Uganda – The Pearl of Africa

Winston Churchill got it Right: Uganda is the Pearl of Africa.

August, 2019. This is the anthro-photo part of the blog. I left Egypt and flew from Cairo to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. I knew I wanted to see tribes and wildlife (this is gorilla-and-dense-jungle-country). There is a national park, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, that borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to more than a half of the world’s Mountain Gorillas and next to my final destination, Rwanda. on my final destination location: Rwanda. In my Kampala hotel, I looked around for a local tour package to guide me to and through Bwindi. I needed a guide: What do I know about how to find the gorillas, birds, chimps plus negotiate with the local tribes? The cheapest three (3) day tour was one thousand three hundred ($1,300) dollars which does not include the gorilla-tracking permit. The half day permit fee is an extra $600. The cost for a three day tours starts at $2,000, if you want the four-hour permit to track gorillas. That’s a lot of wampum as we say on the Indian reservation. Instead, I just booked a regularly scheduled plane flight on a nine seater aircraft. I flew to the southern most regional town, Kisoro, the airport closest to Bwindi Impenatrable National Park, the home of the famous Mountain Gorillas.

I found a local guide to show me around. My guide, Patrick, an excellent man, is moonlighting for the summer as a tour guide. His real job is to serve as the Director to a local, non-profit, charity-based high school. The school has a day program for local students and boarding facilities for orphans or abandoned kids. The school is in the most drop dead gorgeous rural setting of Lake Binyonyi, in the town of Kabale. Three of us went on a five day trek: Patrick, his knowledgeable and very helpful assistant (and hotel keeper) Molly and I all had a grand tour. We saw the Lake Binyonyi Community Vocational School; the Lake itself; Bwindi Park; plus some local tribes, including a Pygmy community. We saw the whole hood in four to five days. I was so impressed, I offered to help the school. Patrick offered me a job to teach African History. I can do this! The job is volunteer. I have a three month gig that starts in February. This job is just one project I am working on to help the school, even as we Speak. Wherever I wind up living will require scheduling a three month stint in Lake Binyonyi. I hope I can get this plan to work. What could go wrong? Honestly, I do not envision that I will move permanently to Uganda, but I can certainly spend three months at a time there. I can shuttle into Uganda from wherever is my new home-base country. Plus, who knows what will unfold in the future? I barely understand the present.

Please, if time allows, expand some of these pictures to get a better sense of the beauty of southern Uganda.

Lake Bunyonyi and Kabale

The small town of Kabale sits on the banks of the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. This town also adjoins the nearby national park, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home of the Uganda Mountain Gorillas.

The Lake Bunyonyi Community Vocational School and Patrick Tumwijukye

My friend Patrick Tumwijukye is the School Director at the community vocational school for low-income youth. This private school is located right up the hill from Lake Bunyonyi. There is no tuition charged and many of the students are neglected, near-abandoned or orphaned. The school has a residential facility for some students who have no safe home.

Patrick in classroom

Housing Options in Kabale

We stayed at the Hawk Eye Hotel:

Below is the other hotel option in Kabale, an alternative to the Hawk Eye Hotel:

The Hustle and Bustle of Big Town Kabele

Below is a slice of the local life in Kisoro, the regional hub near outlying Kabale:

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Friday Market in Kisoro:

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Kisoro Community Dancers:

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While at the dance, I was able to get a glimpse of life in the ‘hood:

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A local traditional drink called “obushera enturire” made from fermented sorghum, a drink that is enjoyed by the Bakiga, Bafumbira and the Batwa bands of Pygmies. If you visit, you can not escape this hearty traditional drink. Obushera is enjoyed all day long as a drink and food.

On to the Pygmy Forest. Oh What a Night! (Really it was just a day)

An hour drive away from Kabele, we  visited the Pygmies in the nearby Uturi Forest. This protected gorilla reserve and pygmy ancestral homeland is area is very close to the Rwanda Border. The Pygmies! A dream fulfilled. I cried a few manly as I have dreamt of this day.

A couple of great intro moments:

Molly is inspecting some Pygmy housing:

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Here below is my best friend by her home and subsistence garden. She and her family live in more modern housing and not a traditional Pygmy branch house:

Some final Pygmy moments:

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In sum: One last overall impression of Uganda — The Dignity and Strength of African women:

Bonus Shocker — This Uganda scene has haunted me ever since I first encountered it. I do not know what to do except be a documenting witness and increase my tithing directly to people in need — including just handing out cash. Below is an example of the nightmare of social human existence in large parts of the world. I saw something similar in India.

This family looks happy enough. They cleaned up nicely at the end of the work day:

The reason I ask is because I know how they make their living:

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You guessed it!

And that is how you get gravel in Uganda, and other countries I am sure.