I’ve been having a grand ol’ time here in Uganda for the past three weeks! (I figured I could break my tradition of Swahili titles since Swahili isn't really spoken in Uganda...totally not because I'm all out of vocab words or anything like that...)
After the last time I wrote, we traveled to Kibale National Park, where we stayed for ten whole days! It was nice to finally settle down somewhere for a bit. We stayed at Makerere Field Station which is a research station just outside the forest, and let me tell you -- I have nooo complaints! The bed: amazing. The showers: hot. The food: delicious. I’m talkin’ pizza, pasta, mac 'n cheese, cinnamon rolls, chocolate-frosted marble birthday cake (what a great surprise that was!)…basically all the things we’ve been dreaming of for the past several weeks.
The forest itself is only 200mm/year of rain away from a rainforest. Technically that makes it a mid-tropical altitude forest, but the rains are changing every year, so maybe someday soon it’ll be a rainforest!
Kibale is known for having the world’s largest biomass of primate species. You know what that means -- monkeys galore!! The species that I saw most often was the black and white colobus. They look a lot like skunks (though a certain relative of mine might argue that they look a lot like my mother).
Oh, and of course the baboons. Baboons everywhere.
On our final Sunday at Kibale, we went to church! It was remarkably different than my church experience in Kenya. Actually, I’d say it was more similar to church at home than church in Kenya, except that the singing was much better than at home, and a child accidentally brought a chicken inside during the service.
After Kibale, we traveled to Lake Nabugabo. Man oh man. Paradise. I stayed in a lakehouse with 20 other girls, in a very tightly packed bedroom. The lakehouse was only 20 feet from the water. Apparently there were beautiful sunrises, although sleepy Maria didn’t get to experience any. I did manage to catch the end of one though.
It felt so luxurious doing homework right next to the water, and taking naps to the sweet sound of waves. These were some of my views from my homework hideouts:
And that brings me to the present! I’m back in Jinja! I was here a couple years ago for whitewater rafting, but this time it's all about workworkwork! Yep, that's right folks... This trip is not all about monkeying around (hardy har har...get it?); there actually is quite a bit of learning going on! We've been working day and night on various assignments for my Environmental Management class, and today we finished up with a final exam...phew! Luckily we had time for one fabulously relaxing boat ride on the Nile yesterday, during which we collected a bunch of little-bitty fish species. Unfortunately some of the fishies died in the nets, but that meant we got to see a fish disection! Brains and gills, mmm!
Oh, and before I forget, let me introduce you to my good friend Larry:
I cant decide if the past three weeks have felt long or super quick. Either way, it’s been a blast! Off to Tanzania in the morning!
Thanks for the post. Have fun in Tanzania. Love MOM -- and I do not look like a monkey!
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