Adventures in Uganda

I’ve just returned from a fabulous trip to Uganda. It was a bit of a spur of the moment idea based primarily on excellent reports from my housemate of their own trips to Uganda, combined with my sense of procrastination over doing real work. I set off for Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda after heading to Kigali to deal with my visa extension at Emigration.  Lake Bunyonyi is about 2 hours north of Kigali, just over the Ugandan border.  Lake Byunyoni is called the "place of many little birds”.  It has an amazing diversity of birds on the lake. The depth of the lake is rumored to be 900 m, which makes it the second deepest in Africa. It is one of the few lakes in the region that is free of bilharzia and safe for swimming. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do any swimming because it rained most of the time I was there. But it was still an amazing place to be. To get to the island camp where I stayed, I was taken by canoe to Bushara Island.

First, it was really nice to have some different food. The lake is popular for its abundant crayfish which they make in quiches, burritos, and with avocado salads. I also took a bird tour around the island and learned a lot of new bird species. It was a bit lonely being on the island alone without Okan, but it was relaxing and I finally had time to read a book for fun. It was a beautiful island. The accommodations were simple- just a tent with a cot inside. But at least there was a cover over the tent to protect against the rain.

I decided after a visit to Lake Bunyonyi that I would drive another 3 hours north to Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP). I had heard from two friends about an incredible lodge that they stayed at with wonderful food and beautiful views.  It looks out over the plains of the park and had a great pool.

I also wanted to do one last game safari before leaving Africa. So I used Okan’s android phone that he had left me to find QENP using the GPS feature on the phone. I spent two nights at a wonderful lodge and went on a great game drive where I finally saw two leopards only a few meters away from the car! It was a true highlight. Leopards are one of those species that most tourists want to see (much less, carnivore biologists!) but they are so elusive, it is very rare to get a glimpse of them. I can’t believe we stumbled on two! 

For links to more animal pics go to:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2633188674108.153483.1387146989&type=1&l=e5f7005e9f

I also got my fill of elephants, including a baby elephant that couldn’t have been more than a meter high and probably only a few weeks old. He was adorable (but no pictures because mama shielded him away from us). We also visited several craters which were formed from a volcanic eruption some 8000 years ago. They were stunningly beautiful.  Again, it was lonely without Okan and I felt guilty seeing this amazing park without him. However, the manager of the lodge (Pascal, a German who grew up in Kampala) was very nice to me and since I was the only visitor at the lodge, it was just the two of us on the safari. He was really nice and we had a good time talking and sharing experiences from living in Africa. He was equally excited that we stumbled on the two leopards.

I returned to Rwanda and was stopped at the Ugandan border for immigration. I thought I had done all the things I needed to do when I passed on my way from Rwanda to Uganda. But apparently, I did not. I was meant to declare my car with customs on the way through. It would have been nice if the Rwandan police, with whom I registered my car with on my way out, would have mentioned this. The men on the Ugandan side delighted in torturing me with a threat of a 1 million shilling penalty fee (~$500 USD). I lost my temper and scolded them for being so mean (they were laughing at me, being very aggressive about the error, even though I apologized).  I knew that they didn’t have to fine me for not going through customs and that they were just enjoying rattling my cage with the threat and it was really infuriating. In the end, one of the guys must have felt bad for me as I was on the verge of tears and he let me go with a warning. Anyway, lesson learned.

Despite the border problems, it was an amazing trip and I’m glad I impulsively went to Uganda!

October in Rwanda

I am back at Uwinka in Nyungwe for the last of my more prolonged field research. I spent the last few days deploying camera traps to my last field site (Yay!). Below are pictures of Emmanuel (my intern) and our awesome porter (Jean Paul). We deployed camera traps at the largest marsh in the forest. A really beautiful place that looks like a marsh filling a volcanic crater.

 Seven staff from the National University of Rwanda also came up to get trained by me in how to do a camera trapping survey. We spent about 10 hours hiking to different sites yesterday and deploying camera traps. 

 Most of the staff seemed to enjoy the experience, although 2-3 of them were clearly not prepared to do so much physical activity. I tried not to get irritated but they did slow us down. They sat at the back of the group chatting and walking slowly. Normally I wouldn’t care, but I really needed to get the traps deployed that day because they have to be up for 3 weeks before I take them down. And I have a flight to catch in early November already booked so every day from here on accounted for. Luckily all my worrying was for nothing and we got the cameras deployed.

The other three days I’ve been training my Masters student and intern in small mammal trapping. Below are some of the furry friends we captured.

We deployed 60 traps at three different sites, a cumulative 5km distance from camp (one way) that we have to check for animals twice daily. It was really exhausting but in the end I felt good about their training and felt comfortable leaving them to do the work on their own.  Luckily, the weather was quite nice while I was in the field. It rained every day, but only for an hour here or there. And the other nice part of being in the field was that the chimpanzees are back closer to camp now so we can hear them talking and making noise at night. There are also lots of blue monkeys nearby along the trails and I always enjoy seeing them.  The next trip to Nyungwe to retrieve my camera traps will be my last. I’ve been taking lots of extra pictures in the forest and around Rwanda since my time here is coming to an end. Here are a few of the families and children living just outside the park.

It is hard to imagine that I am leaving in 3 weeks. I feel like I still have a lot I’d like to do. Mostly, I’m stressed because I know that after I leave it will be hard for me to do any work for the month of November because of the move so I feel pressured to tie up a lot of loose ends before the end of this month.  I was very surprised today when I was invited by RDB (the regulatory agency of the park) to attend a meeting on Nyungwe research and management initiatives next week. I have felt fairly disheartened with my research in Nyungwe for several reasons so it was a surprise that they thought to include me. 

I’ve been thinking of the things that I will miss from Rwanda when I leave. Here are a few of them:

1)   Fresh tropical fruit for breakfast every morning

2)   Eating meals in the tropical sun on our porch

3)   The beautiful lush greenness of Rwanda

4)   The vervet monkeys that come to campus (and the other animals of the forest)

5)   Swimming outside

6)   Daily trips to the local ice cream shop here in Butare

7)   Living in a house with someone to cook, clean and do the shopping for me

8)   Walking in the forest

9)   The friends I have made here in Rwanda

10)The isolation away from the US media and the Presidential campaign which I have been able to completely avoid!

Another 15,000 miles

Just back to Butare today after a 10 day trip to South Carolina. Not a lot has changed here since I left except that it has been raining ever since I landed last night. I guess the rainy season has really settled in. I finally read all three of my bachelor student's theses on the plane yesterday. It is a relief to have that done. I gave up on trying to get them not to plagiarize. I know that must sound horrible, but I can't tell you how many times we have gone through what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, replete with threats (by me) of expulsion and apologies (from them) and promises never to do it again. And I only had 3 student theses to supervise! Some professors have 10 or more. Anyway, all I can do is hope that the theses never see the light of day and get filed somewhere that no one can read them. Plagiarism here is too systematic for me to extirpate. Maybe I can just try and reduce it a bit.

South Carolina was a whirlwind. Working during the day and trying to meet with different people while I was in town and then house-hunting from 4pm on- every day of the week. It wasn't exactly relaxing. Although it was nice to have family come for a visit (Okan's dad and my mom). And I did get to enjoy the Waffle House on numerous occasions.  I think we're going to like Clemson but it will definitely take some getting used to. Clemson is super small and we probably tried at least half of the restaurants that they have just in our 10 day visit. Although of course anything/everything is a step up from Butare! We found a house in Seneca (just 5 minutes from Clemson) that we really liked and made the gigantic step to put a bid on it. I just found out from Okan that the bid was basically accepted (we offered $25K less than the asking price and they countered with only a $5K increase). We had such a difficult time deciding on a house. Okan and I are both super indecisive and as first time home buyers we felt very unsure of ourselves. But we finally decided that while it's bigger than we wanted, it was very competitively priced and had almost everything we wanted in a house. We're both so excited about the house! We feel like such grown ups! We hope the deal goes through and that we'll get lots of visitors.

I miss Okan a lot. It's so lonely here without him. Rwanda is definitely less fun without him. I went to the ice cream shop today and had an omelet, which made me sad, because we always split omelets! All the ice cream shop people asked where he was and I had to tell them he was in America.

While I was in South Carolina, Okan and I went round and round about whether I should take this trip to New Zealand in December. I had been planning for this conference since my paper was accepted back in April (well before the job offer). I had planned on using my frequent flyer miles for the flight and was excited to see another country. Okan was also planning on coming. But after starting at work last week, I started to seriously doubt whether the trip was feasible. Everything looked too stressful: go back to Rwanda, finish field work, return to NYC, move, and then go to New Zealand all in the span of 2 months. I even told my new boss (who knew about this conference when he hired me) that I was hesitant to go because I didn't want it to seem like I wasn't committed to this new job, etc. More than a little part of me was hoping he would agree and veto the trip. Then I could take it off my plate and feel a little more relaxed about this fall/winter. Much to my surprise, he took the exact opposite tact and encouraged me to go as professional development! So it looks like I'm going for sure now. Of course it will be a good opportunity to go and present my work and network at the conference but now I can't help but wonder what I've gotten myself into. Yet again. It's something I need to work on. Everyone who knows me recognizes that I have too much on my plate. I know that it's true. But I feel like every year that goes by I let myself get into these impossible predicaments with too much work, too many commitments, and I am increasingly spread thin. I guess maybe that will be my New Year's resolution: to be more proactive of protecting my time and stop over committing myself. So if you have invited Okan or I to come visit in the next few months, don't take it personally if I don't come!