resort to eating insects.

These were my third insect experience having eaten bamboo worms in China with Mum and cricket tortillas in Mexico with Corey.

I split the container of grasshoppers with Muhamad so that I could eat more today. I have to reheat them though so that they get crispy again. Anyone care to join me? I have lots to share!

Thanks Muhamad!

How to Mail a Parcel

When we were in China, Mum and I purchased three small "relax" chairs that the little old Chinese ladies carry on their backs and plunk down anywhere for a chat and smoke with their friends. I then built boxes and mailed them home individually. The lady at the Bowser post office asked Mum if I was mailing myself home from China because the boxes were fairly large! The women at the post office in China thought it was hilarious because I had to use "official" China post boxes so had bought several for cutting, shaping and taping. They were still the China Post boxes, just not their original shape. The chairs made it home safely and we have one each in our home and one lives at school.

I have varied experience with making boxes and mailing unusual things... I used to build boxes to "mail" the peregrine falcons we sent from Wainwright all over Canada. When you have mailed live birds, you can pretty much mail anything.

Corey thinks I should start my own business: ESSA: Erika Ships Shit Anywhere. Andrew can't even say it without laughing so he won't be managing my Uganda office.

You may remember the two stools that I purchased a few weeks ago. They are now jetting their way to Mum's. Here is the ESSA process in Uganda.




1. Collect the items to be mailed and packing material (yoga mat, unused clothing, plastic bags)

2. Assemble a variety of boxes and an extra large roll of tape and start measuring and building the box.











3. Remembering that in China the contents of the box had to be verified, don't tape the lid to the box.

4. Transfer the large but light box to the van for transport to Posta Uganda.

5. Park the van on the street of the Post Office, remove the large box with addresses written all over it from the van and be asked by the street parking attendant if you are going to the bank. Politely shake your head and state that you are going to the post office.

6. Enter the parcel room and walk past the security guard without him asking you to check your parcel despite him having to check every parcel that leaves the office (see my blog on how to collect a parcel) and despite purses being checked for explosive devices.

7. Be told that parcels cannot be mailed from the parcel office.

8. Be told to exit the parcel office, turn left, and go down the alley to the EMS office.




9. Head out and see no option of going down after turning left unless you want to scale the side of the building and climb down the front.

10. Have a boda driver notice that you are carrying a parcel and make the logical inference that you want the EMS office (this is a VERY big deal) and show you the way through the parked cars, Posta vans and garbage cans, through the alley to the EMS office.

11. Enter the EMS office, put the parcel on the counter and wait.

12. Continue waiting.

13. Be asked by a clerk who has emerged from the secret back room what you need and point at the parcel, indicating that you want to mail it. Be told to wait for the other clerk.

14. While waiting, have a third clerk be called to weigh the parcel.

15. Find that your waiting for the first clerk has been in vain because you have to have your parcel checked by security.

16. Be allowed through the NO NON EMS STAFF ALLOWED door and left to stand in a dark hallway, holding your 9.6kg parcel, wondering where to go next.




17. Finally be told by another clerk to go to the door at the end of the hallway.

18. Sit on the lovely couch and wait.

19. Be given a form to fill and then a lined book to register the contents of the parcel.





20. Wait.

21. Be told "come" and place the parcel on the table for a lovely older man to open and pull everything out.

22. Have almost each item looked at and commented upon. This includes having the neighbouring office workers being called to see the stools and the teddy bear.

23. Thank your lucky stars that the bag containing Bree's underwear was not opened for inspection, just squeezed to confirm it was clothing.

24. Repack all the items yourself so that the box can actually close.

25. Watch in awe as the kind man tapes up the box. Years of experience are evident as the tape whips around the box and the lid is taped shut. (Make a note to return to offer a job at ESSA.)








26. Have another clerk take your box and follow him back to the Staff Only door.

27. Watch him disappear with your parcel through the door as he tells you to go out the back door, walk around the building, and enter the front door once again, hoping that your parcel hasn't disappeared.







28. Finally see the original clerk to pay an exorbitant amount to mail your parcel containing $5 worth of stools.

29. Be told the parcel will be in Canada in 7 business days.

30. Wait for the email from Mum saying everything arrived safely!


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Ugandan Safari

Finally, I am writing a blog post about our 6 day safari. I can hardly believe that it was 3 weeks ago that we left on the safari with Mum and that she has already ended her 3 weeks here. Time passes so quickly!

Initially, we were only going to do the gorilla trek but in talking with Denis, we planned to add lions and zebra to the safari since they were all in the same direction. And once you are travelling any distance on the roads in Uganda, you might as well make it worth your while.

You know the stories about the roads in Uganda. They are simply awful. At one point, we were travelling 40km and it took over 2 hours. No word of a lie. Our maximum speed for those 2+ hours was 20km/hour. One of the biggest hindrances to development and progress in Uganda is the roads. But that is a whole other blog post.

We returned to the same tented camp in Ishasha that Corey and I visited in 2009 but the tents are now even more deluxe and have become raised cabins. Two nights there were amazing, especially as we had the entire place to ourselves. The staff was amazing too. It was a great way to start the trip. I would return to Ishasha Jungle Camp a third time, even to just relax and read my book for a few days in the peace and quiet of the Ugandan savannah!

We did an early morning game drive and saw a hyena up close. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get a good photo. You have to make do with a blurry one.

 

On our way back, we got well stuck in the mud and had to crawl out of the van. A very friendly local walked us back to the camp while Davis waited for 10 other guys to arrive to push the van up and out. 

There was a threat of rain and Mum was tired so we decided to rest at the camp before heading out to see the tree climbing lions. Davis took off to see if he could find them for us so that we didn’t have to bump around for hours looking for them. Just as we were sitting down for lunch, he came and said he had found six but the storm was getting close and we had to go. In the van we jumped to see the lions before they took shelter from the rain. It was perfect timing because they had just come down and were resting in the grass before hiding in the bushes. Mum had never seen wild lions before so it was a thrill to see so many of them together. It was also great to be there at the off season because there was no-one else fighting for a spot to have a clear view. It was just us and the majestic beasts. It was amazing.

 Our next two nights were spent at the Silverback Lodge in Bwindi. The first night we had the ‘pleasure’ of sharing the lodge with a group of travel agents from all over the world exploring what Uganda had to offer but the second night, we were the only occupants again. Amazing food, great service, and an amazing view made this stay as pleasant as the first.

 Our gorilla trek was unbelievable. We were assigned to the closest troupe so that we wouldn’t have to trek for hours to see them. We started along a nice path with our walking sticks, packs and porters and while we had to climb a bit, it was not that bad. 

Then we diverted into the bush and were told to put everything down, including the walking sticks. Gorillas don’t like when groups arrive carrying long sticks!

Trekking began. We were crawling through bushes and grabbing roots to hold on so that we could either pull ourselves up or stop ourselves from sliding down the steep bank of the mountain. Mum’s porter was amazing and made sure she had a strong hand and good footing. Thank goodness for a hat, long sleeves, long pants, good boots and leather gardening gloves. Corey slipped and wrenched his shoulder once as he held the branch while his feet slid down and down and down. Not sure how we would have got him back up if the branch had broken.

Then there they were, playing, swinging and eating in the tree in front of us. We watched in awe for a few minutes before Goreth, our guide, told us to follow the trackers down to the base of the tree and into the ‘open’ forest. We saw the silverback, a mother feeding her baby, and the family just going about their business as though we weren’t there. Every so often the silverback would grunt and Goreth would reply. It’s the same sound you make as you are clearing your throat. It simply means, “I am here and I see you.” 

While we were photographing the female feeding on the bush (that’s when Corey got his photo that is on his blog: corzungu.blogspot.ca), Mum was in the forested area with Goreth watching the juveniles playing and chasing each other. One even pushed past Mum as she was standing there!

We had an amazing hour with the gorillas before Goreth told us that it was time to go. We wondered about having to trek back up the mountain to get our stuff but I was sure the porters had brought it all down for us. I was right and we only had to keep heading down before we were back on the initial path and back at base camp. Our trek lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. It was perfect.

We had been given a boxed lunch to eat while on the trek but we were back at the lodge and eating the lunch on the patio by noon. We were nice and muddy but we were heading back into the bush in the afternoon to learn about the Batwa pygmies so we didn’t change.

 Our last stop on our trip was at Mburo Lake National Park for our final safari night. We made it in time to do the 4pm lake safari (we left Bwindi at 8am…) and it was terrific because we were close to hippos, baby crocodiles, buffalo, and we saw amazing birds. Our guide was a birder so it was great to have him identifying all the shore birds that were around.

Mburo is the only park in Uganda where there are impalas and zebra. We didn’t see impala but we did see zebra, another first for Mum.

Still no leopard… I wonder where we will have to travel next to maybe catch a glimpse of these elusive cats!

BTW - This is my 100th post on this blog. Wow!