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!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
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.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Whitewater Kayaking on the White Nile
I completed another personal first this weekend. On Saturday I went white water kayaking on the white Nile. A brief history and geography lesson; during the 19th century, there was a great rush to find the source of the Nile. Explorers such as Speke, Livingstone and Stanley spent years exploring East Africa trying to establish which of the great lakes was the source of the Nile. In fact, Stanley, trying to determine if Lake Tangyanika was the source, followed the Congo River to the Atlantic ocean. As Stanley was in the employ of the king of Belgium, this effectively gave Leopold control over central Africa which led to decades of plunder and devastation far beyond what the other europeen powers were doing to their colonies. Some might say the DRCs current problems were a result of Livinstone’s explorations.
Thanks to Livinstone’s explorations, Lake Victoria was confirmed as the source. (It’s is actually only the source of the White Nile, with the Blue Nile originating from Lake Tana in Ethiopa, the two rivers meet near Khartoum – but that’s another story).
So after traveling to Kampala on Friday, I headed off to Jinja on Saturday morning and met up with my instructor Ibra at 10am. We got into the water with our kayaks 10 minutes later and within two hours I had successfully completed an Eskimo roll. I’ve always been in awe of those kayakers who could complete one, so you can imagine my joy when I was able to do it myself. After lunch we headed up to our launch point which was just over 3 kilometers from lake Victoria. Over the next hour and an half we passed through six sets of rapids, of which the largest was a class 3. Well, Ibra said it was a class 2 on the Nile but that most foreigners would classify it as a Class 3. Once I’d gone through it, capsized and then ejected from my boat, I also gave it a class 3 rating. Of course, considering I capsized and ejected after the first set of rapids (class 1), I can’t really consider myself an expert on river rating systems. I also never managed to successfully correct a capsize with an Eskimo roll. Doing a roll on calm water and in the rapids are two completely different things. But a super fun sport. Going to look into it once I go home.
Spent Sunday and Monday trying to use as many different modes of transport to get from Kampala to Mbarara. Used a motorcycle taxi (boda boda) to get to the minibus (matatu) park. Took a matatu from Kampala to Entebbe. Took the new ferry to the Sese islands in the centre of Lake Victoria. Swam in the Bilharzia infected waters (the only reason I did this was because I was swimming next to an irish physician who insisted that I should take the shistosomosis medication once I left the country anyway, so I might as well have a good reason for taking it). Rented a motorcycle on one end of the island and drove it to the other. Boarded another ferry off the island. Caught a ride in the back of a pick-up truck of an American missionary who used to be a helicopter pilot in the US Air Force (how do I manage to meet so many missionaries in Uganda? I met twelve Baptist volunteers while rafting). Final leg of the journey was a 3hr bus ride where my seat was my bag in the middle of the aisle (not enough seats, and I didn’t want to wait for an emptier bus).
The night before we left, we hit the same club as we did the first time, but this time managed to convince two of the girls to come along. The highlight of the night was hearing the reggae song Barak Obama. They’re still going wild for that guy.
Thanks to Livinstone’s explorations, Lake Victoria was confirmed as the source. (It’s is actually only the source of the White Nile, with the Blue Nile originating from Lake Tana in Ethiopa, the two rivers meet near Khartoum – but that’s another story).
So after traveling to Kampala on Friday, I headed off to Jinja on Saturday morning and met up with my instructor Ibra at 10am. We got into the water with our kayaks 10 minutes later and within two hours I had successfully completed an Eskimo roll. I’ve always been in awe of those kayakers who could complete one, so you can imagine my joy when I was able to do it myself. After lunch we headed up to our launch point which was just over 3 kilometers from lake Victoria. Over the next hour and an half we passed through six sets of rapids, of which the largest was a class 3. Well, Ibra said it was a class 2 on the Nile but that most foreigners would classify it as a Class 3. Once I’d gone through it, capsized and then ejected from my boat, I also gave it a class 3 rating. Of course, considering I capsized and ejected after the first set of rapids (class 1), I can’t really consider myself an expert on river rating systems. I also never managed to successfully correct a capsize with an Eskimo roll. Doing a roll on calm water and in the rapids are two completely different things. But a super fun sport. Going to look into it once I go home.
Spent Sunday and Monday trying to use as many different modes of transport to get from Kampala to Mbarara. Used a motorcycle taxi (boda boda) to get to the minibus (matatu) park. Took a matatu from Kampala to Entebbe. Took the new ferry to the Sese islands in the centre of Lake Victoria. Swam in the Bilharzia infected waters (the only reason I did this was because I was swimming next to an irish physician who insisted that I should take the shistosomosis medication once I left the country anyway, so I might as well have a good reason for taking it). Rented a motorcycle on one end of the island and drove it to the other. Boarded another ferry off the island. Caught a ride in the back of a pick-up truck of an American missionary who used to be a helicopter pilot in the US Air Force (how do I manage to meet so many missionaries in Uganda? I met twelve Baptist volunteers while rafting). Final leg of the journey was a 3hr bus ride where my seat was my bag in the middle of the aisle (not enough seats, and I didn’t want to wait for an emptier bus).
The night before we left, we hit the same club as we did the first time, but this time managed to convince two of the girls to come along. The highlight of the night was hearing the reggae song Barak Obama. They’re still going wild for that guy.
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