Trip Report Trip Report: Uganda

[Houndoc]

It may take a few days, but I will walk you through my recent 2 weeks in Uganda.

To start, the purpose of the trip was to visit sites of some developmental projects I helped develop and fund through our Rotary club, in partnership with a Rotary club in Mbale, Uganda. We worked with local community groups to asses needs and then looked at 4-5 proposals before selected two projects- an 8 acre demonstration teaching farm and the creation of two fish farm ponds (raising tilapia and catfish.) The entire process began 4-5 years ago and we have 1 year of funding left on those projects.

We also held meetings in a couple of other communities to asses needs and begin the process of determining potential new projects to implement.

Our first visit was to the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, which houses about 100,000 refugees from over 15 countries. About 80% are from the Congo. Having read about the horrific civil war in the Congo, it was an interesting experience to sit and talk with people who lived it. Our discussion focused on current needs and I was impressed with some of the refugees who are organizing themselves to develop projects to help others, despite what they have been through.

 

[Houndoc]

I loved the reception we received when we visited the project sites and met with community members. We were met with dancing and singing, which Ugandans seem to love to do when they are happy.

One of the most exciting things is that the community members have taken the training we provided at did exactly what we hoped- utilized it. We funded 2 fish ponds, one each in two communities. They have now built about 15 more.

 

[Medsker]

That's awesome you were able to help with this. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Houndoc]

That's awesome you were able to help with this. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks. And I am sure our connections to Uganda aren't over. Will be working on some new projects once we narrow down where to focus our efforts. So much need!

 

[Houndoc]

We did have a lot of fun while traveled as well. We spent the two weeks mixing site visits and meetings with supporting their tourism industry.

First stop was Bwindi Impenetrable Rain Forest National Park for a gorilla trek. Bwindi is home to about half of the world's remaining 1,000 mountain gorillas.

It was about a 2 hour hike into the rain forest to find the gorillas (guided of course, would never have found them on our own). One very odd thing was finding fresh elephant tracks and dung in a very thick forest at 8,000 feet elevation. Not the normal elephant territory.

A few views from the gorilla trek and surrounding communities.

It was amazing the steep land they farm, especially since so much of it is accessible only by foot. Very hard working people.

 

[Houndoc]

Next was Murchison Falls National Park.
A great place if you want to see a lot of classic African wildlife quickly (although some such as wildebeest are not in Uganda at all). Our one quick lion sighting didn't result in any good photos, but an amazing number of giraffes.
The namesake water fall is interesting in that until 1962 the entire Nile River was forced through one opening less than 25 feet wide- then in a flood year broke through and created in more beautiful fall in the left side of the photos. One member of our group pointed out how strange is was to see a waterfall younger than he is.

Along the way, bridge work in Queen Elizabeth National Park forced us to use a temporary ferry to cross. Our driver was pretty open about bribing the police to get us to the front of the line, which save several hours of waiting.

 

[Houndoc]

We did a boat safari on the Nile below the falls that afternoon.

Note the short trunk on the elephant. Guide suspects is was caught in a poacher's snare.

 

[Houndoc]

 

[Houndoc]

The next morning was game drive via the "green machine"- the older Toyota 4x4 van that died partway through our tip.

I will organize by species!

 

[Houndoc]

 

[Houndoc]

 

[Houndoc]

 

[Houndoc]

 

[rholbrook]

Very cool. Thank you for sharing

 

[Houndoc]

Let's jump now to Pian Upe game park. We stayed at an almost 'glamping' lodge that does serve as a hunting concession as well as good start point to photo safari. Unfortunately we were there during the rainy season, so the tall grass and more dispersed wildlife made seeing the leopards and cheetahs too hard to find. The rains also came into play heavily the next day.

Getting there was interesting in that the van we were traveling in, the "green machine" broke down along the dirt highway just after dark. The lodge sent the safari truck to retrieve us. A few broken ropes, bumming a real tow strap from a Turkish construction company and ripping off the brush bar later (I was just a spectator) later, we enjoyed a slow drive to the lodge in the back of the truck. I was amazed that the transport company had a repair crew to the lodge only an hour or so after we arrived. They had the van going by morning (all I know was bearings went bad) but left us a different one, the "white horse" for the rest our trip.

With all the rains, the government guide wanted to wait a few hours in the morning for things to start to dry out before going out on a game drive. We mostly saw Roan Antelope (a very tasty beast we learned at lunch) Elands and Jackson Hartabeast, then did get the van stuck. Very stuck. To my wife's credit, she was not the one driving when we got stuck (despite what it looks like in the photo below), she just tried driving while we all pushed. Ultimately a road crew with their grader went back for the van.

We failed at getting out, despite pushing and digging, so left the van behind (a stressful event for our professional driver) and walked about 2 miles back to the lodge. Slick mud made most of it easier for me to go barefoot than in my hiking sandals and the fresh hyena and large cat tracks kept us wondering what is in the 4 foot tall grasses along the road.

 

[Houndoc]

After a lengthy de-mudding process, we walked a mile or so up the road to meet members of the local community (3 hours late, but they still greeted us warmly.) We enjoyed their traditional dances, joining in a one when they encouraged us, then visited one home- 15 or so foot diameter mud hut without running water or electricity. It was surprising how common these homes still are in Uganda.

 

[Houndoc]

The Uganda national bird is the grey crowned crane. Beautiful bird!

 

[Houndoc]

Another fun outing was the area around Sipi Falls. Some steep hikes and a slightly terrifying (for those of us afraid of heights) repel- staring just to the left of the falls in the first photo.

 

[Herzog]

Incredible!

 

[Houndoc]

Final stop was the town of Jinja. Claimed to be the headwater of the Nile River, as it leaves Lake Victoria.

Our main activity was white water rafting, and swimming, the Nile.