Blogs from Queen Elizabeth NP, Western Region, Uganda, Africa - page 2

It is noon on our final day in Mbarara, it’s been pouring rain outside since early this morning, and Rayden, Brooke, and Angela have ventured into the rain in search of an authentic street-made Rolex. I think Ugandan food has grown onto us since we’ve arrived in the country… Rolex is definitely a favourite of ours. Today, we head out to our community health placements, and boy, what a ride has it been to get to this point. I should start with pointing out a major theme of this trip: African time. Granted, this is a generalization, but this term describes the common attitude towards schedules, meeting times, and life in general in Uganda. While Westerners (especially North Americans) have a tight grip on their time and look at it as minutes and hours that make ... read more

Things were looking up weather-wise. For a second day in a row, it was mostly hot and sunny, with the heavy rains taking place at night. Today was spent visiting the northern part of the the park. The draw here is a boat ride along the Kazinga Channel to see wildlife from the river. There wasn't a lot to see, but the drive thru the park and the boat ride both made for a relaxing day. However, as we were leaving the park at the end of the day, word got out that there was a leopard walking around outside of the park gates, so the race was on among all the drivers to get to it first for the best viewing -- and hopes for a bigger tip. We got there before most, but others ... read more

Nous voila parties pour le parc national de Quenne Elizabeth! Nous bringuebalons 2h sur les routes en terre puis faisons un premier stop au lodge dans lequel nous dormirons. Apres un bon dîner, nous partons pour un game drive les yeux grands ouverts à la recherche d'animaux. Nous ne tardons pas à voir 4 lionnes se reposer sous un arbre! Plus loin dans le parc nous voyons beaucoup autres animaux : babouins, hippopotames, Buffalo, antilopes ougandaises, phacochères, topi, oiseaux en tout genre etc ???????? C'est vraiment magnifique et les paysages complètent le décor avec une légère touche désertique. ?? Nous soupons ? à la lumière de lanternes au bord de la rivière d'Ishasha et ne tardons pas à aller dormir car nous nous lèverons avant le soleil demain matin! Dur dur le réveil mais le jeu ... read more

Well this week has been another busy week here in Rugazi. This was our fourth week here, and originally was going to be the last week for all the Canadian students. However, since the Ugandan students are staying another 5 weeks there are 5 Canadians who have decided to extend our stay here in Rugazi. We will be staying an extra 11 days and returning to Mbarara July 7 to join with the rest of the group working in the hospital there. We parted ways with Brooklyn and Britany on Saturday, who are now both in Mbarara and will be starting work at the hospital on Monday. I’m sure you are all wondering what we got up to this past week, so let me (Dayna) take you through our adventures. Sunday was Father’s day and Rugazi ... read more

This week was busy! There was not a lot for us to do in maternity so we tried to make ourselves useful in other places. Wednesday it was very cold and pouring rain. None of the Ugandan students woke up to go to work. The clinic is primarily staffed by students, so when we arrived at work, the outpatient clinic was open but no one was present to run lab tests. One quick training session later and my super nurses, Dayna and Britany, were drawing blood and running tests for HIV, malaria and TB. My job was to record the results in the laboratory test register and return the charts to the clinic officer. It was nice to do something different for a change. Thursday we all took an hour off in the morning to do ... read more