Last week was spent trying to piece together whether Acts would be able to handle a $2.5 million pipeline. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday re-visiting the source and running through the calculations, but by the end of Thursday we were no closer to having a plan that would enable Acts to submit project requests to CIDA. But we’re still unwilling to give up.
Friday morning I spent two hours going to five separate banks in Mbarara, trying to convert my surplus Rwandan francs to Ugandan shillings. But despite being a stronger currency, a major trading partner and only 3hrs away by bus, none of the banks were willing to convert the notes. Running out of time, I quickly ran to the bus park and caught the next bus to Kihihi. Once in Kihihi, I managed to get (I later realized) an absolute bargain basement deal for a special hire to Bwindi. One of the conditions was that we wait in the next town for more passengers, which was fine because it meant I was able to get lunch. It was my cheapest meal yet with beans, matoke and posho going for the rate of $0.63CAD. And it was unlimited; I could have as many beans, matoke and posho as I wanted. It was also the only option at that restaurant.
Made it into Bwindi well before dark and found a nice community rest camp to stay for the night. I’d brought my tent on the off chance the rates for staying in a room were prohibitive. But I soon found out that I didn’t have enough shillings for lunch and they wouldn’t accept my emergency stash of American dollars (they were new, but had microscopic tears). A quick calculation showed that I had enough to pay for the nights camping and local transport back to Mbarara, but not for any meals at Bwindi (which are significantly more expensive than the local villages). I was very happy I’d loaded up at lunch, and had a ample supply of Cliff bars that Liz had sent over, because that was sustained me for the next 24 hours.
Woke up the next morning at the crack of dawn and headed off to the park orientation seminar with the other tourists who would be visiting the gorillas. Its estimated that there are just over 700 mountain gorillas in the world, of which approximately half reside in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. There are currently four groups of gorillas that have been habituated to humans in Bwindi, and each group receives eight human visitors a day. The privilege of seeing the gorillas for one hour (and not a minute more) is $500US (plus all associated costs in getting the permit, which you have to pay for in cash at the UWA headquarters in Kampala, and the costs of getting to Bwindi).
The orientation was informative but I was on edge the entire time. If you’re sick, you’re not allowed to see the gorillas as they’re close enough to us genetically that they could catch our colds and don’t have the immunity to deal with it. So I’d loaded up on cold FX and ginseng tea in the days leading up to the tracking, but still woke up with a bit of sniffle. Since I’d arrived in September, I’ve had to sneeze every day, and sometimes that would develop into a sore throat. But it’s never really gone beyond that, so I wonder if I’m allergic to this country? Regardless, I was paranoid that I would sneeze during the orientation and be kicked out. I would also lose half my money and the chances of another available time slot to see the gorillas were slim.
Thankfully I didn’t sneeze (I did cough once, probably because I was thinking about how much I didn’t want to cough, but I managed to walk away at that moment and inspect a very interesting leaf on a bush), and we set off on our hike 30 minutes later. During the orientation they warned us that the hikes could range from 1 hour to 8 hours depending on where the gorillas had gotten to. So we were prepared for a long day (except for me of course, who didn’t have any money for a packed lunch, and so was relying on the energy bars) and were pleasantly surprised when we ran into our gorillas (Rushanga group) an hour later. Between the mothers clutching their infants, the juveniles constantly wrestling with each other and the big patriarchal silverback watching over it all, the gorillas seemed intent on putting on a show for us. I managed to get over 1GB of video, though I later realized that the majority of the video wasn’t pointing directly at the gorillas as I was trying to both film and watch at the same time. We weren’t allowed to get any closer than 7 metres, but the gorillas had no such restrictions and would frequently get within 2 metres of us, which was funny when one of the trees they were climbing fell down on the eight of us tourists.
Once the hour was up, we were kicked out and it was a happy hike back as the gorillas seem to have put us in a pretty good mood. I’m surprised to say that it was completely worth the money. I think half of the exercise was to see whether such an expensive undertaking was worth it and I’m pleased to say it was.
We made it back to the park gates before 11am and through a series of lucky breaks I managed to make it back to Mbarara before nightfall. Which turned out to be bad because nobody was in Mbarara, they’d all gone to the camp (which I’d passed an hour earlier) and taken all of the food with them. I was not impressed. I was also very hungry and running out of energy bars.
After a rather unsatisfying dinner of plain pasta and salty cream of mushroom soup (I can’t wait to get back to cupboards with real food), and an equally unsatisfying breakfast, I caught local transport back to camp. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday looking at a small source that will hopefully be large enough to turn into half a project for the Ankole diocese, but I doubt I’ll be able to complete it before I leave on Saturday. Yesterday we investigated a number of small sources that we could use to feed the local villages that will be neglected by the current project and found a promising one that could be developed to serve over 1,000 people. But again, that won’t be my project.
And then yesterday we left camp, which for me would be the last time. I hadn’t spent much time with the construction crew, but had still developed a level of friendship with them and it was hard to think I would likely never see them again. Also said goodbye to the interns who were staying in the camp, but there’s a much greater chance that I’ll see them in Canada again, so that wasn’t so bad.
So now it’s Friday. I’m leaving for Kampala tomorrow and catching a flight to London on Sunday. I’ll have a three day layover there to visit my friend Dave and then I fly back into Vancouver next Wednesday. Less than six days away.
I had an incredibly time here, and I think that while I didn’t travel nearly as much as I did in South America, by staying in one place and developing relationships with the locals, the travel was far more rewarding than visiting a place for a week and simply seeing the sights. But then again, it’s making the leaving part that much harder.
On the other hand, five months is a long time to be away from home, and I’m really, really looking forward to getting back. Especially to getting re-acquainted with sushi, dependable power, fast internet and of course, Liz.
So this will be my final “Gill in Uganda” blog entry. I’ve been amazed by the number of people who have been following it and am continually grateful by everyone’s help and contribution to help me get here. Hope to see you all soon.
Mike
Mbarara, Uganda
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Community meetings
I feel like I’m currently in “wrap up” mode. I’ve put so much effort into the proposals in Kasese that I’m having a hard time coming up with the energy to put together a similar proposal here in Mbarara. Unfortunately that would be mean less water for the people here, so I’m trying to get motivated. But it’s not easy.
We spent last Friday meeting with the communities in Kasese to whom my projects would be supplying the water. The first meeting did not start off well, with us being 1.5 hrs late, but that paled to the community leaders who were themselves 2.5 hrs late. This was a crucial meeting, where the leaders were to indicate whether their constituents would accept the agreement to provide the manual labor for the construction in return for piped water to their communities. So the fact that they were late was not a good sign.
But once they’d all arrived, things began to get better. The leaders had indeed consulted the populations and returned with such comments like “the people in the hills and all over are singing with praise for water and for Acts!”
This was good until one of the leaders from one of the more water-stressed areas communicated some very effusive praise for both the GFS system and Acts, and how grateful they were that the GFS was coming to their community.
Only one problem, it wasn’t. And it wasn’t because it couldn’t, but rather a choice between the most efficient use of the resource. I could’ve designed the line to go to their community, but it was far more sparsely populated and then the route I choose. I stick by the decision, but still, it doesn’t make me feel warm and cuddly.
Other than that, the meetings went well with the communities promising lavish buildings around the tapstands and to run the operation like a sustainable business (which is what Acts is looking for, otherwise these systems tend to fail due to lack of operation and maintenance).
We spent Saturday with our boss Tim at a basket shop near Fort Portal. These baskets are pretty cool, apparently take up to 30hrs to make and sell $5-10 each. So basically the women making these baskets earn about $0.30/hr. And while that may seem like a lot (Im joking), let’s keep in mind that these women are likely also supporting their family. Tim spent an hour accumulating approximately 80% of her stock and then 20 minutes trying to convince her that he wanted to pay more for the baskets. He’s hoping to start selling these baskets in Canada and needs to be able to say he paid a fair price for them.
Sunday we returned to Mbarara and I was able to pick up my gorilla tracking permit, once again from a man in a side alley of Mbarara, but this time from his van. The permit looks official though the original name and nationality are crossed out and my name put in it’s place. So while I doubt this man would go to the length of forging a permit to steal my $500, I’m still slightly skeptical that I’ll see the gorillas. If everything does work out, I’ve promised I would post his name and number on this blog. I also can’t be sick that day or else I will either have to switch to another day or take a 50% refund. So I’m going to spend Thursday and Friday loading up on cold FX.
Monday was spent visiting a new district just north of Mbarara called Ibanda. The past week has been a little disheartening in that we’ve seen very little that was promising in the other districts. But in Idanda, the district water officer showed us a source, proposal and design to feed 20,000 people. Unfortunately, the project is estimated at $4,000,000CAD, which is a little higher than we’re used (we’re aiming for $500,000CAD. Still, we’d prefer to be faced with a project that’s too big rather than one that’s too small. We may just try to break it up into phases. Which means my last two weeks have turned from coasting into full throttle. For which I’m grateful.
I think.
We spent last Friday meeting with the communities in Kasese to whom my projects would be supplying the water. The first meeting did not start off well, with us being 1.5 hrs late, but that paled to the community leaders who were themselves 2.5 hrs late. This was a crucial meeting, where the leaders were to indicate whether their constituents would accept the agreement to provide the manual labor for the construction in return for piped water to their communities. So the fact that they were late was not a good sign.
But once they’d all arrived, things began to get better. The leaders had indeed consulted the populations and returned with such comments like “the people in the hills and all over are singing with praise for water and for Acts!”
This was good until one of the leaders from one of the more water-stressed areas communicated some very effusive praise for both the GFS system and Acts, and how grateful they were that the GFS was coming to their community.
Only one problem, it wasn’t. And it wasn’t because it couldn’t, but rather a choice between the most efficient use of the resource. I could’ve designed the line to go to their community, but it was far more sparsely populated and then the route I choose. I stick by the decision, but still, it doesn’t make me feel warm and cuddly.
Other than that, the meetings went well with the communities promising lavish buildings around the tapstands and to run the operation like a sustainable business (which is what Acts is looking for, otherwise these systems tend to fail due to lack of operation and maintenance).
We spent Saturday with our boss Tim at a basket shop near Fort Portal. These baskets are pretty cool, apparently take up to 30hrs to make and sell $5-10 each. So basically the women making these baskets earn about $0.30/hr. And while that may seem like a lot (Im joking), let’s keep in mind that these women are likely also supporting their family. Tim spent an hour accumulating approximately 80% of her stock and then 20 minutes trying to convince her that he wanted to pay more for the baskets. He’s hoping to start selling these baskets in Canada and needs to be able to say he paid a fair price for them.
Sunday we returned to Mbarara and I was able to pick up my gorilla tracking permit, once again from a man in a side alley of Mbarara, but this time from his van. The permit looks official though the original name and nationality are crossed out and my name put in it’s place. So while I doubt this man would go to the length of forging a permit to steal my $500, I’m still slightly skeptical that I’ll see the gorillas. If everything does work out, I’ve promised I would post his name and number on this blog. I also can’t be sick that day or else I will either have to switch to another day or take a 50% refund. So I’m going to spend Thursday and Friday loading up on cold FX.
Monday was spent visiting a new district just north of Mbarara called Ibanda. The past week has been a little disheartening in that we’ve seen very little that was promising in the other districts. But in Idanda, the district water officer showed us a source, proposal and design to feed 20,000 people. Unfortunately, the project is estimated at $4,000,000CAD, which is a little higher than we’re used (we’re aiming for $500,000CAD. Still, we’d prefer to be faced with a project that’s too big rather than one that’s too small. We may just try to break it up into phases. Which means my last two weeks have turned from coasting into full throttle. For which I’m grateful.
I think.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Back in Mbarara
After a rather epic trip from Arusha to Mbarara, I arrived back in Mbarara on Monday afternoon. The trip started once Liz left Stonetown on December 31st. We’d arrived in Stonetown the previous afternoon and spent our first hour in that beautiful city going to three separate banks trying to find an ATM that was in service so we could pay the cab driver. Once we checked into our beautiful hotel room we were able to wander about and take in the beautiful mazey (yes, it’s a word) streets reminiscent of the medinas of Fez and Marrakech. The Arabic influence was so different from what I’d experienced in Kenya and Uganda that it was funny to think we were still in Africa. Everyone was very friendly, offering to sell us shirts and art and offering to guide us around Stonetown (for a small fee of course). Enjoyed a most beautiful sunset from the restaurant on the roof of our hotel before we were kicked out to make way for the paying customers. Spent the next morning wandering the streets and watching Liz abandon all caution trying out as many different types of street foods as she could find before her flight back to civilization. I think she gained 5lbs in two hours (darling, if you happen to be reading this, please ignore that last).
Had a sad farewell at noon as Liz went to catch her plane (heard later that she spent 2hrs in 30C heat waiting for the plane to leave) and then headed off in search of the cheapest hotel room on Zanzibar. Two hours and a lot of walking later settled on a $15 room near the port with an AC unit that sounded like a freight train and a neighborhood that made Hell’s kitchen look boring (never actually been to hell’s kitchen, so I have no right to compare).
Celebrated New Year’s with a bunch of kiwi’s I’d met the previous evening and partied ‘till the wee hours of the morning (well, 1:30am, yes I realize I’m getting old). Managed to get 4.5 hrs of sleep before catching the 7am ferry ride from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam. I’d heard Dar was boring so caught the first bus I could that was bound for Moshi. Pulled into Moshi around 9pm at night, but was happy to report that after the first four boring hours, the scenery changed to the beautiful Usambara mountains (in my heart, I still consider the Rwenzoris to be coolest mountains I’ve seen in Africa, but that could be because I’d spent over two months on their foothills).
I wasn’t sure what to do in Moshi other than gaze appreciatively at Mount Kilimanjaro, so I decided to climb it. As I didn’t have the time or the money, I went for one of the day hikes up one of it’s flanks. The 4hr hike took me up to 3,000 metres and through a few different ecosystems of jungle and giant heather (and cost me $90). Pretty cool ecology and it made me wish I’d just taken the plunge and went for the full five day hike. But I didn’t have time, I had a date with gorillas.
Only I didn’t. Tim, my boss in Acts, called me as I was heading up the mountain and told me there’d been a grenade attack in Kigali near the genocide memorial and a second grenade had been thrown into a nearby nightclub. Despite neither Canada nor the UK changing their travel advisory, Acts didn’t want me to go to Rwanda. This was depressing for two reasons. One, I wouldn’t be able to see the primates in the “best place to see Gorillas” and second, it seemed to be a sad state of affairs for Rwanda which had been a bastion of peace when I’d visited in September. But now I’m thankful I’d at least been able to spend some time in that country.
So in my depressed state I packed up and headed to Arusha for a change of scenery. A 1.5hr very cramped bus ride later and I arrived in the tourist fly trap of East Africa. My god, all the locals are trying to strike up a conversation to sell you something! Give me the tourist backwater of Uganda!
However, one of the bright sides of rampant tourism industry is the abundance of restaurants, so I was able to satisfy my noodle cravings at a Japanese restaurant for lunch and a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Headed to the airport the next morning on the chance I could fly back to Uganda. Couldn’t, but I did manage to get a seat on standby to Mwanza which is on the shores of Lake Victoria. From there, I managed to get on a little 21 seater to Bukoba, on the other side of Lake Victoria. On the plane, managed to befriend the headmaster of a school located halfway between Bukoba and the Ugandan border. So I weaseled my way into a free ride halfway to the border which was a delightful little town in the middle of nowhere where the infants flee at the sight of a Muzungu. So nice to be back in the stixs. Next morning managed to get into a minibus/matatu (re: minivan), to the town of Kaisho. These matatus are about the same size as a modern Westphalia VW van, but with four rows in the back each of which seat three people for a total 18 people in each vehicle. Matatus are the main form of public transport in East Africa and I am happy to report that I was in one that managed to get 30 people and 5 children into it, a new personal best! I traveled for 2 hours with a five year old on my lap, which started out as cute, but rapidly turned to painful as my legs slowly went numb. That record was continued with my next form of transport which managed to get 11 adults and 2 kids into a Honda civic for the 2hr trip to the border. It was one of the lesser traveled border posts and so I walked into Uganda unchallenged and had track down the border guards to get stamped in. Took another 11 person/car trip from the border to Mbarara, stopping once to let the driver bribe a traffic cop to let us continue with 11 people in the car. Bribe cost; $3.
Have now been back at work for the past two days and right back into the roving swing of things. Acts is now pushing us hard to get a third project around Mbarara, but considering we’ve spent the first 3.5 months in Kasese, this seems slim. Still, we’ll give it our best. In the meantime I’ve managed to get a line on a free gorilla spot in Bwindi. The downside is that I’ll have to give $550 USD to a guy in a parked car and hope the receipt he gives me is legally enforceable. So I’ll either see the gorillas in a week’s time or have made a very large charitable contribution to Mbarara’s underworld.
Had a sad farewell at noon as Liz went to catch her plane (heard later that she spent 2hrs in 30C heat waiting for the plane to leave) and then headed off in search of the cheapest hotel room on Zanzibar. Two hours and a lot of walking later settled on a $15 room near the port with an AC unit that sounded like a freight train and a neighborhood that made Hell’s kitchen look boring (never actually been to hell’s kitchen, so I have no right to compare).
Celebrated New Year’s with a bunch of kiwi’s I’d met the previous evening and partied ‘till the wee hours of the morning (well, 1:30am, yes I realize I’m getting old). Managed to get 4.5 hrs of sleep before catching the 7am ferry ride from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam. I’d heard Dar was boring so caught the first bus I could that was bound for Moshi. Pulled into Moshi around 9pm at night, but was happy to report that after the first four boring hours, the scenery changed to the beautiful Usambara mountains (in my heart, I still consider the Rwenzoris to be coolest mountains I’ve seen in Africa, but that could be because I’d spent over two months on their foothills).
I wasn’t sure what to do in Moshi other than gaze appreciatively at Mount Kilimanjaro, so I decided to climb it. As I didn’t have the time or the money, I went for one of the day hikes up one of it’s flanks. The 4hr hike took me up to 3,000 metres and through a few different ecosystems of jungle and giant heather (and cost me $90). Pretty cool ecology and it made me wish I’d just taken the plunge and went for the full five day hike. But I didn’t have time, I had a date with gorillas.
Only I didn’t. Tim, my boss in Acts, called me as I was heading up the mountain and told me there’d been a grenade attack in Kigali near the genocide memorial and a second grenade had been thrown into a nearby nightclub. Despite neither Canada nor the UK changing their travel advisory, Acts didn’t want me to go to Rwanda. This was depressing for two reasons. One, I wouldn’t be able to see the primates in the “best place to see Gorillas” and second, it seemed to be a sad state of affairs for Rwanda which had been a bastion of peace when I’d visited in September. But now I’m thankful I’d at least been able to spend some time in that country.
So in my depressed state I packed up and headed to Arusha for a change of scenery. A 1.5hr very cramped bus ride later and I arrived in the tourist fly trap of East Africa. My god, all the locals are trying to strike up a conversation to sell you something! Give me the tourist backwater of Uganda!
However, one of the bright sides of rampant tourism industry is the abundance of restaurants, so I was able to satisfy my noodle cravings at a Japanese restaurant for lunch and a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Headed to the airport the next morning on the chance I could fly back to Uganda. Couldn’t, but I did manage to get a seat on standby to Mwanza which is on the shores of Lake Victoria. From there, I managed to get on a little 21 seater to Bukoba, on the other side of Lake Victoria. On the plane, managed to befriend the headmaster of a school located halfway between Bukoba and the Ugandan border. So I weaseled my way into a free ride halfway to the border which was a delightful little town in the middle of nowhere where the infants flee at the sight of a Muzungu. So nice to be back in the stixs. Next morning managed to get into a minibus/matatu (re: minivan), to the town of Kaisho. These matatus are about the same size as a modern Westphalia VW van, but with four rows in the back each of which seat three people for a total 18 people in each vehicle. Matatus are the main form of public transport in East Africa and I am happy to report that I was in one that managed to get 30 people and 5 children into it, a new personal best! I traveled for 2 hours with a five year old on my lap, which started out as cute, but rapidly turned to painful as my legs slowly went numb. That record was continued with my next form of transport which managed to get 11 adults and 2 kids into a Honda civic for the 2hr trip to the border. It was one of the lesser traveled border posts and so I walked into Uganda unchallenged and had track down the border guards to get stamped in. Took another 11 person/car trip from the border to Mbarara, stopping once to let the driver bribe a traffic cop to let us continue with 11 people in the car. Bribe cost; $3.
Have now been back at work for the past two days and right back into the roving swing of things. Acts is now pushing us hard to get a third project around Mbarara, but considering we’ve spent the first 3.5 months in Kasese, this seems slim. Still, we’ll give it our best. In the meantime I’ve managed to get a line on a free gorilla spot in Bwindi. The downside is that I’ll have to give $550 USD to a guy in a parked car and hope the receipt he gives me is legally enforceable. So I’ll either see the gorillas in a week’s time or have made a very large charitable contribution to Mbarara’s underworld.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Kenyan Safari and Zanzibar
Left Mbarara on saturday morning, December 20th. Took a five hour bus back to Kampala, then took a matatu to Entebbe, had lunch, and took a motorcycle taxi to the airport. Cost of the whole endeavour was ~$10, which was double the price of the 20 minute taxi ride from Nairobi airport to the hotel. Welcome to Kenya.
Liz and I were picked up the next morning by the safari company and spent seven magical days on safari. Well, most of the days were magical, but the reality was that three of the seven days involved some heavy driving. Still, by the end of it we had spent two good days on the Masai Mara and had seen so many lions they had gotten boring. We also saw a cheetah, a leopard stalking a herd of Impalas, a male lions munching away on the head of a Cape Buffalo (one of the big five eating the other) and countless giraffes and elephants. I'd seen elephants before, but the proximity this time put a whole new light on the elephant viewing experience. Who needs a telephoto lens when they're five metres away?
The other good park we saw was Lake Nakuru, which had the white and black buffalo, and once we'd seen them, we'd seen all of the big five, and frankly, all of the animals worth viewing. However, the lions managed to steal the show there. A pack of five lions were all sleeping on top of each other looking like a litter of kittens. Out of all the animals, the leopard, cheetah, lion, giraffe, rhino and elephant have to be the favourites. Considering the decline of hunting in the world, I'm not sure why the Cape Buffalo is still one of the "big five". It's frankly the cow of the safari world.
All in all though, the safari was amazing and I highly recommend Into Africa to everyone. We were able to interact with the local Masai, the local Kikuyu, visit an archeaology site home to Homo Habilis that is apparently 700,000 years old (cradle of humanity stuff), and stayed in some beautiful bungalows and tents along the way. Even had some curious, massive, spiders keep us company at night.
Ended the safari in Nairobi and managed to get a room at the Hilton on Liz' points. Do not recommend that hotel, it was built in the 1960s and it feels like it hasn't had a facelift since then...
Flew out disturbingly early sunday morning and arrived in Zanzibar. Was greatly amused that the Visa fee for americans into Tanzania was double what it was for everyone else. I guess Obama fever isn't as high here.
We're currently staying at a resort in southeastern Zanzibar The resort is amazing, with a short coral clif (5 metres high) overlooking the azure indian ocean. If you want to go swimming, you simply walk out the front of the bungalow, walk down some steps and you're swimming in a metre of coral. Water's too hot to really cool off though, so you need a combination of water and breeze to cool down. Such a tough life.
Yesterday's morning activity was swimming with the dolphins and for a full hour, equipped with a snorkel, mask and fins we dove and played with them. At times they would stare at you, or the pod would swim through you as you were treading water. I dove a couple of times and was able to swim alongside them, but alas was not accepted into the pod. Not yet at least.
We went again this morning, but quickly learned why it has such a bad reputation. This time there were six boats chasing the dolphins, and it was obvious they did not want to play. In fact, they were starting to look harassed and the whole thing was starting to leave a bad taste in our mouths, so after a quick swim alongside them, and Liz getting stung by jellyfish, we headed back in.
Heading off to Stonetown today to spend the next two days there and then off to the mainland for the long trip back to Mbarara. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Liz and I were picked up the next morning by the safari company and spent seven magical days on safari. Well, most of the days were magical, but the reality was that three of the seven days involved some heavy driving. Still, by the end of it we had spent two good days on the Masai Mara and had seen so many lions they had gotten boring. We also saw a cheetah, a leopard stalking a herd of Impalas, a male lions munching away on the head of a Cape Buffalo (one of the big five eating the other) and countless giraffes and elephants. I'd seen elephants before, but the proximity this time put a whole new light on the elephant viewing experience. Who needs a telephoto lens when they're five metres away?
The other good park we saw was Lake Nakuru, which had the white and black buffalo, and once we'd seen them, we'd seen all of the big five, and frankly, all of the animals worth viewing. However, the lions managed to steal the show there. A pack of five lions were all sleeping on top of each other looking like a litter of kittens. Out of all the animals, the leopard, cheetah, lion, giraffe, rhino and elephant have to be the favourites. Considering the decline of hunting in the world, I'm not sure why the Cape Buffalo is still one of the "big five". It's frankly the cow of the safari world.
All in all though, the safari was amazing and I highly recommend Into Africa to everyone. We were able to interact with the local Masai, the local Kikuyu, visit an archeaology site home to Homo Habilis that is apparently 700,000 years old (cradle of humanity stuff), and stayed in some beautiful bungalows and tents along the way. Even had some curious, massive, spiders keep us company at night.
Ended the safari in Nairobi and managed to get a room at the Hilton on Liz' points. Do not recommend that hotel, it was built in the 1960s and it feels like it hasn't had a facelift since then...
Flew out disturbingly early sunday morning and arrived in Zanzibar. Was greatly amused that the Visa fee for americans into Tanzania was double what it was for everyone else. I guess Obama fever isn't as high here.
We're currently staying at a resort in southeastern Zanzibar The resort is amazing, with a short coral clif (5 metres high) overlooking the azure indian ocean. If you want to go swimming, you simply walk out the front of the bungalow, walk down some steps and you're swimming in a metre of coral. Water's too hot to really cool off though, so you need a combination of water and breeze to cool down. Such a tough life.
Yesterday's morning activity was swimming with the dolphins and for a full hour, equipped with a snorkel, mask and fins we dove and played with them. At times they would stare at you, or the pod would swim through you as you were treading water. I dove a couple of times and was able to swim alongside them, but alas was not accepted into the pod. Not yet at least.
We went again this morning, but quickly learned why it has such a bad reputation. This time there were six boats chasing the dolphins, and it was obvious they did not want to play. In fact, they were starting to look harassed and the whole thing was starting to leave a bad taste in our mouths, so after a quick swim alongside them, and Liz getting stung by jellyfish, we headed back in.
Heading off to Stonetown today to spend the next two days there and then off to the mainland for the long trip back to Mbarara. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Christmas Eve
For my birthday last friday, I took a bus into Kampala and saw Liz again for the first time in 3.5 months. She managed to book a room at the Sheraton on points so after 3.5 months of 'roughing it' in Kasese and Mbarara, I was whisked into luxury and opulence for two days. I'd forgotten how nice a non-bilharzia swim could be. The other fun thing was introducing Liz and her friend Claire to Boda Bodas (aka motorcycle taxis). Thankfully two rides was enough.
The down side of course was the 12hr round trip to Kampala, but certainly worth it.
Returned to Kasese on sunday night and found out from my colleague that the proposal the district had given us, and that we'd been waiting two months for the consultant to finish, was based on some faulty assumptions. This will be the third proposal we've been given by the district that has turned out to be faulty.
Spent monday and tuesday further investigating the source we'd discovered the previous week. Forgot how much hiking this type of investigation involved, but did manage to hike over a 1,000 metre pass and found another source we'd first discovered in October. That moment felt like a crowning achievement, like we'd walked every metre of that little (but mountainous) part of Uganda. We've certainly hiked a lot more than most of the inhabitants of the area (they're more interested in more mundane things like growing food so they can eat).
This source may have enough water to satisfy our partner's dreams. The south Rwenzori Diocese is hoping to bring water to a subcounty called Kitswamba where some 16 people died of dysentary over the last six months. If we can bring some water there, it could reduce those incidences quite well.
Wednesday met with this subcounty to find out where they needed water the most and what the populations in those areas were like. And then headed back to Mbarara that afternoon for the Acts company christmas party. Certainly different than most company christmas parties I've been to (never played a game of pictionary in two different languages before...)
And then today attended a conference on groundwater resource mapping in Uganda put on by the federal government. It was actually two days long but of course the christmas party takes priority over a conference. On the other hand, if I'd registered yesterday, I would've received $30 for attending and free lunches and dinner's both days. Also confirmed with a consultant the cost to complete a design and proposal was more than $10,000. Actually more like $25,000. Which goes to explain why most of these systems aren't working very well. The government is spending all of the money on poor designs and conferences.
At least it gives Acts a good basis for being here.
The down side of course was the 12hr round trip to Kampala, but certainly worth it.
Returned to Kasese on sunday night and found out from my colleague that the proposal the district had given us, and that we'd been waiting two months for the consultant to finish, was based on some faulty assumptions. This will be the third proposal we've been given by the district that has turned out to be faulty.
Spent monday and tuesday further investigating the source we'd discovered the previous week. Forgot how much hiking this type of investigation involved, but did manage to hike over a 1,000 metre pass and found another source we'd first discovered in October. That moment felt like a crowning achievement, like we'd walked every metre of that little (but mountainous) part of Uganda. We've certainly hiked a lot more than most of the inhabitants of the area (they're more interested in more mundane things like growing food so they can eat).
This source may have enough water to satisfy our partner's dreams. The south Rwenzori Diocese is hoping to bring water to a subcounty called Kitswamba where some 16 people died of dysentary over the last six months. If we can bring some water there, it could reduce those incidences quite well.
Wednesday met with this subcounty to find out where they needed water the most and what the populations in those areas were like. And then headed back to Mbarara that afternoon for the Acts company christmas party. Certainly different than most company christmas parties I've been to (never played a game of pictionary in two different languages before...)
And then today attended a conference on groundwater resource mapping in Uganda put on by the federal government. It was actually two days long but of course the christmas party takes priority over a conference. On the other hand, if I'd registered yesterday, I would've received $30 for attending and free lunches and dinner's both days. Also confirmed with a consultant the cost to complete a design and proposal was more than $10,000. Actually more like $25,000. Which goes to explain why most of these systems aren't working very well. The government is spending all of the money on poor designs and conferences.
At least it gives Acts a good basis for being here.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Meetings and deadlines
The last update had us finding enough water for a community of 11,000. The next day Wesley went to visit the district water office and they finally gave us a proposal/design they’d been working on for the past six months. So two new potential projects!
We made the mistake of telling our boss Tim the happy news about the new spring and the district proposal. His eyes lit up and the wheels started turning. “Do you think you could try to put these proposals together before the Christmas break?”
We think he’s nuts, but of course we’ll try. Having never done this before, I’m not sure how long a design and proposal should take, but it seems like it should take more than the two days it takes me. It should certainly have a few more people than me checking for mistakes.
Still, if we could bump the number of proposals completed up to four, and all before Christmas, that would be pretty cool.
In other news, I’ve finished my most recent book, which I think puts the tally at ten, the amount of books I’ve read while here. Few other forms of entertainment helps. My favorite books are:
1) Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures)
2) Under the shadow of the African Sun
I believe I’ve mentioned the second book before, but the first has now taken the top spot in my heart. It’s a non-fiction book about three mid-twenty somethings who first go to Cambodia for the elections in the 1990s and then on to other UN hotspots around the world. And while the writing style alone is worth the read, it’s the way it captures events that I saw through TV and the news that really makes it a hit. I always wondered what it would be like to be at those places first hand, and wonder if perhaps that was what drove me to volunteer here? Highly recommended. And the title certainly draws some glances.
In other news, I finally caught up on my canadian news. Go figure that something interesting would finally happen in Canadian politics while I’m gone. Still, even read in Uganda, it’s pretty cool. Wonder where it’ll all go?
We made the mistake of telling our boss Tim the happy news about the new spring and the district proposal. His eyes lit up and the wheels started turning. “Do you think you could try to put these proposals together before the Christmas break?”
We think he’s nuts, but of course we’ll try. Having never done this before, I’m not sure how long a design and proposal should take, but it seems like it should take more than the two days it takes me. It should certainly have a few more people than me checking for mistakes.
Still, if we could bump the number of proposals completed up to four, and all before Christmas, that would be pretty cool.
In other news, I’ve finished my most recent book, which I think puts the tally at ten, the amount of books I’ve read while here. Few other forms of entertainment helps. My favorite books are:
1) Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures)
2) Under the shadow of the African Sun
I believe I’ve mentioned the second book before, but the first has now taken the top spot in my heart. It’s a non-fiction book about three mid-twenty somethings who first go to Cambodia for the elections in the 1990s and then on to other UN hotspots around the world. And while the writing style alone is worth the read, it’s the way it captures events that I saw through TV and the news that really makes it a hit. I always wondered what it would be like to be at those places first hand, and wonder if perhaps that was what drove me to volunteer here? Highly recommended. And the title certainly draws some glances.
In other news, I finally caught up on my canadian news. Go figure that something interesting would finally happen in Canadian politics while I’m gone. Still, even read in Uganda, it’s pretty cool. Wonder where it’ll all go?
Monday, December 8, 2008
Back in Kasese
The first four days back from the off were a great re-introduction into how things work in Uganda. We had switched focus from the Kasese area to the Ankole area because if we don’t find a project in this area, we’ll be sort of kicked out of our base of operations. The Ankole area has four districts, and we had a meeting scheduled with the district water officer (DWO) of the Isingiro district on Wednesday morning. After an hour drive to get there, we find nobody there. We wait half an hour, because hardly anyone is ever really on time here. Then we call him and find that he’s in Kampala. But his assistant should be able to help us. Well, we had met this assistant last time we were here and he can’t really tell us anything new. But he set us up with another guy (delegation is an art here) who was able to show us some springs. The springs were all middling and we ended the day slightly disappointed. I say slightly because I’ve since grown accustomed to this yo-yo of effort vs. reward and am now viewing everything with great amusement. It keeps things in a positive light.
I decided I didn’t want to spend another day futilely tromping through the Ugandan countryside. So instead I traded places with Wesley and spent the day finishing the proposal for the Bwesumbu GFS and the design for Kalonge GFS. From my November 28th post, you’ll recall that we’re down from five to two real proposals (I’ve submitted a third, but I doubt it’ll be considered as it involves a 3hr hike with a vertical gain of 1km and digging through soil that may or may not have landmines). I would love to be able to submit more, but I’ve now been here for 3 months and it seems like the one month remaining will hardly be enough. Still, if the two proposals I’ve submitted are accepted, it would provide water to 12,000 people and a future population of 25,000. I’ll take that.
Friday we headed out the Ntungumu district to meet with the DWO there. But of course, he’s also in Kampala (I’ve been told they’re not having a DWO party, but I have my doubts). Still, his assistant led us on a merry drive where we saw two more useless springs, but did get to see our new camp under construction. Because we were in the neighborhood, we were also able visit our old camp, the one that had been our home for the first month in Uganda. Felt like coming home. Which is funny because coming back to Kasese also felt like coming home. And so did going back to Mbarara after a month in Kasese. Makes me wonder what my reaction will be like when I return to Vancouver?
Saturday was interesting. Back in September we’d received a letter from a community called Nyaruhandangazi. Cool name. They have plenty of springs, but not enough water and the quality is bad in most of them. So we couldn’t help them out. However, when we met with the Mbarara district water office last month, they mentioned two springs with different names in the same area. Then our boss Tim mentioned a headmaster who also knew of springs in the area, also with different names. Intrigued at the possibility of new sources in the community and therefore the possibility of completing a proposal for the area, we set out again.
Turns out they were the same springs, our new information just had the names wrong. Which on the one hand is gratifying because it shows how thorough we’re being, but also disappointing because it means there’s no hope for a conventional GFS in this area.
I was hoping to finish the second proposal on Sunday morning and afternoon, but our power went out. So instead we packed up and drove to Kasese. They seem to have more power. At least for the moment. Seems like power in all these cities is pretty erratic.
But now we’re back in Kasese, and in one day found enough water for 11,000 people. So the other three days of frustration this week were cancelled out. I’m starting to see the appeal of prospecting. Or gambling.
I decided I didn’t want to spend another day futilely tromping through the Ugandan countryside. So instead I traded places with Wesley and spent the day finishing the proposal for the Bwesumbu GFS and the design for Kalonge GFS. From my November 28th post, you’ll recall that we’re down from five to two real proposals (I’ve submitted a third, but I doubt it’ll be considered as it involves a 3hr hike with a vertical gain of 1km and digging through soil that may or may not have landmines). I would love to be able to submit more, but I’ve now been here for 3 months and it seems like the one month remaining will hardly be enough. Still, if the two proposals I’ve submitted are accepted, it would provide water to 12,000 people and a future population of 25,000. I’ll take that.
Friday we headed out the Ntungumu district to meet with the DWO there. But of course, he’s also in Kampala (I’ve been told they’re not having a DWO party, but I have my doubts). Still, his assistant led us on a merry drive where we saw two more useless springs, but did get to see our new camp under construction. Because we were in the neighborhood, we were also able visit our old camp, the one that had been our home for the first month in Uganda. Felt like coming home. Which is funny because coming back to Kasese also felt like coming home. And so did going back to Mbarara after a month in Kasese. Makes me wonder what my reaction will be like when I return to Vancouver?
Saturday was interesting. Back in September we’d received a letter from a community called Nyaruhandangazi. Cool name. They have plenty of springs, but not enough water and the quality is bad in most of them. So we couldn’t help them out. However, when we met with the Mbarara district water office last month, they mentioned two springs with different names in the same area. Then our boss Tim mentioned a headmaster who also knew of springs in the area, also with different names. Intrigued at the possibility of new sources in the community and therefore the possibility of completing a proposal for the area, we set out again.
Turns out they were the same springs, our new information just had the names wrong. Which on the one hand is gratifying because it shows how thorough we’re being, but also disappointing because it means there’s no hope for a conventional GFS in this area.
I was hoping to finish the second proposal on Sunday morning and afternoon, but our power went out. So instead we packed up and drove to Kasese. They seem to have more power. At least for the moment. Seems like power in all these cities is pretty erratic.
But now we’re back in Kasese, and in one day found enough water for 11,000 people. So the other three days of frustration this week were cancelled out. I’m starting to see the appeal of prospecting. Or gambling.
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