Blogs from Western Region, Uganda, Africa - page 17

Alright, so I left off with us just arriving in Entebbe, Uganda. After we met up with Frank and Gena, Frank took us for lunch at this cute little restaurant just off the shores of Lake Victoria. We had a fantastic first meal here, with a beautiful backdrop, before we made our way to our hostel, where we would be staying the first couple nights. It was easy to settle in to our temporary home, as was actually quite a bit nicer than we expected. It included hot, running water, functioning electricity and western style toilet. Not too shabby! I had to appreciate every hot shower I had because it very likely may be my last for a long time. Once we got unpacked, we decided to do some exploring by foot of the city. We ... read more

Hello everyone , I finally have consistent internet. Currently I am at Rugazi village for my four week placement and the weather is hot and I finally got a little sunburnt today. Anyways like the title of this blog I am going to briefly tell you about my first 12 days of my trip. Day 1- At 05:45 am my lovely friend drove me to the airport where I met up with four other group members from the University of Saskatchewan at the Saskatoon airport. Our flights go from Saskatoon, Toronto, Dubai then Entebbe. Once the four of us landed in Toronto international airport, we had a 10 hour layover there....long but we were able to take the time to get to know each other better. The flight from Toronto to Dubai was a 12 hour ... read more

Geo: 0.664314, 30.2796July 8th, 2014Today was a travel day from Fort Portal to the Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge in near Queen Elizabeth National Park. This will be our home for the next 4 days.We took the Link bus from Fort Portal to Kasese, which is less than 2 hours with several stops along the way. In Kasese, we hired a car to drive us to the Lodge. When tourists get off a bus, we are a spectacle because it is not super common, and we are hounded by offers for boda-bodas (motorcycles); matatus (van taxis) and, to a lesser degree, hired private cars. As I mentioned before, people are not super aggressive but they are vying for your business so there is lots of activity and assurances that theirs is the best way. We finally hired ... read more

Geo: 0.664314, 30.2796Today we visited the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. This is a small sanctuary which protects the Magombe Swamp. It is a great example of conservation and tourism and it also directly benefits the local community. All the money raised from the trail is used in community projects in Bigodi. It has already funded a library and a secondary school in the village. The extremely well-informed guides make the walk all the more enjoyable. Our guide, Alex, could spot birds we might have otherwise missed as well as small creatures like frogs, snails and centipedes and a good sized lizard with a yellow body and brilliant blue head and tail. We saw a lot of birds, for which this area is most famous. We saw Great Blue Turacos, Greenbuls, Weavers that look a bit like Grosbeaks ... read more

Geo: 0.664314, 30.2796Up early again and headed to catch the bus to Kampala and then on to Fort Portal. We had debated taking the bus on hard surfaced roads versus a shorter trip, in kilometers, via matatus but after yesterday on bumpy, dusty roads, we opted for the bus. After about 10 hours we are now in Fort Portal relaxing at the Rwenzori View Guest House –a lovely, quiet, respite from the noise and pollution of the day. Ugandan's love loud music so the bus ride is anything but relaxing. We plan to use this as our base camp for the next 4- 6 days as we explore Kibale National Forest and environs.Dinner at the Guest House was very good and enjoyable. The place is full with travelers from around the world. We chatted with a ... read more