Hi, everyone! Welcome back to my blog...with thanks to David Butler for suggesting it and Kathi and team for doing all the editing, uploading and persevering through my sporadic wifi connections. Maybe someday I'll travel somewhere that has uninterrupted electricity and internet connections, ya think?!
I write to you from Uganda!
Specifically: I am at the headwaters of the Nile! And am relaxing in the cool breeze off Lake Victoria, which - indeed - is considered the source of the Nile! Among fresh water lakes, only Lake Superior outsizes it.
If you've read my other blogs, you know I try not to write a travelogue. I don't think you really want to know where I slept or what I ate. I usually try to share a sense of place and experiences and learnings that open my eyes to our big - and not so big - world.
I am in Uganda to trek with gorillas. This is more a scenic and wildlife trip than some others I've done. I realize many of you have been lucky enough to journey on some amazing safaris, so will try to limit my Ellie pics. But hopefully there will be many of our primate relatives!!
A bit about Uganda:
I landed in Entebbe on July 4. A special day in the U. S. But also the 41st anniversary of the raid on Entebbe when, you may remember, Israel carried out a successful hostage rescue mission of an Air France flight carrying 200+ passengers which had been hijacked by the PLO seeking exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in various countries. Then Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, supported the hijackers. (Amin was overthrown in 1979 and lived in exile in Saudi Arabia until his death in 2003.)
Uganda is considered a fairly safe, secure and politically stable country. However, as in other sub-Saharan countries, high rates of poverty and unemployment are significant issues in the major cities of Kampala (capital) and Entebbe, especially among the young. With rapid population growth, three-quarters of the population is under 30 (youngest median age in the world!), so you see the challenge. Exacerbating this situation is the porous northern border Uganda shares with South Sudan, resulting in a large refugee population. Thus, there are armed guards, a walk thru metal detector and under car bomb scanners at this hotel near the airport.
Janice Lamattina
Uganda Security
A brief walk through botanical gardens today turned up a beautiful (I know, odd thought) termite mound and a cute little colobus monkey. Primate #1 of the trip. The babies are all white!
1 of 2
Janice Lamattina
Beautiful termite mound
2 of 2
Janice Lamattina
Colobus monkey
Tomorrow we head West to Kibale, near the Congo border, for two days trekking in an area with the highest density of primates in Africa.
No wifi. No electricity. (Meaning: no hair dryer!)
Until then...
Janice
