I Might be Obsessed...

            The botanical gardens of Uganda, which are located about an hour outside of Kampala is the filming site for the original Tarzan (1932).  Several weekends ago I visited these gardens with Devavani.  Devavani is a biology professor at Macalester College in Minnesota who had come to Uganda for two weeks to help with some of the projects I am in the middle of implementing.   During this excursion, Devavani’s bird obsession was revealed and my obsession with monkeys was made clear. 

As opposed to the baboons, vervet monkeys are friendly and approachable

Lucky for me, January is when most baby monkeys are born.  Pretty much every female had a baby in her arms or in her belly.  We saw one monkey that was only one day old!

Our tour guide, Brite, feeding the monkeys

Holding his hand!

Can you imagine how many pictures I would have taken if my camera battery hadn't died?!?

We also visited an orphanage on the way.  The kids are pretty cute too.

            To be honest, since coming back from the holidays, life, and especially work, has been a bit overwhelming.  Seeing the monkeys; however, did make things better.  Oh, the small things in life J

Roy the Klepto – aka Roy the Former Houseboy

                When I arrived home after the holidays, strange things seemed to have happened while I was gone.  Not only was the mirror in my bathroom missing, but my money belt, which had been filled with bills and coins when I left for the U.S., was empty.  While I have to admit that I am not always the best at keeping track of my money, it was pretty obvious that money had been taken; though how much money was hard to determine.   My only suspect was Roy, the housekeeper, since he was the only person who had access to our house over the holidays. 

                While inventing ways to confirm my suspicions, Darin, my housemate for the week, beat me to it.  He approached me one afternoon saying that he had marked several bills in his wallet, hid them, and checked back after Roy cleaned his room to see if they were still there.  They were gone.  Later that day, Darin spoke with Roy telling him that he was missing some money and that he expected it to be returned by the time he left several days later.  Sure enough, after Darin came home from work, the marked bills were left in the room with a note from Roy. 

                I have heard of Uganda as being a “Kleptocracy,” but had not seen much theft firsthand until now.  Sure, all of the light bulbs in the streetlamps are missing because they were stolen, but that really doesn’t affect me too much.  Roy’s thievery, on the other hand, hits home - literally.  Not only was he one of my best resources when it came to questions about my life in Kampala (i.e. how to get places, who is coming in and out of my house on a daily basis, which bills need to be paid, etc.), I also considered him a good friend.  Every day he would join me as I ate breakfast and probably knew as much as anyone here about my friends and family back home.  To have that trust shattered left me reeling for quite some time and makes me question the ethics of other people I come in contact with on a daily basis...

'Tis the Season

The past month, as the holiday season drew near, I found I couldn’t quite get into the holiday spirit.  Instead of sitting by the fire with hot cocoa surrounded by family and friends, I found myself sitting by pools in Uganda’s eternal summer surrounded by friends I have met within the last three months.  Although I missed the Christmas cookies, music, and twinkling lights that bring the holiday cheer, I did not miss the holiday stress.  Contrary to the hustle and bustle felt within the U.S. during Christmastime, the streets of Kampala gradually grew less crowded and more peaceful as the expats traveled to their respective countries and the Ugandans traveled to their family’s villages.  Additionally, by being removed from the materialistic nature that is associated with the American Christmas, I am reminded of what Christmas should be about.   I begin to realize how much I appreciate the time I can spend with my family and friends as compared to the gifts I receive from these people.

            Although it may not have felt like Christmas, my work put on a Christmas party.  Staff members from various parts of Uganda gathered at the Imperial Grande Hotel for wining, dining, and dancing.  

My co-workers - Britta and Kara

More co-workers

Dancing with Peter

Sadick "shaking" - he is one of the many of Ugandans who dances with himself  in the mirror at clubs to make sure he is dancing well...

            On December 21^st, I set out for my nearly 36 hours of traveling.  Although my time in Colorado seemed short, I was able to see the majority of my family and friends and was reminded of how great all of these people are.

Christmas Eve at Corey and Erika's new house

Skiing with my family at Copper on Christmas

After skiing on Christmas

New Year's Eve Masquerade

            Despite being sad to leave my family and friends in Colorado, upon my arrival to Uganda, I was welcomed by everyone I came across.  Everyone from my driver who came to pick me up at the airport, to my co-workers, to the children I pass on my way to work (who still continue to touch me as much as possible as I walk by), to the grocer and baker - they all seemed happy to have me back.  Some welcomed me a little too strongly…like the boda drivers who I am sure I have never spoken to, but who somehow know where I live...kind of creepy…Regardless, it was nice to be welcomed back so warmly.  

MTN Marathon

                On December 5^th, 2010, after hardly any training, my friend Tiffany and I decided to run.  The MTN Marathon, which is put on by a local phone company, sponsors a marathon, a half-marathon, and a 10k (due to my lack of training, I opted for the 10k).  In the weeks leading up to the race I saw tons of people running the streets of Kampala to prepare for the big day.  Attire didn’t matter – people’s training attire ranged from tattered sandals and dresses to nice athletic gear that one would commonly find in any of the sports stores in the U.S. 

                To avoid the heat, the race began at 7:00 am.  To accommodate the crowd of over 20,000 runners; however, we were asked to come at 6:00 am.  In a place that is generally unorganized and on “African time”, the race was surprisingly organized and timely.  We were given packets several days before the race which included a bag, visor, informational packet, and tracking device for only 10,000 Ugandan Schillings (~$5)!  Additionally, since so many people were gathered within a small space, security was strictly enforced to prevent any sort of violence or terrorist attack.  We were subjected to metal screenings, pat-downs, and had to check any bags we may have brought.



Our view upon arrival to the race – makes me excited to see DIA in a few days :)



 

Waiting with Tiffany for the race to begin

A sea of yellow

                As the gunshot sounded and the race began, everyone began pushing and forcing themselves toward the front.  I would be surprised if no one was injured or trampled in the first several minutes of the race.  After about a kilometer; however, the crowd thinned out slightly.



Approaching my neighborhood

Some supporters and regulatory officials along the route

Nearing the finish line



Coming is 3889th out of over 20,000 people isn't so bad, is it?



Some of the Come Let's Dance staff coming to support us



I'm Thankful for Safaris

                Since I spent my Thanksgiving in Kampala, I decided to celebrate the holiday weekend a bit untraditionally.  The weekend began semi-traditionally as about twenty people came together for a Thanksgiving feast.  Of the twenty, only five were American; however, each person talked about what they were thankful for and each person brought a Thanksgiving dish.  We had two turkeys (keep in mind that they were still warm as the boda driver dropped them off from the market…), stuffing, cranberries, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and much more.   In typical Ugandan fashion, the power was out, so we ate in the dark.



Thanksgiving 2010

                Friday afternoon, my friends and I left work a little early and got in a minivan and began our 5-6 hour trek to Murchison Falls National Park where we were to go on safari.  Before we got out of Kampala; however, we found ourselves in the middle of a political rally.  Elections are held every four years and the next election will be held in February.  Due to the nature of African elections/politics, it may be good to get out of Kampala in February…

                We arrived at our cottage a little before 7pm.  In Uganda, it’s fairly important to travel during the day when consider that many people drive without lights, walk along the road, or that the potholes are so big, they practically swallow your car whole.   Once we arrived, we had dinner and went to bed early since breakfast was scheduled for 5:30 am.  We began driving to the national park at 6 am and arrived at the Nile at 7 am to catch the ferry taking us across the river and into the park. 

Sunrise over the Nile

                After being transported to the other side of the Nile, we began driving in search of lions, elephants, giraffe, buffalo, and leopards.  Within five minutes; however, we encountered a problem – our minivan was stuck in the mud and we had to wait for the Uganda Wildlife Authorities to come and not only tow us out, but to also jump start our battery that had died as we were attempting to get out of the mud.  This would set the pace for the rest of the game drive where we got stuck 4 more times (one more time which required being towed out of some more mud).  Although it was not ideal being stuck in the mud, it did give us a chance to do a little animal tracking.

Elephant tracks

Good thing we didn’t run into any lions while we were stranded…we would've been sitting ducks

Nevertheless, we were fairly successful at spotting a variety of animals during our game drive.

We saw many giraffe, some of which would gallop across the road were driving on

African Buffalo

I promise there’s a leopard somewhere in this picture

                After several hours, we headed back toward the Nile where we hopped on a small boat that allowed us to tour the wildlife along the Nile River.  While we were waiting; however, we were surrounded by a troop of baboons and a group of warthogs.  Although I am absolutely fascinated by primates, the erratic behavior of the baboons kept me from getting too close.

Notice the baby clinging to its mother on the right

                While on our boat tour, we saw many hippos, several crocodiles, a couple of elephants, and a variety of birds.  Our ending destination was Murchison Falls – an incredible waterfall, which the national park has been named after.

A bloat of hippos

Our captain, Admiral Nelson

Approaching Murchison Falls

Front Row - Me, Lara, and Tihana Back Row - Glen and Melanie -- in front of Murchison Falls

                Once we arrived at Murchison Falls, we were dropped off and began an hour-long hike up to the falls. 

                After a very full day, we were ready to go back to our cottage for dinner and to get some well-needed rest.  The next morning, we drove to the Budongo Forest Reserve to do some chimp trekking.  We came upon three different groups of females and their babies.  The first two groups were feeding.   The third was terrified of us and fled immediately.

If you look directly in the center of the photo, you can spot the chimp high in the trees

Peering high into the canopy trying to spot the female chimps feeding

Along the way, we also ran into colobus monkeys, which the chimps prey on

Our chimp trekking guide, Joshua

A Run-In With the Po Po's

The Ugandan police are corrupt.
Several nights ago my friends and I had our first encounter with the Ugandan police force.  We had just left a nice hotel where many ex-patriots and affluent Ugandans hang out.  After only traveling a block, a giant black van flashed its lights and proceeded to follow us.  The van was full of Ugandans dressed in camouflage who were waving their arms and fists at us threateningly.  Not yet realizing that this was the police, we quickly found a main road and attempted to out-run them (kind of reminded me of when Liz and I tried to out-run a couple of guys one night - the only difference was that Liz and I succeeded and the people we were trying to outrun didn't have guns...). 

When it was apparent that there was no other option but to pull over, we pulled into the driveway for the British consulate.  Our logic was that if we needed to, we could call in the help of the British Embassy since we had a British citizen in the car with us.  Upon our arrival to the embassy, the police van pulled behind us and essentially blocked us in.  Two officers came up and began giving us (unreasonable) reasons why they pulled us over  - I mean, we had only driven one block by the time they started following us, how many valid reasons could they give us?  I think they really only followed us for as long as they did because they saw that the car was full of Mzungus and were hoping to make a profit off of us and prove their authority. 

After unsuccessfully telling us why they pulled us over, they began to tell us we should have apologized profusely when we first began talking them.  Then they began telling my roommate how they were reluctant to begin talking to her because she looked Chinese and Chinese people are stubborn and cannot speak English (not that they are racist or anything).  Then they began asking why we were afraid of the police (as if they should ask after they nearly wrecked our car when we didn't do anything wrong...).  They continued to suggest that we go to the Wandegaya police station where we could sort everything out.  We adamantly refused.  After about 15 minutes of the police threatening us and exercising their authority over us, the tone changed and we saw an opportunity to "compensate them for their gas and time" (aka bribe them).  The police were nervous since we were in an area that was being videotaped, so they backed their van out of the range of the video cameras and the officers returned.  Although they laughed at us for our 20,000 schilling (about $10) bribe, they finally accepted and let us to go home. 

Although the general consensus is that the police will not intentionally harm foreigners, they definitely exploit them and exercise their authority whenever possible.  Corruption within the police force; however, is just the tip of the iceberg in Uganda.  Corruption permeates the entire society and could explain why this country (and perhaps the majority of the continent) is so slow to progress. 

The Nile is a River in Africa

                This past weekend, my University of Minnesota co-workers and I traveled to Jinja to raft the Nile.  Our group consisted of Melanie and Brandon (med students at the University of Minnesota and Harvard), Dave (an Infectious Disease physician at UMN), Tihana (a Croatian physician working in the UK who will be staying with us for the next month), and myself.  I feel a little out the loop, not being a physician and all…once we arrived in Jinja, three other Americans who are living in Rwanda and a local Rwandan joined our rafting team.  Our river guide was named Tutu, a Ugandan.

November 13th, 2010 - Rafting near the source of the Nile, Jinja, Uganda

                We rafted 31 km and went down 9 rapids – 4 of which were class 5 (to give you some perspective, a class 6 is a waterfall).  It is pretty much required that every raft will flip at least once before the day is over.  Given our rafting skills (we had an ex-rafting guide and an avid kayaker in our raft); we only flipped once – but only because of Tutu. 

An easy rapid to begin our day



The rapids became a little more intense...



I'm pretty sure I'm completely submerged at this point.  I should be in the 2nd row - I think you might be able to see my helmet if you look close enough.  Surprisingly, I didn't even fall out!



Where did our raft go?!?  Again, because of incredible rafting skills, we were able to survive the rapid and continue on our way down the Nile.

     Anyway, our day of rafting ended up being a great day.  We survived the rapids with no broken bones - just a few cuts and bruises.  By the way, I have a pretty sweet DVD of our day if anyone is interested in watching it over Christmas...

     To help relieve my sore muscles, the next day Tiffany Russell (a volunteer working just outside of Kampala who is from Steamboat, Colorado) and I went to Emin Pasha where we treated ourselves to a spa day.

Seriously - who would expect to find this oasis in the middle of Uganda?!?

     To top off the weekend, I went to my roommate Ann’s basketball game.  Ann is playing for A-1 Challenge, the national basketball team of Uganda and is the only mzungu in the entire league.  Her team has made it to the semi-finals.

Game 4 of 5 for the Ugandan National League Semi-Finals