2017 Jan - Uganda holiday
Rita at our farm snacking on a jackfruit outside one of the new buildings. This will be a store-room.
One of our 3 big pigs; this one is pregnant.
Sipi Falls - on the foothills of Mount Elgon: an extinct shield volcano from about 24 million years old. Behind us is the waterfall, and behind that is the place we stayed, and we had drinks in an almost tree-house looking over the top of the waterfall - next picture.
A really nice view from here.
The view.
Back to our farm: our 5 teenage pigs.
And a few of our chickens; layers.
Matoke, a vegetable-like banana, is a staple in Uganda; it's cooked, mashed and usually served with a meat or fish in a sauce at most mealtimes.
Another splendid view overlooking one of many Crater lakes. This big hole was made by an eruption 8 to 10 thousand years ago, but no lava pouring out. The lodge is very fancy, made of huge logs.
The lodge can be seen top right. We walked down to the water and swam.
We got called over, via walkie-talkie, to another group which had chimps above them. The chimps were all around us high up, screeching quite a lot - very exciting. They are always on the move and make fresh 'beds' every day high up in the trees, but the pattern of activities is usually the same every day.
Then they all came down to the ground after they had eaten - they came down to where we were standing, as if we weren't even there.
It was the right time to see them; preening is an important social bonding ritual as well as beneficial cleaning.
These two were just 3 metres away.
I was photographing this one when a female walked so close behind me I could've touched her where I was - had I seen her. I only saw her after she dawdled past me.
This was quite an experience.
This chimp lay down and seemed to sleep for half an hour. This may have been a yawn, certainly it was not angry.
We were amongst the chimps for a good hour and a half - absolutely fantastic.
Not far away: a low section of the Rwenzori mountains.
Another forest with a couple of hot springs. This spring has a continuous fountain of water 97° Celsius.
A large croc getting in. The trip to the falls was an hour each way, and we saw dozens of Nile Crocs, Elephants and hippos; also warthog, several buck species, and many birds.
We were lucky to see a Pells Fishing owl. These are quite rare. This was only the second one I've ever seen.
We disturbed a few elephants.
The base of the Murchison Falls.
This was as near as we got to the base; even here the river current was quite strong.
Top of the falls - noisy too. . . and it wasn't even the rainy season.
The River Nile funnels through a 7m wide slot.
Boda-bodas (these motorbikes) are the cheapest way to get around. This one is carrying at least 40 live chickens. I've seen 3 adult passengers on one bike, another with a garage door (roll-up), another with 3 single bed frames on one bike; also kids, mothers with babies - anything can go on a bodo-boda.
Here we have a fully grown live pig.
Little shops like this are all over, sometimes single, sometimes a row of them.
An amazing bird. We didn't see any in the wild so I went to the zoo again. The Shoe Billed Stork can get to 1.4m tall.
A common street snack is a Rolex: a chapatti with a one-egg omelet (thin, same size as chapatti) and then both rolled up. This guy is making one for me. The charcoal stove is very efficient and they are used all over. I often had one for breakfast.
And this is the greeting I get wherever I go. The kids are always polite and just want to say hello. They always say: "Bye Mzungu" ( in essence: Hello white person)
