Conservation, conversation and aviation

Today was our last day in Uganda. We began with a leisurely breakfast with Patrick, Global Cares manager in Kampala. He was turned out in a bue blazer and shirt ready for church. Patrick is a friendly soul with a wide smile. He questioned us about the work we had been doing in Soroti and requested, like everyone else, that we came back soon. Next time we promised we would visit him at his office. The Kampala office is set in the ground of The Guided Star School.  Ella-Sophia handed over a huge envelope of letters and cards for the many sponsored children who attend there. Patrick told us how it was a very good school and offer great support to the children in Global Care's charge. In this part of Uganda the childen come from the poorest homes and most vunerable livelihoods, many being orphaned or ill. You can share their stories and sponsor a child here https://www.globalcare.org/project/uganda/  We finished our meals and collected our bags then seized a last opportunity to call our families and tell them we were coming home! Patrick took great delight in speaking with my children, and my dog, over Facetime. I appreciate the concept of pet dogs is a totally foreign idea in Uganda but even Patrick had to agree he is cute 🐶

Ella -sophia and Patrick

The trafffic was much calmer today and we soon joined the new Entebbe Expressway which was still being built. As we approached the roadworks a workman pronounced "Try your luck... if you can fit, you can go!" Apparently this wasn't an odd request to Charles who knew exactly what the man was talking about. In another scene from Harry Potter we squeezed through a small gap between 2 large concrete reservations and off we popped. Travelling along the express way bought a different feel again; the last time we were in Entebbe it was pitch black so we were seeing the views for the first time. It was obvious this was one of the richer areas in Uganda. The houses stood proud and smart on the hill sides. The properties were much bigger and more akin to a Spanish holiday destination. The toll road too was in a better condition than most of the motorways in the UK. No boda bodas went on the expressway so it was much more peaceful and the communes were surrounded by high barbwire fencing which was used as a washing line by the residents (I'm not sure how well their clothes came off after that!)

Today marked the beginning of Eid. A muslim festival which marks the end of Ramadan and a month of fasting. Families could be spotted travelling to mosques and gathering with their families. The touist attractions were busy as people enjoyed the public holiday dressed in their finest outfits. Charles was pulled over by a police officer who called through the window "Hey you should be at church" and then waved him on his way. This wasn't the usual remark a British copper would make about a person 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time.' It was rather bizarre! None of us would hear a bad word against Charles, he had become part of our team. I'm sure the fact we spoke too quickly for him to understand most of what we said had helped him to tolerate a bunch of raucous women, but at the same time you could tell he had a soft spot for us all too. Today he ferried us to the Entebbe conservation centre. 

Charles and the team

As we arrived we were met with a sign that said "no guns" and another saying "strictly no plastics" both of which we were pleased to see! Behind the entrance lay a brightly coloured and adventurous play park. The rusty metal frames and well used safety nets may not have passed British safety testing but the array of enterntainment was fabulous. Wobbly bridges, tyres obstacles and raised roundabouts were framed by a view of Lake Victoria. Julius, a guide, agreed to show us around and the experience would not have been nearly as engaging without him. 

The first 'exhibit' was Victoria Park. The animals commonly found in the Ugandan national park lived together in the compound. Ostriches, zebra, waterbuck and Iguanas roamed amongst one another. A little in the distance 2 camels freely grazed on the hillside and across the path an enclosure of lions. Julius led us up to a platform that over looked the lioness and her 3 large cubs. He emitted a growl as they raised their heads lazily in the sun. At the park they fed the lions 40kg of beef, 5 times a week. They don' get feed on Tuesdays and Fridays as in the wild they would not come across a catch everyday. As today was a bank holiday they were going to be treated to goat as they are on all special occassions! We were informed that lions sleep for 18-22 hours a day, which is no doubt partly due to the fact they also mate for 15 seconds up to 30 times a day... which we witnessed 😳 As we continued through the grounds Julius spoke to us about the native plants; aloe vera, lemon grass and the Ugandan Green Heart tree whose leaves are used to treat everything fromt he common cold to cancer, and was now a protected species which you could be imprisoned for chopping down. 

(

The leopard was Julius' 'best pal.' Again he purred at him an the huge mammal reciprecated by pacing along the fence. Julius went in for a tickle as the leopard stretched up and pawed at the wires. The leopards encolsure was the only one, bar the avairy, which was covered by a net. Leopards can climb carrying a load twice their own body weight enabling them to escape with a predator still attached to their tail! Each enclosure looked a little tired and, risque perhaps! The lions were held back by a moat and a wall no higher than 8 foot that I'm fairly certain they could have mastered with some determination and practice. The rhinos too felt almost in touching distance and most of the fences were held together with small patch up jobs. Nevertheless we had full confidence that Julius was totally in control of the situation. He was a our own doctor dolittle; he spoke to all of the animals, conversing with each in their own language and expertly copied their tones. 

It was awesome to see the white rhino, an almost extinct animal with the last wild male having died last year. Whilst seeing the rhinos in captivity was a little sad our guide explain how the operations of the park allowed for spieces to be conserved by reintroducing animals to the wild where they could, and ensuring us that they never captured animals only rescued those which needed support to survive. The  rhinos, one male and one female, grazed on a huge pile of grass as Julius explained that despite their best efforts to encourage breeding the pair were happy to  just "eat, get fat and grow old together." It probably didn't help that the lions could be heard up to 6km away and their roar put panic to the rhinos who would be anxious their young may be attacked. Although these rhinos were no longer suitable to be released the park have entered in to a projecct with school children from their native area. Each year the students are bought to the zoo for 2 weeks of education around the rhinos in the hope that it will reduce poaching and promote conservation of the species for future generations.

An elephant named Charlie had been rescused at only a few days old by a fisherman who found him in a river. The mother had been shot and Charlie struggling to feed from her had wandered off not even realising his mother was dead. Charlie was named after that fisherman when efforts to find her heard had failed and she was bought to the centre for veterinary care of her massive wounds and malnutrition. In the 5 years she had been there, 5 other elephants had been bought to the centre but only one had survived who was in the hospital receiving treatment. The plan was to build a new,  bigger enclosure for the pair hoping may even mate one day. 

We were also told a tale of the baboon who got hit by a car outside Tororo (where we saw the monkeys yesterday).  A Kenyan tourist had rescued the animal, piling him in his car and bringing him to a vet even though he was in danger of being prosecuted for this. Julius played with the primate, whooping and jumping together. The giraffes were gracious and sat in a compound on the furthest part of the zoo overlooking Lake Victoria. Sharing with zebra and donkeys, roaming amongst mud huts this emulated the Kidepo Valley national park which lies the furthest park from Entebbe. The 'village' demonstrates how the forest tribes continue to live in close proximaty to the animals and the least amount of trees lie here as this is the hottest, least sheltered part of Uganda. It was impressive how the details of each landscape had been thought out. We learnt that there are 5 speices of giraffe recognisable by their markings, these had large spots on their knees, other species had spots all over, some patches, one covered in stars and the fifth appeared more like stripes... who knew!

Next we headed for the reptiles where lizards, snakes and crocodiles were all on show. We were informed that should a boa constructor try to tickle your face with its tail it is mearly trying to distract you whilst it tightens around your legs, arms and chest before crushing you to death, only stopping when it feels your heart cease beating/ Then assuming it can manage to swallow your shoulders, the widest part, it will eat you whole! We quickly asked to move on from this area. We had a chance to hold a terrapin and watched the otters scurrying in and out of the water, again happy to see and play with Julius. The huge Nile crocodiles were quite a site; the one lay statuesque holding its jaw wide open for an inordinate amount of time! One had only killed 2 people before being bought to the zoo, the other only 7!!!

The ankole, or big horned cows, and buffalo lived along the path out of the park, and lastly the cheetahs. Cheetahs and actually 'large cats' not big cats. The tear drop markings below their eyes assist them in seeing both night and day, where as big cats are nocturnal. They hold their claws on the outside apposed to inside their paws which enables them to be profficient climbers but they cannot swim like similar species. They also have a shorter life span, approx. 12 years, due to the fact that they sleep less as they hunt throughout the day. 

For lunch we headed to Anna's corner, an oasis in Entebbe, that I highly recommend you drop in on if you're ever in the area. Ran by Anna, a dutch lady, she hires and trains local women to waitress, cook and work in the gift shop. Each of the ladies were polite and friendly, and spoke English well. They served us huge pizzas and calzones with iced coffees. Laura was particularly pleased with her ice cold soda which came in a pineappple shaped glass! The shop was filled with wall hangings and baskets all hand produced ethically across Eastern Africa. The smell of wooden statues and local coffee beans filled the air. The wicker seating sat in beautiful grounds with an array of tropical trees and flowers. It was peaceful, only the sounds of birds flying over head. Ibis and storks could be watched floating through the clouds. 

We dropped by the Lake Victoria Hotel intending to cool off in the simming pool but we arrived with only 25 minutes left before closing. The glorious hotel sported terrace restaurants, a leisure centre and afternoon tea. We grabbed the chance to use  a 'posh' loo and Charles enjoyed the last 5 minutes of football on the reception TV before we returned to Anna's corner for more sodas and a sit down. We whiled away a couple of hours before our flight was due chatting about our trip and discussing what we hoped for Global Cares future in Uganda. We thought about what else we could offer on our return visit and we talked to Charles about the  highway code and foxes and badgers, and other 'wild' animals that didn't even come close to hippos and roaming farm stock in the streets. Conversation turned to weddings as we talked about Ella-Sophia's upcoming nuptuals and we compared English and Ugandan traditions whilst showing Charles photgraphs of each of our special days. The sun went down and the garden lit up with candles and burning torches. The time had come to say goodbye to Uganda. We piled out of the bus at the airport and threw our remaining cases on to trolleys. We passed through security having to have every case scanned, even those going in the hold and briefly browsed duty free before boarding the plane. It had been an adventure, it had been a pleasure and an honour, and above all a wonderful experience. We were all looking forward to getting home to see our families, but also to share our stories, to continue the good work and to promote awareness of the fantastic job the teams in Uganda are setting out to do. Thank you for having us!

Every blessing, 

Rosie and the team.