I have been seriously neglectful. It's been a logistical nightmare with my car being out of commission. We're making it work but not without a lot of cussing and hairpulling on my part. This is stuff you probably don't want to hear about unless I have a few beers in me to entertain you with the stories. =) At any rate, I finish by this Saturday. . .or Sunday. . .or Monday depending on how this rescheduling thing goes. I am so ready to get away from these car troubles! Next week! I'll be bussing it to Kampala on Tuesday--get to meet with the country director of Peace Corps and do some last minute shopping and then I get the pleasure of a long flight home. Will try to update once or twice more before leaving. I'll post pictures when I get home!
Can't wait to see many of you! =)
Oh we saw chimps on Sunday! It was pretty cool! =)
09 July, 2008
02 July, 2008
Rwenzori Road Trip
Ok, I don’t really know how this became the way it turned out but somehow I survived climbing a damn mountain—part of the Mountains of the Moon or the Rwenzoris. Aerin, Colin, Melissa and I initially wanted to do a road trip to a park none of us had ever seen. Going to Queen again would have been cool and perhaps going all the way down to see the Ishasha lions—of course that would have been awesome. Maybe next year. None of us had ever gone to Semiliki. So I called up Richard Tooro who runs Kabarole Tours and wanted a deal on seeing Semiliki and the pygmy group there. Somehow, we not only got Semiliki but we also got to trek the Rwenzoris. Being a Florida girl and not having been in the mountains really since 2000, this was not a good idea. I wasn’t ready. Had no training but somehow decided that I could hang with my mountain folk friends (all who reside in Colorado, Alaska, one of those Canadian provinces). The damn trek was 25km! I felt like an old hag lagging behind. I had to stop and catch my breath going up. I recover fast which is good but damn some of those places were steep! The scenery is beautiful but you are actually only in the park for about 6km or so, the rest is going through villages to get there. This is the footpath that people from Bundibudjo (the last town before DRC) take to sell their goods everyday because it’s cheaper than taking transport to Fort Portal. They do this in bare feet, so I feel like a total loser when I’m huffing and puffing to get up these inclines. The forest does change though. We walked through a bamboo forest which was really cool and nice. I think we got up to 2500 meters or so. Then the descent was brutal. You would think that you would prefer going down. I just prefer flat and a helicopter to come get my ass. Down is fine until your big toes have had enough jamming up against your shoes. Your quad muscles shake like hell and you think you’ve eaten enough bananas to stop but it doesn’t work. Over halfway down, I thought I would lose it, the pain was so bad on my toes. I have bruises underneath my toenails from it. I’ve never been so happy to see a vehicle in my life! I was in tears—the cuticles of my big toes burn like hell but the pounding has pretty much stopped.
When we finally got off the mountain, they took us into Bundibudjo to the Vanilla Hotel—which is a hotel built by farmers. It’s supposed to be the best in town. They have self-contained rooms which are tiny but definitely doable. They did have flushing toilets and a shower though it was cold water. I didn’t care at this point, I was so sweaty, I could handle the cold shower. We got cleaned up and ordered beers (cold ones!) and food. You would think that if a menu only has about 5 items then it would be difficult to screw up the order and bring out on time. WRONG! We asked for 4 rice, 4 beans, 3 chickens, and 1 beef. Over an hour and half go by and no food. I’m getting irritated. We were all getting irritated. I tried to let the manager know. Then they bring out food but it wasn’t what we ordered. We didn’t want matoke! They said we ordered it and we argued about it and finally got what we asked for. The others ordered the chicken which they said had to be old chicken because it was so tough. My beef was mostly fat but what could you do? Then Scott called and I went back to my room to talk to him and to pass out.
The next morning we got up for breakfast. We asked for fruit and juice; they said they didn’t have any. We asked for African tea and percolated coffee. We got hot water and Nescafe. Finally got the tea right. They said they had omelets so we ordered them. She came back with bread and 2 boiled eggs. I asked if this was an omelets. She looked at me like, “No bitch, it’s an f’ing boiled egg.” She told us it was a boiled egg but then we told her again that we wanted an omelet. So she took the eggs back. She came back with 4 fried eggs. Then somehow they found bananas and passion fruit juice (mind you we were in the area of the country with the BEST fruits!). After that debacle, Melissa told us that she had ants in her bed and couldn’t sleep all night. We told Moses our driver about it and the assistant manager or whoever was like, “When you come back, I will be the only one to serve you.” It was difficult to keep my mouth closed and say Lady, we’re never coming back. I’m sure it’s a decent hotel for where it is but we were so tired and our patience was not thick.
Then we set off for Semiliki National Park. On the way there, there was a Batwa Pygmy Village. They are more likely Bambuti but for whatever reason, they had signs for the Batwas. They are a hunter-gatherer group that was pushed out of the forest when it was gazetted. The European Union bought them land and looked like they were doing some agricultural work but not much else. They could do some cultural tourism. It’s pretty damn intimidating. They great you very nicely, pull out seats for you and then surround you shoving crafts in your face. Then there is a viewing fee that is bartered. You know these people are seriously poor so you don’t want to bargain down too much. The viewing fee included a dance and a house viewing (in the forest they would only have temporary shelter). The dancing was awful—it didn’t look authentic, just a bunch up people moving in a circle smoking blunts (huge blunts!). It was sad and we all felt dirty for visiting. I think it would be a great potential for tourism in the cultural sense but it has to be worked out better than what is going on now. It’s terrible and sad. But I am glad that I was able to see how seriously marginalized these people are. It’s seriously hard to put it into words.
Then we went on to Semiliki NP. We hiked again but this time it was flat. We visited the hot springs which are so hot you can’t go in them. This is definitely the jungle I had pictured and it was quite cool to go and visit. At lunch, Moses and our guide, Arthur, boiled our lunch in the hot springs. The boiled eggs, matoke, and potatoes and cut up these beautiful tomatoes and the sweetest pineapple and avocados. It was the best lunch ever! Then we headed back home.
I’m very glad that I hiked the mountain and that I got to see two national parks. Would I do it again? Probably not unless by some warped sense of humor I become a hiking fanatic. Scott wants me to go hiking but I think I should start small—with flat and work my way up to higher inclines. My legs are paying the price now but they should be better by the end of the week I hope.
Tuesday, Erimos and I needed to head to town to get some things before heading to Bigodi for our interviews. Suzy wouldn’t start. What a pain in the ass! Had to get her pushed to start. Then she wouldn’t start up at the gas station but Edward the Mechanic got his boys to meet us and fix a loose connection. It worked fine the rest of the day but we were late to our meetings—it wasn’t the worst that could happen. We just got home late. Erimos doesn’t seem well so I hope that he will be able to work tomorrow but I stressed to him that if he didn’t feel well, then we will do these interviews another time. It could wait.
And I think I have another damn mango fly! How?!?!?! It hasn’t been raining! It’s on my upper arm but I can’t find the hole but it’s swollen up and hot like the other ones. Aerin is excited. She said that I would have to grow it for a while and then we would have a public extraction. Can’t wait. It’s got a very limited time to grow if that is indeed what it is. I’m not bringing it home. Sorry. Will let you know how it turns out.
Got to run and do some work! =)
When we finally got off the mountain, they took us into Bundibudjo to the Vanilla Hotel—which is a hotel built by farmers. It’s supposed to be the best in town. They have self-contained rooms which are tiny but definitely doable. They did have flushing toilets and a shower though it was cold water. I didn’t care at this point, I was so sweaty, I could handle the cold shower. We got cleaned up and ordered beers (cold ones!) and food. You would think that if a menu only has about 5 items then it would be difficult to screw up the order and bring out on time. WRONG! We asked for 4 rice, 4 beans, 3 chickens, and 1 beef. Over an hour and half go by and no food. I’m getting irritated. We were all getting irritated. I tried to let the manager know. Then they bring out food but it wasn’t what we ordered. We didn’t want matoke! They said we ordered it and we argued about it and finally got what we asked for. The others ordered the chicken which they said had to be old chicken because it was so tough. My beef was mostly fat but what could you do? Then Scott called and I went back to my room to talk to him and to pass out.
The next morning we got up for breakfast. We asked for fruit and juice; they said they didn’t have any. We asked for African tea and percolated coffee. We got hot water and Nescafe. Finally got the tea right. They said they had omelets so we ordered them. She came back with bread and 2 boiled eggs. I asked if this was an omelets. She looked at me like, “No bitch, it’s an f’ing boiled egg.” She told us it was a boiled egg but then we told her again that we wanted an omelet. So she took the eggs back. She came back with 4 fried eggs. Then somehow they found bananas and passion fruit juice (mind you we were in the area of the country with the BEST fruits!). After that debacle, Melissa told us that she had ants in her bed and couldn’t sleep all night. We told Moses our driver about it and the assistant manager or whoever was like, “When you come back, I will be the only one to serve you.” It was difficult to keep my mouth closed and say Lady, we’re never coming back. I’m sure it’s a decent hotel for where it is but we were so tired and our patience was not thick.
Then we set off for Semiliki National Park. On the way there, there was a Batwa Pygmy Village. They are more likely Bambuti but for whatever reason, they had signs for the Batwas. They are a hunter-gatherer group that was pushed out of the forest when it was gazetted. The European Union bought them land and looked like they were doing some agricultural work but not much else. They could do some cultural tourism. It’s pretty damn intimidating. They great you very nicely, pull out seats for you and then surround you shoving crafts in your face. Then there is a viewing fee that is bartered. You know these people are seriously poor so you don’t want to bargain down too much. The viewing fee included a dance and a house viewing (in the forest they would only have temporary shelter). The dancing was awful—it didn’t look authentic, just a bunch up people moving in a circle smoking blunts (huge blunts!). It was sad and we all felt dirty for visiting. I think it would be a great potential for tourism in the cultural sense but it has to be worked out better than what is going on now. It’s terrible and sad. But I am glad that I was able to see how seriously marginalized these people are. It’s seriously hard to put it into words.
Then we went on to Semiliki NP. We hiked again but this time it was flat. We visited the hot springs which are so hot you can’t go in them. This is definitely the jungle I had pictured and it was quite cool to go and visit. At lunch, Moses and our guide, Arthur, boiled our lunch in the hot springs. The boiled eggs, matoke, and potatoes and cut up these beautiful tomatoes and the sweetest pineapple and avocados. It was the best lunch ever! Then we headed back home.
I’m very glad that I hiked the mountain and that I got to see two national parks. Would I do it again? Probably not unless by some warped sense of humor I become a hiking fanatic. Scott wants me to go hiking but I think I should start small—with flat and work my way up to higher inclines. My legs are paying the price now but they should be better by the end of the week I hope.
Tuesday, Erimos and I needed to head to town to get some things before heading to Bigodi for our interviews. Suzy wouldn’t start. What a pain in the ass! Had to get her pushed to start. Then she wouldn’t start up at the gas station but Edward the Mechanic got his boys to meet us and fix a loose connection. It worked fine the rest of the day but we were late to our meetings—it wasn’t the worst that could happen. We just got home late. Erimos doesn’t seem well so I hope that he will be able to work tomorrow but I stressed to him that if he didn’t feel well, then we will do these interviews another time. It could wait.
And I think I have another damn mango fly! How?!?!?! It hasn’t been raining! It’s on my upper arm but I can’t find the hole but it’s swollen up and hot like the other ones. Aerin is excited. She said that I would have to grow it for a while and then we would have a public extraction. Can’t wait. It’s got a very limited time to grow if that is indeed what it is. I’m not bringing it home. Sorry. Will let you know how it turns out.
Got to run and do some work! =)
Dancing with the Women
I’m not sure I could have a more perfect day for research. My arms are going to be huge from the car’s non-power steering. It drives. . .that’s all that counts right now. I can get from point A to point B and get this all done.
Abe called this morning—still jetlagged and up at 2:30 am. Our printer is basically broken. It needs the “ink service module” replaced—like I’m going to find that in Africa! He called to tell me that it would be about $200 to replace. I guess people get new printers before then. But ours isn’t that old. I guess other people don’t print as many pictures as we do. So it looks like we will be printing these bad boys off from the US and sending them back and give Erimos a few more days of work returning them. I wish I would be with him to see their faces.
So you must be asking, why was this such a perfect day for research? Well, I thought it wasn’t going to be great. I didn’t get the best interview out of a lodge that I thought would be pretty promising yesterday and I was expecting the same from this one. They don’t get many tourists at all but it’s beautiful. I also thought they would have forgotten that I was coming. Further, I thought I would hear more from the manager/guide who really just annoys the hell out of me. And I didn’t think he would have the women’s group organized. Boy was I wrong.
The owner did most of the talking—taking time out of his busy schedule to do so. He talked for about 1 ½ hours and gave me some interesting insight on issues with tourism—apparently it’s not all roses, which I appreciate. He had some good ideas too and I enjoyed hearing him talk about Amin’s time and his views on tourism. A very insightful interview. Then we started talking personal and I showed him a picture of Scott. He asked me why I chose to be with a giant. I just laughed. He said he understood why I would be interested in someone so strong. Then he asked when we were both moving to Uganda. Some people never give up on this idea. . .
Erimos and I had our lunch. The place is quiet and beautiful—and with flushing toilets (a total surprise!). Then I saw the parade of women coming. We started getting their information—the demographics and there were some men in the group because it wasn’t actually a basket group but an orphan and widow’s care group. The women just happen to be the ones making the baskets. There were several women over 60. I swear some of them look like they are in their 40s. Many of them had over 7 children. One woman there was 82! The interview was informative but the fun was about to start. We got them out for pictures and they were laughing at me for asking them to smile. They thought it was great. Then they said they wouldn’t be complete without having me in the picture with them. So we did that. Then Erimos translated that I had a small gift for them and I hope that they would take it in thanks for spending time with me. We passed out the soap and they were SO THANKFUL! They were smiling and blessing me. They were so lovely! Then they decided to sing for me. This also meant dancing! Since most of them were Bakiga, they did the traditional women’s dance. It’s my favorite! You can’t help but move. The song is haunting but happy and inviting. They have this choreographed stomp and jumping move they do and it’s so happy! They continued to sing and dance and I took pictures and then I just couldn’t help myself, I jumped right in! I had no idea what I was doing and I knew I was making a complete fool of myself but it felt good to jump around with these women yelling encouragement and jumping and dancing around me. It sounds dumb but I felt like I belonged. Erimos was laughing his ass off at me. I loved it!
After that, the 82 year old woman came up to me and gave this bear hug—she was so strong! I had no idea what she said but I know she loved me. We said our goodbyes and as we were leaving she came up to me and gave me this mat that she made. It’s beautiful! I couldn’t believe it—all her hard work and this is her only source of income and she gave it to me. What do you do? Then the chairperson came up and gave me a millet basket. I love it! I am so lucky to get to do this kind of research. I get to talk to these women who work so hard for so little and care for large families, some who are not their own. They care about these children and want the best for them. Who am I to get to share a little bit of their world? I’m surrounded by people doing really scientific research that spits out lots of quantitative data. But I get to talk to people. My data reacts and smiles and laughs and I couldn’t ask for anything better.
I never thought I would be one to really enjoy this gender type research but I’m liking it. I love talking to these women. Research on basket making hasn’t been done in this area—at least that we are aware of. Everyone has been forthcoming with information and we hope that it continues. I can definitely get used to hanging out with the ladies all the time—it’s way too much fun. No one should have this much fun doing research or work! In fact I think I have a little too much fun. Aerin and Colin are going out with me tomorrow to check out some women’s groups, the king’s tombs (which we aren’t sure are receiving tourists or not), the king’s palace and we have an interview with another women’s group. Melissa, my new neighbor, is going out with me on Saturday. I would never have dreamed that I’d be doing something that others are interested in.
Because of the issues with the car and time running out, we won’t be able to bring back any of the information that we’ve collected. I hope to come back next year and do that though. I owe it to them.
On Sunday, Aerin, Colin, Melissa, and I are heading to Semiliki. We’re going with Kabarole Tours (one of my informants). We’re going to the game reserve, the national park and staying the night. We’re also going to visit a Bambuti village (one of the pygmy groups). Richard gave us a serious discount though he’ll still make plenty of money on us. We’ll be back on Monday. Then the following Sunday we are going to go chimp trekking. I figure that if I’m studying tourism, then I should be a tourist once in a while. That should be fun and cool.
Well, I do have to get up early. I hope all is well. Can’t believe I have just over 2 weeks left to get my interviews done and then it’s packing and heading to Kampala. Wow. This is nuts! I’ll see many of you before you know it!
Abe called this morning—still jetlagged and up at 2:30 am. Our printer is basically broken. It needs the “ink service module” replaced—like I’m going to find that in Africa! He called to tell me that it would be about $200 to replace. I guess people get new printers before then. But ours isn’t that old. I guess other people don’t print as many pictures as we do. So it looks like we will be printing these bad boys off from the US and sending them back and give Erimos a few more days of work returning them. I wish I would be with him to see their faces.
So you must be asking, why was this such a perfect day for research? Well, I thought it wasn’t going to be great. I didn’t get the best interview out of a lodge that I thought would be pretty promising yesterday and I was expecting the same from this one. They don’t get many tourists at all but it’s beautiful. I also thought they would have forgotten that I was coming. Further, I thought I would hear more from the manager/guide who really just annoys the hell out of me. And I didn’t think he would have the women’s group organized. Boy was I wrong.
The owner did most of the talking—taking time out of his busy schedule to do so. He talked for about 1 ½ hours and gave me some interesting insight on issues with tourism—apparently it’s not all roses, which I appreciate. He had some good ideas too and I enjoyed hearing him talk about Amin’s time and his views on tourism. A very insightful interview. Then we started talking personal and I showed him a picture of Scott. He asked me why I chose to be with a giant. I just laughed. He said he understood why I would be interested in someone so strong. Then he asked when we were both moving to Uganda. Some people never give up on this idea. . .
Erimos and I had our lunch. The place is quiet and beautiful—and with flushing toilets (a total surprise!). Then I saw the parade of women coming. We started getting their information—the demographics and there were some men in the group because it wasn’t actually a basket group but an orphan and widow’s care group. The women just happen to be the ones making the baskets. There were several women over 60. I swear some of them look like they are in their 40s. Many of them had over 7 children. One woman there was 82! The interview was informative but the fun was about to start. We got them out for pictures and they were laughing at me for asking them to smile. They thought it was great. Then they said they wouldn’t be complete without having me in the picture with them. So we did that. Then Erimos translated that I had a small gift for them and I hope that they would take it in thanks for spending time with me. We passed out the soap and they were SO THANKFUL! They were smiling and blessing me. They were so lovely! Then they decided to sing for me. This also meant dancing! Since most of them were Bakiga, they did the traditional women’s dance. It’s my favorite! You can’t help but move. The song is haunting but happy and inviting. They have this choreographed stomp and jumping move they do and it’s so happy! They continued to sing and dance and I took pictures and then I just couldn’t help myself, I jumped right in! I had no idea what I was doing and I knew I was making a complete fool of myself but it felt good to jump around with these women yelling encouragement and jumping and dancing around me. It sounds dumb but I felt like I belonged. Erimos was laughing his ass off at me. I loved it!
After that, the 82 year old woman came up to me and gave this bear hug—she was so strong! I had no idea what she said but I know she loved me. We said our goodbyes and as we were leaving she came up to me and gave me this mat that she made. It’s beautiful! I couldn’t believe it—all her hard work and this is her only source of income and she gave it to me. What do you do? Then the chairperson came up and gave me a millet basket. I love it! I am so lucky to get to do this kind of research. I get to talk to these women who work so hard for so little and care for large families, some who are not their own. They care about these children and want the best for them. Who am I to get to share a little bit of their world? I’m surrounded by people doing really scientific research that spits out lots of quantitative data. But I get to talk to people. My data reacts and smiles and laughs and I couldn’t ask for anything better.
I never thought I would be one to really enjoy this gender type research but I’m liking it. I love talking to these women. Research on basket making hasn’t been done in this area—at least that we are aware of. Everyone has been forthcoming with information and we hope that it continues. I can definitely get used to hanging out with the ladies all the time—it’s way too much fun. No one should have this much fun doing research or work! In fact I think I have a little too much fun. Aerin and Colin are going out with me tomorrow to check out some women’s groups, the king’s tombs (which we aren’t sure are receiving tourists or not), the king’s palace and we have an interview with another women’s group. Melissa, my new neighbor, is going out with me on Saturday. I would never have dreamed that I’d be doing something that others are interested in.
Because of the issues with the car and time running out, we won’t be able to bring back any of the information that we’ve collected. I hope to come back next year and do that though. I owe it to them.
On Sunday, Aerin, Colin, Melissa, and I are heading to Semiliki. We’re going with Kabarole Tours (one of my informants). We’re going to the game reserve, the national park and staying the night. We’re also going to visit a Bambuti village (one of the pygmy groups). Richard gave us a serious discount though he’ll still make plenty of money on us. We’ll be back on Monday. Then the following Sunday we are going to go chimp trekking. I figure that if I’m studying tourism, then I should be a tourist once in a while. That should be fun and cool.
Well, I do have to get up early. I hope all is well. Can’t believe I have just over 2 weeks left to get my interviews done and then it’s packing and heading to Kampala. Wow. This is nuts! I’ll see many of you before you know it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
