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.

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

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.