Tarangire, Tanzania

Our first full day in Tanzania was spent at Tarangire National Park, a great kick off to a great trip. Matooke Tours did a fabulous job with arranging our itinerary and lodging, and supplying us with a wonderful tour guide.

Thanks Matooke Tours!

We had a short wait outside of the entrance to Tarangire so we broke out the bird book. Here are a few of the cuties Jen was able to capture on camera.

Red-checked Cordon Bleu

Yellow-collared Lovebird

Superb Starling

Then, right inside the gate, elephants! I was amazed at how close we were able to get tot he wildlife... and this was just the start!

A short drive deeper into the park brought us to a herd of zebras drinking from a pond. They seemed a bit skiddish, approaching the water then darting away... and there were several tour trucks on the far side of the lake... so after a few pictures of the zebras we drove to where the other tourists were gathered. Lions! Lions eating a wildebeest! Wow, just like on National Geographic! I'm still amazed at the animals we saw.

Our lunch spot gave us a beautiful overlook of a dry river. We were told that the elephant can still get water down there by pawing at the ground. This, to me, is what I expected Africa to look like.

That is a leopard up there. We saw three leopards on our trip, and they were all dozing in trees. They were very hard to spot, and without our guide, I would have missed them all.

The giraffe, on the other hard, you couldn't miss. They were huge! I did not realize how big these guys got. I can't remember where exactly we spotted this one, they were inside and outside the parks. We actually saw several during our drives between the three parks we visited, but I think we saw him the first day so I'm including his picture here.

We stayed the night at Sangaiwe Tented Lodge.

The view from our tent's porch.

This was nothing like any of the tents I've ever been in. All of our accommodations were magnificent!

Next post will be The Serengeti!!!

Entebbe, Uganda

My beautiful daughter came to visit! The next couple of blog posts will be our vacation in Uganda and Tanzania. Such a wonderful experience, went by in a flash... now I'm sad it is over.

Selfie with Lake Victoria in the background.

The first couple of days of our vacation were spent at 2 Friends Hotel in Entebbe, Uganda. I quaint little resort overlooking Lake Victoria. We stayed in Entebbe, just killing time really, because there was a three day gap between when Jennifer arrived and when we were booked to start our safari in Tanzania. Three days was not enough time to get to my site and back, or to any interesting spots in Uganda, so we stayed put and enjoyed the scenery. Uganda is not that big, mind you, transportation is just a rediculous challange. My site is only five hours from Entebbe by car, but between taxis and buses and coordinating rides down dirt roads, that journey takes a full day. Plus, it's not safe to travel past dark. Running up a tab at a comfy lakeside resort seemed like the best option.

2 Friends Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda. Wonderful place, highly recommended.

Jen on the hotel restaurant's patio overlooking Lake Victoria. The food was not the best, but the atmosphere was awesome. We sat up there for hours, relaxing and taking pictures of the birds.

Yes, people swim in Lake Victoria, but I wouldn't dare set foot in. The water is highly contaminated with bacteria and parasites and who knows what. I think that is true of all fresh water lakes in developing countries, just a part of life over here... don't trust the water!

Of course, no Ugandan vacation would be complete without monkeys on the roof.

The next few pictures are of birds Jennifer was able to capture with her new camera. Truth be told, all pictures are from Jennifer... I am still without a working camera. Jen brought me her old one but there is something wrong with it reading the batteries. Even with brand new batteries, the camera would not recognize them. Hint, hint, for Christmas :)

African Open-billed Stork

Woodland Kingfisher

Hamerkop

Little Egret

Pied Kingfisher

Spur-winger Lapwing

Lake Mburo

Another fantastic weekend. I went with a friend from the tea estate to one of Uganda's national parks, Lake Mburo.

We had to wait for a herd of cattle to pass on our way to the lodge. The horns are so impressive... and a bit frightening if you didn't know that these cows are docile. One man, on foot, with nothing more than a stick, was controlling this herd. The car you see behind the herd is just waiting to get by, same as us.

The lodge we stayed at was called Rwakobo Rock. It was a beautiful place with magnificent views and cool breezes. It was located high on a rock outcropping overlooking cattle farms to the west and Lake Mburo to the south. They had wonderful hammocks placed around the lounge and pool areas, which I thoroughly took advantage of. The resort consisted of individual cottages with front porches and large windows to relax and enjoy the views. The cottages were located at various angles and elevations so you could not see your neighbor at all, just the open land. They also rented bikes for the guests to cycle around the surrounding countryside. The park is not enclosed so we encountered numerous zebra on our ride. What an amazing and unique experience, cycling with the zebra!

The view from my cottage

Top of the Rock 

Cattle farms as seen from the highest rock

Yes, that is a zebra behind me!!!!

The park has 15 giraffe, recently introduced to this location from another park in an effort in increase the nation's giraffe population. Our guide told us they were adapting very well and were even expecting a few babies.

Teddy and her Family

When I first moved to the tea estate, I employed a lady named Teddy to help me learn the language, Rotooro. I think I honestly tried but here we are a year later and I can still speak little more than simple greetings. Fortunately, I still have Teddy by my side, though now she works more as a translator than a language instructor.

This is Teddy with her husband, Alex. They are not officially married, but they are expecting their first child and are living together, so in Uganda, they just say they are married. I've been told that because of the expense of a church wedding or an Introduction Ceremony (I did a blog post on an Introduction Ceremony a while back, and if you recall from the pictures, it's quite an elaborate event), many people start their family and later on, when they can afford it, have a wedding.

Below are pictures of her mom, brother, sister, and few of the nieces and nephews who live a short walk from her place. Very nice people, they wouldn't let me leave with insisting I take a bag full of mangos and a half dozen eggs. Plus, I've been promised a chicken to share with my daughter when she visits next month. I trust Teddy will do the slaughtering, plucking, and preparing for me because if they hand me a live chicken, it could end up as a pet.

Grassroot Soccer

Yeah! Grassroot Soccer!! Ever hear of it? No? Unitl a few months ago, I hadn't either. Now, I am their biggest fan!!!

Grassroot Soccer is an adolescent health organization founded in 2002 by four professional soccer players in Africa, all of whom had seen the affects of HIV and AIDS in their communities. Their mission is to use the game of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize the youth to overcome health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and to be agents for change in their communities. They use enjoyment and the power of play to get essential health messages to kids who would otherwise live uninformed lives.

Overlooking Lake Victoria

In 2011, they started a partnership with the Peace Corps and have incorporated their lessons and methodology to countries around the world in which the Peace Corps serves. This year they came to Uganda! I have been priledged to be one of the first 20 PCVs in Uganda to receive the training and to be appointed as a Grassroot Soccer SkillZ Coach. I am now charged with starting the program in my community, making youth teams, and trainnig future coaches. If all goes well, year after year, long after I'm gone, kids will be learning how to live healthier lives while having a good time. Rather than droning on and on about using condoms and being faithful to your partner, I get to play games. I am so excited!



I was able to take one person with me to get the SkillZ Coach training. This is Safari Benson. He is the supervisor of one of the nine labor camps on the tea estate. Now we will work together to enlist more coaches and create soccer teams. My vision is to have a team in each village. Then at the end of the program (there are 12 health lessons after which we practice a little real soccer) we can have the teams play in a competition. We'll see how far I get. It's all in fun. The teams are meant for youth age 12 to 20, both boys and girls, and no prior soccer skills are required. Ha! I'm out there kicking the ball around and Lord knows I cannot play soccer!

By the way, culture lesson... in Uganda, hand holding is for everyone and means nothing more than I am your friend. You see two men holding hands all the time and it is not a sign of intimacy.

Safari with one of the GRS trainers, Nicole

With two more of the trainers, Rosie and  Ilana

The hotel we stayed at for the training was overrun with these adorable little monkeys. All of the Americans were facinated by them, and as you can see, the locals paid them no attention. They treated them as we would treat squirrels, I suppose. I wonder if a Ugandan came to America, if he would gawk over squirrels in the same manner we gawk over the monkeys?

The day after we returned to the tea estate, an outside health organization partnered with our clinic to do onsite HIV counseling and testing. It was a perfect opportunity to use our new coaching skills to help mobilize the residents and encourage them to get tested.