Thank you all for all of your prayers and concerns over the last four months. Due to health concerns, I will be returning home on Wednesday from East Africa. I will post more updates after I get home to let you all know how I am doing. For now, this will be my last post from Africa.
God bless you all who have prayed for me, stayed in touch as best as we could, and enjoyed reading this blog of mine. See you all soon.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Well...Damn.
I am doing well in my first week of lectures in Gulu, except that today I was admitted to the Gulu Independent Hospital and diagnosed with Typhoid Fever. I am pretty sick, but feeling better now that I am in the hospital. I have taken two IV drips and will get another in the morning. The doctor said I should be here a day or two, then I will need anti-biotics for a few days afterwards.
I am not the only one. David, another student on the trip, is in the bed next to me with Typhoid as well. We figure we ate or drank something together that hit us, so we will be recovering together. The good thing is that we are in an independent hospital which is really clean and has good doctors. It is a vast improvement since my previous clinical visits in Tanzania.
Thank you for your prayers as always. I will let you know how it goes.
I am not the only one. David, another student on the trip, is in the bed next to me with Typhoid as well. We figure we ate or drank something together that hit us, so we will be recovering together. The good thing is that we are in an independent hospital which is really clean and has good doctors. It is a vast improvement since my previous clinical visits in Tanzania.
Thank you for your prayers as always. I will let you know how it goes.
Monday, September 12, 2011
The First Few Days
So, I have been through an orientation week here in Gulu, moved in with my new host family, and lectures began today at the SIT World Learning Center in Gulu. Orientation week finished Saturday with an interviewing project throughout Gulu town. We all managed to meet quite a few new people and gathered information which will help with our research projects, but also practical issues of living here for the next three months.
We have discovered a bar in town, BJz, which plays good music, serves good beer, and has great entertainment throughout the week. Wednesday was Stand-up Comedy, and Thursday was Trivia competition. A few of us went to the stand-up, where we met "Fabulous" Patrick, a local radio host and the funniest man of the night. All fifteen of us returned the following night to compete for trivia night. We split the group into two teams and did our best to fill the answers to Ugandan Sports, Literature, Current Events, and Geography. My team at least beat the other American group, but we didn't take the title, or the case of beer which went to the winners. However, for those of us who stuck around (myself included), the crate of beer was shared with us, as we knew a few of the winners. We danced for an hour or so before returning to the hotel and the final day of orientation the following morning.
Saturday afternoon I moved in with my new host family, Paul and Florence and their 18-year-old daughter Rita. Paul reminds me alot of my Grandpa Copas, and I have spent most of the weekend studying or discussing politics and current events with him. They are a nice family, and I will enjoy spending the next month or so with them. However, there is no electricity there, so I will only be able to post when I get into town for class. I feel like it gets old, but I will say it again, be patient with the electricity in Africa.
Otherwise, I am doing well. Classes started this morning with lectures on Acholi Language, Conflict Mapping & Analysis, and the Cultures of Northern Uganda. I am now sitting in a cafe eating an ice cream before heading back home for dinner.
I'll post again soon.
We have discovered a bar in town, BJz, which plays good music, serves good beer, and has great entertainment throughout the week. Wednesday was Stand-up Comedy, and Thursday was Trivia competition. A few of us went to the stand-up, where we met "Fabulous" Patrick, a local radio host and the funniest man of the night. All fifteen of us returned the following night to compete for trivia night. We split the group into two teams and did our best to fill the answers to Ugandan Sports, Literature, Current Events, and Geography. My team at least beat the other American group, but we didn't take the title, or the case of beer which went to the winners. However, for those of us who stuck around (myself included), the crate of beer was shared with us, as we knew a few of the winners. We danced for an hour or so before returning to the hotel and the final day of orientation the following morning.
Saturday afternoon I moved in with my new host family, Paul and Florence and their 18-year-old daughter Rita. Paul reminds me alot of my Grandpa Copas, and I have spent most of the weekend studying or discussing politics and current events with him. They are a nice family, and I will enjoy spending the next month or so with them. However, there is no electricity there, so I will only be able to post when I get into town for class. I feel like it gets old, but I will say it again, be patient with the electricity in Africa.
Otherwise, I am doing well. Classes started this morning with lectures on Acholi Language, Conflict Mapping & Analysis, and the Cultures of Northern Uganda. I am now sitting in a cafe eating an ice cream before heading back home for dinner.
I'll post again soon.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
First Posts from Uganda
This is the first chance with internet access to post in the last few days.
September 5, 2011
The billboard over the road reads “Peace, Stability, and Security” next to a picture of President Museveni. Rather ironic considering I have come to Uganda to study conflict, instability, and insecurity. I am crossing the border into Uganda from Kenya. The sun is setting, and I know I am at least 3 hours from Kampala. There comes a point in the trip when I think we should be about one hour from Kampala. An hour later, the woman in the seat ahead of me says we are in Jinja, and we should be in Kampala in an hour. Two hours later, we arrive in Kampala.
The bus ride from Nairobi was scheduled to last 12-13 hours. We left 45 minutes late from Nairobi and made it to Kampala in just over 15 hours. Nevertheless, I have persevered and arrived safely in Uganda. I will meet my group later this afternoon, as they are flying in today. Wish me luck. This is the final leg of my journey. I will not be travelling alone again, except during the trip home 106 days from now.
September 7, 2011
I have arrived with my group in Gulu. This is the most Wazungus I have been with since arriving in East Africa. There are 15 students from all over the US. We are sitting at a coffee shop using the free internet and drinking Coca Cola. I feel like such a tourist. It is odd, being as I have met less than 10 Americans in the last three months of being here, and suddenly I have a new group of friends, all of whom know what baseball is, want to talk about American football, and all agree that rice does not a stable diet make.
We left Kampala at 10:30 for our 5 hour trip to Gulu. One broken bus, two rented matatu vans, and 8 hours later, we arrived in Gulu in a rainshower. Luckily my bag wasn't tied to the roof like the others, but was safely tucked inside. Not a problem though, we stayed in a nice hotel and I was blessed with my first hot shower in 5 weeks.
Anyway, we have a few days of orientation to the Gulu area and our program before moving in with our host families on Saturday and starting class next Monday. I will update as is possible. I am going to try to find an USB internet stick so that I can have unlimited wireless, but no promises.
Best wishes and God Bless all.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
A Return from the Bush
Well all, I have arrived once again back to the land of electricity, people, and running water which we call civilization. I have had the time of my life. I have learned more than I thought possible and gained new perspectives on economics, tourism, politics, and Kenya itself. My health remains good, although I did have a short bout with an intestinal bug during the month. But now I have returned to Nairobi where I will stay and rest a few days. Then I’m off for Kampala, Uganda. I will be in Uganda for the next 3 and ½ months and I should be returning home on the 21st of December, just in time for Christmas.
However, that is yet to come and a lot will happen between now and then. The last month however, has left me with more memories, stories, and pictures than I can possibly show or tell. This was my fear when I left the internet behind for a month. Nevertheless, I will do my best to relate a few of my experiences from the last 28 day field guiding course in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.
The morning of August 4th I met the other three members of my group: one British middle-school science teacher who wants to open a Wildlife Preserve in Sri Lanka, one Dutch Biology undergrad, one British woman (born in Kenya) who seems to have travelled everywhere and now works in Zanzibar, and me. I thought it would be an interesting group and we didn’t disappoint. We arrived the afternoon of the 4th at our camp in Lewa to find Michael, the camp manager, waiting for us. I thought it was going to be sleeping in tents on the hard earth for a month. No such luck. Michael had single beds build in the largest camping tents I have ever seen; a luxurious stay if I say so myself. That night, we met the rest of the crew over steak dinner prepared by Frank, a professional chef and one of the most politically incorrect men I have ever known. Mohammad was his assistant and Richard was the cleaning/maintenance man. (After two weeks, there came a time when I took a picture of Richard sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. This may not sound exciting, but the reason I took the picture was that it was the first time since arriving that we had seen him sit down and not working. He is actually the most motivated worker I ever met. Our instructor Mark joked that he was going to stuff Richard into his suitcase and smuggle him home to South Africa.)
Anyway, our instructor Mark was there waiting for us and we began our studies the next day. We would wake at 5:00am, study for awhile, and then leave camp around 6:30 for a walk in the bush. We would return to camp about 9:00 for breakfast. At 10:30 we had a lecture (ranging from Animal Behavior to botany to the weather patterns of Kenya and South Africa) which usually lasted till about 12:30. We had some free time then, usually spent studying or reading, before lunch at 2:00pm. By three, we were back in the field until dark, around 6:30. Dinner was at 7 with a few beers, some after-dinner hanging out, then early to bed around 9 or 10 in order to make it up again the following morning.
In the field we would either walk or drive. When walking, we studied more in depth, especially the trees and birds. When we drove, we could get a lot further and usually find more of the elusive mammals. However, we didn’t always have to go far to find big mammals. Nearly every morning of the trip, we woke up around 5:30 to find Elvis and Mawingu munching just outside our camp fence. They are a black rhino mother-and-son pair whose territory encompasses our campsite. One morning, we stood along the fence and Elvis came to within three feet of us.
Not long into the trip, we were all beginning to get the hang of guiding the group. Each of us took turns practicing the drives, teaching as if we were guiding for real. However, one night, we heard there was a lion chilling down the road a ways, but it was down the road we weren’t supposed to go on (certain areas of the reserve were reserved for those “bloody-rich-buggers” who were paying $800 a night). So, Mark decided it might be better to ask for forgiveness than permission, so he drove us down the road anyway. We found the lion, an old male alone, just watching the sun set. He seemed so calm, exactly as I imagined he would, waiting for the moment where it would be necessary to become “king” again. It seemed to me that he had been king long enough and was now on his way out. We watched him for a bit before heading back towards camp. On the way though, we found the elephant heard. We parked about 10 meters from a young bull, maybe 5 to 10 years old. Relatively small compared to other males (he was still the size of our truck), he had a bit of a napoleon complex growing in his young bones. He continued eating until he was about 15 feet from us, and then decided he didn’t really appreciate our presence. He decided to prove he was just as tough as daddy and started to mock charge the truck. He seemed to enjoy coming at us, shaking his head, backing of for a while, then coming again. I don’t think he had any real intention of ever really coming after us; he just wanted us to take him seriously, much like every adolescent. It was one of the sweetest encounters of the trip.
Now, it was not always the “big-five” we were after. We were training to become professional safari guides, and there is much more out there than mammals, such as geology, astronomy, insects, reptiles, and birds. Birds presented a unique challenge to all of us on the course, particularly because there are 1080 species of birds in Kenya. Over the month, we positively identified 108 birds, probably seeing another 20 or so which we couldn’t identify. We carried three things on every walk and drive: a notebook, our binoculars, and a bird book. At one time, we had six different bird books in the truck. Eventually we moved onto the bird calls (downloaded from Mark’s computer to Itunes). That is when it really started getting messy. Pretty soon, I knew around 30 bird calls and at least 50 or 60 by sight. By week three, everything (that is, all the bird knowledge) just started to mash together until we finally broke down. One afternoon, we promised eachother we wouldn’t try to find a single bird. We had had enough of birds for one day. That afternoon, we found 8 new birds which we had never seen before. That pretty much sums up our student-bird relationship. When you go looking for them, you can’t find a single one; when you can’t stand to look at another, 8 new guys show up to introduce themselves.
Two weeks in we were joined by three more former students who just wanted to hang out with us for the second half of the course. They added a new fire to the camp, but also, they were all women, so it definitely turned the odds against the male-power in the camp. It all turned out just fine. We really enjoyed the camaraderie in the camp.
Now, some of you know that I am a really good driver. However, if you want a new experience, try driving off-road, up a rocky hill, in a stick-shift truck that jams and makes funny engine noises, has no power steering, and then find a bull elephant waiting for you at the top of the hill. It is not something we do everyday back home in Normal, Illinois. Actually, I don’t think this experience is common most anywhere. Better yet, I was driving. For those of you reading this who are already getting worried, we were trained early in the month how to deal with dangerous encounters and always have an escape route. The thing that made this spot tricky was that my escape route was in reverse back down the hill into a gorge. Luckily, the bull was only mildly unimpressed with my driving and our presence on his road. He was within five feet of my door at one time. He must have decided, at least momentarily, that we weren’t worth the effort, so he passed us by and as he got out of the way, I took us past and away. It is among my favorite moments of the trip.
During the final week of the course, we all took exams. We had done some exams during the first three weeks, but these were our finals. We had a 3 hour final exam, a field identification exam, the FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) exam (which I didn’t take), and then our assessment. The exams all went fine. What made us all most nervous was the assessment. Either a three hour drive or 90 minute walk, fully guided as if taking newly arrived tourists to the bush. These “tourists” were to be some of our fellow students and Mark the instructor/assessor. However, my assessment went well. I even had a giraffe walk right up to our group, which was quite unexpected (I made sure I paid him off later on that night for his graceful appearance). All in all, the exams went well and all of us passed the course. So now, I am a professionally-trained safari guide. I don’t have a license to use my training, but if ever I decide that I want a career change, I would come back in a heartbeat, no doubt about it.
Sadly, we had to return to our normal lives on the 31st. Well, I guess that isn’t really true. The others are all heading home. I am not exactly living a “normal” live, but screw that. I am enjoying myself THOROUGHLY, and if that is abnormal, so be it. I have made it back to Nairobi. Tomorrow I will take the bus to Kampala and meet up with the SIT group to study for the fall.
Thank you to everyone again for all your continued prayers for my health. I was sick again, but I saw another doctor and that seems to have cleared it up for good. Thank you also for your patience with communications. I know your world does revolve around me, my blogging, and what I think, so thank you for managing for a month without me.
In all seriousness, it was a great experience to live without a phone or the internet for a month (I know I cheated to send a few emails from an internet café three weeks through, but that was only because I knew how much you all need me). I believe that everyone should try going without their phone and email for a week or two, just for fun. Not only is it good practice for the zombie apocalypse, but also a nice way to remind yourself that there is much more to the world than what can be found on a phone or the internet. You find yourself sitting around the fire drinking a beer with complete strangers and coming home with friends you feel like you have known your whole life. It is a great feeling, and one something that everyone should remember often.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
To Nairobi...And Beyond!
I have made it to Nairobi. Somehow, a 4 hour trip became a 10 hour journey, but whatever. For any of you who know some of my travel stories from Europe, you know I have a habit of miscalculation when it comes to travel times. However, in this case, it wasn't my fault. I got bumped off a flight, the next flight was late, I waited at immigration behind 10 screaming children for an hour, and I had a 45 minute taxi when I got here. Nevertheless, I am now ready to sign away my access to the internet for the next month and head out to the Wildlife Conservancy for a few weeks.
We leave early tomorrow, and I will return on the 31st. Goodbye and good luck to all. Have a nice time going to school. Meanwhile, you can think of me, living on the savannah. I will be enjoying the beauty of the Kenyan wilderness and "studying" for a few weeks. It will be difficult, but I will continue to make the sacrifice and keep going. It's a tough life, but someone's got to live it (If you have drowned in the sarcasm, I appologize). I have been waiting my whole life for this opportunity, so here I go.
Bye.
We leave early tomorrow, and I will return on the 31st. Goodbye and good luck to all. Have a nice time going to school. Meanwhile, you can think of me, living on the savannah. I will be enjoying the beauty of the Kenyan wilderness and "studying" for a few weeks. It will be difficult, but I will continue to make the sacrifice and keep going. It's a tough life, but someone's got to live it (If you have drowned in the sarcasm, I appologize). I have been waiting my whole life for this opportunity, so here I go.
Bye.
Zanzibar
Well, I appologize again for such a long wait between posts. However, I have been traveling with limited internet access.
I stayed in Stone Town for a few days. I was sick again, as many of you heard, so I wasn't up for much more than walking around and chilling. But it is my rest/vacation period anyway, so I didn't feel bad about it. One day I toured the Anglican Cathedral built on the site of the old slave market over a hundred years ago. This was an incredible experience. I have seen many of the European cathedrals with all their grandeur, but this one takes the prize for symbolic meaning. The church is not shinning or well kept, but like most buildings in Stone Town looks its age. It has construction flaws, is falling down in some places, and many of the windows are broken. But for some reason, it has a beauty which I can't quite express. It stands as a testament to overcoming the slave trade, the power of God in a place of darkness. The destruction of the slave trade pulled many Africans into Christianity, something not predominant before in the Muslim Omani Zanzibar. Still, Christianity has never taken too large a hold in Zanzibar, as 95% of the population is Muslim.
Another evening, I went to the market at Jodhani Park along the waterfront. Here fresh seafood is served and cooked by vendors by candlelight. It was crazy, beautiful, and smelled fantastic. I ate prawns, lobster, and baracuda, all of which tasted exquisite. Sugar cane juice was a great chaser before heading back to the hostel for an early night.
As I said, much of my time in Stone Town was spent walking the streets or resting. I met some interesting people while here, and I was proposed by two women one of the evenings. A little straightforward I thought, but whatever. Apparently some women are just looking for a white guy to get them out of here. Respectfully (and quickly) I declined their offers, feeling rather awkward about the whole thing.
I left Stone Town on the 28th to head to Paje on the East coast of the island. I stayed at a small hotel about 50 yards from the beach. I had a backpacker's bunk room to myself, which was great. I spent some time on the beach that first day, just sitting and admiring the white sand and turquiose blue waters. Looking East, I imagined Australia only about 7000 miles away. I grabbed a beer and a quick dinner before heading to bed. I was a little tired and I had a busy and tiring few days ahead.
On the 29th, I began SCUBA diving. The first day was refresher training in the pool, which was pretty boring, but on the 30th, we headed out into the ocean. We stayed inside the reef at a place called the lagoon. SCUBA diving is like sinking into a whole other world you didn't know existed, a dream world which seems so colorful and fantastic it can't be real. When you come up from the dive, it is like waking up back into the real world again, and all you want to do is dive again.
The 30th and 31st were spent on training dives in the lagoon, but the 1st of August we headed out of the reef to Makanda. This dive spot is about 30 meters deep and is on the outside edge of the Zanzibari reef. We descended into a place unlike any I had ever seen. I have never dove that deep before, so this was a new experience again. Being much darker, things come out of nowhere at you. You are drifting along and all of a sudden, a wall of coral or a school of fish comes right up in front of you. There are also the hidden things you only see if you pay attention, the lionfish, the sea snakes, and the sting rays hiding beneath the rocks (I saw all three on this dive).
We dove a second time at another site not far away. Between the dives was about an hour of letting the excess nitrogen escape our blood, and being in the open sea was not good for many of us. I got a little seasick, but after it "passes" you feel much better. We reviewed the procedures for vomitting underwater and headed back into the water for another amazing dive. This time we could faintly hear dolphins, but we never saw them. With their vision and sonar, they probably saw us coming from a long way off and were gone long before we could see them.
Diving was fantastic, and a great break from studying and traveling. My final for the course was taken while sipping a mojito on the beach, which I find to be the recommended way for taking any final exam in the future. Yesterday, I left the coast and came back to Stone Town. I stayed in the same hostel last night and I am just about to leave for the airport now. I am flying to Nairobi this afternoon and meeting up with the EcoTraining group tomorrow morning.
I will spend the month of August at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy North of Nairobi. I appologize, but I will be without internet access from tomorrow until August 31st. I will not be posting on the blog and I will not be returning any emails. I know many of you rely on my for your daily entertainment, but where there is no electricity, the internet cannot go. I believe I will be able to make an occasional phone call, so I may be able to check in with my parents, so if you are desperate to know my whereabouts and condition, talk to them and they might know. Otherwise, I am planning to post as soon as I return to Nairobi on the 31st or the 1st of September.
Enjoy the remainder of your summer, have a great beginning of a new school year. I will talk to you all in a month.
God Bless
I stayed in Stone Town for a few days. I was sick again, as many of you heard, so I wasn't up for much more than walking around and chilling. But it is my rest/vacation period anyway, so I didn't feel bad about it. One day I toured the Anglican Cathedral built on the site of the old slave market over a hundred years ago. This was an incredible experience. I have seen many of the European cathedrals with all their grandeur, but this one takes the prize for symbolic meaning. The church is not shinning or well kept, but like most buildings in Stone Town looks its age. It has construction flaws, is falling down in some places, and many of the windows are broken. But for some reason, it has a beauty which I can't quite express. It stands as a testament to overcoming the slave trade, the power of God in a place of darkness. The destruction of the slave trade pulled many Africans into Christianity, something not predominant before in the Muslim Omani Zanzibar. Still, Christianity has never taken too large a hold in Zanzibar, as 95% of the population is Muslim.
Another evening, I went to the market at Jodhani Park along the waterfront. Here fresh seafood is served and cooked by vendors by candlelight. It was crazy, beautiful, and smelled fantastic. I ate prawns, lobster, and baracuda, all of which tasted exquisite. Sugar cane juice was a great chaser before heading back to the hostel for an early night.
As I said, much of my time in Stone Town was spent walking the streets or resting. I met some interesting people while here, and I was proposed by two women one of the evenings. A little straightforward I thought, but whatever. Apparently some women are just looking for a white guy to get them out of here. Respectfully (and quickly) I declined their offers, feeling rather awkward about the whole thing.
I left Stone Town on the 28th to head to Paje on the East coast of the island. I stayed at a small hotel about 50 yards from the beach. I had a backpacker's bunk room to myself, which was great. I spent some time on the beach that first day, just sitting and admiring the white sand and turquiose blue waters. Looking East, I imagined Australia only about 7000 miles away. I grabbed a beer and a quick dinner before heading to bed. I was a little tired and I had a busy and tiring few days ahead.
On the 29th, I began SCUBA diving. The first day was refresher training in the pool, which was pretty boring, but on the 30th, we headed out into the ocean. We stayed inside the reef at a place called the lagoon. SCUBA diving is like sinking into a whole other world you didn't know existed, a dream world which seems so colorful and fantastic it can't be real. When you come up from the dive, it is like waking up back into the real world again, and all you want to do is dive again.
The 30th and 31st were spent on training dives in the lagoon, but the 1st of August we headed out of the reef to Makanda. This dive spot is about 30 meters deep and is on the outside edge of the Zanzibari reef. We descended into a place unlike any I had ever seen. I have never dove that deep before, so this was a new experience again. Being much darker, things come out of nowhere at you. You are drifting along and all of a sudden, a wall of coral or a school of fish comes right up in front of you. There are also the hidden things you only see if you pay attention, the lionfish, the sea snakes, and the sting rays hiding beneath the rocks (I saw all three on this dive).
We dove a second time at another site not far away. Between the dives was about an hour of letting the excess nitrogen escape our blood, and being in the open sea was not good for many of us. I got a little seasick, but after it "passes" you feel much better. We reviewed the procedures for vomitting underwater and headed back into the water for another amazing dive. This time we could faintly hear dolphins, but we never saw them. With their vision and sonar, they probably saw us coming from a long way off and were gone long before we could see them.
Diving was fantastic, and a great break from studying and traveling. My final for the course was taken while sipping a mojito on the beach, which I find to be the recommended way for taking any final exam in the future. Yesterday, I left the coast and came back to Stone Town. I stayed in the same hostel last night and I am just about to leave for the airport now. I am flying to Nairobi this afternoon and meeting up with the EcoTraining group tomorrow morning.
I will spend the month of August at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy North of Nairobi. I appologize, but I will be without internet access from tomorrow until August 31st. I will not be posting on the blog and I will not be returning any emails. I know many of you rely on my for your daily entertainment, but where there is no electricity, the internet cannot go. I believe I will be able to make an occasional phone call, so I may be able to check in with my parents, so if you are desperate to know my whereabouts and condition, talk to them and they might know. Otherwise, I am planning to post as soon as I return to Nairobi on the 31st or the 1st of September.
Enjoy the remainder of your summer, have a great beginning of a new school year. I will talk to you all in a month.
God Bless
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