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Out of town …Kampala riots far away

It’s ever hot in Kasese as we check on the ex-poachers clearing papyrus on Lake George to make way for the new marine ranger station

I woke to the sound of birds (and possibly a baboon!) this morning at the Uganda Wildlife Authority hostel on the Mweya peninsula in Queen Elizabeth National Park. A fantastically beautiful place tho the accommodation is very basic: only 1 tap works, the curtains don’t close and there are no hangers on the rail. But boy was the bed comfy!

An 8 hr journey from Kampala – and I’d slept for 3 hours of that – but still slept like a log in Mweya.

Just killing time in an internet café in Kasese – it’s always very hot here – while we try and get in contact with the company who are transporting our converted shipping container to Kahendero on Lake George. This is the site for our latest Marine Ranger Station and last week my UCF colleague Patrick was on site overseeing a team of 25 ex-poachers cut back 1200 square metres of Hippo Grass and Papyrus (much of it 2 metres high) along the Lake edge. It’s very tough work, all done by hand, but the men were disappointed the work came to an end. There’s not much round here apart from fishing and cattle grazing (often within in the Park and therefore illegal too). The cement company Hima is a big (and controversial) local employer.

large catfish Lake George

This large catfish was an unexpected bonus for the team of ex-poachers clearing the papyrus on Lake George. The fish was divided between the labourers and taken home for dinner

The villagers at Kahendero are naturally suspicious – many of them are fishing illegally (using undersize nets, fishing outside designated areas etc) – as we roll up with UWA rangers. This is essentially a subsistence community but because of their location on the Park edge, they receive 20% of Park revenues to spend on business investment, income generation and so on. Each community decides where the money is spent and this is managed by UWA who also spend time ‘sensitising’ the community on conservation issues.

Ex-poachers clearing papyrus Lake George PHOTO UCF

Ex-poachers clearing papyrus Lake George PHOTO UCF

People have to live and we recognise many depend on the land for grazing and Lake George for fishing but it has to be done sustainably and currently it’s not. By restricting certain activities we are actually giving them more control over their futures.

Hippo footprint

Hippo footprint outside the boat station, Northern Lake George

So where is the shipping container? And what is it for?

Converted shipping containers are regularly used for storage e.g. VSO has one in their compound in Muyenga. We’ve had windows and a door fitted to ours to make a secure storage unit for the boat. This – along with a week long life-saving and boat handling training programme – equips UWA to intercept and arrest poachers on the Lake and rescue fishermen (many of whom can’t swim). Kahendero is UCF’s 5th such set-up but is strategically placed on the north of Lake George, an area of high illegal activity, so possibly the most sensitive.

About the riots…

It all kicked off yesterday in Kampala.

First msg I got when mobile network back on was from VSO Emergency number: “Riots in Kampala. Please avoid town.”

The Kabaka (King) of the Baganda tribe was advised by the government not to visit a certain area for fear of starting a fight. Govt was damned if it did interfere, damned if it didn’t – so I understand. There were demos in town and the army was called in after a policemen was killed. Several people have been injured, two (?) killed. It’s in a specific area of town (other side of the city, far from Namuwongo) in response to a particular issue so nothing to get unduly worried about.

A day in the life … species by species

Adjusting to my new life in Uganda – here’s my daily routine, one species at a time

“Greetings!” as we say in Uganda.

Namuwongo 'go down' by railway Kampala view

The view over my compound wall. Namuwongo ‘go down’ by railway Kampala

We may not have the same change of seasons here in Uganda as we do in Europe but the insects and other animal species don’t know that! They come and go in phases. If you’ve been reading my blog regularly you’ll have met:

  • Mosquitoes and cockroaches – hell, but they do their own relentless thing all the year round!
  • Flying ants with enormous wings
  • Grasshoppers – or Nsenene – eat them or smoke them?
  • Black Jumping Spiders – er… they’re black and they jump! Small and dead comical.
  • Black ‘stumpy’ flies. A few millimetres long, they look like their wings have been clipped.
  • Ants, o yes. And they’re still here.
  • This week I’m noticing “Tim Burton’s” spiders – very thin scraggly long legs and tiny bodies. Proper name Golden Orb Spider.
Golden Orb Spider

Come back Ma, it only visited us once!

If you’ve ever wondered what my daily routine in Kampala is like, here we go, species by species:

Woodland Kingfisher birds Uganda

My love-hate relationship with this beautiful bird was put to the test recently

I’m usually woken up by a Woodland Kingfisher

In Uganda there are five or ten of every kind of bird… in the UK we have one species of starling and one species of kingfisher; in East Africa there are 15 types of kingfishers and 31 types of starling!

…or the ugly clack clack clack of the Hadada Ibises (Ibi?) – how can such a beautiful bird make such a bleeding racket? (And live in all that s**t come to mention it …?)

Marabou Stork, Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park

Marabou Stork, Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park

God forbid it’s an enormous (5ft / 1.5m) Marabou Stork flying overhead. They look so clumsy.

I throw open the curtains and out jumps a startled gecko.

Cock a doodle do… at 9 o’clock? The cockerel lives in the shanty town beyond the compound and likes to remind us VERY LOUDLY of his presence on an hourly basis.

As the day warms up a striking brown and bright blue Agama lizard wakes up and saunters along the top of the hedge. He’s ?? long, a mixture of beige and brown and the most vibrant blue. He’s a handsome fella.

Simpson killed another type of lizard (brown body with pale yellow and red belly). Simpson’s very intelligent but doesn’t know much about wildlife. He’s mad about his cows! (A pastoralist from the West, cows are a symbol of wealth and therefore highly valued). I told him off for killing the lizard. He was cornered on the toilet at the time (!) and he said he thought it was going to bite him. “Next time you come and get me” I said “and I’ll remove it for you.”

dead lizard Uganda

dead lizard Uganda – we nearly fell out over this one, I tell you!

As the heat of the day builds, we don’t see much other than the odd (but large and brightly coloured) dragonfly skimming past.

And when the insects get too much, I just have to remind myself that without all this food we wouldn’t have this amazing diversity of birds, one of my passions.

I do sometimes feel the Old Testament is being reenacted in my house!

That reminds me, toads (or frogs?), I often go to the sleep of them croaking very loudly after the rain.

At dusk the insects, birds and geckos reappear again. The geckos come out of their hiding spots, and stand sentry on the outside wall all night next to the security light. There are several in the house too. They TUT TUT at me loudly when I disturb them and I’m sorry that some were unwitting victims of the fumigation. They are my friends (we can forgive the fact I have black gecko droppings decorating my skirting boards!)

Not forgetting why I’m really here …

How is the muzungu managing life as a conservation volunteer?

There’s no point in pretending: I’m really behind with work and I’m not going to get it all done in the next hour it takes for Mike (UCF’s Founder) to drive from the airport.

Kati, time for a bit of blogging …

Kati is the Luganda word for so ….well .. then … etc… one of this week’s new words. Luganda is bloody difficult I don’t mind telling you. All the words are long and most of them start with K! It’s a Bantu language and so totally different from any European languages I’ve tried. Where as we would use five words to say ‘what do they call you?’ Luganda bungs the whole lot together: bakuyika?

Having an hour of tuition a week and, tho it’s hard, I have never had such a fantastic reaction when I open my mouth to say a few words: “but you’re so fluent!” people exclaim. Fact is few mzungu bother even learning the greetings (everyone speaks at least some English) and my phrases are very short! Not sure how far I’ll continue with Luganda (till VSO funding runs out probably!) but it’s a great insight.

For example, we asked how you say ‘bon appetit’ – you don’t. There is no equivalent phrase. You may enjoy your food but you just eat as much as you can! When you offer someone a biscuit, you’ll be lucky if you see the packet again – and this goes for professional people (i.e. those with money) as much as kids or wildlife rangers in the bush.

Mount Elgon hiking Uganda Salticrax biscuits
An appropriately named snack for our Mount Elgon hike! Showering facilities were non-existent on Mount Elgon

On our last field trip, I passed the biscuits around the car. I made the mistake of offering a ranger the packet (meaning he should take a couple of biscuits and pass the packet on). As he jumped out of the car, I noticed the big biscuit packet-shaped bulge in his jacket pocket ! (Rangers are on ridiculously low wages and are based in the middle of nowhere so you can’t blame them for trying it on). Even in town tho, it’s every man for himself when the food’s served and god do Ugandans pile the food on the plate.

I was offered the cutest puppy last week and still thinking about whether to have it (I have a home for it when I leave Uganda) but yesterday acquired – with VSO grant – new furniture so perhaps not a good combination! Have to do the maths and see if I can afford to feed a dog though.

Ivory poaching on the increase! How DNA is extracted from elephant dung to map ivory across Africa

Elephant. PHOTO Uganda Conservation Foundation
Little did I know quite how important elephants would become in my new life!

Off to the field to visit the projects from Sunday. Unfortunately elephant dung is being collected without me! Had really been looking forward to the 3 day trip with the rangers across Murchison Falls National Park to collect and map elephant DNA but Patrick and I will be going to Queen Elizabeth – a ‘small’ 1978 km2 park – instead.

Very timely news on BBC yesterday saying the number of African elephants killed illegally for their ivory is rising steeply.

“Andrew Luck-Baker asks how science can stop the new upsurge in the slaughter of African elephants for the booming illegal international trade in ivory.”

You can listen to the show on the BBC here.

We are working with Dr Sam Wasser (interviewed) and it’s a superb project – to map ivory via dung analysis so poaching locations and smuggling routes can be tackled. Not only is this a great project in itself but it’s great for UCF’s profile to be associated with it.

Collecting elephant DNA. P.Atimnedi UWA
Collecting elephant dung for DNA analysis. This can then be mapped and used to trace poached ivory Pictured is Dr Patrick Atimnedi of UWA
Elephant DNA dung collection. UWA vet Dr Patrick Atimnedi
Collecting elephant dung for DNA analysis. Dr Patrick Atimnedi and UW ranger team

Off to the field

Tuesday night is market night and the drums are playing loud on the other side of the compound wall, just a few metres away.

From here in Namuwongo you can feel Kampala growing. We often hear the hammering and banging as the shanty town next to the railway line expands.
Simpson’s sitting at the PC in the office (spare bedroom #1!) learning how to type. He starts university soon so this is the best head start I can think to give him. IT skills here are very poor from what I’ve seen.
I love this guy so much, he is such an inspiration to me. Just think I could have a son his age (!) – his mum died when he was 7 – and we’re very good friends. He is totally respectful in everything he does, with so much grace and good humour. I could write a blog just about him every week!

Simpson deals with a cockroach

Our friendship was sealed when I discovered he’s not afraid of cockroaches!

Here Simpson is pictured last week with “an insect” we found on its back and struggling outside the kitchen door one morning. He was happily examining it and I was too, daring myself to confront it and rationalise it. I’m not as obsessed by insects as I was! I used to have to immediately stop (panic) and see just how big they were. Now I can get on with what I’m doing first and then have a look. It’s knowing how big the insect is that creates the panic; if you’re not aware, you don’t panic. “It’s all in the mind.”
That said, having had the house fumigated – and having Simpson close by – I don’t have to deal with roaches very often, so I’m very lucky.
On the work front, things have really picked up since my last blog: Enid is back on good form, people are returning our calls, the project work is picking up so Patrick’s motivated again and he and I are off to Queen Elizabeth National ParkElephants! Hippos! Baboons! – tomorrow for three days. Hurray! Am really looking forward to engaging with the community more now I understand more about our projects. It’s only my second visit.

This week we will be:

Visiting Bukorwe Ridge Elephant Trench in Ishasha, which measures a whopping 10 km long x 2m wide x 2m deep, created to stop elephants crop raiding villages. UCF secured the funding to excavate the trenches and the community are supposed to maintain them, but they don’t really. They want money to do it and there simply isn’t any. We operate on a shoestring, their lives have been significantly improved by the trenches but commitment is very difficult. Kikarara is very rural and poor. It’s a subsistence culture. Their village has no vehicles, not even any motorbikes and the last part of our journey takes us down windy footpaths across field after field. It’s quite moving to visit somewhere so remote. The kids will go absolutely crazy when they see me, they never see mzungus.

UCF and UWA. Kahendero Lake George community meeting

Community sensitisation is a big part of UCF’s work, alongside the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Here on the edge of Lake George, the messages are anti-poaching (hippo) and warnings against fishing with undersized nets

Visiting UCF’s Waterways project on Lake George to decide where to locate our next ‘marine ranger station.’ UCF funds boats for UWA rangers to intercept poachers (mostly of hippo) and illegal fishermen. An added benefit to the community is that the boat has rescued people and boats in distress and even saved lives.

Banana snacks on a Ugandan road trip

Two hands of bananas guide us on our Ugandan road trip

It’s an 8 hour trip before we get anywhere near the projects so the days are long and hot and we eat lots of bananas!

UCF Patrick. Lake George fishermen children

My colleague Patrick and I visited Kashaka, one of UCF’s marine ranger stations on Lake George. Here he is pictured with some of the fishermen’s children

This visit will create lots of work of course and am already feeling swamped. It wouldn’t be so bad if my wrist (RSI / tennis elbow) wasn’t so painful every day. My physio – treating me for knee injury after Mt Elgon trip – has also given me exercises for my wrist / elbow, so a few days away from a keyboard are most welcome. I’m under physio’s orders not to run or dance either so could only tap my foot to Michael Jackson-fest this w/e!

As if all of this weren’t frustrating enough, blossoming ‘who knows what’ with Dutch hunk is put on hold!