Ugan-dependence Day

On October 9, 1962, the Ugandan people threw off the yokes of tyranny and declared their independence from their British overlords.  This was probably due to the fact that, though they'd come to terms with it, the Ugandans were very angry with the British for teaching them how to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Fifty-two years later and I think still upset that they have to shift with their left hands and make right-hand turns across traffic, Ugandans perform their independence rituals of dancing, parades, and of course, elaborate programs at all of the local preschools. Some of you may remember my lovely wife's off-off-off-off- Broadway debut a few years ago. Now our eldest daughter recently took to the stage in Kissyfur's latest production celebrating Ugandan independence and the United Nations.

The program began with the children filing into the performance area grouped by country, not unlike the grand opening of the Olympic Games. Due to the mass of parents and children, it actually took some time for me to recognize what was going on and that, unfortunately,  I arrived after Tepper and her two fellow Americans 'paraded' into the coliseum.  Rest assured, I'm certain she did a great job and didn't trip.   By the time I did locate her, I had to contend with other parents to get a good camera angle, and it was not too different from this.

Despite the mania, I was able to get a few shots of Tepper's performance for her grandparents and the rest of her fan club. However, before I get to her videos and photos, I would like to apologize for the poor video quality.  I had only a semi-operating iPhone camera to work with. Furthermore, the program was cut short by a torrential downpour (we are in the rainy season for another 2 months or so), so I didn't have a lot of material to work with. To my chagrin, Laura informed me that when she dropped off Tepper at school this morning,  that there was an enterprising parent selling videos of the performance. But I'll wait until I can buy the pirated version at the local video store.

Opening Ceremonies

Proudly waving the American colors and obviously not trying to focus on the kid with the 'binky'

 

Tepper finally sees me in the crowd, twenty minutes after the start of the program

Unfortunately, shortly after this last video, the sky opened up with one of the heaviest rain storms I've seen since we've been here. The program was cut short, the kids were ushered inside, and the parents were left to soak, unless they wanted to stay and eat some wet cake. Of course, despite already being soaked, I passed. The cake wasn't chocolate and I needed to go backstage to congratulate the star of the show.

In another highlight from Ugandan National Day, during his annual address to the nation, President Yoweri Museveni asked Ugandans to cease shaking hands due to Ebola and now Marburg.  It's a good thing we taught Tepper to fist bump from an early age.  We're actually heartened that we're living in Uganda during this outbreak, because Uganda has been successful dealing with past Ebola and Marburg events.  Most Ugandans also seem to have a better sense of geography than most Americans, and realize that the distance between West Africa to East Africa is greater than the distance between the West and East Coasts of the United States.  We hear that folks in Maine are asking people who've ever been to Dallas, ever in their lives, to self-quarantine.  Common sense prevails, here, fortunately - at least in this instance.

Zoo - Ganda

For my birthday this year (Yes, I turned the big 4-0 and yes, thank you, I’m sure my parents feel very old), our plan was to visit one of the more popular, i.e. touristy, spots in Uganda, the “source” of the Nile River near Jinja – about 90km to the east.  I use quotes around the word source since the point of the actual source is somewhat disputed.  While many generally accept Lake Victoria as the source, rivers from Rwanda and Burundi do feed Lake Victoria from the south. Explorations for the true source continue. It’s a big international pride argument over here, of which I want no part, at least as of yet. But I digress…

Of course, the best-laid plans oft go astray, especially when children named Stella and Tepper are involved. Due to Stella getting a fever and Tepper developing a cold (that she so graciously passed to me), the trip was postponed and I’ll write about it when we do end up going there.

Instead, we took a day trip to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre –  the local zoo. Yes, you read that correctly. Uganda has a zoo. I'm sure you agree this seems counter-intuitive and as one friend said, “I just assumed [a zoo in this country] would be as simple as walking outside.” The idea of zoos, to me at least, should be for the viewing of animals not found in your own country. So I might have expected to see native North American animals – squirrels, moose, bears, manatees, woodchucks, etc. – but no, everything I will likely see on safari later in our journey was penned up for our viewing pleasure a mere 30km from our house. To be fair, the UWEC is more of a preserve and many of the animals were rescued from less than ideal situations – confiscated from illegal export, injured by poachers, or relocated after loss of habitat. But I maintain it is odd to me seeing the animals this way.

To get to the zoo might have been our adventure in and of itself: As I said, it is about 30km away, so that required us to drive, braving traffic on Entebbe Road, one of the busiest roads in the nation since it leads to the airport. But being Sunday morning, it was too bad.  Traffic being light, it allowed us (well, allowed me since Laura was driving) to focus less on the road and more on the local people, commerce, and of course livestock, on the side of the road:

Alas it was Sunday, so we saw no pecking

Why did the cow cross the road? To get to the the pork joint on the other side. According to the International Livestock Research Institute, Uganda is the largest consumer of pork in sub-Saharan Africa. Sweet.

We were able to get a better idea of the country’s topography and give us our first views of Lake Victoria. However, instead of enjoying the lake vistas, my eyes were drawn to these 30 guys mowing a huge plot of land along the lake using only gas-powered weed-whackers. Labor in Uganda is cheap, while equipment is expensive.

At least their workplace had a nice vista

Arriving at UWEC, we saw the only giraffes we would see during the day, but that could not contain Laura and Tepper's excitement:

UWEC's information center was a bit of a morbid start to the visit. The name was a bit misleading as there was no information but lots and lots of skulls, full skeletons, and partially stuffed animals piled into a small room.

Then it was on to the zebras and ostrich, who refused to pose for my pictures:

These 10 yards are about as close as I ever want to get to the Nile Crocodile. The pictures don’t do their size justice. By the way, the name is misleading because they aren't just found in the Nile. Their habitat includes Lake Victoria - one more reason why swimming there isn’t very popular (aside from bacterial concerns, pollution, etc.)

Laura's future purse and my future boots

T taking in the tortoises

Next came the chimpanzees. The mother seemed to be watching her kids have fun. Tepper was waving hello when the one with the plastic bottle ran away. I hope she has that effect on most boys.

One hiding in the bushes and the other enjoying a plastic bottle - Our kids aren’t too different.

 After seeing some baboons, water buffalo, and some birds (of which I didn't get any great pictures), we came upon the majestic lions - an 18 year old male who was on the verge of death and two females, who slept on the opposite side of the enclosure, eyeing Tepper like she was some sort of appetizer. Little did they know that she comes with her own warning:

The most fierce animal in the jungle, especially when she's hungry or tired

Prior to departing back to Kampala, Tepper made one last attempt to talk/ chase an animal - a large marabou stork. It reacted the same way as the young chimpanzee -- it turned tail and ran.

These things are huge and extremely tame.

Though the adventure at the zoo was complete, we were not done seeing wildlife on our ride home -- monkeys in the parking lot, roadside goats, and more cows contemplating crossing lanes of traffic:

I'm glad they were behind bars - they had their eyes on our snacks

This 'kid' is anxious for school to start

Hey, where's the pork?!

My birthday ended with a very nice dinner with my girls at a restaurant back in Kampala.  I can't wait for my next birthday adventure with this crew (though I don't think my parents want to feel any older, thinking about their son turning 41).

 Again, looking forward to your comments and questions. I'll eventually respond to the rest of them from the first post. Remember, everything is mpola (slow).