Introducing U'gi

As you may have heard, we are welcoming a new little guy into our family.  

His name is U'gi, he is 4 weeks old and weighed 2 pound, 4 ounces when we got him last week.  He was abandoned and needed a good home.  He is brown and furry with four legs and a tail.  He's our new dog!  

Although this is not the addition our parents and grandparents were hoping for (a-hem), we are excited to have this new pup in our lives. 

U'gi was valiantly rescued by Stu last Tuesday.  Here's how the story goes:  

Stu was coming home from work on a normally not-too-busy street, but this night there was a traffic jam.  Stu was less than impressed.  But when he got further through the jam he saw the cause of all the commotion - a tiny puppy, stranded in the middle of the street.  Clearly the dog was lost, scared, and about to become roadkill.  So Stu drove away.  

But 20 seconds later, Stu realized that this little dog needed some help.  So he turned around and went back to valiantly scope up the little guy and bring him home.

Then Deb gets a text message from Stu reading, 'I got you a present'.  'Oh yay' thinks Deb.  'What could it be?  Something to help me relax, surely.  Flowers.  A bottle of gin (real gin - the expensive stuff that is imported...).  Chocolate (real chocolate - the expensive stuff that is imported...).  A chick flick.'

Deb gets home, opens the door, eager to see what this present could be.  No flowers on the table.  No G&T with condensation gently beading down the outside of the glass waiting to be consumed.  No chocolate.  No chick flick.  Nope.  Just Stu holding out a flea covered dog grinning from ear to ear saying, 'I got you a puppy!'  No sooner the dog wriggles around, hops to the floor, and pees.  Then cries, scratches himself and leaves the evidence of a dozen flea carcasses in his wake as he runs to the corner of the kitchen.

'Now this is going to be relaxing', thinks Deb.

And then on cue, we both look at each other and say, 'Can we keep him?'  Yes.

His puppy dog eyes, wagging tail, insane need to dig his nose as deep into the crook of your arm as possible, and ability to fall asleep while sitting up (due to eating a large meal very fast - think this guy had to fight for his food out in the open?), have made a spot in our heart.  He looks to be an exclusive breed of dog known as the 'Kampala Mutt', aka 'we do not have any idea about his breed because he's a street dog', but there appears to be some German Shepard / Rottweiler heritage.  Right now he is tiny, but we think he is going to be big.  Deb's only hope is that he doesn't grow to be as big as Clifford, the Big Red Dog.  We'll have to keep you updated...

First day.  Scruffy, scared, sick.  But also adorable.

Tiny dog.

U'gi sleeping in his makeshift bed.  He now has a proper home - also made out of a local basket and metal crate welded at our version of Petsmart, i.e. the local market.  Dog ownership in Uganda is cheap if you are not looking for name brands.

U'gi enjoying one of his favourite spots on Stu's stomach.  Must be because it's so soft...

The definition of 'puppy dog eyes'

PS: The name U'gi, pronounced you-gee, is a popular term for the local gin called 'Uganda Waragi'.  We figured this was a good name for the new guy since we must be drunk to be thinking we can take care of a dog!

Kwanjula

Once again we have to apologize for the severe time lapse in posting to the blog.  I wish we could say it’s because our jet set lives leave no time for blog posts, but truthfully, we’ve just been working a ton (Deb in the village & Stu in parliament) that we’ve neglected the rest of our lives.

But all work makes Deb & Stu dull peoples, so we have managed to throw in a bit of fun here and there including attending a traditional Ugandan wedding introduction ceremony, aka a ‘kwanjula’.  Deb’s coworker James is getting married and invited us to his kwanjula.  During the kwanjula, the groom is presented to the bride’s family and village elders and they decide if the groom is acceptable.  So, as you can imagine, it’s a very important event with a lot of fanfare.   About 250-500 people attend and it’s a full day affair.  Each family has a spokesman who guides the family and guests though the specific parts of the ceremony.  Here’s a good example of the different parts of the ceremony which really illustrates the drama and tradition of the event http://www.gandaancestry.com/docs/kwanjula-Apr05.pdf

Deb getting dressed in her kikoy and sash

 

Since we were attending on the groom’s side, it was imperative that we wore traditional Ugandan formal attire; otherwise the groom could get ‘fined’.  So Deb wore a ‘kikoy and sash’ which is a traditional woven cloth about 4 meters in length wrapped round and round the body and secured with a large bright sash at the waist, see photos above (Deb also used some safety pins to secure the kikoy…sometimes you have to modernize tradition).  Stu wore a ‘kanzu’ or a floor length white linen robe under his suit jacket.  Without the suit jacket, he really did look like ‘white Jesus’.  

It was such a great event and we were so excited to be a part of it – and boy did we get involved, especially in presenting the ‘gifts’ from the groom to the bride’s family, like a dowry.  James’ gifts included:

The cow, fridge, chicken, sodas...and side of cow

• 3 cows + 2 sides of cow
• 2 goats
• 4 chickens
• 25 cases of soda
• 400 kilos of rice
• 100 kilos of sugar
• 100 kilos of beans
• Many many fruits and veggies
• Linens and fabrics
• Luggage sets
• Kanzus for all the men in the bride’s family
• 1 refrigerator

Deb carried many of the food products in baskets on her head and Stu carried in the ½ of a slaughtered cow.  At one point we were told that the two ‘muzungus’ (white people) were also gifts, but luckily that was just a joke….we think.

Groom's sisters presenting gifts to the bride under the tent

Groom & Bride

In the end, James was deemed a suitable groom, so now he is preparing for his wedding on 16 July which takes the form of a western wedding (white dress, bridesmaids, bouquets, dinner and dancing).  We are looking forward to attending that event too.  We are told there could be as many as 20 cakes!

Deb's coworkers and fashion consultants: Susan, Miriam & Christine

Spiderwoman

So, as I’m sure many of you have heard by now, I (Deb) was bitten by a spider on my leg and have been undergoing some pretty painful visits to the Dr’s office to have the bite lanced, cleaned of dying/dead tissue, and packed with gauze.  I won’t go into all of the details – they are just too gory for a blog post, but I will let you know that I am doing fine and that I am well on the road to recovery.  I have been going to the Dr’s office daily to have ‘the hole in my leg’ (as I now woefully call the site of the bite) cleaned and re-packed with gauze, but I was told today that I can scale back my visits to every 3 days!  Yippee!!

I think the fact that Ashton now calls me ‘Spiderwoman’ makes this whole ordeal just a little bit cool.  At least to a three year old.  To the rest of us, this ordeal is a reminder of one of Dad’s favourite Shakey quotes, “Security is mortals’ chiefest enemy”.  Yes, we live in Africa and we can never forget that things are just a bit different here no matter how ‘at home’ we feel.   

Me and the wound before packing it with gauze.  It looks so benign in the picture – and I appear to be smiling, but it’s a disguise. 

The Kampala Symphony Orchestra

The Kampala Symphony Orchestra (aka the KSO) has recruited a new member – Me!  Deb!  DD!  I went last night for my first rehearsal with the KSO and it was...noteworthy!     

The KSO is made up of mostly amateur and a few semi-pro players from a range of backgrounds.  I have taken my usual orchestral place in the 2^nd violin section which I am very grateful for; I haven’t played my instrument in years, so I am more than rusty.  

I am renting a violin from the Kampala Music School.  The case is broken so you can’t actually carry it by the handle or else the instrument will fall out, I don’t think the bow is full size (then again, it has been years) and the pegs are all different colours.  But it’s a great instrument, and I am so happy to be able to play again.

We rehearse in the basement of the YMCA in a tiny room about 8 feet x 12 feet.  Imagine an orchestra: violins, violas, cellos, bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, trumpet, French horn, etc...  then think of cramming all these people and their instruments into a little room in the heat of Uganda’s dry season.  Fresh.  Our music stands are falling apart; you have to balance your stand against your neighbours’ for leverage and we do not have enough sheet music or parts for every instrument.  So there I was in my debut rehearsal with the KSO with three other violins crowding around one piece of music on a wobbly stand and the trumpet player with his back half turned out the window balancing his music on the window ledge.  I wondered why the conductor had a shiny bow on his baton but when the power went out and we were playing by the light of our mobile phones, we could all still follow the beat from the glint off the bow on the baton.  And, well, we played on with smiles on our faces – a must says our conductor.

There is something about the people, culture, dancing, movements, and life here in Uganda that has really been waking up my inner musician, so I am really happy to be part of this group that is just about making music regardless of the circumstances.  

I’ll be sure to let you know how we progress – anyone want to come to our concert in April?

New Year's in Zanzibar

So after a whirlwind December, we headed to Zanzibar for a week of relaxing.  Zanzibar is interesting because even if you have no idea where it is or why it's famous, you've surely heard of it (I just hope the first time you heard of it was not in a Jack Black/Tenacious D song...)  Everybody's heard of it.  Everybody wants to see it.   We were excited to find out what all of the hullabaloo was about.

We were lucky enough to be meeting Kason and Leslie in Stone Town, Zanzibar, to share our New Years with some friends from Canada.  Having them around made our time walking through the twisting streets and lapping up all of the sun we could all the more enjoyable.

We left Kampala bright and early to catch our flight to Zanzibar.  We hadn’t done any research into Zanzibar and all we knew was that the island of the cost of mainland Tanzania was renowned for its spices and that there were great beaches in the north.  We hoped to enjoy both.

We landed at the tiny little airport and were instantly in for a shock.  Even though Zanzibar was a very short flight away, it has a distinctively different feel from Kampala.  It clearly lives on island time and has an island vibe, but Zanzibar is also 95% Muslim, 4% Christian and 1% Hindu, a drastic difference from the predominantly Christian Uganda.  Most women are covered in burqas and Hijabs, and there is a clear division between men and women.  However, the women were clearly very empowered and proudly walked around at night with some of the most beautiful garments and jewelry.  It was a far cry from the stereotypical oppressive Islamic society. 

The first day in Stone Town, we walked aimlessly through the winding narrow streets.  The city is a beautiful relic of its former self with beautiful terraced buildings and immaculate Arabian architecture.  The city shows of its history as a hub for the slave trade and a former Portuguese and British colony.  Although the city offers much of the same tourist kitch as most other African destinations, it is also very easy to see how every day residents live. 

On the second day, we decided to take a short trip to Prison Island to check out some giant tortoises and to snorkel.  Prison Island was formerly used to hold bad behaving slaves and then to quarantine sick patients.  It has since been renovated into an overpriced and empty hotel.  The main attraction on Prison Island is the 120 Giant Tortoises which have been there for over 100 years.  They were brought as a gift from the Seychelles and are now trapped on the Island (ironic isn’t it!).  Some of them are over 150 years old and stand over 1 metre tall. They wander around and love to be pet and fed by the tourists.  It is quite a sight. The snorkeling in the area wasn't fantastic but we get to see numerous types of tropical fish on the reef.

One of the most interesting features of Stone Town was Forodhani Gardens, a night market area serving up fresh seafood grilled in front of you.  We ate here every night!!!  The street food should really be used as an example for other cities to emulate.  The area is clean and obviously very organized and regulated.  Even though there are many tourists here, we are clearly outnumbered by the locals.  The men are parading around in new jeans and western t-shirts advertising Prada, Echo and Sean Jean, while the women gather with the children in elaborate and beautiful garb.  It was such an interesting sight to watch.

After a nice stay in Stone Town, it was time to head up north to the beaches.   On the way, we stopped by a spice farm to learn about all of the different spices grown.  It was very interesting seeing the spices in the wild.  It was hard to associate most of the wild spices with the end product on the table.  Peppercorn grows on a vine, cardamom is a root, nutmeg is a beautiful pit, cloves are red, green and juicy.  Deborah loved this part and made sure we left with some locally grown spices.

As soon as we reached the beach, we understood Zanzibar’s reputation.  The beach was lined with palm trees, while the turquoise ocean was dotted with dhow boats.  Everywhere you looked was a postcard.  And then the sun began to set.  It was absolutely spectacular!  We knew the next five days here were going to be perfect.  Our relaxing was only interrupted by several SCUBA diving trips, indulging in amazing fresh seafood and sunset cruises in a dhow boat.  It was all we could have asked for. 

We also did some great SCUBA dives.  The water was crystal clear and an amazing 28 degrees!!!  It was actually hot in our shorties.  We decided to dive at Mnemba Atoll which is a protected marine park and it was so worth it.  There was lots of fish life and beautiful coral.  After two long dives we were exhausted and ready for our nice cruise back in our motorized dhow.  The dhows are truly amazing boats.  They have been sailing in the Indian Ocean for hundreds of years.  It is believed that the boats traveled to Polynesia more than 400 years ago and returned with spice and fruits currently found on the island.  Today the boats have hardly changed from the centuries old design.  Everyday, the fisherman leave around 3 or 4pm as the tide is going out and travel hundreds of kilometers before returning around 6am to sell their daily catch.  All travel is using the tides and odd shaped sail.  After a sunset boat trip on board one, I can only imagine how difficult it must be.  Every tack and jibe requires the manual moving of the boom, adjusting the sail, and retying of all knots.  It is an amazing skill that has been passed on.

The best part was being able to celebrate a new year (decade!) on the Zanzibar beach as the warm Indian Ocean lapped up to tickle our toes.  The beach parties were great and we made full use of the night by walking up and down the beach to various bars & parties.  The best part was watching New Years Eve turn into New Years Day with the optimistic feeling of another wonderful year ahead of us.

To view more of our pictures from Zanzibar, follow this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/globeroamers/NewYears2010?feat=directlink

 

Kristmas in Kampala

Lots has happened but we have suddenly become even busier than normal with work and parties.  More updates to come.  We just thought we would share some pics from our Christmas so far.

Christmas cookies and our Disco Christmas tree

Deb posing with the tree.  Note the My Little Ponies, a gift from our cleaner.  Not sure what it is suppose to symbolize, but is a nice addition as our nativity scene.

Christmas Eve lunch with our friend Rachel.  No snow here, just lush trees.

We are off to Zanzibar.  See you in 2011!!!

Lots of love from Kampala and we will chat soon! 

Deb's first publication....sort of....

Okay - so it's a bit of a stretch, but I can now claim that my name has been published in the academic domain!!  Here's the link to an article I helped work on (I did some editing, made the figures, and did all of the online submitting (which takes a lot of time)).  You can see me if you scroll all the way down to the bottom to the 'Acknowledgments' section.  I told you it was a bit of a stretch...haha  The paper itself might be interesting for you clinical and public health folks... ;)

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013438

Otherwise, all is well here.  In my new 'less work' lifestyle, I don't work on Saturdays, so yesterday Stu and I went to a music festival in town and then to the finals for the Uganda Basketball Association aka UBA (like the NBA - but a lot less flash).  The game is played at the outdoor concrete court at the YMCA and people crowd in everywhere to get a slice of the action.  Luckily, the team we were cheering for, D-Mark Power, won the championship!  We cheer for 'Power' because my colleague used to play on the team, but had to leave this season to come and work for us.  Playing in the UBA is not nearly as lucrative as the NBA, so many players have to leave when a good job comes up.  I'm sure Stu will have more to write about the game itself and the style of playing, I just enjoyed being in the action.

Well, I have to get back to work now...yes it's Sunday...but this time next week we'll be off to Zanzibar, so I can't really complain!

Thanksgiving, Glühwein and Chanukah

So after a great visit to Canada we are getting back into the daily grind here in Uganda.  It was so nice to be back to see friends and family but with so much going on, we almost feel like we need another vacation.

While some things in Kampala have changed (most notably that everyone is electioneering leading up to a national election in February), we have setting back into our routine with surprising ease.  Within the first month we have already had two visitors come and stay with us.  As always, we are happy to have people visit and it provides and excuse to travel a little bit. 

Erin actually timed coming to Kampala to arrive on the same flight as Deb back from Atlanta.  While I am sure they got lots of gossiping in on the plane, we thought that we still needed a relaxing weekend out of the city.  We headed to the Hairy Lemon, a resort on the Nile farther upstream than we normally stay.  We didn’t paddle this time around but did relax on this beautiful island.  It was the perfect place to get away.  While we usually stay on the other side of the river, which provides a great party, the Lemon is unbelievably serene and a perfect place to read in a hammock, go for a swim, or play water-volleyball.  I am a little surprised that we have not made it up there yet.  All I can say is that I am looking forward to going back.

We have also been bringing in the festive season in style.  As Melissa is American we decided to host another Thanksgiving dinner (as if we really needed much prodding….).  Last weekend we had 12 friends over for dinner from around the globe to celebrate the British colonies first harvest in America (I have sworn that I won’t discuss the true history of American Thanksgiving anymore, but it is interesting to see the different histories from those around America (and a British, American History grad)).

This thanksgiving was a little different than those in the past.  Yes, we had the usual, pumpkin pie, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., but this time our turkey was a free ranger who was walking around our own backyard!  Since we see so many chickens and turkeys running around, we thought we should get some of our own.  We have chickens for eggs (not going so well, they don’t seem to be laying for some reason), meat and then our thanksgiving turkey. 

Needless to say, the process of getting a walking turkey onto the table was interesting.  Having never killed a turkey before, we asked two locals to help us navigate the way through.  They were happy to show us what to do in exchange for a taste of the turkey once it was cooked (they had never had turkey before as it is too expensive for many locals here due to its size).  Getting the turkey ready for roasting was surprisingly easy and (as Mel remarks in the video) was very more ‘tame’ than anticipated.  For those interested in watching the video it is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgVmIwR4Sm4).

Dinner was a resounding success.  Once again, everything seemed to make it on the table just at the right time and everyone had a blast.  It is always so fun for us to get together in an international environment and share our culture with others and also learn from them.

 As if we didn’t eat enough at thanksgiving (we were all way over stuffed to the point that one couple needed to go home!), we were invited to two separate parties the next day to celebrate the first advent.  Apparently advent is a very big part of German’s Christmas celebrations so we could not turn the invites down so off we went to see what advent is all about.  The core of the celebration surrounds lighting the advent candles (there are four), but along the way much Glühwein (mulled wine) and baked goods are consumed. We could not be happier to have partaken.

To round out our holiday week, this Wednesday was the first night of Chanukah. Despite the fact that we don’t have a menorah we were not to be swayed from our latkes. We assembled a menorah made from used bottles and went to shredding the onion and potatoes, while trying to avoid taking of our knuckles (Stu already cut of the top of his thumb while making Thanksgiving). The latkes were delicious and happily shared with our friend Mark.

Who knows what the plan is for the next holiday but we are looking forward to it!

Update on our update

I just came home to find these three little chickens sitting on my kitchen counter...and Stu sitting on the balcony drinking a beer. See, all is well in Kampala.

Quick Update

Well, in just 5 days we will be touching down in Canada – we’ve been looking forward to this visit back home for some time now. When we haven’t been thinking of coming home, we’ve been moving along just great here in Kampala.

I (Deb) have been working to the brink, but making really good progress. We just received ethical approval for our main trial, ‘The ACT PRIME Study: Evaluating the impact of enhanced health facility-based care for malaria and febrile illnesses in children in Tororo, Uganda’ and are awaiting ethical approval for our supplementary trial, ‘The ACT PROCESS Study: Evaluating the process, context, and impact of interventions to enhance health facilities in Tororo, Uganda’. While it may seem boring to the outsider, receiving ethical approval is a big challenge and quite a lot of work, but also integral to the study design process. Over the past few months, we have been really thinking through the science and practicalities of how we will run our studies and how we will achieve & measure our outcomes. For our studies, we’ve had to apply to four ethical boards (2 in Uganda + London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine + University of California, San Francisco), most trials only go through one or two boards.

In addition to these ethical approvals, I have been working like mad on developing our ‘health facility intervention’ which is to train health workers at lower-level government health centres in the areas of ‘health centre management’ and ‘patient-centred services’. It’s been a really awesome experience to develop training for health workers from the ground up and I’ve been leading a really great team. We still have a ways to go and many challenges to overcome – so it doesn’t look like my 70+ hour weeks will be ending anytime soon...

Stu has been keeping busy as usual doing all of the manly things he likes to do - like cooking and baking. Today (while I am at work), Stu is preparing a Canadian Thanksgiving for 12 of our friends. The menu, developed and prepared entirely by Stu, is: Deviled Eggs for appetizer (my contribution here is to bring some chips from the corner store), Roasted carrots, Mashed potatoes, 3 beer can chickens (with different spice rubs on each), Stuffing, and Salad for the main course; and Coconut cream pumpkin pie with ginger snap crust for dessert! Phew! Stu woke up early this morning to go to the meat packers to get fresh chickens...and the rest of the dinner is in progress...

We are looking forward to seeing some of you in Ancaster/London/Cambridge/Waterloo/Toronto, Atlanta and Amsterdam very soon! For others we won’t be seeing this time around – we are sending you much love and kisses from Kampala! Come visit – Stu needs taste-testers...!!

D&S

Dolla J, Silent Discos, Goat races, and the Cranes

Many people have asked us what Kampala is like at night and what there is to do here. As we have said numerous times, Kampala has so much to offer. Aside from the outdoor activities (game drives, whitewater kayaking, and climbing) that are an easy weekend adventure, there is all kinds of things to do in town. Over the last couple months we have been getting much more into the Kampala scene. The city has a surprisingly good art scene, the largest music scene in East Africa (although some might debate this) as well as all kinds of activities aimed at expats.

The music in Uganda is a mix of 90’s Hip Hop and Dance Hall. They idolize the North American bar music from the late 90s and early 00s (and also unfortunately Celine Dione). Modern Uganda music (like that from Kenya) includes a lot of these beats but adds a much more dancy feel. The Ugandans love to dance. They really get going to any beat at all and use their whole bodies to get into it. Some of the biggest musicians are Bebe Cool, Chameleon, Radio & Weasel, Rachel K and Kid Fox. After a particularly eventful night, we got to meet an aspiring artist named Dolla J (I have no idea what his real name is). He has taken me under his wing and tried to teach me a little about the music scene. It has been great to have a local show us around the music scene. Needless to say, both Deb and I have had some crazy nights out dancing away with the Ugandans. They usually head OUT at around 11…..and that is usually to a bar serving as a meeting place. The dancing doesn’t get going until around 3 and the bars stay open until the patrons leave. We have not been there yet, but there are many bars still pounding out the music at 10am! I am not sure I could walk out of a bar after a night of dancing and have the sun come up….although we may have to once as a ‘cultural experience’.

One of the coolest Ugandan music experiences was at the annual Bayimba festival, which highlights some of the best musicians and artists. The weekend featured many great artists on the main stage (including the one and only Ugandan rock band, who were surprisingly good). However, the best part was a silent disco. For those who have never heard of this concept, a silent disco is when all attendees wear head phones wirelessly connected to the DJ (or in this case, DJs which you got to choose between). It is a surreal experience when you see hundreds of people dancing away in complete silence with DJs at the front egging on the crowd.

While not dancing, we have also attended several sporting events. The most notable was the Royal Ascot Goat Races. The races are organised annually as a fundraiser for a variety of different charities around Uganda.  We had no idea what to expect with the day but everyone told us that we needed to attend.  Needless to say, the day did not disappoint. The event took place at Munyoyo, which is a very posh resort that was set up for the 2007 Commonwealth conference (as is much of the Ugandan infrastructure). The core idea behind the event is to raise money and have fun. It is hard to have fun when you see ten goats ‘run’ around a track with hundreds of people cheering on the goat they bet on. Needless to say, most of the ‘race’ involves the goats eating grass and slowly moseying around the track. The race is sped along by caretakers who push a giant board to make sure the goats move and encouraged by live play-by-play worthy of the Kentucky Derby. Next year we are going to buy a goat and cheer it on with all we have got.

While not cheering on goats, we have been encouraging the Cranes with our money and our voices. The is the Uganda Cranes football (soccer) team who are in the process of qualifying for the Africa 2012 Cup of Nations. The atmosphere at the stadium is unbelievable. Ugandans take their football seriously and once you mix in nationalism, things can get a little out of hand. Fans dress up and cover themselves in full body paint, jump, scream, play drums, and blow vuvuzellas at all times (and I think all the hoopla about them at the World Cup is garbage! Talking to some people who went to the WC and the qualifiers, they were mush louder in Kampala and I love them. I think South Americans and Europeans just didn’t like that their songs could not be heard over the sound of their chants). One fan even brought an air raid horn to the game!!! Having been to some games in Europe and South America, nothing competes. Everything here is at such a high intensity; it is hard to not get wrapped up in all of the emotion. Thankfully Uganda won their game and are still sitting on table of the table. Can’t wait for their next home game!!!

How to buy a 'new' car in Kampala

In some of our previous blog posts we have mentioned ‘Suki, our trusty Escudo which has been chauffeuring us around Uganda.  She came to us about five months ago from a shipping bond.  Vehicles in Uganda are almost all imported (mostly from Japan) and then sold of as new at these bonds.  What new really means is that the vehicle hasn’t yet been on the pot-holed paths they call roads here.  Most vehicles don’t last more than 4 or 5 years before things begin to fall apart in a serious way.  Getting our little Escudo proved to be a nerve-racking experience.  To begin with, I (Stu, Deb decided that as long as it was green and ‘not too big’ she would be happy with whatever I got) went around with our friends Paul and Robert to more than 10 shipping bonds.  Each one of these bonds is filled with the slimiest of used car salesmen who are looking to make a cut.  They even follow you from bond to bond to try and explain why their vehicles are better.  We ended up having to go out several weekend in a row because we could only stand an afternoon of being heckled and pestered to buy vehicles that I would not feel safe with my enemy driving.

Finally, we came across a nice new-ish looking GREEN vehicle that matched everything we were looking for.  After taking so long to find the car, I wanted to move on it to ensure that it wouldn’t be sold to someone else.  When I inquired about what the next step was, I didn’t really know how to answer.  I needed to find money to pay for the car….in cash…and they wanted it in USD if possible.  I had no idea how I was going to find the money, let alone in dollars. 

Up until then, we did not have a Ugandan bank account and had just been withdrawing money from the ATM.  Finally with a little finagling, we managed to secure the appropriate cash, but walking around with this much cash, especially in Kampala, was terrifying.  It isn’t like you can hide it very well.  Because of the exchange rate, we ended up with a huge stack of bills.  When the time came to pay for the car, the bills got shoved down my socks, into pockets, anywhere possible for people not to notice we were carrying a big wad of cash.  

 

All I have to say is that we are so happy about our little car, and I would be happy to go through the whole ordeal again.

This is our backyard...

Ok, so backyard is a bit of a stretch.  One of the bonuses of Nikhil’s visit is that it gave us a little push to get out on weekends and enjoy what Uganda has to offer. After our weekend away in Jinja, Nikhil headed down south to check out the gorillas.   After his return, the two of us jumped into ‘Zuki and headed up to Masindi and Murchison Falls National Park.  After five hours and a couple wrong turns (we ended up on a 45 km stretch of horrible potholed road rather than fresh tarmac) we ended up at the park. 

We were instantly met by baboons, warthogs and birds.  These animals were literally on our doorstep, porches and tables.  The attraction of this national park is Murchison Falls which is the end of the Victoria Nile and the beginning of the White Nile, heading up through Sudan to Egypt, and the game drives.  

The waterfall is spectacular 100-foot drop.  Most impressive is the power of the Nile powering through a 20-foot gap. This area is ecologically important as it is one of the last homes of the enormous Nile Perch (I definitely need to get back up here for a fishing trip).  It is also home to many Nile crocs, hippos, elephants, waterbucks and hundreds of birds.

Our adventure in search of game started early with a 7am ferry across the river.  On the way we picked up Jimmy, our guide for the game drive.  Having not been on a game drive before, I have nothing to compare to.  However, the game driving up here is truly wild.  Not only do you drive your own car (the guide is in the back to help you spot animals), but you also get to go looking for the animals anywhere in the park.  

We set off on our drive and were interrupted by a traffic jam of antelope on our road.  We soon had seen so many antelopes that we no longer stopped to have a look at them.  We must have seen hundreds of them in the first 20 minutes.  We continued to drive and saw herds of giraffes, buffaloes and kob.  After about an hour, Jimmy asked us what we wanted to see.  Not knowing what to answer, we told him to take us to all of the best stuff.

Jimmy promptly decided that we should then take a sharp right and drive to find the lions.  I stopped the car to make sure I heard correctly.  There was in fact no road to the right and the savannah was covered with trees and shrubs.  Jimmy told us not to worry and that if we wanted to see a lion, that is where they were.  On we drove on, we couldn’t find anything.  Then, Jimmy asked me to drive towards the pile of dirt about 100m away to see what it was.  It turned out to be a giant male who had just finished breakfast!!!  Then to our left, we noticed two more females.  We had hit the jackpot! We stayed in amazement for more than 30 minutes, just staring at these giant beasts.  We were even lucky enough to see three cubs with females.  It was absolutely amazing how close we were to these wild animals and how few other people would be see them today.

After our time with the lions, we drove on and saw hundreds more animals including schools of hippos and elephants watering themselves by the river.  We even got to see the incredibly rare Shoebill Stork (apparently people travel to Uganda just to see them… and other than this time, hardly ever seen in pairs).   

After the fabulous game drive, we jumped on a boat for a four-hour cruise up to the mouth of the falls.  The trip was a wonderfully relaxing way to enjoy the Nile, see the animals and birds and have a knowledgably guides teach you about the ecosystem.  

 By the end of our trip, hippos, antelope and warthogs had become the norm.  We hardly even stopped for many animals.  It is amazing that this is hear and so untapped.  I can’t wait to come back and see what else hiding up hear.

I haven’t been able to put all of my photos on the blog.  If you want to see the rest of my photos, they are available here http://picasaweb.google.com/114379842904288416190/MurchisonFallsAug2010?feat=directlink.

Back to the whitewater

So after our wonderful three-week sojourn in Italy, we thought we needed a vacation on our return so we headed back to Jinja with Nikhil to try our hands at some whitewater kayaking.  After our rafting trip we swore that we would come back to try our hand at some more paddling.  What a better way to spend a weekend then paddling in 25-degree water.  The best part is that getting dumped is a pleasure.  There is none of the shock from the water that we have in Canada.  

 We thought that we better get some lessons before we jumped into the big stuff and joined up with a kayak school run by a Scot.  Our instructors are worldclass paddlers who really know what they are talking about (check out one here…. http://vimeo.com/4665426).  We quickly went over the basic paddle strokes and began learning how to role.  Being that the water is so large, it is pretty important to know how to get back up.  The real question is not whether you are going to flip but rather how much.  After a couple of hours of practicing we headed out onto the water to try our hand at some grade ones and twos.  Along the way we practiced what we had learned in the morning.

Frustratingly, although I feel perfectly comfortable upside-down, I couldn’t quite get my boat back over on my own.  We definitely needed another day of practice so we headed out on Sunday to try our hand again.  We were joined by David, one of our instructors from the previous day, and Deborah’s new best friend.  We played around in for the first couple of hours and practised our roles and then headed off to the river to try our hands and some bigger stuff.

Although we are still very much beginners, we had a great weekend away.  I can’t wait for the next one when we can really start to feel comfortable in our boats.

The bed and breakfast is open…

We are frequently jeered for running a bed and breakfast out of our apartment because of how many visitors we have come and stay with us.  Needless to say, we are happy to take all the jokes because we just love having our friends around.  Although Uganda is a bit more inaccessible than Toronto or London, we have already had two visitors and have more coming in September. 

Our friend Nikhil decided to come and visit for two weeks before he started a new job in Amsterdam.  We were happy to play hosts and loved the many dinners and BBQs (Nikhil is a PRO!!) we got to share.  It is always so nice to have friendly faces around to share our world with.  

Sojourn in Tuscany

Tickets…check

Passports…check

Tuscan villa…check….whoa, wait a minute!  Tuscan villa?  Yes, Tuscan villa!  As July ended, we headed off to Italy for a three-week adventure that was to take us through many parts of Tuscany.

The idea of this trip started about 18-months ago when our friend John Schram bid on a week at the villa during a charity auction.  We had committed to joining in Italy but never really thought it would happen.  Yet here we were, on our way from Kampala to Cortona.

We were sharing the villa with John, Ashley, Josh and Julia.  We could not really imagine something more lovely.  To make matters more interesting, the week we picked for our visit happened to be when Cortona was hosting the Tuscan Sun Festival, a celebration of food, wine and music.

We could not have asked for a better week.  We got to relax and enjoy with some of our best friends, drink copious types of wine, cheese and pastries and enjoy all that Tuscany has to offer.  We participated in several of the organised activities including cheese making (which included an amazing 6 course cheese menu), winery tours and a ‘competition’ between Australian and Tuscan San Giovese wines.  

Aside from stuffing ourselves at the Tuscan Sun Festival, we also visited Lake Trasimeno for a visit to some ruins and a boat trip, Arezzo for an incredible antic market (think middle ages and then include original Rembrants and Dalis!), and of course the local area. 

The best part of the week must have been the food.  The restaurants were amazing.  However, we spent most nights in our place cooking with fresh vegetables and trying out wine from wineries we had visited or had been recommended.  Our wonderful chefs kept us stuffed to the brim.  We rapped up the week with a visit to a great restaurant in the countryside and got treated to some modern Tuscan.  All in all, we could not have asked for anything more.  It truly was a week to remember.  Highlights from the week are here http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/Cotona#

The end of the week did not mean the end of the trip.  After our stay in Cortona, we rented a car and drove through some of the top wine regions.  We took in tours in Montalcino, Montalpulciano and several days in the Chianti region.  We tried many wines we liked and many that were not so good.  The drives though were spectacular.  The scenary in the region was so beautiful it was a pleasure to just drive around.  Of course, visits to restaurants that serve a seven-course meat menu (http://www.dariocecchini.com/solo_ciccia_eng.html) are not too bad either.  Along the way, we also visited several medieval towns including Voltara and San Gimingnano, the medieval Manhattan (so named because of the 14 towers surrounding the town).  Photos from our road trip are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/TuscanRoadTrip#

Sadly after four days, we had to say goodbye to Josh and Julia and were on our own in Florence.  Deb has been trying to get me to Florence since she visited with her sisters ten years ago.  The most amazing thing about Florence is the architecture.  Every building you look at is steeped in history.  It is not hard to imagine what life would have been like there 500 years ago with the Medicis.  We stayed in a small apartment outside of the downtown about 250 meters from the Arno.  The apartment was perfect for us.  It has a nice kitchen (and Deb loved cooking with all the fresh Italian food stuffs!), had a coffee shop nearby and was close enough for us to walk into town.

We spent four days leisurely touring around visiting the many churches and squares, a byzantine synagogue (very unique), and of course the art galleries.  Florence is known for the Academia and the Ufizi, two of the most famous art museums.  Even though neither of us are really into renaissance art, we had to visit.  As they say, when in Rome…. It did not disappoint.  Seeing the best of the best is so much different than the rest of the renaissance work.  The pieces here are really in a class of their own.  Photos from Florence can be found here http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/Florence.

Having taken in more art than we had seen in the past 5 years, we headed south to Siena to visit Lucia (a friend from my Masters in Brighton) and take in Palio (this is the horse race at the beginning of the last Bond movie).  Palio is a spectacular event that is hard to explain and whose continued existence is difficult to comprehend outside of those who live in Siena.  For the Sienese, life stops for five days, twice a year for this 700 real old ritual.  The race itself is a 90 second bareback race around the central square.  For the winner: a coveted silk banner (the palio), for the losers: utter humiliation. 

Siena is divided into 17 town districts or contrades (there use to be 42), each with their own traditions, symbol and colours, and its own church and palio museum.  The streets are lined with the various flags and plaques clearly drawing battle lines for the different quarters.  For five days, the contrades come together to protect their horse, their jockey and their pride. 

We were inducted in to the Valdimontone (mountain goat) contrade and stayed with them for most of our time there.  There are specific rituals and practices that happen leading up to race itself.  The horses are allotted to districts by lot, there are four trials to race and of course the festivities.  There are three feasts in each contrade honouring the horse and jockey.  We attended the final feast, a six-course meal fed to over 2000 people dining in the street!!!

The day of the race is a stressful one.  The contrade march in their horses to singing at the top of their lungs.  The largest men stand at the front, chests pumped out, protecting their horse and jockey just as footmen going to war.  It is truly a freighting affair.  The order of the horses is in an ancient ritual of lots.  After which, the horses are called one by one to the starting line, a rope hung across the dirt track.  The jockeys all poke and prod each other and the horses trying to ensure that their enemies horses will be too agitated to focus on the race.  It can take up to an hour to get all of the horses in the right place.  Our race must have been reset almost 10 times.

When the horses are told to leave only to be called back in order, the jockeys give and take bribes of up to $500,000.  The bribe may be to start slowly, to bother an enemy or even to purposely loose.  The only rules that exist during the race is that a jockey can not touch another jockeys reins.  It is an all out war with horses and anything goes.

Although Montone didn’t win, neither did their enemy so it was not a complete loss.  This years winner was Tartuca (turtle), Lucia’s unlce’s (and frequently our tour guide) contrade.   After the race, we retreated to the district for some consolation drinks and to watch the race again (the locals can watch each race 100 times and it was on loop without commentary for 24 hours).

Sadly, we were off on an early train to Rome for our flight back the next day.  Our three week tour had come to a triumphant ending.  We were back to Kampala and a life of matoke, Tusker  and pork.  Some times you don’t know what you miss until it is gone.  Siena photos are here http://picasaweb.google.com/stu.solomon/Siena02#