Such a whirlwind!
Day 1: 26 hrs of plane travel completed, we arrive in Kampala by
around 1AM. Next morning we board a bus to the West and meet in Fort Portal with Muhindo, our trusty travel guide, my friend from the
Semliki Safari Lodge who agreed to help arrange this whole excursion. Muhindo greets us in his newly purchased Toyota Corona.....oh yes. On our way in the dark to Rwenzori BackPacker's Hostel in Kilembe near Kasese town.
Day 2: We wake to the foothills of the Rwenzori's looming over our
hostel. We were given the option of a community walk for about $8, so we accepted. Little did we realize that this community lives IN the
foothills. We spent a sleepy yet wonderful 4 or so hours hiking up up up steep slopes greeting villagers, kids throwing us passion fruits,
and goats. My favorite quote from our guide has to be after rounding
a bend to find a large pig tied near a home say "That, is a pig".
Yes, very good, thank you for the info. We crossed a bridge over the
"Dangerous River" (translated) and past all of the piping placed to
bring the village and Kasese town water. The walk concluded in a
waterfall on the border of the Rwenzori Mountain National Park. After the walk and lunch Muhindo took us to see his new plot of land he just purchased with a beautiful vista of the surrounding town. He hopes to construct his permanent home there. Next off to meet this wife and 3 of 4 children in his current home. We relaxed in his sitting room for some time and then were fed a feast of kalo(millet flour dough) goat stew, carrots, green beans, eggplant, and g-nuts and coffee. He gave Barret and myself gifts: a small wooden carved gorilla, a small decorative woven basket, and a shoe horn!
Day 3: Muhindo tried to arrange for us to meet the King of Rwenzururu kingdom, as he is related (via his mom), but he was traveling to Kampala for personal business. We were able to meet with his right hand man, the Prime Minister and ask some questions about the Parliament’s role in conservation of the region. The king, parliament, and the kingdom want and have wanted to break awat from Ug to create a separate state for some time now. President Museveni won’t allow it because alot of Ug’s resources are found in the kingdom in the W of Ug. They still coexist peacefully with the government but do not have any real legislative power, although they do advice and help the people and community groups in other ways. We sat in the Parliament and saw the palace and the ceremonial palace where the king dresses before every parliament session (2x a year).
I met with Edson for lunch briefly in Kasese town and then we were off to our next hostel where we relaxed for the evening, playing the local card game Matatu (similar to UNO) with Hillary (a boy).
Day 4: We drove closer to the Rwenzori mountains National Park and went for our own community walk. Up, up, up again into the community. After some hours we reached the edge of the village and crossed into the park. We had an awesome view of the mountains, waterfalls, and rivers below us. We returned to a community run hostel for lunch and then were greeted by Muhindo’s friend who has an ironsmithing workshop nearby. We were invited to see the place. It consisted of an open grass thatch-covered sitting area with a small fire fueled by pumping of goatskin pouches. One man in training was heating and pounding rebar into a spear. He gave us a small knife as a present. The tradition has been in his family for 4 generations now. On the way back to our hostel we stopped at a community camp and were given a Bakonzo traditional dance presentation. They danced multiple dances, some discussing the encounters between humans and their enemies: snakes. One dance was a dance performed after male circumcision rites as a celebration and also as an honor for any boy who died b/c of the rite. After the boys are circumcised they are allowed to play with certain sticks, tapping them in a certain way at the party. If a boy dies the women and anyone who cares to join will dance with the sticks in a similar fashion, to honor a boy who was never able to and honor him as a man. Muhindo joined in on that dance......he loved it.
Day5-9: On to Semliki! We met Will, the researcher now there managing the camp. He is from the UK and was extrememy welcoming. The chimps happen to be eating on Saba fruits which grow abundantly around camp so for 3 days we hike around the trails near camp viewing chimps! I stayed in camp one day to relax with Moses and Charles(a ranger) came into camp to visit.
Day 10: Muhindo drives us to Semuliki National Park where we meet with Justice O and Patrick, my 2 ranger friends. He gave us a tour of the 2 hot springs and the small patch of forest around them. Back at our bandas we meet to guys from Israel. They were camping in a tent until a huge rain storm came and their tent spot became a seasonal river.... i spent time with Justice while he cooked us beef g-nut stew with Bundu (cassava flour dough) and rice. MMMMmmmm. He entertained us with his riddles and laughter all night.
Day 11: We woke at 4:15 to catch a bus that passes on the main road by 5. Justice woke with us, and as we were groggy and sleepy he again entertained us with his almost incoherent tales of a hare and a hyena. Oh man.... We were in Kampala by 2!
Day 12: We take an express bus that feeds us a hot breakfast and has cushioned seats that recline to the KY/UG border. Customs consists of showing our passport and paying for a visa. We take 2 crammed matatus to Kakamega town. By the time we get there it was pouring and I felt ready to just get to the house! We made it by 3pm and greeted all of the researchers here: James is doing his PhD project on Male Blue Monkey calls. His assistant, Kristen, and the project’s assistant, Brianna, all share the house next door. Kaitlyn is the Project Manager here and we share a house with her.
Kakamega!
Our house has 3 rooms, a kitchen/chill area, a wash room, and a bedroom. The choo (bathroom) is a little house out back. we have water tanks which collect rain water from the roof with piping that allows us to have running water in the kitchen and the washroom. We have 2 kitties!!! Silver is well, silver, and not as affectionate as her son, Klaus, who is tiny and striped gray/black. They sleep outside but often come inside during the day and afternoon as we keep the door open when we are home.
We have been eating communal meals, rotating who cooks and cleans. Dinner is always something to look forward to as some people like to go all-out on planning good meals. Dinner is one of the few times I get to see my neighbors. We all have different off days and the vast majority of our time is spent in the forest learning monkeys. 3 days of work, 1 off. We wake up, look for our assigned group of the day, and take data. Data mostly consists of focal studies(follow one animal for 30 min and record every minute it’s behavior from a coded index, taking ad-lib data in between the minute beeps on aggression and grooming). Barret and I have been focusing on different groups. I am learning T West South, Barret is learining G North. The monkeys are funny to watch and I am enjoying learning them. One of my favorites thus far is Gaunt. She is an old geezer – born in 1987. She has a face that looks like a dragon to me. She has apparently given up on life. James who will do playbacks of calls once played an alarm call given for an eagle. The whole group chirped, looked up, and ran for cover. Gaunt laid down and put her arms open wide on the ground. She has a stiff/broken middle finger. She looks like she is flipping everyone off as she eats. The monkey groups have their own territories and roam through them looking for fruits and leaves. One group TWN has recently been in our front yard. The GSouth groups live about a 40 minute hike away.
After the day with the monkeys we come home and enter data from our notes and the 5 field assistants. We eat at 7 and usually have more data to enter after dinner.
My birthday was great. I was greeted in the morning with the sighting of a Verraux’s Eagle Owl. The monkeys were behaving wonderfully in low bushes and on the ground in a place we call the soccer pitch. I cooked soup for dinner for everyone and Bri made me a cake for dessert! I am off today and went for a run up A trail. The trail went through the forest for a while, then through some guava plantations, then a pine forest area which feels kind of like a N American forest, and then into an open area with cows grazing. If I were to continue on A trail it would lead to an area of the forest that has been less disturbed than the area around here.
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