One month down, two weeks to go! Posting this on Monday since I was preoccupied with the giraffes on Sunday!
Week of July 7th - July 13th
Monday, July 7th: Back to work! I was again woken up at 5 am by a rooster, and when I woke up again at 8 am, there was a chicken inside the guesthouse! At 9, the CE scholars and I all headed over to the office to reset our honey game for more World Chimpanzee Week (WCW) preparatory visits and attended the weekly CE team meeting to get our schedule for the week. Afterwards, everyone participated in the weekly staff meeting, followed by a talk from Luke on technology and the Ethernet. We had lunch and another CE team meeting to discuss what the Laidlaw scholars' focus would be for the week, deciding it would be best for us to spend our time creating some new curriculum on birds, bats, and butterflies, as well as a promotional video for World Chimpanzee Day. We worked until 5 and then ended the night by watching the first half of Hairspray after dinner.
Update from last week: We did finally get around to watching Pitch Perfect on Sunday!
Tuesday, July 8th: Spent Tuesday morning working on more of the new curriculum we are creating on birds, bats, and butterflies, doing so involves putting together a write-up and conducting research on the subjects, receiving feedback, and then creating PowerPoints and educational materials. We were able to finish the Write-ups and get started on one of the presentations before our 4th Guest Speaker Talk with Research Officer, Dorothy, from Uganda Wildlife Authority. She had a very interesting career journey and gave wonderful advice regarding asking for time off to avoid burnout and being transparent about your mental and emotional well-being with your superiors.
After lunch, which featured coleslaw made with Thousand Island Dressing (they sure do love their Thousand Island Dressing here!), we went out for the last of our WCW visits (before our final visit on World Chimpanzee Day). I went with Kenneth and another scholar, Elio, to a school with very realistic chimpanzee statues, sculpted out of mud. It was very impressive! On the way back from our visits, we drove through Fort Portal, still on the hunt for stamps, but again came up empty-handed. Oh well! The day concluded with learning about similes with the P4 students and Luke during their nightly preps (evening classes).
Wednesday, July 9th: Wednesday, some of the other CE scholars and I woke up early to head out to the apiary for the bi-weekly hive checks. We went with Cathy this time, who must be our good luck charm, since no one was stung and the bees did not swarm us this time. After we got back, I worked on the new curriculum PowerPoints while Eavan and Elio began conducting interviews with the KFSP staff for our WCD video.
In the evening, Amy, a Laidlaw representative here to check in with us on our LIA, arrived just in time for dinner. We spent some time introducing ourselves and the program and chatting with her before she went back to get some rest!
Thursday, July 10th: Amy joined us bright and early for breakfast, and then Eavan and I filmed our personal interviews for the WCD video (shoutout to Elio, our videographer). We also had our Guest Speaker Talk #5 with KFSP Director, Patrick Tumsiime. Even though we already know Patrick quite well, it was great to learn more about him through his leadership talk, including his educational journey and how he has supported his siblings' education in addition to taking care of himself and his mother. Patrick is truly an inspiration!
After the guest talk, I finished making educational materials for our birds, bats, and butterflies curriculum, including a log sheet, and then we headed out with Amy and Cathy to one of the schools for an improved cookstove demonstration in the afternoon. Improved Cookstoves (ICs) are stoves built using bricks and mud. We encourage students and families to use these types of stoves as opposed to traditional cookstoves (which are just three bricks with firewood stuck between them) because they burn fuel more efficiently and decrease the amount of smoke in the home, making them better for the environment and the respiratory health of their users. Our demonstration on Thursday included both a slideshow on the benefits of ICS as well as showing the students how to physically make the stoves themselves, while talking through each step.
Back at the guest house, I played catch with some of the Kasiisi kids and then attended P7 preps after dinner, where I sat with two girls whom I met playing netball, while we copied down science-focused practice questions.
Friday, July 11th: We were joined by Amy for an early breakfast and then headed out to a swamp walk and chimp trekking with Cathy and Kenneth. The swamp walk was great and much needed after all the sedentary days here. On the walk, we saw 4 different types of monkeys and a Great Blue Turaco, and our guide, Julius, took us through tobacco fields and a swamp, pointing out the foliage, including giant papyrus plants!
After the hike, we had a traditional lunch at a restaurant owned by Tinka, who also played the ranger in the Ajani short film that we have been showing all the students during our World Chimpanzee Week preparations. The lunch was served on a Lazy-Susan type table, which we had to rotate to fill up our plates with the different dishes. The food was delicious, and the meal was only made better by a celebrity sighting of Tinka himself!
Lunch was followed by chimp trekking, an amazing experience where we got to hike through the forest of Kibale National Park, getting super close to the chimps. On our trek, we were joined by a guide and several armed guards because there were "tembos," or elephants, nearby, a fact I can most definitely confirm since I stepped in some of their dung. On the trek, we had to wear face masks to protect the chimps from contracting any respiratory diseases because we were able to get so close to them. It was fabulous, we got to see chimps lounging, grooming, and even some pant-hooting from the trees. On our way out of the forest, we also saw their nests and some massive fig trees, a fruit that makes up a large portion of the chimpanzee diet.
We ended the experience buying lots of chimp-themed souvenirs and heading back to the guesthouse for hot showers!
Saturday, July 12th: Saturday started with a lazy morning, but we were joined by Kenneth in the afternoon for a day of cultural activities. We started the experience at a small museum where we got to see some different animal bones, including a huge elephant jaw, and learn about different tools used for hunting and other means of survival. Our visit there ended with trying some banana gin, which was vile.
After the museum, we made our way to the home of a spiritual healer, who uses medicinal herbs and plants to cure illness and ailments. Our discussion with him was both interesting and slightly creepy. He explained the medicinal qualities of each plant and showed us his cures for cancer, as well as romantic problems. At one point, he told us that "his ancestors had informed us we had overstayed our welcome," and that it was time for us to ask questions and then leave.
Our next visit was to the home of Jane, the "coffee queen," who showed us the process of making our own coffee from preparing the beans to roasting to drinking. According to the coffee drinkers of the group, the coffee was delicious (I don't normally drink coffee, so I wouldn't know). I found the most interesting part of the experience to be the fact that vanilla has to be pollinated by hand because it cannot be pollinated by bees and other insects. Following our experience with Jane, we met with some women of the local community who showed us how they make different crafts, inviting us to sew coasters with them out of papyrus. Then we watched as they performed some cultural dances and songs before making our way to the last stop of the day, a visit with the "banana man." The banana man showed us how banana juice is used to make banana gin and banana beer while leading us in a song about everyday being banana day. After trying all three of the drinks and spirits, the banana juice was definitely my favorite. The entire day was so much fun and a great way to learn more about the local culture that surrounds Kibale National Park.
Our day was only made better by our African Forest Elephant sighting on the way home. Forest elephants are generally quite shy, so this was very rare. We ended the night with a farewell dinner for Amy and I FaceTimed my family to give them the week's updates!
Sunday, July 13th: Giraffe Day! We were up by 6:30 am to be in the car and on our way to Lake Mburo National Park by 7:30. Lake Mburo is one of the smallest national parks in Uganda, located in a very dry area of the country known as the "cattle corridor." It has savanna terrain as opposed to the forest that we are used to being near Kibale. It was also the closest park that was home to giraffes, so I, of course, convinced everyone we had to go. The 4-hour drive was made shorter by the gorgeous fog and Francis, our driver, who pointed out everything from baboons on the side of the road to the precise moment we crossed the equator.
At the park, we did a driving safari, all of us sticking our heads out the windows using binoculars and cameras, as Francis drove us around, telling us all about the different animals we were seeing. We were able to see 4 different types of antelope, warthogs, zebra, buffalo, baboons, eagles, monkeys, and obviously, giraffes. Seeing the giraffes was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and just seeing them in their natural habitat and surrounded by so much other wildlife was so cool. Since giraffes don't have many predators in Lake Mburo, there are tons of them, and we were able to get super close in the car, which was great! Thanks to all the scholars for letting me sit up front for optimal giraffe viewing. I was surprised by how pale the female giraffes were in comparison to the males and thoroughly enjoyed just getting to hang out the window and observe.
After lunch, which Kenneth (who also tagged along) and Francis so kindly arranged for us, we slowly made our way out of the park, taking in all the wildlife before purchasing souveniors and starting the long and bumpy journey home. When we finally arrived back at Kasiisi, the wonderful guesthouse staff had a delicious late dinner waiting for us. Sunday was so memorable, and Francis was an amazing tour guide!
We had an such an amazing and busy week this week and it should be the same next week as well, with World Chimp Day on Monday and a visit to Queen Elizabeth National Park on Saturday. I can't wait!