I would like to make an amendment to my previous blog post titled: “Pink Bicycle: (unfortunately lacking a clever/cute name)”, and say that my friend Heather in New York City has helped me greatly with a name for my bicycle. I now christen her, Esther.
My newest and latest African Bike creation has finally arrived. Although not exactly as I would have it if I had 7 bike shops with all of the goodies I could imagine, it works really well here. I purchased the frame here and quickly had all of the gears off and the rear wheel re-built as a single speed for minimal technical difficulties in the African bush and maximum pedal power along the rolling hills in the area. I had the crank set and pedals from previously attempting to build a bike; these replaced some plastic pedals and a bio-pace crank set that just had to go. I also removed the clunky old saddle and replaced it with a more classic Brooks that I had from a previous build as well. All in all, it is a great beater for riding around the dusty, muddy, dirt roads of the village but is much lighter and more maneuverable than the clunky ‘Hero’ or ‘Jupiter’ which is the standard in Uganda. If I had my way, I would walk to the local bike shop and purchase a stylish new stem coupled with chopped-off straight handle bars creating less of a mountain bike look while still retaining its durability and functionality in my current setting. Alas, I can’t just go shopping for the things I need, so I make due and ride it everywhere anyways. All in all, I’m really happy with it thus far; although I name all of my bicycles and I can’t seem to think of an appropriate name for this one. Any suggestions are welcome.
To celebrate one year at site, some close friends and neighbors of mine had a pork-only barbeque. Chef Brad was on duty and we created a colossal feast of pork and roasted vegetables. Here are some images from the festivities!
Part birthday celebration, part a long weekend journey, about 10 volunteers and I ventured far across the country toward Kabale, located in the southwestern part of Uganda. Our adventure, titled “Canoe Trekking” on the official brochure was all the information we had to gauge what we were in for. Beginning in Kampala, all of us eager and excited for a break from site along some fun, we anxiously boarded the very dilapidated bus headed for Kabale. The bus, very typical for African transportation, was run down to say the least. Finally aboard the bus, sitting in the very rear to allow enough seats for about 7 of us, we were practically asphyxiated. In the bus park, common practice for the vehicles is to idle their engines for up to several hours. With the buses parked so closely together, this creates a steady flow of exhaust, which billows in through the windows, which are almost always open to combat the increasing heat of the day. With gasoline very scarce in this country and Africans not wasting one precious drop of it, the only reason I can think of that these busses would idle for upwards of hours, is to trick people into their impending departure, convincing people that they must hurry and sit, before they miss their chance to leave. This leaves the passengers sitting in their seats, anxious to leave, and inhaling enough carbon monoxide to kill a horse. When we finally leave, about 2 hours later and 30 passengers over capacity, we are all sufficiently lightheaded and slightly delirious. We were all excited to be on our way, ready to chip away at the ‘6-hour’ bus ride ahead of us, when we hit horrifying traffic. For no apparent reason, traffic leaving Kampala was stop and go for about 2 hours, increasing frustration until in one magic minute, we were flying down the road at what seemed like 100KM/hr. Finally, we were on our way.
With all of the delays, we arrived in Kabale 9 hours after our departure from Kampala; this is only a three-hour increase on the expected travel time of 6 hours; this kind of thing was expected by all of us after living in Africa for over a year. We arrived, ate and immediately curled up and went to sleep in what turned out to be a very clean and friendly hostel called Edirisa. Also, I had luckily gone shopping for a few warm pieces of clothing because the weather was significantly cooler here than most of the rest of Uganda. Upon waking up the next morning, we were ready to begin our trek. Our itinerary was as follows:
Day One:
Paddling began at 10AM at an altitude of 1950 metres. Our first stop was the island of Bushara, where Bushara Island Camp is located. Bushara Island Camp evolved in response to the needs of the people of Lake Bunyonyi. Bushara is one arm of a non-profit organization called the Lake Bunyonyi Development Company. Profits from the campground assist local communities around the lake through projects such as orphan care, agro forestry, micro-loans, school scholarships, and other activities. We then visited Bwama Island and canoed past Punishment Island. Punishment Island was once intended for women who got pregnant out of wed-lock, these sinful women were rowed out to Punishment Island and left to die; unless an otherwise unlucky in love man came and picked them up, making her his wife. Although Punishment Island is all but flooded, with little standing ground available now, we got the point. After paddling for several hours, most of which was in the rain, we reached a very friendly families house where tents were pitched and dinner served.
Day Two:
Day two was all hiking. We hiked the steep slopes of Karembe Hill (2487 meters) and had a breathtaking and vast view of Bunyonyi. From the top, we also had a view of Muhavura, a volcano shared by Rwanda and Uganda. After a picnic lunch and gradual descent, our dugout canoes (made of giant Eucalyptus trees which have been hollowed out by hand) were waiting for us. We were exhausted and thirsty after about 8 hours of hiking, most of which was in the sun. We were all looking forward to a hearty Ugandan meal which we received from our host family on Habukomi Island.
Day Three:
We paddled to Upside Down Island, named for a legend that the island was actually flipped all the way upside down by a woman who was refused the privilege of drinking local brew with the men of the area. After flipping the landmass, she then claimed the island as her own. We ended on Nature’s Prime Island with a great meal and a much-deserved rest in the sunny afternoon.
It was certainly successful birthday and long weekend away from site. The natural elements Uganda has to offer are abundant and need even more exploration while I am here. Next stop, Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya.
Before beginning the Bee Keeping Workshop that I attended with my counterpart this past week, I had a mixture of feelings. First, I was excited. Excited that immediately after this training, with the generous help of friends and family back home, Earnesta Child & Youth Development Project would be able to start bee keeping as an income-generating project. Secondly, I was frightened, I mean, the only prior experience I had with bees was at age 10 when my neighbor threw a piece of plywood over a bee hive in the backyard and the bees swarmed after all of us. Most of the neighborhood kids ran, but my best friend told me that if we just stood still, they wouldn’t bother us. This, of course, was false and we were both stung numerous times. Thirdly, I was optimistic. Optimistic partly out of necessity to mask my fear to my counterpart (for I wanted to appear confident that our decision to start bee keeping as an income-generating project was a good one) and partly due to the excitement of starting something wholly fresh to my experiences thus far. When Peter, our musomesya (teacher) first began speaking on Monday morning, I knew this was a great idea. Peter, who has been working with bees for over 20 years, was both enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable on the subject of bee keeping, especially in local methods of farming. The first day of training was mostly theory, a brief history of bee keeping, personal experiences with bees and why bee keeping is a sustainable and practical project for individuals to undertake here in Africa. Days two and three quickly moved into practice. Because bee keeping is such a hands on skill, we went into the field where we were working directly with the bees. Soon we were in bee suits, transferring entire colonies from old tree stumps into our apiary, climbing trees to fetch colonies suspended in the canopy, and learning how to rear queens to produce more productive hives. The bees themselves are not to fear if you can manage them properly. While all of the students were protected, our teacher was confident and able to work with the bees without a suit. He was able to predict their next move and was able to explain to us why the bees were acting as they did. I was amazed at his comfort and ease while managing an entire swarm of bees. A few of the pictures shown below depict the tree stump that we opened. First, we smoked the bees out and took the combs (unfortunately there was no honey) and secondly, we transferred the queen to our catch box, wherein, immediately, all of the drones and workers swarmed in after here. We were able to transport the catch box to our apiary, and place the bees inside our hive, therein creating the beginnings of our bee keeping careers. I haven’t been stung yet, but I know that will come soon.
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