Time goes by

It's hard to believe, but my time here in Uganda is actually coming to a close. I am now in my final two weeks of this three month adventure, and it's just starting to get really interesting! Hah, no, of course the whole experience has been interesting, but our work on the Kitaka Mine has just started to progress really quickly in the last week.

Another couple of pictures from our visit to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, the first is one of the hyenas and the other is Barb and I with a shoebill. What an amazing bird! We entered the enclosure and our guide called him, and this huge bird flew right over to us and landed right beside me. It's quite a social animal, and was apparently gesturing to us and looking for the appropriate response. He would drop his head in a bow, and wiggle it back and forth - like shaking your head 'no' while bent over. We were instructed to repeat the gesture, in order to indicate that we were friendly, and to avoid getting nipped in the arm with that large beak!

As for our work at the mine, it looks like I'll be leaving just as the production work gets underway. We've partnered with a group of Chinese investors who were brought on board by our Ugandan backer, and they are interested in moving very quickly on the project. So far it seems that our interests are aligned, as far as the social and environmental responsibility components are concerned, but we will have to see how things go to be sure. Mining is a high-risk enterprise, and things can change quickly. Hopefully the future of the Kitaka mine is as positive and beneficial for the community and the area as the initial planning and development have been.

Animals!

This pic is from a spot along the road from Kampala to Mbarara, on our way out to the mine camp. Apparently the area is renowned for the quality of the meat - we picked up 5 kilos of beef before heading on, at a price of 5000 shillings a kilo (about 2 dollars). You can see a couple of very large birds on the roof, known as the garbage pile birds.

On Barb's final day here in Uganda, we visited the Wildlife Education Centre. A nice thing about knowing locals is that you get the chance to experience things that most tourists might not get to.

Chimps are pretty amazing creatures - they have some great facial expressions. Looking into the eyes of the chimps here was a really wonderful experience. You realize just how closely related we are when you watch their behaviour and look into their eyes. We came across a shirt here in a tourist shop recently that seems appropriate, it simply says '98.7% Chimp' across the front. Heh.

We were excited to get to see this baby elephant that was brought in recently to the Centre. Elephants are very social animals and it's usually not a very good idea to keep them alone, but this baby had been abandoned and was rescued from drowning in Lake Victoria just a few weeks before we visited. It had a few injuries and it seems like it's getting very good care. Hopefully when it gets better it will be returned to a group of other elephants.

Rhino! We've seen a rhinoceros before, but it's still stunning to be so close to such an amazing creature. The keeper called this one over, and we got to pet the horn and scratch his hide a bit... very rough to touch! The keeper was using the sole of his boot to give him a rubdown.

Mini-vacation in Ethiopia

Barb and I managed to get away from Uganda for a few days to visit our friends Kevina and Njoroge in Addis Ababa. We had a great visit, a nice mix of relaxing and getting out to see a bit of the country. This stone carving was along the road out of Addis, as we were driving to see part of the Great Rift Valley.

There's all sorts of things along the road, including these women herding a few donkeys - or rather, running to keep up with the trotting donkeys!

There's lots of ways to transport goods - we saw a few of these makeshift carts along the way.

We had lots of fun getting to know Kevina and Njoro's little girl Isla - a bundle of energy! She is full of life and loves to laugh and try new things. This is her first time painting - a natural talent, I think!

We got out of Addis for an afternoon to have lunch at a little place on the edge of the Great Rift Valley, about 100 km out of the city. We walked along a short path to a small bridge, built by Portuguese soldiers in the 1600's, and got some great shots on the edge of a stunning valley.

After 5 days it was time to go home, and now Barb and I are back in Entebbe. Ethiopia has a very different feel to Uganda, I'm really glad we got a chance to experience a different part of Africa. However I've been told that Ethiopians don't really identify as African, they generally consider themselves unique among Africans. They are very proud of their culture and heritage.