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50 reasons why I love Uganda

As one of the shiny new fighter jets flies over my house, no doubt practising for this Tuesday’s independence day fly-past, I’m mulling over the week-end papers, full of stories about Uganda@50 and what the last 50 years of independence have meant to Uganda. Is the country better or worse off as an independent nation? What does the future hold? Will the celebrations be hijacked by anti-government protesters? Will there be tears before bedtime?

I’m no expert on Ugandan politics (although the muzungu is very proud of her politics degree from SOAS) – so let’s leave the analysis to the pundits and have some fun.

So, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence, I thought I’d share with you my top 50 reasons why I Love Uganda.

I Love Uganda logo

I Love Uganda! ’tis true

1. Airtime. Everywhere you go, every shop, bar or street corner can sell you mobile phone credit, for as little as 200 Uganda shillings (a few cents or pennies).

2. Boda boda. There are 100,000 of these motorbike taxis in Kampala. Huge fun but use with extreme caution. Don’t expect them to hang around if you have an accident. Read How to ride a boda boda. 

Boda bodas Uganda

Boda bodas Uganda

3. Birds, birds birds. I LOVE BIRDS! And Uganda has over 1000 species: pretty, beautiful, stunning, huge, noisy, elegant, comical, graceful, they’re all here.

Great Blue Turaco, Sunbird Hill. Kibale Forest edge

Great Blue Turaco, Sunbird Hill. Kibale Forest edge

4. Bus Journeys. Hmmm am I crazy? Frankly, any bus journey could be your last but one of my favourite memories is taking a bus from Kasese down to Butogota. 10,000 shillings for a free Safari as we drove down through Maramagambo Forest sighting elephants. Ahh.

5. Cappuccino. I love Ugandan coffee, just don’t serve me Star coffee powder!

6. Chimps at Ngamba Island. I fell in love with the hilarious chimps.

Ngamba Island Uganda chimp fingerface www.chrisaustria.com

Ngamba Island Uganda chimp fingerface www.chrisaustria.com

7. Dancing. Africans invented dance! Try keeping me off the dancefloor.

8. Dogs – ‘the boys’ Baldrick and Percy. These recycled street dogs light up my day. Always happy to see me, following me around until I give them what they want – food and a chance to escape the compound and chase a goat.

Baldrick USPCA dog show Kampala Diary of a Muzungu

Baldrick Superdog came First in the Dog with the Waggiest Tail competition at the USPCA dog show

9. Driving in Kampala. Yes the traffic is a nightmare, yes the potholes wreck your car, but there’s something quite liberating about driving through this city at times. Careering over the wrong side of the road to dodge potholes can be fun, let’s be honest!

Idi Amin's car Lubiri Palace Kampala

Idi Amin’s car Lubiri Palace Kampala

10. Dung Beetles rock!

Dung beetles

11. Elephants brought me to Uganda. (Yeah I know, most people would just get on a plane!)

Bull elephant along the Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park - why I love Uganda

Bull elephant feeding along the Kazinga Channel. Can you spot the hippo hiding in front of him?

12. Food menus. Guaranteed entertainment. A menu is simply a guide to what may possibly be available at one given point in time. It does not reflect what is actually in the kitchen.

13. Fruit and vegetables. Huge, fresh, tasty and cheap.

14. Gorillas. I enjoyed the trek through the rainforest as much as meeting Bwindi’s Gentle Giants.

15. Grasshoppers taste greasy and smoky (best dry fried in chilli I’m told).

The muzungu's first taste of grasshoppers - why I love Uganda

The muzungu’s first taste of grasshoppers

16. Greetings! I love the time and care Ugandans take to greet each other properly.

17. The Grey Crowned Crane – previously known as the Crested Crane – is Uganda’s iconic national symbol. The Crested Crane may well be extinct in Uganda within just 20 years, if degradation of the wetlands is not stopped. NatureUganda is leading the campaign to Save the Crane.

Grey Crowned Crane. PHOTO Andy Gooch

The Grey Crowned Crane – commonly known as theCrested Crane – is Uganda’s national bird. PHOTO Andy Gooch

18. Jane Bussman is a British comedy writer campaigning to have Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, caught. She’s on the ball and she’s hilarious.

19. Jinja, Source of the Nile, interesting colonial architecture, a market that is less congested than Kampala’s – and location for some memorable weekends at Nile River Camp.

20. Kampala Hash House Harriers have taken me to every bar, club – and slum! – across Kampala. The ‘drinking club with a running problem’ meets every Monday night.

21. Kibale Forest is where my friend Julia calls home, ideally at the top of a tree!

22. Lake Victoria. The world’s second largest freshwater lake – and the largest on the African continent – is where we taught our dogs to swim. Even as my feet crunched onto the tiny snails on the lake bed, I seem to have so far avoided Bilharzia! Can dogs catch it too?

A fisherman passes the beach at Munyonyo, Lake Victoria - why I love Uganda

A fisherman passes the beach at Munyonyo, Lake Victoria

23. Lions. Breathtaking – and a lot bigger in real life!

24. Mongooses experience in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

25. Mount Elgon. An unexpected wilderness experience, we climbed through seven habitats in four days and passed only two other groups of people. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I climb Margherita in the Rwenzori’s? One day maybe, but not without getting a LOT fitter first …

26. Muchomo roasted meat. No ‘gizzards’ (entrails) for me. I’m an occasional “chicken on a stick” woman.

27. Mighty Murchison Falls. Isn’t it annoying when you’ve heard the hype, and feel disappointed when you get there? GUARANTEE: you won’t be disappointed when you get to the top of the Falls! Read Stirring up magic at the Devil’s Cauldron, Murchison Falls.

Top of Murchison Falls. Above the Devil's Cauldron. PHOTO Allan Ssenyonga

Top of Murchison Falls – above the Devil’s Cauldron. PHOTO Allan Ssenyonga

28. Music booming out from the church on Sunday morning can drive you to distraction. I love Ugandan music – but no idea what I’m singing along to!

29. Namuwongo. Once maligned as a no-go area of Kampala (I found out after living there for a year), I love Namuwongo. Squashed between the industrial area and smarter Muyenga, it’s where I first fell in love with Uganda.

30. Owino market has everything you could ever want to buy, but it’s hard work.

31. Power cuts can drive you crazy. But the romance of candlelight has its moments 😉

32. River Nile. “Bring it on!” I screamed on my first Grade 5 white water rafting expedition. Second time around, I invited a friend to take my place; third time rafting, and I bailed out as the biggest rapids approached! Feeling nervous, learning to trust your guide, screaming with laughter as you successfully (or not!) negotiate the rapids, you’ll certainly never forget a day on the Nile.
white water rafting River Nile Jinja

33. Rolex or ‘rolled eggs’ – an omelette rolled up in a chapati – is my favourite street food. Bigger than a snack, although no self respecting Ugandan could possibly call a rolex a meal (since that should be served on a plate at a table). Rolex taste best at midnight in Kabalagala on the way home from a bar 😉

TrevorNoahVisitsUganda Wandegeya rolex

#TrevorNoahVisitsUganda or did he?
Trveor Noah gets his rolex fix (allegedly) in Wandegeya, Kampala

Read The rolex: celebrating Uganda’s uniqueness. 

34. Safari. Every Safari is different. To say that you have “done X Park” when you visited for a day or two just doesn’t make sense. I can’t get enough game drives!

Rothschild's Giraffe, Murchison Falls National Park

Rothschild’s Giraffe, Murchison Falls National Park

35. Sense of humour. Ugandans can charm the pants off you. Difficult situations tend to be dealt with humour, so refreshing after living in London where people resort to shouting and swearing.

36. Simpson. My ‘Ugandan brother‘ has been with me through thick and thin (in fact he became very thin when he was a student, going without food so he could afford the fare to university). He’s my hero! His graduation is 20th of October, and I have a front seat. I’m so proud of him. But wait – next up he’s going to be a pop star!

37. Smoking. Oh yes. Cigarettes are cheap and we spend most of our time outside. No stuffy rules to worry us!

38. Snakes. Would I like to find one in my shower? No, but they do fascinate me.

39. Sunrise and Sunset. A reason to get up early and a reason to have a drink in your hand 😉

April sunset from Butterfly Cottage, Sunbird Hill

April sunset from Butterfly Cottage, Sunbird Hill

40. Tilapia. Best eaten whole, with your hands, on the lake edge at Ggaba.

41. Totems. Having the Ugandan name ‘Nagawa’ – thanks to my friend Rashid – has been a huge icebreaker. It’s given me hours of fun. I’m therefore a member of the Nkima red tailed monkey clan.

42. Uganda Conservation Foundation. Anti-poaching and human wildlife conflict – a.k.a. anything to do with elephants – is the mission of UCF, whom I volunteered with for nearly three years.

43. Uganda Museum. Dusty and under resourced, the Museum is still a gem. I’ve fallen for its charms.

display of spears at the Uganda Museum

The Uganda Museum contains historical and cultural artefacts – and even the country’s first printing press!

44. Uganda souvenir photo map. This great fun project keeps my creative heart thumping. I’ve just created a new Uganda souvenir photo  map gallery page on Facebook.

Uganda photo map copyright Andrew Roberts Charlotte Beauvoisin

Map of Uganda courtesy of Andrew Roberts – I personalise these maps with your favourite photos to make “your own map of Uganda” – here’s just one of the many I have made

45. Uganda Waragi is a triple distilled ‘war gin.’ Handbag size bottles available ladies 😉

46. Uglish. Otherwise known as Ugandan English, this language gives us – expats and Ugandans alike – endless laughs. I tried to keep a straight face when Janero told me he had “pregnanted his girlfriend.” To read more up funny examples, check out the superb Uglish Facebook page

47. UWEC Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (once Entebbe Zoo) has a cafe overlooking the beach. Everything seems to be sold out by the time I get there – but the view’s worth it. You can see virtually all of Uganda’s big mammals at UWEC.

48. Vultures are ugly but our health depends on them. Fascinating!

49. Weather. Even when it rains, the sun comes out a few minutes later.

50. Writing Diary of a Muzungu has kept me distracted (when Ugandan TV couldn’t) and kept me sane (kind of!) when life hasn’t gone to plan. Thank you so much to everyone who reads this. You make the late nights and the missed week-ends all worthwhile.

50 reasons why I love Uganda – and I could have found more! So  tell me what would be in your top 50 things you love about Uganda?

– I know my Ugandan friends will scream MATOKE! (steamed green banana – compulsory eating for many!)

Imagine: elephants swimming to an island!

Last week I had an elephant encounter  at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe.

Baby elephant Charles at five months old

Baby elephant Charles loves to play football! Here he is at five months old

When you first encounter this baby elephant Charlie, thoughts of murder are far from your mind.

Originally from Queen Elizabeth National Park, Charles was brought to UWEC (a.k.a. the zoo) at the tender age of three weeks old, a victim of poachers that tragically saw him orphaned and then abandoned.

Fishermen of Hamukungu fishing village found baby Charles  abandoned on the shores of an island on Lake George, trying to swim. Since there were no other elephants nearby, and the baby was about to drown, the rescuers loaded Charles into their wooden dugout canoe and paddled him back to Hamukungu.

Can you imagine – seeing a baby elephant being paddled across the lake!

The fishermen were compensated for their quick-thinking by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and fisherman Charles was delighted for the elephant to be named after him!

Two days after the dramatic marine rescue, the carcass of an adult male elephant with six bullet wounds to the head and thoracic regions (indicative of poachers) was found submerged, next to the same island. It’s suspected that ivory poachers may have scared the elephant family away, leaving behind the newborn baby.

On arrival at UWEC a week later, baby Charles was weak, exhausted, and extremely thirsty. He was believed to be about a week old, as the umbilical cord was still attached. He did not know how to suckle; neither did he know the taste of milk.

Bull elephant along the Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park

Bull elephant feeding along the Kazinga Channel. Can you spot the hippo?

Organisations like the Uganda Conservation Foundation are working hard with UWA to stop poaching, remind local people of  the penalties for poaching and the benefits of community conservation. UCF is building the capacity of UWA to work on the waterways of Queen Elizabeth by providing boats, professional marine ranger training and ranger accommodation posts. Uganda’s National Parks were once teeming with wildlife but the politically unstable years of the 1970s and 80s killed off all the rhino and Queen Elizabeth’s elephant population dropped by approximately 80%. The population has been slowly recovering but tragically, the international trade in ivory is undergoing an unprecedented increase. At least 13 Ugandan elephants were killed for ivory in 2011 and they desperately need more protection.

To visit Charles or donate milk to feed him, contact UWEC on 0414 320 520 or 0414 320 169. UWEC is open every day from 8 am till 6 pm. You can also find UWEC on Facebook.

So how do you feed a baby elephant? 

Party with your closest relative!

Chimps grooming. Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Chimps grooming each other at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary – the Flagship project for the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT). Who’s imitating who? I ask myself this question again and again when I see chimps and humans together.

Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary  – the Flagship project for the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) – is fundraising to refurbish the sanctuary enclosure / electric fencing system for the sanctuary. The electric fence  – erected about 10 years ago – today helps staff, visitors, students, local communities and tourists view the Chimpanzees with minimal or no contact.

The forested island of 100 acres is located 23 km offshore from Entebbe and provides a safe haven where orphaned chimpanzees are free to roam. It offers a unique opportunity for close viewing of chimpanzees in their natural environment. Prearranged supplementary feeding brings the chimpanzees within metres of the raised walkway, specially designed for easy viewing. It’s a fantastic vantage point for photos and to appreciate the almost  chimps now resident on this small island.

Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary  is a fantastic experience. If you live in Uganda – or are visiting – it’s a must-do experience and a great day out (you can even stay overnight on Ngamba Island!) I’ve visited twice and can’t wait to go again! CSWT’s CEO Lilly Ajarova has been a volunteer Director of UCF (the Uganda Conservation Foundation) for many years and it’s always an honour to support such a committed lady, a fellow marketer and conservationist.  She’s been a inspiration to me.

UPDATE: This event was a great success!

To find out about upcoming kids events, fundraisers and more at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, email reservations@ngambaisland.org
or call +256 414 320662 / +256 758 221880.

Camels on the shore of Lake Victoria in Entebbe, UWEC
Camels on the shore of Lake Victoria in Entebbe, seen from UWEC, Uganda Wildlife Education Centre

The photo was taken at the cafe in the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC), also known as Entebbe Zoo.  Free entrance to the zoo is included in the entry ticket to  Ngamba Island and it’s a lovely place to chill out.

Have you visited Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary? What was your favourite part of the experience?

A close encounter with lions!

One of the incredible benefits of working with UCF, the Uganda Conservation Foundation, has been work trips to the Bush – and free game drives. Friends and family back home may be under the impression that’s all I’ve been doing for the last two and half years! Unfortunately, once I’d got the hang of the projects, trips and wildlife encounters (in the Bush at least) were few and far between and I spent as much time chained to the laptop as I did in any other office job I’ve ever had, writing one funding proposal after another.

Lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Feline like a quickie in the Bush – then time for breakfast

Yet the Bush is still within a day’s drive from home, UCF has given me some wonderful contacts in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and I am indeed a very lucky girl to (continue to) have this experience. I make the most of every day I have in Uganda – here’s a highlight from last week:

The driver had promised us the earliest of starts (although I was disappointed that the agreed game drive would happen in a bloody saloon car!) I’d insisted that we should go in a 4×4 but come 6.30 in the morning, I’d buttoned my lip, deciding to make the most of the cheap price and trusting in the fact that a locally based guide should be able to find all the wildlife straightaway.

Eddie the driver gave us the normal tourist platitudes, and I switched off. UCF has spoiled me. We’ve travelled with rangers off the beaten track; we’ve followed the lion researchers at night and heard all kinds of wildlife close-encounter stories round the campfire.

At the famous Kasenyi track, south of Lake George, we headed for where the lions had last been seen. With the grass long, thanks to the seasonal rains, spotting a lion can be near impossible. Sometimes all you see are the tips of their ears or a flick of a tail.

Brothers Alvin and Sidney casually saunter by

Awesome, truly.

“Look, he’s just finished mating! Now he will want to hunt.”

Three handsome adult lions, a female and two brothers, were in a lazy, playful mood and Eddie anticipated their next move.

I was captivated: I had never seen male lions at such close quarters. They really are magnificent.

The males casually sauntered off to our right and the female lay down to drink water. As we slowly drove past her, I suddenly had a tight feeling in my stomach, realising what a powerful, and potentially lethal, animal I was approaching.

We stepped on the gas to head the lions off, further along the track. And there they were, not at all perturbed by our presence, two magnificent male lions walking directly towards us (walking directly towards us?! Hang on a minute shouldn’t I be scared?) Admiration turned to fear right at the last minute as the two enormous lions walked the length of our car just a metre from us. I grabbed the camera.

Male lion in Kasenyi, Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda

What a handsome creature!

As the big pussycats and I made eye contact, I felt myself slide down my seat (much to the delight of my friend, who giggled and poked fun at me from the back of the car). The lions crossed the track heading for the Uganda kobs’ mating ground (their favourite place for breakfast). I’m just glad it wasn’t me on the menu…

These aren’t the best wildlife encounter photographs. To photograph wildlife requires a good zoom lens and more than an impromptu five minutes with the animals in question. I’m pretty pleased with my x10 optical zoom but hey, when wildlife gets this close – who needs the zoom anyway?

Bwindi – eye to eye with my totem

Nagawa meets the Red-tailed Monkeys of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

THUMP!

THUD!

CRASH!

If ever there was a rude awakening, this was definitely it.

It’s early.

It’s been one hell of a journey to get here (a whole day’s public transport from Kasese to Buhoma). The house rat has kept us awake half the night and I need my shut-eye… I turn over and try to get back to sleep.

But it’s not to be.

Above my head it sounds like the gates of hell have burst open!

At any moment I feel the tin roof will give way and whatever’s out there will land right on top of us. I can’t imagine what’s making such a racket.

The noise seems to move from one side of the roof to the other.

“What the hell …?” I shout loudly at Steve above the noise.

The unholy din subsides. They’ve gone.

Woken from my deep sleep, I’m not appreciating the hullabaloo created by the family of Red-tailed monkeys – locally known as Nkima – emerging from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to clamber across Stevie’s little tin-roofed shack in search of their breakfast.

Nagawa's totem, the gorgeous Red Tailed Monkey, nkima, clan totem of the Buganda Kingdom. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Nagawa’s totem, the gorgeous Red Tailed Monkey, nkima, clan totem of the Buganda Kingdom. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

There’s a rat in the rafters, what I’m a gonna do… [to coin a popular UB40 song].

Across the field of pineapples, tucked away in a damp corner at the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, stands my home for the week-end. It’s a typical Ugandan house construction: a coating of plaster covers a wattle and daub box; wooden shutters cover the two paneless windows. There’s no electricity, no running water and the toilet, an earthen pit latrine, is a two minute stumble in the dark from the house.

My first night in Bwindi, mosquito nets tucked in tightly, we take bets on “whose bed the rat will scamper across in the night.” We snuff out the kerosene lamp.

As our laughter subsides, the house comes to life. There’s a definite pitter patter of small rodent feet.  It’s getting louder.

“It’s in the rafters above us!” Steve cries. “IT’S COMING OVER!”

The house has two rooms.  The wall that separates them only extends two metres high. We’ve attempted to pull the warped wooden door shut to keep the rat out of the bedroom but rats make their own rules. They love height. It will obviously climb over the top. I try not to snigger; I secretly look forward to a rodent encounter.

The morning after

With “the upstairs neighbours’ party over” – but unable to sleep again – I get up to make my morning tea. As I strike a match to light the gas ring, the rat leaps out from its nest inside (yes, inside!) the stove’s metal casing. It’s a WHOPPER!

Tea mug in hand, I wander outside to investigate the bird-like ‘tut tut’ coming from a nearby tree. I twitch, ready to reach for my binoculars.

A blue face peers down at us. He sports a white, heart-shaped patch on his nose. Pure white cheek whispers frame his distinctive features.  Seen straight on, the effect is quite alarming.

Resting to feed on some leaves, the Red Tailed Monkey’s sumptuous long copper tail loops suggestively around a branch. He quietly chomps away. His thick tail fur glows russet in the sun’s early rays.

Red-tailed Monkey on roof. Bwindi Forest

Red-tailed Monkey on roof. Bwindi Forest

“He must like women,” Steve comments. “He’s never let me get this close before,” he says, sounding slightly put out. (I can’t help but smile at my luck for such a close encounter!) Steve has lived a stone’s throw from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for months. We are fellow VSO volunteers.

Wildlife enthusiasts like me thrill at the chance to get so close to nature. However, my work with the Uganda Conservation Foundation has shown me what a grind it is to deal with noisy, foraging animal behaviour every day.  It’s hard to imagine how the average poor Ugandan farmer copes, especially when you have your own family to feed. But, I admit to a real soft spot for these forest guenons.

Red-tailed Monkey Bwindi Forest

The early morning sunshine glow of a Red-tailed Monkey in Bwindi Forest

drinking tea with Red-tailed Monkey. Bwindi

Protecting my totem, morning tea in hand. Nagawa meets Red-tailed Monkey. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Nagawa, protector of Nkima, the Red Tailed Monkey

Diary of a Muzungu. Nagawa, enkima clan. Taga painting

At an exhibition by the artist Taga, I bumped into a Ugandan lady called Nagawa in front of this painting of our totem! Nagawa, enkima clan, protector of the Red-tailed Monkey

“If you stay in Uganda, you must have a Ugandan name,” my tour driver friend Rashid had insisted one day, and so I was named Nagawa, protector of the Nkima (or Enkima) clan. In Buganda culture, each clan is represented by a totem, which can be an animal, bird, fish or plant – even a mushroom! You are not allowed to hunt, eat or kill your totem. I am honoured to have been awarded custody of such a fabulous creature.

Back in Bwindi, our red-tailed observer follows us around the forest clearing as we finish our tea.

The sunlight picks out a spectrum of colours in the grizzled brown fur of his back. The white fur on his belly looks as soft and downy as a baby rabbit’s. I imagine how it might feel to brush my face against it.

 

Takeaway chicken

A little later, Nkima pauses on the dry banana leaf roof of Steve’s chicken shed, peering beneath his front feet into the empty shed below. (The chicken was carried off by the Safari ants one week-end when Steve had left Buhoma).

hiking Bwindi, safari ants

Safari ants can be vicious – and put the organisational skills of the average human to shame! As we leaned over them to take photos, the big guy waved at us menacingly. His job is to protect the worker ants

The chicken may have gone but a bag of chickenfeed remains to tempt a hungry monkey. He quickly climbs down the outside of the shed and hops inside to grab a handful of feed before he jumps away across the tin roof of Steve’s house, back to his family group waiting in the larger trees.

Monkey business done for the day, a cold ‘bucket shower’ and a breakfast chapatti beckon the bazungu!

The celebrated Ugandan artist Taga Nuwagaba has dedicated many years to researching and painting Uganda’s totems, in order to preserve their culture and promote conservation.

African Elephant painting by Taga

African Elephant painting by Taga

Visit the Buganda Kingdom web site for more information on clans and totems. (The Baganda are not the only tribe in Uganda to have clan totems, but their system is the most complex and best documented).

This story took place on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, south western Uganda. It was my entry into this year’s BBC Wildlife Nature Writer of the Year competition. Alas I was unsuccessful – fingers crossed for another year then!

Warning – this blog contains snakes!

Entebbe’s Reptiles Village has been on my list of places to visit for ages.

Reptile Village Entebbe chameleon close-up

Chameleon, Reptiles Village Entebbe. Close-up of one of the world’s most fascinating creatures!

When I suggested to the team that we all have a day out together at the Reptiles Village in Entebbe, organised by Nature Uganda, we were equally split down the middle: two for, two against. Enid’s words were in fact “No way, I’m not giving up my Saturday to see snakes!”

After the office was repainted, I noticed that she put back the posters of birds, butterflies and mammals – but not the one of the snakes. Patrick is equally averse to snakes – I remember his look of disgust when we walked past the enormous python at UWEC (a.k.a. Entebbe Zoo). To be fair though, last year a cousin of theirs was killed by a notorious Puff Adder out in the bush towards Tanzania; he was dead within a few hours.

It’s run by a Ugandan who is passionate about snakes in particular and reptiles in general. All the animals he rescues are native to Uganda. He rescues reptiles that are in danger of being killed by humans, and tries his best to ‘sensitise’ people (as we seem to be doing with elephants, dogs, birds, you name it)…

The message is generally: “you don’t have to kill it – it’s unlikely to harm you unless provoked and there are measures to deal with elephants, dogs, birds” [complete as appropriate]. Today at Reptiles Village, I couldn’t stop myself telling people off. I was tired, I wasn’t very gentle, I just said “stop doing that.”

Each reptile has a story. The Monitor Lizard only has one claw on its left paw, as a result of the fight he had with the humans who wanted to use his skin to make a drum. The shell of one of the Leopard Tortoises seems to have melted, where it was rescued from a fire. “I hear they are very good for traditional medicine,” one lady said. “Some people eat them,” someone else said.

Monitor Lizard, baby crocs, Reptiles Village, Entebbe

Monitor Lizard and baby crocs – cute – at this size!

If you turn a tortoise upside down, it will panic and wee itself. If it does this too often it will become dehydrated and eventually die. I didn’t know this myself until last year. I bought a tortoise from some boys down one of the back roads in Muyenga (I shouldn’t have, I realise now). Anyway the tortoise (who didn’t hang around long enough to get a name) tumbled over a step and overturned. I turned him the right way up – and he did the most enormous turd (a sure sign he was scared!)

Being on today’s trip reminds me how much people need to be sensitised. These are not even your average Ugandans; these are people with a proven interest in conservation, and yet they were letting the kids pull leaves off the young saplings and getting too close to the animals. It was a fun and interesting day out but it just reminds me how much work there is to do in conservation in Uganda.

The lady guide was very informative but admitted she won’t hold a snake! We were lucky enough to have a HERPS (herpetology / reptile) specialist, Mathias, on our group. He was a mine of information.

African Rock Python Reptiles Village, Entebbe

Watching us without moving. An African Rock Python, Reptiles Village, Entebbe

Forest Cobra Reptiles Village Entebbe

Like a sentry on duty, the first snake we saw was the Forest Cobra, head up and in aggressive mood. Reptiles Village Entebbe

The three metre (?) long African Rock Python is a constrictor. Apparently this is the only snake large enough to consider eating a human but attacks are very rare, although their long teeth can inflict painful wounds. These beasts are often found in caves.

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw a small manky-looking puppy curled up asleep in the same cage. “Breakfast,” we asked? Twenty minutes later it had gone, nowhere to be seen! The snake hadn’t moved though so we can’t blame him…

Jackson’s Chameleons at Reptiles Village

Jackson’s Chameleons at Reptiles Village, Entebbe

Holding the pretty Von Hohnel’s Chameleon was a highlight of the day. Its black tongue is coiled tightly like a spring enabling, it to PING into action and trap insects half a metre away! Its eyes are hilarious, constantly rotating, one looking forward and down while the other looks backwards and up! “How does the brain process all that information?!” Erik asked.

Everyone loved the Twig Snake. It was the thickness of a twig, brown and only a foot long. Amazingly, however, this tiny little snake can give you a nasty death, poisoning you over the course of a week.

Death by other snake bites can be much quicker, especially if you’re in a remote area without access to the anti-venom injections, which is most likely. To put this in perspective though – assuming you’ve had the courage to read this far – only 10% of the snakes in Uganda are venomous. You’d be incredibly unlucky to meet one of that 10% and if you were to get bitten, they don’t necessarily release their poison either. I do love seeing Ugandans interacting positively with reptiles. (There seems to be so much fear around them, even though most are harmless).

Frankly I’ve hardly seen any snakes in my first two and a half years living in Uganda: two dead grey ones in the road and a couple of harmless Grass Snakes in our compound.

I had to wait a year before I saw a decent snake: and there it was stretched across the whole length of the road ahead of us, an enormous black snake (not a Black Mamba, they’re actually grey), on the road to Uganda Wildlife Authority campsite in Ishasha. It was a beauty!

Have you visited Reptiles Village? How do you feel about snakes and chameleons?

A bird’s eye view of Uganda – Big Birding Day

What is Big Birding Day?

It seems I can’t get enough of volunteering!

So, as Big Birding Day arrived, I was up before dawn to take part in this year’s 24 hour birding race (held to coincide with the World Bird Festival) entered by over 39 teams covering 33 sites across Uganda. Together we recorded 606 species.

And the best bit? Our team won!Uganda has more bird species per square kilometre than any other country in Africa. Uganda’s unique geographical positioning means there are more birds migrating north to Europe and back south to Southern Africa via Uganda than virtually any other African country.

Red Necked Falcon was a highlight of Big Birding Day Uganda

Red Necked Falcon was a highlight of Big Birding Day Uganda. Photo courtesy of biodiversityexplorer.org

The Big Birding Day race

It was a grey start to the day, the clouds gathering over Lake Victoria threatening rain. Our first birds of the day, at a grassy hill above Lweza, seemed to confirm the trend for the morning’s weather:

Grey-headed sparrow, Grey-backed Fiscals (nine of them), African Grey Parrot, Grey-backed Cameroptera, Grey Heron, Eastern Grey Plantain Eater.

I couldn’t help but smile as I jotted down birds with such picturesque names as:

Laughing Dove, Brown Twinspot, Helmeted Guineaufowl and Scaly Francolin.

Nathan spots the Beeeaters on Big Birding Day

Nathan spots the Beeeaters on Big Birding Day

The lucky team of me, Roger and Nathan, had almost made it back to the car as the heavens opened, ideal time for us to drive the few kilometres to the next site, the fish ponds at Kajjansi, where we saw two types of Sandpipers, Long-toed Lapwing, Broad-billed Roller, African Harrier Hawk, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Yellow-throated Longclaw and two types of Vulture.

As the rain passed our count moved to the quarry to spot a Eurasian Reed Warbler, Wattled Starling, a Grosbeak Weaver – spotted by yours truly – and the highlight of the day, a rare Red-necked Falcon, not recorded in Kampala for 25 years.

On a hill overlooking Lutembe Lagoon near Kajjansi airfield we derided the enormous flower farm, whose fertilisers leech unchecked into Lake Victoria. Lutembe is both a Ramsar site and IBA, Important Bird Area, recognised internationally for their unique biodiversity. Pollution of the waters should not be happening here of all places.

Ramsar sites are areas of wetlands which are among the world’s most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. They support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species.

Blue Breasted Beeeater, courtesy of flickr.com

Blue Breasted Beeeater, courtesy of flickr.com

On the Papyrus fringed wetlands overlooking Kajjansi airfield our binoculars picked out many firsts for me: Sooty Chat, Striped Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, the beautifully named Red-faced Lovebird, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Lesser Swamp Warbler, Black-shouldered Kite, Black-crowned Waxbill, and Lizard Buzzard. Without the indefatigable Roger “no time to hang around” I would usually have been content to watch the Sunbirds, ignorant of the difference between a Copper Sunbird and a Bronze Sunbird. Roger’s observations were a real eye opener and made me forget the pre-dawn start!

Wandering around Zika Forest with a clipboard, I was delighted to see Red Tailed Monkeys – my totem – in the high trees above us. One of them tutted at us loudly. “We don’t have time for mammals” a disappointed Roger scolded. It was as we left the Forest that we had the most bird sightings and Roger’s mood lifted. We were delighted to see Purple Headed Starlings and a Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike, rare visitors to Kampala and its environs.

Papyrus Gonolek sighting Big Birding Day Uganda

Roger: “I know there’s a Papyrus Gonolek here somewhere …” Big Birding Day Uganda

As we drove onto the Entebbe peninsula, through the narrow tunnel underneath the airport runway, a lady skirted the perimeter fence, balancing several metres of firewood on her head. The sight seemed incongrous, the juxtaposition of the traditional and the supersonic.

With all the birds noted down, my binoculars strayed to the man in his underpants, fishing in the shallows…

“Charlotte, stop looking at that naked man!” Roger shouted.

There were more monkeys waiting for us at Entebbe’s Botanical Gardens: both Vervet and Black and White Colobus. (I had to admire the bravery of the nut seller who casually walked beneath a tree full of monkeys with his open basket of groundnuts).

Tired, but happy we’d secured a good score, we drove back to Kampala so Roger could start comparing scores with the other teams. Big Birding Day Uganda was a fantastic day out. Roger and Nathan introduced me to a whole new range of birds and some fabulous habitats (sewage ponds excepted!)

Papyrus Gonolek birdfinders.co.uk

Papyrus Gonolek, photo courtesy of birdfinders.co.uk

A successful day – the official word
Teams recorded birds in all National Parks, Wildlife reserves, Important Bird Areas, Ramsar sites and Forest reserves and included community groups, groups of tourists, teams from NatureUganda, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda Bird Guides Club and more. The highest record came from Kampala-Entebbe area with 175 species (that was us!), followed by Murchison Falls National Park (162), Queen Elizabeth National Park (160), Kidepo National Park (150), Mabamba Ramsar site (138), Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park (137), Mabira Forest Reserve (136), Bahai Temple-Park Alexander, Kampala (126), Kibale National Park (110), Lake Mburo National Park (110).

During the day, a number of key species were recorded that have not been documented on the Ugandan (bird) list for over 50 years and were about to be removed from the list; species that are not on the Uganda list at all and those that have over time extended their ranges to areas where they have not been recorded before.

Based on the Big Birding Day Uganda race, NatureUganda plan to develop a tour of Uganda that birders – from Uganda or from overseas – can follow to record the highest number of species. Birding is important for the development of Uganda’s tourism industry, with the potential for it being an even bigger revenue earner than gorilla tourism.

So what’s Ramsar all about?

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Uganda presently has 12 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 454,303 hectares.
Lutembe Bay Wetland System. 15/09/06; Wakiso; 98 ha; 00°10’N 032°34’E. Important Bird Area. Situated at the mouth of Lake Victoria’s Murchison Bay, this shallow area is almost completely cut-off from the main body of Lake Victoria by a C. papyrus island. The site supports globally threatened species of birds, endangered Cichlid fish, and over 100 butterfly species, including three rare ones. It is a breeding ground for Clarias and lungfish, and regularly supports more than 52% of the White-winged Black Terns (Chlidonias leucopterus) population. The system plays an important hydrological role, with the swamps surrounding the Murchison Bay acting as natural filters for silt, sediments and excess nutrients in surface run-off, waste waters from industries, and sewage from Kampala City. Lutembe Bay is being reclaimed and decimated for horticultural activities and the surrounding highly populated areas have been strongly affected by commercial and industrial development, urban wastewater, and conversion to agricultural land. A number of NGOs have been conducting conservation education activities in and around Lutembe, with the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) only about 5 km from the bay. Ramsar site no. 1637.

Do you want to take part in Big Birding Day in 2013? The event is growing bigger and bigger every year and Diary of a Muzungu is delighted to be one of the media sponsors.

To register for Big Birding Day, visit NatureUganda or the Uganda Wildlife Authority websites.

If you like birds, check out the Muzungu’s Birds page for lots more Ugandan birding stories!

A birding safari here in my Kampala backyard

Early Sunday morning – when few people are around – is the best time to spot birds: through the slum, along the railway track, through the Papyrus down to Port Bell on Lake Victoria.

“Up with the lark” last Sunday for a spot of birdwatching with Roger and Jean. (Strangely, the lark was one of the few birds we didn’t see!) What a fantastic way to wile away a few hours.

Roger volunteers with Nature Uganda and gets paid to travel to every corner of Uganda to do bird counts. Nice job! His knowledge is amazing. Jean is a fellow VSO volunteer and is a midwife at Kibuli Hospital. He’s nuts about birds, she’s nuts about babies.

My house is separated from the marsh – and one of the city’s shanty towns – by the railway line a few metres beyond our compound wall. I love living in Namuwongo. I have the quiet of being in a cul de sac with the reassuring buzz of human activity beyond: men hammering iron sheet roofs onto new shelters, laughing children, salesmen broadcasting their (usually crappy Chinese) wares via the repetitive strain of Greensleeves played on a loop on cheap tinny speakers (did I mention crappy Chinese wares… ?) Except of course, it’s not always a buzz of activity out there but one – or many – loud pulsing rhythms. The drums and the sound of people ululating fill the night air on market days. Even after 18 months here it still sounds magical to me.

We are of course encroaching onto the wetlands. Our house is on legitimate land, the ‘right side’ of the railway, but nonetheless our house is surely part of the wider problem.

Grey Crowned Cranes or Crested Cranes
Grey Crowned Crane or Crested Crane. PHOTO Kaj Ostergaard

On our walk we lamented the loss of the wetlands (the natural filter for the heavy run-off from rains in Kampala for instance) but were delighted to see seven Grey-Crowned Cranes, Uganda’s national symbol. What does it say about a country’s environmental management that its national symbol faces extinction within 20 years? Survival of the Grey-Crowned Crane is threatened due to wetland habitat destruction, where the Cranes breed. Wetlands in Uganda are under threat from a variety of human activities, especially conversion to farmland and agricultural activities. Consequently, the Crane’s critical breeding and roosting habitats are disappearing while the remaining ones are highly degraded. Nature Uganda is spearheading the campaign to protect this extraordinarily beautiful bird.

Uganda Kob and Grey Crowned Crane adorn Uganda's crest
The Uganda Kob and the Grey Crowned Crane adorn the country’s crest (which bird will replace it in 20 years time when the bird is extinct?)

We were gobsmacked at the sight of a Black Headed Heron swallowing an enormous frog and you have to wonder how the clumsy-looking Pink Backed Pelicans balance atop the tree. We searched for the beauty in the ugly Marabou Stork. Viewed while it’s on the ground you won’t see it: admire its gracious flight, we all agreed it’s quite spectacular for such a big bird.

A Long Crested Eagle watched us pass. He looked a bit odd; the wind dishevelled him, making his crest feathers flop over his eyes, reminding me of my grandfather whose single strand of hair covered a receding hairline – until he ventured out in windy weather.

We argued about the merits – or not! – of the Woodland Kingfisher’s call. A beautiful bird it may be but its call, from the avocado tree overlooking my bedroom, is shrill and unforgiving at 5.30 a.m. every bleeding morning.

Woodland Kingfisher birdwatching Kampala
My love-hate relationship with this beautiful bird was put to the test recently. Woodland Kingfisher birdwatching Kampala

A few of the amazing 86 bird species we saw on our walk (Roger has actually recorded 120 in this small area) included the Hadada Ibis, who scolded us at regular intervals, like a child who uncovers you playing ‘hide and seek’ and has to alert everyone to your hiding place.

The African Hobby is quite the cutest bird of prey I’ve seen. The bird reminded me of my UK life and the long distance we’ve both travelled. We also saw a Sandpiper and some other avian visitors from northern Europe.

Marabou Stork. PHOTO Andy Gooch
It’s BIG and it’s UGLY – it’s a Marabou Stork! As featured on the front cover of “The Beauty and some beasts” a book of photography by Andy Gooch

As the railway track curved round towards Port Bell we heard a terrific blood-curdling screaming as a pig had its throat cut at the open-air abattoir below us. Roger told us about another day trip he’d been on: counting the vultures at the main city abattoir near Luzira. “I’ve never seen anything like it” he said. “Hundreds of sheep and goat heads in a pile.” Four hundred cattle are killed a day, and in the most rudimentary fashion.

Marabou Storks and Hooded Vultures jostled for the best picking among a big pile of bones which, on closer inspection (I couldn’t stop myself) turned out to be fresh pig heads. Yes I am somehow still a vegetarian!

The one and only: Baldrick

Dogs rushed us from all directions as we approached Port Bell and for once my happy-go-lucky Baldrick looked rattled. “He’s alright” Jean said. “Not sure Baldrick thinks so!” Roger added. Being charged by an enormous cow – loose and feeding on a rubbish dump we passed – was a bit scary though.

We followed the railway track right down to Port Bell, on the edge of Lake Victoria. It’s the first time I’ve seen draught Bell – or any other lager – in Uganda, served an inch at a time! We had our drinks in a little shack by the beach as the waitresses argued over how to lay out the tables. The freight ships arrive in Port Bell from Tanzania. We know they’ve docked when we hear the train shuttle up and down 2 or 3 times a day from the Lake to the Industrial Area approximately 5 km away.

scene railway Namuwongo slums, Kampala
A typical scene along the railway through ‘Go Down’ Namuwongo slums, Kampala

Back home along the railway track and we tripped over Baldrick as the day heated up and he started to lag behind. Jean and I waved and shook hands with the kids screaming “muzungu, how are you?” as Roger kept walking on.

“We’ve blown your cover!” I said, laughing.

“I’ve spent months trying to ignore them. Now they’ll all be calling at me next time I walk along here.” Sorry Roger, I just hope you get to hear the Papyrus Gonolek above the screaming children next time you walk to Port Bell.

For bird and animal lovers alike, Andy Gooch has published a book of beautiful wildlife photos “The Beauty and some beasts,” available online from Aristoc or Banana Boat in Kampala. Andy is very generously giving one third of the retail price to the Uganda Conservation Foundation.

The full list of birds we saw on our birdwatching safari to Port Bell, in the order they appear in Stevenson and Fanshawe’s “Birds of East Africa” is:

Pink Backed Pelican
Great Cormorant
Long Tailed Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Purple Heron
Black Headed Heron
Grey Heron
Marabou Stork
Hammerkop
Open Billed Stork
Marabou Stork
Hadada Ibis
Black Kite
Black Shouldered Kite
Palm Nut Vulture
Hooded Vulture
African Marsh Harrier
Shikra
Long Crested Eagle
Grey Kestrel
African Hobby
Grey Crowned Crane
African Jacana
Black Crake
Spur Winged Lapwing
Long Toed Lapwing
Wood Sandpiper
White Winged Tern
Gull Billed Tern
African Green Pigeon
Speckled Pigeon
Red Eyed Dove
Laughing Dove
Grey Parrot
Eastern Grey Plantain eater
Diederik Cuckoo
White Browed Coucal
Blue headed Coucal
Little Swift
Palm Swift
Speckled Mousebird
Pied Kingfisher
Woodland Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
White Throated Bee-eater
Yellow fronted Tinkerbird
Yellow rumped Tinkerbird
Double Toothed Barbet
Sand martin
Barn Swallow
African Pied Wagtail
Common Bulbul
White Browed Robin chat
African Thrush
Little Rush Warbler
Winding Cisticola
Red-faced Cisticola
Tawny Flanked Prinia
Grey capped Warbler
Grey backed Camaroptera
Northern Black Flycatcher
Black and White Shrike Flycatcher
Brown Throated Wattle eye
African Blue Flycatcher
Yellow White eye
Bronze Sunbird
Olive bellied Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Red chested Sunbird
Grey backed Fiscal
Black headed Gonolek
Papyrus Gonolek
Pied Crow
Ruppell’s Long Tailed Starling
Splendid Starling
Grey headed Sparrow
Black headed Weaver
Grosbeak Weaver
Slender billed Weaver
Fan tailed Widowbird
Red billed Firefinch
Common Waxbill
Black Crowned Waxbill
Bronze Mannikin
Black and white Mannikin
Yellow fronted Canary
 

How do you deal with an elephant in your garden?

Human wildlife conflict – the reality of living with wild animals

A herd of elephants, slowly ambling along, is the ideal way to admire elephants. This photo was taken at sunset on safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park. But when elephants invade your crops, the picture isn’t so pretty: if you’re a subsistence farmer, it can be an issue of life or death.

A big part of Uganda Conservation Foundation’s work focuses on “mitigating Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC),” that is stopping humans and elephants from killing each other. Simply put, if we can protect the humans, we can protect the wildlife.

It’s a big problem – you try dealing with an elephant in your garden! – and it’s going to get worse.

The fact is, in most cases, humans are encroaching on wildlife territory. As you cut back the forest for firewood or clear bush to grow more crops for your expanding family, you enter the habitat of the baboons.

man shooting at elephants. PHOTO Edgar Kaeslin
Man shooting at elephants. PHOTO FAO / Edgar Kaeslin

This situation is made worse in areas of northern Uganda where, after the war, people have been returning to their homes after 20 years living in IDP camps (temporary camps for Internally Displaced people). Elephants have become used to wandering unhindered and eating the fruits from the trees planted by the farmers 20+ years ago. Based on UCF’s success in Queen Elizabeth Protected Area (trying to manage elephants and buffalo) and in Budongo Forest (baboons and wild pigs), we’re now doing a Feasibility Study on mitigation projects in northern Uganda, specifically in the Murchison Falls region, an area of over 4,000 square kilometres.

A toolkit produced by the Food and Agriculture unit of the UN is designed to help resolve, prevent and mitigate the growing problem of conflict between humans and wild animals.

According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture unit of the UN) “With the world’s population growing at some 75 million a year, humans and wildlife are having to squeeze ever more tightly together, thereby increasing the risk of conflict between them.”

Uganda Conservation Foundation (the organisation I work for) continues to trial different solutions to mitigate Human Wildlife Conflict. Conflict can be either direct (e.g. attacks on humans or livestock by predators) or indirect (crop raiding); its effects overt (e.g. financial, starvation) or hidden (children missing out on education to guard crops or family members being sick). [Source – Thirgood].

The people most likely to be affected are those least able to cope, either physically or financially and those who usually benefit least financially from the presence of wildlife. It’s for this reason that UCF, in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, invests in a programme of sensitisation to the potential benefits of conservation-based tourism.

elephant trench Ishasha Queen Elizabeth National Park
My first visit to the elephant trench in Kikarara, Ishasha Queen Elizabeth National Park

UCF’s experience in Ishasha in southern Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, tells us that there is no single solution to mitigating Human Wildlife Conflict: a number of complementary measures are needed. For example, the excavation of 20 km elephant trenches and erection of fencing create a physical barrier which makes all the difference to the survival of both the human and elephant populations. In valley areas, in the nearby Kikarara Parish, UCF is using bee-keeping as a deterrent to help prevent elephants crop raiding. (Elephants will generally avoid angry bees).

As the human population increases – Uganda has the third highest birth rate in the world – and the elephant population does the same – thanks in part to our anti-poaching work – mitigating HWC will become ever more of a priority.

This is one of many blogs I’ve written about the Uganda Conservation Foundation, human wildlife conflict, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, hippo poaching and conservation in general. Why I love elephant dung is a perennial favourite!

It’s Hip to be a Hippo

Protecting the hippos of Queen Elizabeth National Park

hippos Queen Elizabeth National Park

Look at me – I’m gorgeous! Ugandan men prefer a bit of meat on their ladies…

One of the greatest attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) are the hippo. Whether in the Ishasha River,  the Kazinga Channel, Lake Edward, Lake George – or all the smaller lakes and rivers – hippo have always dominated the waterways of Queen Elizabeth. At one time, Queen – an area of almost 2000 square km – had more mega herbivores per square km than anywhere else in Africa. In the 1960s, the number of hippos in Queen Elizabeth National Park was so high that they had turned grasslands to dust.

During the 1970s and 1980s, severe poaching decimated wildlife numbers.

Improved park management is leading to a slow repopulation, but today killing hippos for meat remains the most frequent form of poaching. The frequency and impact of poaching is easy to see, with many of Queen Elizabeth National Park’s rivers and ‘hippo pools’ noticeably empty.

 

Ishasha River, hippos of Queen Elizabeth National Park

Hippos bask on the shore of the Ishasha River, Queen Elizabeth National Park. The distant riverbank is the DRC (Congo)

In May 2006 the hippo was identified as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with an estimated global population of between 125,000 and 150,000 – a decline of between 7% and 20% since the IUCN’s previous study in 1996.
One of the Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF)-funded boats, based at Mweya, has been helping in the clean-up operation following the recent Anthrax outbreak (2010). This is one of the four UCF-funded Waterways project boats in Queen Elizabeth.
Over the past 100 years, there have been a number of outbreaks of Anthrax in Queen Elizabeth, with 300 hippo dying in 2004. This, combined with the above factors, continues to make the hippo population of Queen Elizabeth National Park vulnerable.

 

hippos Queen Elizabeth National Park

Hippo carcasses are quickly collected and disposed of, following the Anthrax outbreak of 2010 in Queen Elizabeth National Park. PHOTO Uganda Wildlife Authority

 

 

 

 

 

 

The UCF / Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) biannual hippo survey of Queen Elizabeth National Park involved three weeks of sometimes risky work across very difficult terrain: of uncharted swamps, fast-flowing rivers and turbulent lakes, all while on the look-out for hippo, a mammal responsible for more deaths across Africa annually than any other. (Did you know that?) The survey team noted that hippo are very wary of humans where there is illegal fishing, highlighting the fact that poachers have been killing and smuggling hippo meat via boat. On the rivers, hippo tend to congregate in safe havens such as ranger camps. Far from the camps, they are easily scared, jumping out of the river when the team approached, an indication that man is an enemy to them.

hippos Queen Elizabeth National Park

‘Rebel lookalike’ Patrick and I laughed at this one! Actually these are the good guys! In the middle, wearing a baseball cap, is my UCF colleague Patrick with the Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers, patrolling Queen Elizabeth on the biannual hippo count PHOTO Uganda Conservation Foundation

 
If you’re interested in reading more about hippo conservation in Queen Elizabeth National Park, click here, why not become a Fan of UCF’s Facebook Page?

Anti-poaching: the answer’s in the gumboots!

It’s the simple things that can have the biggest impact: gum boots for the rangers and a few days paid work for the ex-poachers. Equipping anti-poaching patrols in Uganda.

Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers will soon, for the first time ever, have a permanent base in the Dura sector, an area of 400km² north of Lake George in Queen Elizabeth National Park, thanks to the Uganda Conservation Foundation, the organisation I work for.

ranger station built by UCF for UWA. Queen Elizabeth National Park

Construction workers finish the last section of brickwork for the ranger station built by UCF for UWA. Queen Elizabeth National Park

Why is UCF building ranger accommodation in Queen Elizabeth?

Away from the popular tourism areas, the Uganda Wildlife Authority is massively under resourced. Rangers cover an enormous territory – Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) covers an area of nearly 2000 km2 – of difficult and often inaccessible terrain. We need to house rangers in the heart of the area so they can get straight to the areas that need policing. We’ve employed a local construction company and the finished block will house four rangers and their families.

What does this mean for the poachers?

The mere presence of rangers is often enough to deter many poachers. At the end of last year, 400 poachers were reported to have voluntarily handed in spears and hunting equipment to UWA! This followed straight after a three week programme when we employed 25 ex-poachers to clear Papyrus and Hippo Grass as part of works to establish our new boat station on northern Lake George. UCF and UWA used this opportunity to sensitise the local community to our conservation aims, to the potential benefits (revenue, jobs) they can earn through tourism and of the penalties for poaching / smuggling bushmeat or live animals.

Confiscated spears UWA armoury Mweya

Confiscated spears, Black and White Colobus Monkey skin. UWA armoury, Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park

The fact is this is a very remote part of the world, where unemployment is high and traditional belief systems and ways of living dominate: you can’t just tell people to stop poaching, alternative ways of living have to be encouraged and supported.

As part of the Dura recovery project, the rangers stationed in the new accommodation will start removing snares. Snares are indiscriminate. They hurt, capture and ultimately kill all kinds of animals: feet can become trapped; wire can get tightly wrapped around an elephant’s trunk; in neighbouring Kibale Forest, 50% of chimpanzees have limbs missing because of snares.

Snare removal and anti-poaching is dangerous work and we will be relying on the cooperation of the ex-poachers to show us where snares and poachers camps are located.

How do boats help stop poaching?

Previously UWA had been helpless in controlling poachers operating by boat and smoking bushmeat along the dense and inaccessible Papyrus shorelines. Shipped through the waterways, boats link up with vehicles in the villages or public roads that cut through the Park. Disturbingly, significant amounts of live wildlife and bushmeat are smuggled out of the adjoining Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Every week there are reports of Uganda being used as a smuggling route for ivory, usually for onward shipment to Asia where demand for ivory continues to dramatically increase.

The Uganda Conservation Foundation has developed a strategic network of marine ranger stations, each comprising a reclaimed shipping container, small aluminium boat, outboard engine and life jackets, manned by marine rangers trained to Royal Yachting Association standard. Now deployed across Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls and Lake Mburo National Parks, the impact of the Waterways project has been extraordinary.

removing wire snare from elephant Uganda

UWA’s Chief Vet removes a wire snare from an elephant’s trunk in Murchison Falls National Park. This elephant was lucky to survive. Many animals bleed or starve to death.

Queen Elizabeth’s Chief Park Warden Tom Okello explains: “Law enforcement operations across Queen Elizabeth’s almost 2000 km² are limited due to only two vehicles being available. Vehicle maintenance and fuel costs are very high. Travel across the Kazinga Channel to patrol the other bank would usually entail driving 150 km to drop off our rangers, in full view of the poachers! Boats allow us to cross whenever and wherever we need our patrols. We are really winning against the poachers and proud to add this waterborne capacity to conserve our elephants and other animals.”

Kahendero site clearance, Uganda. ex-poachers

Site clearance at Kahendero was quite a big task but provided cash payment for 25 ex-poachers. Paid work is hard to find in remote parts of Uganda

What next for anti-poaching patrols in Queen Elizabeth?

We’re now focusing on fund-raising for construction of a ten man ranger post to boost permanent ranger presence in the same area. We’re nearly there and work should start soon. We’ve also submitted funding proposals for additional equipment to support the rangers: simple solutions such as protective clothing (‘gumboots’ and waterproof clothing), tents, mosquito nets and bicycles for mobile patrol units all make a big difference. Rangers are on incredibly low wages – less than £40 a month – so having the right equipment makes a massive difference to motivation levels.

Hip-hip(po)-hooray for U.W.A. (it rhymes if you say it out loud!)

Hip-hip(po)-hooray for U.W.A. the Uganda Wildlife Authority

A toad hops towards us as we sit on a stone wall at the Ndere Cultural Centre. I love the casual reminder that He Was Here First: “you can have your dancing troupe and your landscaped gardens, but I’m a toad and I’ll go where I like.”

Am I seeing things? Or did I just pass a man with bow and arrows pacing around in the dark at the side of the road?

Eleven o’clock at night along the main road from Kampala city centre to Namuwongo, where I live, I imagine the man was looking for an intruder. Our friend’s night guard Wilberforce has a bow and arrows too but it’s the first time I’ve seen someone wandering the streets of the capital city with them.

It’s usually at the point in the day where I think I’m used to the sights around me that I see the most fascinating things. But, almost a year in, and Uganda still has plenty of surprises for me.

I go to sleep to the sound of the drums coming from Soweto, the slum a few hundred metres beyond my compound wall. I dream of hippos.

We did a whistlestop tour to Queen Elizabeth Protected Area last week to sign the contract for construction of Uganda Conservation Foundation’s first building, an accommodation block for four rangers. Kasese was so hot, even the locals were complaining.

Kichwamba Escarpment overlooking Queen Elizabeth

Me and my friend Neil on the Kichwamba Escarpment, just before Kyambura Gorge, overlooking Queen Elizabeth

As we drove from Bushenyi towards Kyambura Gorge (a staggeringly beautiful view down across the floor of the Rift Valley) we overtook a car full of live cow, trussed up in the boot. (I mean how the hell did they get it in there?!) My colleague Patrick and I were both really upset seeing this. We passed some police but they were looking the other way so we carried on driving.

When we told the Uganda Wildlife Authority (U.W.A.) what we’d seen (hoping they might want to intervene) the reply was: “I expect there was a cow in the back of the car too!”

live cow in car boot. Kichwamba Uganda

The phrase “poor cow!” takes on a whole new dimension for me. Live cow in car boot. Kichwamba Uganda

The Chief Warden told us how they recently found a car stuffed full of hippo meat, and not just in the boot; the owners had ripped out the whole interior of the car, including the front passenger seat so all that remained was the driver’s seat. The empty space was then filled with several tons of (illegal) hippo meat.

When the poachers realised they’d been seen, they dumped the car in the forest. UWA decided to leave the meat in the car; two days later it was a stinking mass of maggots. The ranger laughed as he says “Needless to say, the poachers didn’t bother returning to collect their car.”