Happy New Year!

I’ve made it to 2017 happy and healthy. I hope the same for all of my family and friends. I’m sorry I have let this blog grow cobwebs, but it’s the New Year and here I am to dust them off. Heehee, then let them grow back because I don’t see my ability to maintain internet connection improving in the coming months. If anything, it may get worse! My supervisor has changed and the new one is not accommodating at all (I didn’t appreciate all that Elijah did for me when he was here; a classic example of not know what you have until it’s gone).

Elijah and Precious, my previous supervisor
and his wife, and my good friends.

As I said, my supervisor has changed. The first week of my vacation I stayed with Elijah and Precious at their house in Kampala. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. On the tea estate they had a very nice house with a big lawn and vegetable garden. The rooms were spacious and the kitchen and bathroom were inside the house. In Kampala… what can I say, it was Kampala, and no matter how well they kept their house and little property nice, it was Kampala. They did the cooking and cleaning in the little courtyard pictured (the kitchen was little more than a closet with a door opening to the courtyard) and the guest latrine was around the corner. There wasn’t even proper streets leading to their house. You had to walk down alleyways and through the neighbor’s property to get there. They did have electricity and water, so they were better off than a lot of their neighbors, but oh boy,  it was Kampala! The price for freedom from the tea estate. Of course, it's the people that are important and they are super people. They also seem to have nice neighbors and friends close by and they say they feel safe and happy with their new arrangement.

This is the alleyway leading to their front door and their front courtyard/kitchen.

During my stay in Kampala, I met up with a fellow volunteer, Christa, and toured a mosque. This is the Gaddafi Mosque, officially named the Uganda National Mosque. It’s construction was funded by Colonel Gaddafi of Libya as a gift to the Muslim population of Uganda. It is the largest mosque in Uganda and the second largest one in Africa; the largest being King Hassan Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. The Gaddafi Mosque can accommodate 15,000 worships at ago (according to our guide, but I find that hard to believe unless then were crammed in on top of each other or half were worshiping from the terrace surrounding the structure).  

Christa and I were required to cover our heads and western clothes to go inside the mosque. The hijab (headscarf) and wrap were included in the price of our tour. I am very thankful to have grown up in a Christian family because, if for no other reason, those coverings are hot and having your hair stuck down on your neck is extremely uncomfortable! Hmmmm, I need to feel the wind blowing through my hair, guess that means my religious preferences don’t involve much religious philosophy. 

As far as mosques go, I’m told this one is rather ornate. I have nothing to compare it to except the Catholic churches I’ve toured and trust me, if you are interested in architecture, go to a church, not a mosque. Hmmmm, again, my religious preferences do not appear to be rooted to deep into the actual religion.

The mosque had a tower which we were allowed to climb to get a beautiful view of the city.

The big bad city doesn't look so bad from afar...

but then you get down to street level and it's a hot, crowded mess!

After Kampala, a group of us departed on our Kidepo Valley safari. Kidepo Valley is the most northeastern region of Uganda. I didn't think Uganda was that big but it took us two days to get there! Ha, Uganda really is not that big; the roads are just so poor that a good majority of the time we were not driving faster than maybe 20 mph. It was torture. And though it was beautiful, it paled in comparison to Tanzania. Definitely not worth the money or the time and aggravation spent to get there. However, our group was fun and it's was nice to forge closer friendships with my fellow volunteers.

Kidded Valley National Park

On the return trip, since we didn't want to get back to our sites in time to spend Christmas alone, we stopped in Gulu for the night. We had a nice dinner at a Ethiopian restaurant, drink lots of wine, and stayed at the New Florida hotel (can you read the sign?) Sniff, sniff... I miss my Florida, especially at Christmastime.

The final stop on our holiday tour was Sipi Falls. This is an area in eastern Uganda on the edge of Mount Elgon. There were several waterfall in the region and they were all quite amazing. Unfortunately, my Samsung phone/camera completely failed me and this is the only picture that survived. 

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and New Year. Next holidays I plan to be stateside once again. Until then, I'll try to get a few more posts of this bizarre and wonderful country I'm currently living in.

Return to Site

This will be the final post on my fabulous vacation with my daughter, Jennifer. When we returned to Uganda we had five days until she was to return to the US; plenty of time to allow her to see my home, hand wash her clothes, experience bucket bathes, and visit with a few of the people that have welcomed me into their community and have truly made my stay here rewarding.

Relaxing on my front porch. I have quite enjoyed growing a garden but honestly, if I had to survive on what I was able to harvest, as many of the locals do, I would be much thinner!

yams, sweet potatoes, beets, radishes, pumpkin, and basil

tomatoes, aloe, and beans... and Irish potatoes and onion way in the back but you can't really see those because it will be a few months yet until they are ready for eating

This, I believe, is gooseberry. Though all of the locals I have asked can't tell me the English name so I wouldn't swear to it. They call it toetoe (pronounced toe-toe so that is just how I spelled it, I haven't a clue as to the proper spelling). The kids love them and eat them when they are still green. I think they are quite tart and suspect if they would just leave them alone, they would ripen more and become sweet.

Pumpkin and radish leaves. Since coming to Uganda and growing my own garden, I have learned how many things you can eat the leaves of; pumpkin, radish, beets, sweet potatoes, yams, and celery. Before I only thought people ate the fruit/root/stalk of these plants. Now, I add some kind of green to every dinner I make.

Jen and I did a lot of walking around the tea estate to visit my friends. From this picture, my house is located on the right side of the clump of dark green trees that are at the very top, exact center of the scene.

Rock climbing near Teddy's house.

neices, nephews, neighbors... there were a lot kids running around and I'm not exactly sure who belonged to who

With Teddy and two of the kids. I just found out this week that the older one in the picture is her son. Apparently, she got pregnant back in high school and was too afraid to tell me, thought I would disapprove or something. After she had the child, she went back to school and finished while her mom looked after her son (the boy's father is not part of their life). I told her that sort of thing happened to girls all over the world and she should be proud that she finished school and is caring for her son. She is now 24, married, and about to have her second child. Her husband has accepted her son as his own so I think they will be fine.

With Teddy's brother, mother, and niece (heehee, or nephew... Jen and I were undecided on this, I thought they said the child's name was Judith but she thought they said Judas and honestly, unless you put a dress on some of these kids, you can't tell at that young age)

The whole group, such a nice family!

Jack Fruit. I've never seen this before so I don't think we have it in the States

It has a very sticky center so he is using banana leaves to wipe it away.

It kinda tastes like juicy fruit gum. The first few pieces are delicious, but it's super sweet and if you eat too much you get a bit nauseous. Of course, the kids love it and eat it like candy.

 Now, Jen is safely back in the US and I must get back to work. That is the end of my vacation pictures. I can't promise when the next post will come, or what the next topic will be, but until then, thanks for reading and sending all of the love and support my way. Eleven months and counting.

Zanzibar

To round out our safari vacation, we enjoyed four days on lounging of the beach in Zanzibar. It was very different from the beaches of Florida, and in some strange way, also very similar. All in all, it made me quite homesick for the beach I grew up on... if only the Gulf of Mexico had the beautiful blue waters of the Indian Ocean.

We flew to Zanzibar in a little single prop. This is the flight line of the local airport in Arusha,Tanzania.

I don't know about Jen, but I just love flying! Some people dread it, or fear for their lives, but I love every minute, especially in little planes that remain within viewing distance of the ground or water.

Our hotel in Zanzibar was right on the beach, sand right up to the porch.

Of course, as soon as we got there, we had to take a walk down the beach. One of the first and biggest differences we encountered on those beaches were the peddlers. The Maasai people were out there trying to sell you hand crafts or the locals would try to offer you their services as tour guides. I realize they see us as a means for them to make a living, but I hate being approached by people wanting money. They come up and start with small talk... how are you, what is your name, where are you from, how long will you be staying. And I hate to be rude so I answer the questions in as short of answers as possible and don't encourage the conversation in any way. But they are persistent and you have to eventually stop them and say something to the fact that you are not interested and have no intention of purchasing whatever it is they are selling. Really spoils the serenity of the beach.   

We did buy a snorkling tour. We obviously had no idea what we were buying because what we got was crazy. Crazy good, but all the same, crazy. We had the hotel arrange the tour. The staff member told us to be ready in the morning and wait by the seawall of our hotel. So, at the designated time, there I was. Waiting for what, I was not too sure of. In this picture, you can see the Maasai at the foot of the hotel steps with his crafts for sale. They are not allowed on the hotel property, but you have to walk through them to get to the beach. They will call to you as soon as they see you, so you can't even sit on the seawall in peace! Anyway, you also see the guy with the boat waving to me. I told Jen, "ha, I think this is our tour, the guy is waving at me". Well, I was only kidding when I said that and turned out, the joke was on me, because, yes, that was our tour!  

Me and our captain. He spoke no English, but the other guy did, a little.

Cool sail boat, actually. And the guys did a wonderful job. The water was magnificent.

You can see how far off from the shore they took us. The water stayed shallow (20, 30 feet?) for quite a distance. Once we were out there, the guys took down the sail and kind of gestured for us to get in. They gave us fins and snorkels and were nodding at the water. We were like, "what? here? just jump in?" And the one that could speak a little English says, "you can swim, right?" Ahhhhh, yeah... I'm not sure what we were expecting, maybe a little safety brief, or what to expect talk, or something... but no, just jump in! His job was to get us away from the shore and over some kind of coral or rock formation to see a few fish, and he did that. Now it was all up to us what to do with the fins and snorkels. So, what the heck, we jumped in! We did see some fish but I was disappointed with the coral. It was all gray or yellow, obviously in a state of decline. Maybe the days of vibrant underwater colors are limited to controlled environments like aquariums. Sad, but true.

This is the life. I know these guys have little money, but their life is to sail these beautiful waters. I think I actually enjoyed the sailing part of the trip better than the snorkeling part.

The view of the beach from a restaurant we found not far from our hotel. They had no liqueur and it took two hours to get a kinda-crappy sandwich. Really? I was surprised at how little the beach had to offer in the way of "beach bars". Even our hotel only had beer and wine. In this category, St Pete wins, hands down. The food in St Pete is miles better than Zanzibar too.

A Maasai, looking for his next pigeon. Haha, actually, they were very nice and polite. I talked with one and he told me they were from the Kilamanjaro region of Tanzania. They spent about a month at a stretch out on the island selling their crafts. Once they sold everything, they were "allowed" back into their tribe and after some months, would return to the island with another load to sell.

I did end up buying a few things from the beach peddlers, including this scarf.

The last view down the beach before we flew back to the mainland.

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Our final stop in Tanzania on our safari vacation was the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is the largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic crater in the world (according to my very unofficial google search).

The view from the top looking down into the crater. We were told this crater formed when a volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself three million years ago. It was absolutely massive. You could not see around to the opposite side and the rim was in the clouds.

The Maasai live around the outside of the crater and walk their cattle down to the bottom every day for water. Since the government made this a conservation area there are no settlements in the crater and the tribes are only allowed to enter a specific area for water, they cannot roam the entire crater floor.

Crested Crane (Uganda's national bird) and warthogs

Water Buffalo with Oxbow Pecker birds sitting on them

The ridiculous looking Wildebeest

Many, many wildebeest

Sleeping hippos... they must be active at night because of all the hippos we saw, we never saw them actually move, just shift their bulk around a bit or blow bubbles every now and again.

Haha, never thought I would have to share the road with a couple of zebras!

 That was our last stop on the mainland, but the vacation was not over. Next post will be our visit to Zanzibar!

Serengeti, Tanzania

After an amazing tour through Tarangire National Park and a restful night at the tented lodge just outside of the park gates, we set off for the Serengeti. It was a long drive through a lot of nothingness. I can't image the people's lives who know only this existence. The region is dominated by the Maasai tribe, who are cattle rangers (I guess that would be an appropriate term). They mainly eat meat and drink blood (true) so they have little need for settling and growing crops. They just move with their cattle to and from watering holes.

Just love the selfies :)

Jen exploring a rock outcropping while our guide registered us for entrance to the park. A perfect spot to stretch our legs and look back over the expanse of desert we just came through.

The road we drove in on... I wasn't kidding about a whole lot of nothingness!

Maasai with a herd of cattle.

A Maasai village.

Ostrich in the desert, what crazy looking birds! We also saw giraffe and camels out there, but too far away to photograph. We were told the camels are exotic to this region. They were brought in by NGOs for projects and then left behind when the projects ended. As with the introduction of all exotic species, there are mixed reviews about the benefits and the potential hazards of these animals to the region's ecology.

Found a cool looking lizard as we were exploring the rocks.

Lunch with a Marabou Stork. These birds are huge.. and ugly!!!

Baboon by the roadside. Baboons are beggars and scavengers so they are often seen by the roads looking for handouts from the tourists. You have to be careful to keep the windows rolled up because they are not timid or shy in the slightest bit. All baby animals are cute... right?!

Yeah, made it to the Serengeti!

Heehee... complete coincidence that mom and baby baboon picture ended up beside mom and baby people picture. When reviewing the post it made me laugh, so I left it.

We spent two days in the park, where all of the following pictures were taken. It was amazing to be so close to the animals. The park is huge though, hours and hour spent driving along very bumpy dirt roads. By the end of each day we were covered in dust and exhausted. All worth it though, man did we see the wildlife!

Lilac-breasted Roller

Cheetah. I was funny how she was perched on this rock completely ignoring the people in trucks gawking at her. 

Elephants enjoys a cool-down. They walked in cautiously, flinging water onto themselves, and toward the end, they were rolling in water.

The zebra followed the elephants into the pool, but stayed near the edge because the elephants would charge them if they got too close. Zebras spook and flee easily, then slowly creep back in.

Just like the cheetah, the lions completely ignored us...

and we were seriously close!

Those are gazelle in the distance, hyenas in front.

The hyenas hung with the lions. They are clean up crew; the lions would kill and eat until they were satisfied, then the hyenas would make off with all the left overs. We had a pack of six lions kill a zebra not 10 feet from one of the tents in our camp at 4am (seen and reported by the security guard, all the tourist stayed inside their tents and cringed at the sounds of the kill taking place... except me, I slept through it, ugh!). The hyenas carted off the remains so in the morning all we saw was a bloody patch in the grass.

All of the hippos we saw were dozing in the water, blowing bubbles.

Ah, the hyenas get a bad rap, they are kinda cute, at least when they sleep.

Another leopard, just lounging in a tree. We were told they only hunt as night and sleep all day, whereas the lions and cheetah hunt at all hours.

Another satisfied lion.

This one, our driver actually saw the chase and catch. Jen and I were looking the other direction, so by the time we were clued in to the excitement, we only saw a bunch of dust flying, then we saw the happy lion walking away with her prize.

Mongoose

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Water Buffalo