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Published: October 17th 2010
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Game drive - Murchison Falls
We crossed the River Nile or as the locals call it the Albert Nile to begin our game drive. There were hippo's right in the water where we crossed. Daily observations:
- at least 20 live chickens being transported to market thrown over a back of a boda (motorcycle taxi)
- buildings being constructed using wooden scafolding (OH&S - NOT)
- my personal favourite ...a different take on our icecream man - this one rides a bike with the sounds of greensleaves being played to altert the children in the village
- babies wrapped up in woollen blankets when it is 27 degrees outside (Ugandans tend to put on the woollen jumpers when it starts raining - but it is still hot!)
- music blasting all hours of the night and day for that matter...the only noise level the Ugandans seem to know is LOUD
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Our time volunteering in Kampala is coming to an end all too quickly. We will be leaving at the end of October and the days are flying by. The days are often unpredictable and you never know what will come up........
One of the little girls at PCA - Shuku 3 yrs - was really sick and the diagnoses - malaria. Tracey spent allot of time at the local medical clinic as she needed to be
Giraffe
Murchison Falls National Park. There were so many families of Giraffe in this park. put on a drip for 4 hours at a time. Also, two of the children had to be taken to the local dentist as they had sore teath. Amandu - 14 years ended up having a root canal and Ruth - 15 years had to have one of her back teath removed. One of the boys who is at boarding (Abdul) had his boarding rooms burnt down. All the boarders belongings were completely destroyed in the fire. Never a dull moment. We also continue to help the older children who are studying for their PLE (primary leaving exams) at the end of the month.
The other weekend we took the children to the annual Kampala Trade Show. The show was similar to our royal shows we have in Australia but of course with a Ugandan theme to it. In all there were about 20 children who attended and we decided to split up into smaller groups. I felt like a mother with my 7 children all asking for soda's, food and wanting rides on the show rides. In the end they all got a set amount of money each and they could spend it how they wished. A couple
of the older girls went on a chair ride that looked like something out of the 70's and not safe at all alas they still went on it. In my observation of Ugandans, they all tend to love their music (LOUD) and dance and the kids did not disappoint. At the trade show there were some dance competitions and a couple of the kids went up on stage and had a dance off. One of the boys (Moses) ended up coming second and won a tee-shirt and he was very happy with his prize. Needless to say by the end of the night they were all very tired and high on soda and that was our cue to head home.
I continue to volunteer at the babies home. The other morning when I arrived the older children (2 years approx) were all excited as they were having a "swim" outside in the sun. It was an extremely hot day. The teachers had filled several baby baths and added bubble bath. It did unfortunately end in tears for some as there were not enough baths for all of the children.
We needed some down time and on recommendation we
Lioness
We spotted a lioness resting however we could not find the rest of her pride. decided to go on a 3 day / 2 nights mini break to a place called Murchinson Falls which is a days drive north west of Kampala. Murchison Falls is also a national park and the trip included a visit to the falls and also the national park where we would do a game drive. We set off at 9am from Red Chilli Hideaway Campsite - Kampala in a very comfortable mini-van. There were 7 of us - including Tracey and I. We stayed at the Red Chilli campsite in permanent tents ( each tent had 2 single beds - no sleeping bags which was a treat). We were told not to keep any food at all in the tents as the local camp wort-hogs would find a way to the food. As the camp was in the national park overlooking Lake Albert, we were also told to beware of the hippo's who could walk through the camp site at night. We survived the night!
The next day was an early start for our game drive. It was not far to drive until we started seeing animial as we were already in the national park. We saw hippo's, elephants,
Monkey
These cute little monkeys stand up on their hind legs and use ant mounds as their viewing platform. antelope and lots and lots of giraffes. We were also very fortunate to see a lioness resting. We were looking for the rest of her pride who would have been somewhere close by but well hidden from us. We headed back to camp and had enough time to have lunch and a rest and then it was time to go for our river cruise on the Nile to see the Murchison falls which were about 22 kms away. We boarded our ferry boat and we headed across the other side of the river to see some elephants who had come down to the river to drink as it was an extremely hot day. Cruising the river you get to see a different perspective of the national park and the animals. We saw so many pods of hippo's and we got within a few meters of them. We saw many species of birds, monkeys and also two huges crocodiles bathing in the sun. As we were heading back we noticed huge dark clouds beginning to form and it was a race back down stream to try and beat the rain. We didn't make it back in time and the heavens opened
Elephant
This elephant had some friends riding on his back. up and needless to stay we all got quite wet as the tarpoulin did not provide adequate cover - TIA.
On the way back to Kampala we stopped off at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where we went trekking for Rhino's. The park currently has 9 white Rhino's. The sanctuary offers a secure place where rhino populations can be expanded by breeding, protected from human and non-human predators and where they can be gradually re-introduced in Uganda's national parks. We met the newest arrival baby Rhino Obama who was born Jan 2010. He was named Obama as his father is from Kenya and mother is from USA. Obama will even stand on command when the guide says "Obama up". Very cute.
Enjoy the photos!
Love Kath xx
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Matthew
non-member comment
Hi Kiki !
Great blog Kath. Cath laughed at the obs re jumpers when it rains . Has Mark called you ?? Hope u get in touch ! Sounds like u r doing great work with the kids - well done ! all the best, Matt xo