Pictures from Rwanda and Brussels

Surprise!
One more blog...

This is mostly a picture-story. The captions should explain it all!

A view of Kigali. This photo was taken from the back garden of General Kant's home. He was the Belgian who first explored Rwanda, they say. From this view, he looked at the landscape below and declared this area should be the capital city. At that time, the hills were only seas of green.

The pool at the Hotel Des Milles Collines. As I mentioned before, it's hard to believe that 16 years ago, this very site was littered with massacred bodies. Beyond the trees in the back of this photo, is another view similar to the one above. One could sit here for hours (if the bar tab wasn't so expensive!)

The King's Palace at La Grande Place, the famous square in the old city of Brussels. Although the tree is not quite as impressive as the one in Rockefeller Square in NYC, it certainly gives you that Christmas vibe. We were in Brussels for a few days before going home. For one, it allowed us to acclimatize to some colder weather and Christmas spirit before heading home. However, I was also there for a fellowship interview with some foot and ankle surgeons. The interview went well. The next day, I joined them in the OR, and for a Belgian Foot and Ankle Society Christmas Dinner. Wednesday we explored the city.

The Guild Houses at La Grande Place.

La Rue des Bouchers, Old City, Brussels. I could get used to walking through cute streets like these!

Les Galleries St-Hubert -  A beautiful covered outdoor mall in the downtown area.

The mall was littered with chocolate shops as you can imagine! Their Christmas displays were unbelievable!

Hungry anyone?

If you have requests of other photos or stories you want posted, please ask and you shall receive! For now, this will be it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Love,
Maryse

Crossing borders

An advanced apology for the lack of photos in this post, but we have not had time to upload them.

Our journey to Rwanda was less straightforward than expected. I had organized for our driver to take us from Kampala to Fort Portal, into the mountains, and down to Kigali. This had been arranged nearly 3 weeks before departure from Kampala. We left our Kisoro hotel Friday morning for Kigali with every intention of traveling with our driver into Rwanda. Unfortunately, our driver did not travel with the registration of his vehicle and so the car could not continue into Rwanda.

In the end, our driver spoke to his boss and they decided they would negotiate for someone else to take us the rest of the way in Rwanda. After much debate over price, as the money for this new driver would come out of the original driver's pay, someone agreed to take us. During the negotiations, Nathan and I tried to clear immigration. Despite my compulsive planning, it seems I planned too early for this side trip to Rwanda. Since I have left Canada, they changed the rules and now Canadian citizens need visas to enter Rwanda. Ideally, these visas are to be applied for ahead of time. Luckily, the customs officer believed us when we said we didn't know we needed the 60$ visas, and allowed us to buy them on the spot. A little black market currency exchange of shillings to dollars later, we had visas and were ready to go. Of course, the new vehicle wouldn't arrive for another 45 minutes.

The nice thing about the drive though, was that Rwanda has amazing roads compared to Uganda. There are no potholes, roads are mostly paved, and the views were gorgeous as we navigated the mountains en route for Kigali. We were also introduced to Congolese music and Rwandans' love for an African version of reggae.

Once in Kigali, we checked into our hotel and went to the King Faisal Hospital to meet a surgery resident for an interview. King Faisal was a fairly modern, private hospital despite the age and history of the building. In 1994, the entrance to this hospital was littered with genocide victims seeking help.

While waiting for the resident, we experienced their private pharmacy system. I needed a tensor bandage for my ankle. After visiting two different counters, the pharmacy staff found what I was looking for. We were then directed back upstairs to the cashier to pay. The cashier was closed. Go to reception, we were told. We waited in line here for 10 minutes, paid, then back down to the pharmacy to pick up the bandage. We had spent only a dollar, but it was a lot of work!

Jean-Paul, a 3rd year surgery resident found me in the entrance of the hospital. After the interview and a brief explanation of the health care system in Rwanda, he walked with us part of the way home. Rwandans have so much pride about their city: Its safety, its cleanliness, its calm as opposed to the hustle in the rest of East Africa, its president, and its progress since the genocide. These sentiments resonated throughout many other people we met in our few days here.

That night we sampled the local food specialty of "brochettes" and many local beers. It was quite yummy, though we had to get used to the inflated prices compared to Uganda. Saturday we took it easy, for once. After breakfast, we visited the tourist office to see about a walking tour of the city. We couldn't join one the same day, but they scheduled us one for Sunday morning. We then went to the Hotel des Milles Collines. This is the hotel the movie "Hotel Rwanda" is based on, however this is not the original building or site. The posh hotel has a pool with bar we lounged in for a few hours. It was hard to imagine the genocide happening in this very spot, while we sat, beers in hand, enjoying the view of Kigali's many lush, green hills.

That evening we tried walking to our restaurant for dinner. Kigali streets are not marked and we got extremely lost. Luckily, a stranger took pity on us and showed us the way. The city, even at night, is quite safe we are told. As of sunset, the army lines the streets. Residents feel security in this even though they technically aren't needed anymore. Though I think for some, walking by men in camouflage with AK47s at every intersection might be unsettling. An hour later, we were seated for a pricey but delicious meal and more local beers, with a view of Kigali below us at night.

Today was sobering to say the least. Our tour guide, a Tutsi of 26 years old, took us around the sites of Kigali with stops at each genocide museum and memorial. It is no longer acceptable to differentiate between the tribes in Rwanda, so Amani never actually told us he was Tutsi, but it was clear he and his family had been persecuted less than 20 years ago from his stories and telling of the recent history.

Nathan and I shed many tears walking through memorial sites, listening to personal stories, and to the horrors of so little time ago. We also felt guilty about the international community's involvement in the creation of, and at times, participation in the genocide, as well as their inaction in trying to arrest the atrocities once they started. Since colonial times, the Belgians and Germans had been playing the Hutus and Tutsis against each other for no valid reason at all, except to "occupy" them while they advanced their own colonial agendas. Since before their independence in 1962, Rwandans had been fighting each other. Many massacres and even one genocide occurred, reduced the number of Tutsis bit by bit. No one outside of Rwanda took notice. Not until it was too late and over 1 million Tutsis had  been brutally murdered in 3 months of 1994. Today, under the reign of President Kagame, Hutus and Tutsis are learning to live alongside each other and try to forgive each others' offenses. The children here, now adults, are some of those who suffered the most but they push on to make their country a safe place to live once again.

In less than 16 years, the country has grown considerably. Kigali is the cleanest city in East Africa. Its infrastructure has developed rapidly and surpassed that of its neighbours. Its safety and security are miles above some of its neighbours, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. And most importantly, its people seem to be recovering and growing. It is very moving, motivating, and heart-wrenching all at once. Nathan and I are left wondering how can we prevent this from happening again? We can't even come close to an answer. This is how we leave Kigali, and Africa. Oddly, we head to Belgium now, perhaps the instigator of this whole nightmare.

Nonetheless, I am leaving Africa with a feeling of hope. The people here do want change, even if their governments are not always supportive. And there is so much room for change in Africa. I hope my findings from this trip and my research will enable Africans to gain some ground in their attempt to better their health care and well being, even if only in a small way. I hope my links with people here will last, and will lead to more opportunities for me to collaborate with them.

Finally, I hope you all enjoyed this blog and did not tire of the rambling. Thank you for all your support and I look forward to seeing you at home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if I do not see you before then!

Love, Maryse

The Elusive Golden Monkey

Thursday morning we headed out for more excitement in the Mgahinga forests. This time we were hiking around the base of Mount Gahinga, the smallest of the three volcanoes in the park. Irene was once again our guide, as she had rotated onto the Golden Monkey Tracking. That was what we would be doing today, including exploring a natural cave the Batwa people used to live in until the area was designated a national park in 1991. Golden monkeys live only in the Virunga Massif. There are two families in Mgahinga, and only one has yet been habituated to humans. This family has 56 members at least.

Our hike to the bamboo forest was much less arduous this time around. Within about 30 minutes of us arriving in the forest, the trackers found the monkeys. Unlike gorillas, which you can track by their hand/foot prints and their dung, the monkeys live up in the bamboo trees and so tracking must be done by listening for them alone. When it is windy, this can be particularly challenging. We lucked out however, and found them rather quickly.

The magical bamboo forest!

We became even luckier soon after. As was reported to us by the guy who tracked the monkeys yesterday, the viewing is not as impressive as it is for gorillas because the monkeys stay up in the trees and you catch only glimpses of them through the bamboo leaves. We understood what he meant. For the first 15 minutes, we peered through thick branches and leaves trying to identify the different monkeys and get good shots of their golden fur. Then we noticed three monkeys on top of trees in a clearing. We got amazing views of these playful primates! They were wrestling, eating and jumping from tree to tree, all atop the bamboo. We were told that it was most unusual to get to see them out in the open like this. Almost two hundred photos later it was time for us to leave the monkeys to their business and head down.

Just chillin' on a bamboo tree!

The golden monkey family portrait!

And.... ACTION! The monkeys were so active and playful. It was a treat to get to see them in their natural habitat!

If Nathan ever gets bored of sales, we'll make sure he ends up with a professional photography job getting wildlife action shots!

Next stop was the Ambara Cave. This is a natural cave with multiple chambers set in volcanic rock. Armed with only one flashlight, we followed Irene into the cave. Not only is it somewhat creepy to explore caves in minimal light, the footing was uneven, rocks came out of nowhere, and the “ceiling” height fluctuated from 3.5ft to maybe 7 feet at the most random moments. I think I speak for Nathan too when I admit that I was feeling slightly claustrophobic. Nonetheless, we explored the incredibly elaborate cave trying to imagine how the Batwas lived here. Batwas are pygmies. They lived in the cave for ten years under the rule of a king. We toured their kitchen, dining room, conference hall complete with natural spring-fed swimming pool for bathing and elevated sitting room for the king, and the king’s, men's and women’s sleeping quarters. The latter were conveniently positioned next to the king’s. As he did not take a wife, he would go to the women’s area and choose a different one for each night. We made it out safely and somewhat relieved to be back in the fresh, open air.

Only minutes from returning back to the visitor’s center, I managed to step in a hole and sprain my ankle. I hobbled back to the car and have since been elevating it on the bed. I hope by tomorrow the swelling and tenderness will settle and allow me to visit Rwanda as I had planned.

Will be in touch soon!

Maryse and Nathan

Mountain Gorillas at last

This morning we made our way into the Mgahinga National Park to being our gorilla tracking. The gorillas were expected to be about halfway up Mount Muhuvura. Mgahinga is one of four national parks which comprises the “Virunga Massif” range: Mgahinga and Bwindi in Uganda, Parc des Virungas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Parc National des Volcans in Rwanda. There are about 8 families of gorillas living throughout the three countries. One family of nine gorillas lives at Mgahinga. There are 3 silver backs (adult males), two black backs (adolescent males), two females, and two infants. One infant was caught with a snare meant for antelope, and the vets have still been unsuccessful at tranquilizing both it and its mother in order to remove it. The silverback had taken away the infant once the mother had been darted last week. The baby is still alive, but she is not eating well. The vets will be attempting to remove it again tomorrow or the next day.

Our path to the gorillas was challenging. Not only was the climb through the forest incredibly steep, for us non-hikers anyway, but once we made it to the bamboo zone where the gorillas usually live, we had only buffalo trails and gorilla tracks to follow. We had two experienced trackers with AK47s, and Irene, our guide, to escort us. Within about two or three hours, we found them. We managed to see 8 of the 9 gorillas, all but one silverback.  The first ones spotted were a black back, a mother, and the infant with the snare. The black back weighed close to 300 lbs. His size was intimidating. A silverback appeared from the trees in front of his family to protect them from the humans. Nathan was clearly nervous. This silverback was 400lbs of muscle. His torso might have been 4 ft high, each shoulder was the size of two basketballs making him close to 3 ft wide, and with limbs extended he is close to 7ft high.

A black back climbing a hypericum tree

We were warned by the guide that the silverbacks like to “play” with the humans to see if they will run from them or stand their ground. Suddenly, the silverback, in all his size and on all fours, rushed around the trees toward us stopping only 6 or 7 meters away. Nathan might have bolted down the mountain if we hadn’t hike up so far! Despite our somewhat eventless reaction, the silverback still herded his family away from us. We caught up with a black back at a hypericum tree. He climbed it, breaking the necessary branches single-handedly, and treated us to a viewing of his snacking on fresh leaves.

Just before leaving, out came a second silverback with his “wife”, brother, and baby. The baby was so excited to see us. She wanted to come and play with us but her teenage brother kept a close eye on her, roping her in when she got too close. She came to within just one or two meters of us!

Daddy the silverback!

Brother and baby...

She comes in for a closer look!

After one hour, we had to leave the gorillas in peace, but we couldn’t have had better viewing! The descent was exhausting on our already tired legs, but the trek was worth it! Even the 500$ per person fee (which is expected to increase to 750$ or 1000$ dollars by next year) was worth it!

We found ourselves a new hotel for the same price, and yet with rooms miles above in quality. We are planning to hike again tomorrow at the base of Mount Gahinga to track the rare golden monkeys and visit caves once inhabited by the local Batwa (pygmy) population. Friday we are off to Rwanda.  For now, we are going for a well-deserved and needed sleep.

Hope everyone at home is well,

Maryse and Nathan

Crater lakes and tree-climbing lions

Nathan and I left Kampala behind for good. I am sad not knowing when again I will see the lovely people who welcomed me here, but we were leaving Kampala for better places.

We left for Fort Portal on Monday morning at 715am, stopping for some final errands and goodbyes at Mulago Guest House and the hospital. We reached Fort Portal by 1230pm, and it was much less eventful a ride. Most notably, there were no dead children on the roadside, nor any overturned or axle-deprived lorries. We checked into a swanky hotel Fred, the driver, recommended. Although somewhat over our price range, it was worth it compared to our place in Kampala. The Raja Excelsior Hotel was off the main road, had a large room with a poster bed, and a clean bathroom. The poster bed is instrumental. Nathan has been struggling with sleeping under the mosquito nets which are suspended from the ceilings. The nets on the four posters make for restful sleep. Shifting around does not disrupt the hanging of the net, and the net does not persistently fall on your head throughout the night.

In Fort Portal, Fred brought us to one of the many crater lakes. I was at first concerned because the one we were heading to was not in any of the guide books. Within 20 minutes of driving on dirt roads, we climb a mountain (volcano) ridge. Eventually we notice a crystal clear lake maybe 100 meters below us. In front of us appears this agglomeration of wooden cabins with thatched roofs. They are all connected with wooden ramps and stairs, and they rest on the upper lip of the extinct volcano. Not seeing any signs about how to view the lake, we climb up. It turns out Kyaninga Lodge was built buy a British man 6 years ago. This luxurious, more or less hand-built, resort overlooks the most beautiful lake. We toured the property with Matt, the manager. The main lodge has a gorgeous dining room, all with hand-made furniture, an open fire-place similar to one you’d imagine in a posh ski lodge, floor to ceiling windows, multi-levelled decks, a pool overlooking the lake, and eventually the pool will be accompanied by a sauna.  

We asked if we could walk down to the lake. The path wasn’t finished yet, but yes we could. It just involved a ladder descent.  Could we swim? Yes of course, Matt swims there everyday. “It is the cleanest lake from here to Mombasa.” Matt even supplied us with towels. Oh, did I forget to mention the rate for a night at this lodge, with full board of course, is 435USD per night? I guess he hopes we return with more money. Once at the bottom of the lake, I gracefully slipped on some mossy rocks right into the water. It was amazing! The lake is 220m deep and clear! The water is quite warm, and even warmer at the bottom, because the volcano is still slightly active.

Adequately refreshed, we returned to the top, thanked Matt, and went for dinner. We returned to the delicious pub Dennis and Patrick took me to last month. We had muchomo goat, roast pork, fresh avocados and tomatoes, and boiled matoke. Nathan, thankfully, agreed that the food here is scrumptious and tops any roast goat and pork we have had.

The next morning it was off to Queen Elizabeth National Park, by way of Kasese for a final goodbye to Dr. Wefula from Kilembe.  Within 1 minute of entering the park gate, we came across a family of four elephants including an baby and toddler!

Unfortunately, going without a tour group or going without paying the bucks to stay in the park, means your time is quite limited. We were unable to secure a proper game drive and all the boat cruises were too late in the afternoon. A park guide suggested we just drive ourselves through the reserve on the main roads, see what we could seem and head to the area called Ishasha so that we could grab a guide for a chance to see the rare tree-climbing lions. On the way to Ishasha, we saw many more elephants, Uganda kob, baboons, buffalo from afar, and warthogs.  

The lions however, stole the show! Although these lions climb trees, they are indifferent from any other lion you would see in Africa. The lions climb trees in Ishasha because it is cooler for them, they can spot prey from them, and because the park is home to a kind of fig tree which is easy for them to climb. Only in Tanzania is there another group of lions which does this. We lucked out and saw three females and one male cub in a tree. We even watched one climb up the tree! The lions were absolutely fascinating and humbling!

These cats are so stunning. They photographed like models too!

And up she goes! Watching them climb the trees was surreal!

In case we weren’t yet through with tracking obscure animals weighing around 400 lbs, we drove over the Virunga mountain range to make to Kisoro in time for our mountain gorilla tracking the next morning in Mgahinga National Park. The drive was my least favourite of any so far. Although the mountains were stunning and the views were breathtaking, the roads were pothole-ridden dirt one-laners. To make matters worse, the fuel light went on somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. By the time we exited the range 90 minutes later and found a paved road, we learned we still had 56 km kilometres to go and the rains had started. At the 31km milepost, Nathan whispers to me: “I’m so glad we saved the good roads to for the end.” Not more than 5 seconds later, the paved road runs out and we are back on dirt roads, in the pitch black with rain, and probably 40 minutes more to go on an empty tank. Not a single fuelling station in the entire 56km, but we somehow made it to Kisoro. Our hotel, despite reasonable recommendations in the guide books, was in poor state. At least the service was good and they fed us well. We will ignore the esthetics and attempt sleep in preparation for the next day’s hike.

Xox

Maryse and Nathan

Detour to Jinja

Nathan arrived a few hours late on Friday night which alleviated the hunger-killing, stomach-knotting stress I had been experiencing wondering if and when he would arrive.

Seeing him was great! Seeing him in Africa is amazing! We made it back to our hotel by midnight after a hairy car ride in the dark.

The next morning, as we had no bags, we started with some shopping for a few new shirts and shorts so he wouldn't overheat in the jeans and long sleeved shirt he arrived in. We met Patrick, Isabelle and Sami who drove us to the village where Patrick farms. Nathan thoroughly enjoyed meeting a group of school children who had been practising for a Christmas concert. They also really loved meeting him and posing for pictures in front of his camera. He even let them take a few photos too, which they thought was a blast.We also saw pineapples fields and the foundation for a clinic Patrick is slowly building, before returning to Mulago Hospital where Nathan and I walked around so he could see the sites with his own eyes. That evening we had dinner with Dennis, which was lovely and packed with intense political conversations about the conditions in Uganda.

Pineapple fields... still about 1 year from maturation

Nathan's newest friends

All smiles! How can YOU not want to smile when you see this little guy?!?!

Poor Sami did not like being out of the car. The ducks and turkeys did not impress her one bit!

The next day, as the baggage department at Entebbe airport told us Nathan's luggage would only be arriving on Sunday's plane, we could not leave for Fort Portal as planned. We decided on going to Jinja, a town 80km East of Kampala, sitting at the mouth of the Nile. This town used to be the site of significant economic activity as there is a dam here generating electricity from the Nile's raging waters. Imin of course, put an end to that, and the town is slowly waking up. Sundays however, the town seems to continue on sleeping. We engaged in a true African experience Sunday, by making it to Jinja on matutus as all other buses were not running. We also did this while navigating through Kampala's MTN marathon. By foot we explored the main town and stopped at a hotel on the Nile for a drink. We then  used a boda-boda to get to the water falls just north of the town. Despite being a little nervous, we felt like Che Guevera and his uncle on their road trip in "The Motorcycle Diaries" exploring new countryside on two shabby wheels. The falls weren't particularly impressive, but the white water served as a great view as we sat under a grass hut eating whole fried tilapia, my new favorite, and drinking cold beers.

Kampala's "Old Taxi Park". You can see the matutus for MILES! They are unbelievable organized by destination once you get down there. And even more surprisingly, they seem to leave relatively frequently and do not fill them beyond the number of seats. For our 80 km/2 hour trek, the cost was 18 000 Ush return trip for both of us, or, 5USD! It was a good bargain! Especially since our 20km of boda-boda riding was the same price.

Grasshoppers anyone? They come right to your taxi window!! Come oooon!!!!

The Nile above the dam. It has flooded the river in a placid waterway from Lake Victoria. Underneath where you are looking, is the old spot of the Ripon Falls where the first European, Speke, is said to have discovered the source of the Nile realising that it is the same river found 6500km north in Egypt.

The underwhelming Bujagi Falls downstream from the river. Although less exciting to look at, these rapids (note crazy Kayaker) have become Uganda's largest tourist attraction.

Sunday night we returned to Entebbe and retrieved the bags successfully. We will be delivering the donated medical equipment for three surgeons I have met along the way today, and then will head off to Fort Portal for our originally planned journey. We may not have internet until Rwanda but we will try and keep you posted best as possible.

Love to all,
Maryse

A whirlwind week and Nathan to arrive with no bags!

This week was purely work-related with little exciting to write home about, but none the less it was very important so far as my research is concerned.

Once I returned from Murchison, I settled in at Patrick's once again. It was lovely to see his girls again and spend a little time with his family. It was only a little time though, as I spent most days running around from 630am until 8pm conducting interviews.

Wednesday through Friday was the meeting of the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Southern and Central Africa (COSECSA). The meeting was held on the outskirts of town at a resort on Lake Victoria. It was a lavish hotel and conference center. The admission fee was 120$ for surgeons and 50$ for students. Attendance, in response, to me seemed low as this was much more than most attendees could afford. I didn't even get my whole 50$ worth, as I spent the days running around between hospitals, the Ministry of Health and a golf club, where I was to meet contact from Customs.

Speke Resort, the edge of the parking lot

Wednesday morning, the head of the orthopaedics department met me at 7am at Mulago. With one phone call he had me meeting the Commissioner of Clinical Services for Uganda in his office at the Ministry. I walked over, traded in my driver's license for an ID tag, and entered the gated Ministry of Health building. After waiting a mere half hour, he saw me. Like a true politician, he made the outlook for orthopaedic care seem rosy without actually telling me much of anything. He recommended I speak to his colleague,  the Commissioner of Disability and Rehabilitation Services. Since he wasn't in he would schedule me an appointment with him. Call him later he said.

Although it looks pretty swanky from the outside, and the lot is littered with unused Ministry of Health vehicles, the corridors inside remind me my first apartment. They are incredibly narrow, dark and have doors branching off the hallway every 3 feet or so. Everyone seems to have a secretary (wo)manning these doors, but I think they read more newspapers than perform any kind of valuable work.

I then ran back to meet Dr. Beyeza  for my ride to the conference. On arrival, Andrew, my Masters' supervisor from home met me. He was doing the examinations the days before. We quickly discussed whom I should accost at the meeting, and found more people than I could manage to interview. It was really nice speaking to all these orthopaedic surgeons who have made significant contributions to orthopaedic services in Africa. I spoke with doctors from Ethiopia, South Africa, Rwanda and Malawi, and others who had temporarily worked in a multitude of places around the globe. It was interesting to contrast experiences between countries, though I still couldn't tell you which country I would run to if I had a sudden orthopaedic emergency. The nice thing was the German working in Rwanda hooked me up with a colleague of his whom I can meet when in Kigali. We spoke yesterday and I will even get to visit the Kigali university hospital.

I returned to COSECSA the next day as well with the goal of meeting the industry reps. Within three hours I had interviewed 3 reps, attended some lectures on club feet, and gobbled down a lunch, so that I could make a suddenly scheduled meeting with the Commissioner of Disability and Rehab Services back downtown at 230pm. It turned out he and Dr. Beyeza went to primary school together and so he obliged a meeting. The other commissioner, despite many reminder phone calls from me, did not deliver on a meeting. My interview with the Disability Commissioner was more fruitful than the one with his colleague. He seemed sincerely aware of the issues with providing orthopaedic care and the reasons behind why these are difficult to rectify. He did not however, admit whether the government was actively pursuing their proposed bills and interventions or just tabling them every time they arise at Parliament.

While at the COSECSA meeting, I also learned of this NGO-funded hospital in Entebbe (near the Kampala airport) which focuses on orthopaedics, plastics and rehabilitation called CoRSU (Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services Uganda). It is also a private non-profit institution. One call to administration at 5pm on Thursday and I secured myself permission to stop by today on my way to the airport to pick up Nate. I arrived at 230pm. People are so accommodating here. Within 30 minutes I had met the Administration Director and the head orthopaedic surgeon. Luckily he knew quite a few of the Toronto pediatric orthopods, including my supervisor, and so he agreed to speak with me. This Italian seems to have a good thing going here treating children with musculoskeletal deformities. It was refreshing to hear how some programs can run efficiently and successfully. Based on their new location and its construction however, they are clearly receiving adequate funds from the NGO and donors.

It almost looks like you're driving up to a Garden Inn in a mid-size upstate New York town.

As I sit at a golf club restaurant in Entebbe, which glamourously borders the shore of Lake Victoria, I am waiting to meet someone from the Ugandan Customs for an interview. I am also waiting for Nathan to finally arrive. He is delayed 2 hours. The weather in Europe has been worse than in Canada, and so his first flight was delayed forcing him to RUN for the next one. He luckily managed to get on, but he was told the bags will not. Unfortunately, we hadn't planned on sticking around the airport area for more than 30 hours before heading for hiking and gorilla tracking, so I am now unsure what will happen. The town East of Kampala is supposed to have good white water rafting, so maybe we will do that instead until the bags arrive.

I am not sure how much internet access I will have the next two weeks, as after tomorrow I will be depending on wireless access, but I will try and keep you posted on our travels. Thanks for having followed this far!

Take care and talk soon!
m

Hippos go "munch!" in the night...

Sorry for the long gap in posts!

After leaving an orthopaedic packed three days in Gulu, I drove with Dr. Kisige to Masindi where I was going to do my first tourist activity since arriving in Uganda!

In Masindi, a small town which serves as the fork between the Northeastern and Northwestern parts of the country, was fairly sleepy on a Saturday at noon. It was therefore easy to spot which van was the one I would be joining, the only one which unloaded a half dozen Mazungos for lunch. After finishing my meal with Dr. Kisige, I went to meet my group. I had managed to join a tour of Murchison Falls National Park which was being run out of a Kampala Hostel called Red Chilli Hideaway. My new group of seven consisted of Jeff and Nicki, an American-British couple who met in Croatia while traveling four years ago. They have spent the last three years working for the Abu Dabhi  Media Company in the UAE, and have just quit their jobs but will trek across East Africa before going home for Christmas. Hadar and Yoav are honeymooning in Uganda and Tanzania from Israel. Michael and Seb are two loners like myself, who nonetheless became good friends by the end of the trip, bonding in Russian.

The first day, Saturday, we "hiked" leisurely to the top of Murchison Falls. The Nile coming from Lake Victoria eventually narrows and splits into two waterfalls, Murchison and the local word for "freedom". Although not quite as impressive as Victoria Falls, you still get sufficiently doused in river water when standing at the closest lookouts to the falls. The cool shower is particularly welcome, as this part of the country hosts less and rain and rather constant 30 degree temperatures. A photograph of me at this point will come later courtesy of Jeff who had a waterproof camera. These photos do not do the falls justice, but imagine how the Nile here suddenly converges from 50m to 6m and drops down a rock face into a rift valley. It's quite intimidating from up close!

Proof I am actually in Uganda!

The "Freedom" Falls on the left, and Murchison on the right.

The Nile pouring into its 6m crevasse, from atop.

By supper time and before sunset, were back at the Red Chilli Rest Camp in Paraa on the south bank of the Nile. Cold showers were all we had, but were agreeably refreshing. I think had been spoiled up to now, but I was shocked at the price of food here. Had I known, I would have brought groceries! However, we had been warned that any food items MUST be removed from the tents and brought to the bar. The sneaky warthogs and baboons were well known for breaking into the safari tents in hunt of food. One warthog even walked its way into Nicki's tent while she was sorting fresh laundry!!

I didn't get one of these guys in the camp's garbage, but the ones in the savanna are nicer anyhow.

Although they mentioned hippos also come out to graze at night, they did not mention how close. My first night was disrupted by the heat, then by the heavy rains at 4 am, and then by loud snorting, huffing and munching sounds. Something was chomping on the grass alongside my tent at 445am. I was hoping it was a warthog, but as I lay perfectly still moving only my eyes, I saw a large shadow forming on the right side of my tent. The shadow covered the entire 5ft by 8 ft side of my tent as it took a few more steps forward. I had come to realise a hippo had decided on my plot of grass for its early morning meal. Afraid of disturbing it, I think I held my breath until it eventually walked away. I even turned my phone off so the alarm had no chance of going off and spooking it. It may have been only 10 minutes of grazing, but it felt like an hour.

A sly hippo - it had its eyes on me the whole time!

The next day on our game drive I learned that the hippos are nocturnal and come out to graze at night. They will walk up to 5km radii to find scrumptious grass. I guess my tent was within 5 km of the river bank. The second night, poor Nicki and Jeff had the same experience as me. Our tents were only 15m apart, but it seems I slept through round 2. Thankfully!

Sunday was a long day of trying to find the "Big 5" - Elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards and rhinos.  Our three hour game drive was rather fruitless. The rains from the night before had slightly cooled the environment and so many of the animals stayed deep in the forest and the high grasslands. The rains also mangled the roads, making the entire drive like a game of vertical bumper cars. On top of that, we didn't see a single cat - just lion tracks in the mud! Luckily, I have seen them in a previous trip to Namibia and wasn't too heartbroken.  The rhinos were poached to extinction in the 60s, and I would be seeing them in a Sanctuary the next day as they prepare to reintroduce them in the wild. Buffaloes however were abundant. As were antelope, large fishing birds, and giraffes. We spent 45minutes tracking one elephant.When we eventually found him, we headed back for lunch.

Our 4x4 mini-bus which driver Moses managed to keep from getting bogged in the mud. The Germans has a similar vehicle, but got out to push at least twice.

This young lady posed like a model. Her right ear is tagged as she was injured and required veterinary care. She seemed to be walking fine today.

A large herd of buffalo in the background

A lone bachelor with his wee bird companion to eat the ticks of his back!

The afternoon consisted of a boat launch down the river to the base of the falls. The guide we had was great and the animals had finally come out to play! We saw at least 6 elephants, one of whom took a lengthy bath right next to us. Notice the water coming from his trunk and then his wet back on the next photo. This male was considered to be in his 30s or 40s. Most elephants can live to 80-100 years. The females remain with their young, while the males roam independently. We saw plenty more buffaloes, tons of hippos, some crocs who refused to be photographed, and more birds including brightly colored kingfishers, red-throated bee eaters, cranes and herons. The view of the falls from here was a quite at distance as the current still roars hundreds of meters away. On the way back we rode on top of the boat's roof for elevated, unobstructed views.

Bath time!

After the bath, our gentleman walks away flapping his ears - another way elephants cool themselves off.

Murchison at a distance

Nicki and I on top of the boat

The next morning we left Red Chilli to return to Kampala by way of the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.  As mentioned, since the rhinos were extinct donor funding has allowed for the 24/7 ranger-patrolled secure area to reintroduce rhinos to Uganda. Currently there are nine rhinos. There are two black rhino males from Kenya. There are 6 white rhinos, the more docile only grass eating type, made up of 1 male and three females and three babies all between 1 year and 14 months old. Two adults are from Kenya and two were donated from a zoo in Orlando, FL.  Each adult rhino has two rangers assigned to it 24/7 as well. The babies stay with the mom for years. They even feed on mom's milk until 2 or 3 years old. Once weaned, the females can carry again for another 16 month pregnancy. Once there are approximately 30 rhinos, they will attempt reintroducing them to Murchison Park. They are expecting 4 more rhinos to come from South Africa in the next few months.

So at this sanctuary, one drives out as close as possible to where the rhinos are, and then walk the rest of the way. Luckily rhinos are nocturnal and sleep most of the day. We came upon Bella and her son Augusto within 30minutes, the others were deep in the reserve. The mother and son were dozing lazily under shrubs. As they were calm, we were able to get as close as 10meters to them. It was surreal.

Bella dozing...

On that note, I too will go off for my nap! This week is business as the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa meets in Kampala. I will be hanging around to try and get a few more interviews. I am also trying to meet with a customs representative and some ministry of health workers this week too. I am staying with Dr. Sekimpi once again. His wife will have her baby possibly before I leave, which would be exciting! Friday I move back into a hotel as Nathan (finally!) arrives, concluding most of the business part of my trip and starting a little R&R as I muddle over the data I collected this past month.

Wishing you all the best and looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks!
Maryse
xox