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Despite a nasty civil war in the north, the "Pearl of Africa" is booming.
"Pigmy" Batwa tribes, mysterious Mountains of the Moon and the source of the great Nile beckon. Crossing back into the northern hemisphere, we stop in Kampala to work on an environmental health project, our major voluntary endeavour on this trip. |
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Persecuted Batwa Pigmies
In the lush south-west of Uganda, the Batwa "pigmies" have been ejected from their jungle homes by the government. Relocated on a hilltop with insufficient land, no access to fresh water or medical supplies, they can only console themselves on the beautiful view. Despite the hardship, they greeted us with amazing hospitality, great singing and astonishing gravity-defying dances. To top it off, they really were small! |
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The Kampala Taxi Park
The Kampala taxi (minibus) park is an ordered chaos of jostling vehicles, black smoke fumes and imploring touts. Each day we descended into the maelstrom, piling into a clunking deathtrap for the nail-biting journey home... |
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Ugandan Nazis?!
Closer investigation found this to actually be a Jain temple. The swastika was a symbol for peace, until the German Nazis twisted its meaning. |
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The Rocket Stove Project
In association with the University of Berkeley, we joined an environmental health project. Our task was to build computer systems for a Ugandan company selling the fantastically-named Rocket Stove. A patent design burns less fuel than standard Ugandan stoves. This saves poor families money, generates less smoke (reducing respiratory diseases - a major sub-Saharan African killer), limits carbon emissions that cause global warming and means less forest is cut down to be used as fuel. Phew! |
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Home Sweet Home
After a year of travelling, we were overjoyed to rent out an apartment in Kampala and settle down for a month. Here we roasted, grilled and stewed all manner of fine foods, baked cakes and even fresh bread. By the end, we were revived, recharged and ready to hit the road one more time before heading back to the "real world". |
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Land Of The Pitch Invasion
Taking a break from our project, we got tickets for the African Cup qualifier between Uganda and highly-fancied Nigeria. In an incredible come-from-behind result, the Ugandan Cranes snatched an unlikely victory, sparking a massive pitch invasion and joyous all-night street partying across the city. |
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One Mee-eellion Shillings - Bwah, Ha, Haa!
Due to the weakness of the Ugandan Shilling we are officially MILLIONAIRES!!! |
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MnC Incorporated Deliver!
For 6 weeks we worked non-stop with our sponsors, building a customer management system and website (www.ucodea.com). Surprisingly, we worked well as a 2 person team, with only the occasional "creative difference"... The result: we delivered both systems on time and the clients loved it! |
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Murchison Falls
Back on the trail, we cruised the White Nile past hungry hippos, calculating crocodiles and wary waterbucks. |
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Cheryl Chases Chimpanzees
Though chimps are endangered across Africa, these guys seemed happy enough, pelting visitors with fruit seeds should they overstay their welcome. |
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Land Of The Lord's Resistance Army
Northern Uganda is caught in a weird civil war: the Lord's Resistance Army wants a government strictly adhering to the 10 Commandments. Their twisted method for achieving this is the distinctly un-Christian practice of chopping off villagers' arms, then kidnapping children as sex slaves or to be indoctrinated as child soldiers. As a result, the northern capital Gulu is awash with aid agencies. We received security clearance from the government to join an armed convoy travelling to a refugee camp close to the Sudanese border. With 70 camps spread across northern Uganda, the World Food Programme currently feeds over 1,000,000 refugees every day. |
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Lifeline
After helping to unload the massive stores of grain, we watched as a month's supply of food was distributed to over 15,000 people at the camp. Unfortunately, adults often monopolize the rations, leaving their malnourished kids to survive on the scraps gathered from any food sacks that burst open. |
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Mumsy Mzungu
The kids took an immediate shine to Cheryl, competing fiercely to grab hold of a coveted finger. With the war apparently nearing an end, the next challenge will be helping kids like these to return home and to self-sufficiency - a challenge when they have spent their entire lives as refugees. |
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Rafting The Nile
Bidding a fond farewell to Uganda, we headed out towards Kenya, stopping off at the source of the great Nile river in Jinja. The world's longest river, the Nile runs over 4,000 miles to the Mediterranean. The steep initial descent from Lake Victoria whips up some of the biggest white water anywhere in the world, which we launched ourselves into on an inflatable raft. We were capsized 3 times over by giant waves. Fortunately no crocodiles were able to snap up the bite-sized humans being repeatedly catapulted into their path. |
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