Visit to Uganda

Uganda - must see!

Our visit to Uganda was marvelous, many thanks to Mirella and Benedikt. We really enjoyed the trip, they had planned and organized and agree with our kids that this is in many aspects probably the best vacation we ever had. Great (in)sights, deep dive into past and future of mankind, last not least a good feeling because of the way we used our vacation Euros. Our kids got along very well, thus making the whole journey very agreeable for the grown ups too.

It is impossible to prepare adequately for this journey. No amount of reading, watching of Television specials or talking to experienced Afrikaners will give you a complete picture of what to expect. Thus expect the unexpected. That's part of the thrill.

In our case, Mirella and Benedikt helped a lot, many thanks again. If you need further info's and deeper insights in any of the points below, I am sure they will be able to help :-).

Our 12 day journey followed this route.

Some Highlights
Basically, we went camping in a Zoo. There was one difference, however, the animals were not caged, they roamed freely. In the night, right beside our tents, Hippos were grazing. Not far from us, a lion roared. He did that every night, it seems, to mark his territory. We camped in the Ishasha national park, right at the boarder to Congo, by the way ...

On a safari trip, we saw a Leopard, not far from the car, lying on a tree, near a water hole. He was waiting for Lunch, the ranger told us. We decided not to be what he was waiting for. You need to be very lucky to see a Leopard as they are very rare. Expect to see one every 100th visit.

In a water flushing toilet, whose lid I needed to lift in order to make the water flush, there was a frog. It lived there, it seems.

The scenery of the rift valley is just indescribable fantastic. The Savannah, the 5000 Meter high Ruwenzori Mountains, elephants that you can see from a distance of 1 to 2 kilometers, the sounds of the Savannah ...

On a jungle walk, we ran unexpectedly into a mother Hippo defending her son. She roared at us from the river, just 4 meters away. Wow! The ranger loaded his gun, the kids ran away, but the ranger had a smile on his face. Hippos never charge out of the water, the told us. A huge kick anyway!

Cost
A vacation in Uganda is expensive, no doubt about it. The flights are not cheap and there are a few additional costs you need to consider: Vaccinations, visa, national park entrance fees, a car with a driver, trips on boats, guided walks ... Everything seems to cost 30 to 50 USD per person. Accommodation costs in the lodges are reasonable. However, the money you spend in the country directly helps the cause of the national parks, it protects wilderness and steers local people to get trained and provide services of high quality. Education and training pay off only, if the locals can put it to use. Tourism offers an opportunity.

Climate
Uganda lies on the equator, we crossed it two times on our journey. We also saw this cool experiment, read the comments though :-)

Because of the high altitude, we were constantly between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level, the climate is very agreeable. Not too hot, not too cold. Check Kampala for international weather forecasts. The "rainy season" was great for our trip. It only rained one half day, on our 12 day trip and the lodges were pretty empty, sometimes only occupied by us. We had sunshine every day and frequently in the afternoon, very impressive clouds on the horizon.

Malaria
We took malaria prevention. However, Benedikt, Mirella and their Kids seem to live well without it. They take a local weed, that seems to do the trick. Generally, the amount of mosquitoes (in the "rainy season" it is supposed to be high), was far below anything I expected. Not a big problem, really, even though officially, Uganda is considered "high risk".

Food/Drink
Given the almost paradise like potential of the country to produce foods of all kinds, it is surprising that the variety on offer is much less than in Europe. People concentrate on the essentials. Cooking Bananas, introduced 1500 years ago from Asia, dominate the landscape and provide the basic staple for the Uganda peoples. They taste very well, by the way, sort of like potatoes. Sugar cane and peanuts are also omnipresent.

Western type food is available in the tourism lodges. The quality differs depending on the owners, we came across moderate and very good samples.

Bottled water is available everywhere, Soft drinks too, however, only the "sugar" varieties. Sugar-free is not a valid concept, that people would understand. Why pay the same, if you do not get the needed calories?

Tourism
Just 150000 people/visits were recorded to Uganda's many national parks, last year. Of those, about 25000 were from local people. Numbers increase quickly, by about 20% per year, and this is not surprising. Uganda's landscapes, the rift valley, it's animals, vegetation and people are clearly something you want to see for yourself. There are many lodges available to accommodate guests, all quality categories are available. The main roads are good or being repaired. Given political stability, Uganda will vote next year, it is a sure bet, that tourism will keep on growing substantially.

Energy/Industry
Ethiopia, not far away, currently only utilizes 2% of its potential in generating hydroelectric power. This is just one example of the state of development in the region. Whereas in Europe, we often care about the last 10% of optimization, in Africa, people care about the first 10%.

Most people still seem to live primarily off agriculture. On our long trip, we only saw a few factories, mostly in the areas infrastructure and food/drink: Cement, bricks, a Coca-Cola factory.

E-Industry/Telecommunications
The mobile phone is a true innovation for Uganda. People use it to transfer money and communicate in all sorts of ways. Given poor roads and an African way of life, the mobile phone is the center of all communication/coordination. And the people do grasp its potential. In the "EastAfrican" (a newspaper), I read a comment suggesting that mobile phones will be used soon for voting purposes. Mobile phones are already widely used for money transactions. eVoting is a logic, if optional next step, taking care of expensive, unreliable, rigged, old fashioned types of voting. Africa may well surpass Europe on this journey.

People
Pygmies - there are some in Uganda, they come from the forests of Congo. They seem to be completely lost. Their nomadic way of life has no future, they lack all long term planning skills and suffer a fate much worse than American Indians.

In general the people we met were very friendly, open. Many shock our hands, tried to exchange a few words. Our Driver, we had a driver for our leased car, was terse, but had excellent driving skills. He was always punctual, thought ahead and was a huge benefit to have. If people like him are the future of Africa, it will be bright.

Religion/Ethics
There are a few Muslims in Uganda, but the Christians are much more vocal. Some religions seem to favour a fatalistic view of life and seem to make people behave passively. Any religious leader in the region is well advised to preach self-responsibility, work ethics and talk about future challenges that can thus be overcome, if everyone contributes his/her share.

Children
On the one hand, children are a part of live not especially appreciated, at least compared with the unhealthy idolization of children in parts of the western world. At the same time, the more children a woman "produces" (yes, that's the proper term), the higher the respect she earns. Given Uganda is a small country with 30 Million people and most suited areas are already cultivated, this may be the biggest single challenge of the country. It cannot afford to have 5 children or more per family for another generation. In my opinion this is the biggest single threat, that could lead the country to ecological disaster or - eventually - to civil war.

Schools
There are schools everywhere and everyone seems to be in an educational programme. As there are so many children, this is a good thing. However, what will they do, once they leave school? There is little capital available, Micro credits may offer one way out, many other ways are needed (tourism being one).

Family Values
The family is very important. Benedikt told us, that if someone gets a new, better paid job, he/she will probably be expected to share the extra - revenue with the family. Given that the family size can be 200 people, this is a huge disincentive to work hard.

As a consequence, a given amount of input potentially generates far greater returns in Africa, than in Europe. This is part of what drives Benedikt to work in and for Uganda. A sentiment that we are quick to understand and appreciate.

There are some prerequisites, of course: political stability, established legal framework, skilled workforce etc. Lack of those, especially in the past, explain the different levels of development. Also, Uganda has a small window of opportunity. It is doomed to very fast development or face ecological disaster or civil war.

Back in Europe
Europe in April seems very barren, hostile. How can so many people live in a region that has so many disadvantages compared to Uganda? We really appreciate the level of achievement reached in Europe. This is incredible. Lack of everything for much of the year really delivered great results. Paradise is a bad place for innovation!

Uganda returned from civil war and Idi Amin, it is stable now for more than two decades. Wildlife is recovering rapidly, as are the people, the infrastructure. Given the remarkable progress achieved in the past few years, the beauty of the scenery, the friendliness of its peoples and the potential of the country, as we experienced it, we keep our fingers crossed for Uganda and encourage you: Visit the country, help it to develop itself and get great insights! Check it out for yourself!

Pictures are available right here: http://inthepearlofafrica.blogspot.com/2010/04/nachtrag-ostern-im-suden.html