2nd Week at Nyamawra

Hello again

Another week has passed and I've been very busy and having fun. I have now left the Kibbuse Vocational School at Nyamawra and am in a large town called Hoima. It has electricity and tarmac on the roads! The first tarmac roads I've seen in 2 weeks. Once again I'll try to give you a day by day account of my adventures.

29th - 29th July

After posting here last tuesday we spent the rest of the day in Karaguza shopping for things the school needed. This takes a surprisingly long time, as life is so laid back and at a slow pace. Combined with Bob and Rev James seeming to know everyone in Uganda and chatting lots it took the whole day to get everything done. On the way back to the school we came across a large pile of earth in the middle of the road, which had clearly been left there to fill in the pot holes. However they had decided to call it quits for the day and come back tomorrow, so we had to find another way home.

Wednesday was spent doing more digging for the playground. The students all had exams so it was just Terry and I. We had to take lots of short breaks as it was so hot, and we caused quite a stir as the local people aren't used to seeing mzungu (white man) at all, let alone working hard in the fields like them. About 20 primary school children came to watch us for half an hour, and even offered to help for a bit. It was slightly disheartening to think that a 7 yr old is almost as good at shifting earth as me. I kept thinking of my brother Rhodri and imagining him with a hoe helping us out.

30th - 31st July

Thursday and Friday were spent filing and painting all the metal brackets we had been making previously. There were nearly 400 of them and we had to put two coats on each. Needless to say it got a little dull towards the end.

On Thursday we had an earthquake!!! I've never experienced one before. At first I thought someone had driven a truck into the far end of our building. Fortunately it was only a little one, but it was cool to experience.

1st August

Today we had American pancakes for breakfast with lots of maple syrup. They were very tasty. I didn't really do much in the morning other than some laundry, which again was highly amusing to Sarah. (Not sure if I mentioned her before, she is Bob and Brenda's cook and housekeeper) In the afternoon Terry and I climbed a big hill behind the village with two of the students. Brilliant views and got some good photos. Bob thought it would take at least 2hrs to get to the top, but it took only 40mins. People here don't really understand doing things just for the sake of it, like climbing a hill to see the view, so our actions often puzzle them. If there is no practical benefit to doing something then they don't do it.

In the evening we drove to another town nearby, Kakumiro, to pick up the Rev James and to buy some timber. This involve strapping 10 or so 5metre planks of wood to the back of the Hilux (this one is nearly 20 yrs old and is indestructible as proved by Top Gear) with as much rope as we could get our hands on. This practically double the height of the truck and would have been highly illegal in the UK, but TIA (This Is Africa)

2nd August

More pancakes for breakfast on Sunday, this time Terry and I helped out, so we are no experts in American pancake making. After church and lunch we left Kibbuse for good, we had intended to stay until next Saturday, but opportunities presented themselves to experience things elsewhere. More on this later. I was sad to leave as I had felt comfortable and happy at the school, but was excited about moving on too.

After a 3hr drive we arrived at Kiziranfumbi, where we were to stay for the next 3 nights. The hotel was basic; a double bed, a locking door and a light. Shared 'toilet' aka 'hole in the ground' and a barrel of clean water for washing. Still it only cost 8000 shillings a night (about 2 pound 50, thee keyboards don't have a pound sign!) We ate dinner in a tiny little restaurant with only one room and had meat and rice.

3rd - 4th August

Had chipati wrapped around an omlette for breakfast, which I bought from a roadside vendor. he cooked it on a metal plate heated by a fire in an old car wheel. Nothing is thrown away here. After a short drive to Wambabya, we arrived at a coffee farm. We were here to install all the metal brackets we had been making on some coffee bean drying racks. They were at risk of falling apart, so were going to reinforce them. I should add that the students at the school had made these the year before in partnership with the coffee farm. We returned to Kiziranfumbi for lunch of goat meat, rice and matoke. Overall we completed 17 of the 25 racks on Monday after using 340 screws. I can tell you that your whole arm begins to ache by this point.

After a good night's sleep, we returned early the next morning and had finished by 11am. This gave us some free time we had not anticipated, which we made the most of with a visit to Lake Albert with the coffee farm owner, Jessica, and her daughter Faith. First we had to remove two african pied wagtails, which had somehow got into the truck and taken up residence!

As we approached the lake, we came down off the high land into the huge rift valley. It was a breath-taking sight to see such a huge expanse of savannah ahead of us with the mountains of the Congo rearing up on the far side of the lake. Initially we stopped at a small fishing village and I took loads of photos of Herons, Ibis and Storks. Bob then took us to the Lake Albert Safari Lodge where he had some friends. It was a rather luxurious lodge on the edge of the savannah by the lake. After a fantastic lunch, we spent the afternoon lazing on the veranda, chilling by the lake. It was so relaxing. Then, at about 5pm, we took the Hilux, with Bob at the wheel and a guide in the passenger seat, out into the bush!!!! Terry and I stood in the open back of the truck and had a personal safari tour. The feeling of driving through the bush with an unrestricted view from 2 metres up is awesome, and one I will unlikely get again. The land surrounding the lake doesn't have any large animals or big cats, but we still say loads of Ugandan Kob, Warthog, Baboons, Waterbuck, Bushbuck and various birds. Including the majestic Gray Crowned Crane, the national bird of Uganda. It was such a good experience, that has left me very excited about the prospect of another 2 weeks of safari to come.

5th August

Today we drove the short distance to Hoima and am now sitting in an internet cafe there. Through some contacts of Bob's, Terry and I are joining up with a group from the US called Encounter Uganda for two days and hopefully doing some well drilling!! If you can travel with an open mind and a degree of flexibility in your agenda, you never know where you might end up or what you may experience. I certainly never imagined standing on the back of a hilux on safari yesterday or that I would be able to do some well drilling.


Anyway, I must be off, time to check into the Crown Hotel in Hoima and have my first shower since Sunday!!!

Until next time,

Weleba