Agande from Kalinzu

---

Hey folks, just a quick update, mostly sending along some photos that pertain more to the last blog than this one. First thing's first, in my haste to tell you all about my camera getting swiped, the weeks of safari, and scanning all those mind maps, I forgot to tell give you perhaps the most important link pertaining to the safari. Thanks to the link, it's not such a tragedy that my camera was stolen after all. The family featured on that web page went on a very similar safari, including a visit with Jane Goodall (or at least her alter ego), as well as lots of pictures. The similarities are uncanny!

Okay, hopefully you enjoyed that link. But in truth, this photo link is probably more relevant, as well as this one and even this one as they are the pages with Kennet's photos, which he's been procuring and prepping before posting fully processed pictures, so remember to check back again soon to peruse the progress of his proceedings as additional photos should be plentiful. But seriously - big thanks to Kennet for sharing these pics and bailing me out of what would've been a safari with no photographic record.

(July 28 update; I've just added photos to my page as well)


What am I up to?
At the moment, I'm writing you from the small town of Ishaka which is actually much larger than the village I'm living in, about a 30-minute drive north of here. I'm staying and working at an education center nudged alongside the Kalinzu Forest (i'm not able to do serious mapping at present, so if you look at a standard Uganda map, I'm a few km's south of Queen Elizabeth National Park between Kesese and Bushenyi; I'm also not really in Fort Portal at present, but it's the closes option in my drop-down menu above).

The forest is full of dense vegetation, as it's a tropical rain forest, and full of primates (b&w colubus monkey, red-tailed colobus monkey, baboons and of course chimpanzees) as well as (rare) leopards, bushbaby, snakes, lizards, chameleons, and a number of bird species, so far my favorites are hornbills, bee-eaters, sunbirds, and the long-crested eagle. There's an ongoing partnership at the site between Uganda's National Forest Authority who manages the land and provides staffing; JGI - offering on-site and school based environmental education to nearby schools and community groups, that's where I come in, and the government of Japan, who has a team of researchers studying the chimp community in Kalinzu.

School groups come to the site and go for a guided forest walk and participate in some hands-on activities with the NFA staff people. I don't get much involved in this part of the program as it's not done in English. I come in on other days, riding on the back of the JGI motorbike (with helmet) to a number of schools in the area doing follow up lessons, stories, games, etc. based around habitat, forest, animal welfare, etc.

Three other guides live on site, two are new, and as stated in the last blog we've got no electricity (but i do have a solar lantern and propane stove) no running water (we've got cisterns which filled up in the rainy season) and in general, I just enjoy a lot of quiet time birding, reading up on the local flora and fauna, as well as lots of personal reading (currently re-reading H.Potters 5&6 in anticipation of the final installment!)

So that's my news of the day. I came in to town for internet and thought I'd write a small post. I'll be back online regularly from mid-August to mid-September when we can have a more informed discussion about the conclusion of the Harry Potter saga.

---

Photos

Kalinzu Forest Education Center
Technically, this is my new office