After a morning of birding (starting with some early morning roosters) we got back to the main road and raced our way northwest, passing many kilometers of rangeland and Lantana bushes sprouting along fencelines. We stopped for gas in the town of Masindi, then pushed on through the southern gate of Murchison Falls National Park, where we would spend the next several days. Once inside, we kept our eyes peeled for more wildlife. We saw mostly birds, but Andrew did have Chris slam on the brakes so that we could inspect a suspiciously leopard-shaped bunch of leaves in the branch of a distant tree. Continuing on and finishing off some packed cheese sandwiches, we turned and actually left the park, passing a school and a small community (many of whose residents probably work for the park or nearby lodges).
We stopped on the banks of the Nile River at a complex of open-air lodge buildings, appropriately called Nile Safari. Denise and Nana got set up in their fancy bathroom/canvas tent big enough for twin beds/porch overlooking the river, while Jess and Andrew made their way to a nearby field, where they set up a borrowed, moldy tent. While the matriarchs enjoyed their fire-heated, hand delivered by bucket, hot-water showers, Andrew and Jess enjoyed the cinderblock showers with slightly lukewarm cistern water of the campground. Not that we’re jealous...
We could hear hippos roaring on the Nile and see big groups of egrets roosting in the trees. A couple resident kites and barbets bounced between tree tops and there were just enough birds and lizards on the metal roof of the cabin to make Nana nervous. At night the bugs came out, and so did the bats and geckos. As we ate dinner in the open pavilion, we could see one or two geckos staking out a feeding spot at each lantern. Meanwhile the hotel staff was spraying who-knows-what kind of chemical insecticide in the rooms. As Nana and Denise settled in for the night, we made our way down the hill, across the muddy hippo footprints and up another hill to our tent. Fortunately we had a guide/bodyguard (with a small stick!) and there was a young night guard named Dominic at the campsite (with a spear!), along with a campfire and lanterns around the field’s perimeter. It all seemed like a lot of effort for one couple in a single tent, but we were grateful and quickly fell asleep with the sounds of hippos in the bushes and flickering shadows of spear-wielding men to keep us company.
This Fall, Jess (Abwooli) and Andrew (Araali) are living and working in Kibale National Park, in western Uganda. The hilly landscape is overlaid with a patchwork of communities, wild and wonderful, human and otherwise. To help understand how the park affects local livelihoods, we are working in four communities bordering the park to measure how land-use by farmers and crop-raiding by wildlife has changed over the past 20 years since Jess's advisor did her PhD here. This blog is meant as a way to help us document our thoughts and experiences, and hopefully will allow our friends, relatives, and colleagues to share our glimpses of this part of the world. Thanks for reading and let us know your thoughts!