First Day in Kampala

I think it was the excitement of finally being in Africa, that woke me up much earlier than my alarm, as opposed to the jet lag. My stomach was definitely telling me I was in need of some food. So I headed downstairs to the restaurant (which breakfast was complimentary at this hotel). There was fresh squeezed passionfruit juice, milk, tea, coffee, some cereals, muffins, fresh cut fruit and some fresh bread. I expected that was it, only to find that I could order some eggs and sausage! 

Dr. Mugisha, giving a talk on
Gorilla conservation

I went back to my room to check my computer to figure out what I could do for the day. The front desk then called me to say I had a surprise visitor... So I went downstairs, and I was very happily greeted by my advisor, Dr. Lawrence Mugisha. He has been the one to so graciously help set up my placements while here in Uganda. He is what I would consider the Wildlife Guru here in Uganda. He holds numerous appointments at various organizations and institutions including, but not limited to: Professor, Department of Wildlife & Animal Resources Management (WARM) at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity (CoVAB) at Makerere University here in Kampala; Director, Conservation & Ecosystem Health Alliance (CEHA); and President, Uganda Wildlife Veterinary Network (UWVN).

His two children, Mark (11) and Neri (9) were with him, and they were happy to meet me as well. I was very glad to finally meet the person who has helped me get here! He asked if I had any plans today, and of course I did not, so he suggested I go with him for the day and he would show me around Makerere University and some of Kampala and Entebbe.

So we started our journey to Makerere, where I drove around with him showing me the different colleges and departments. Our last stop of course was the veterinary school at one end of campus. We first went to the WARM department where his office was. While in the building we unexpectedly ran into Dr. Ludwig Siefert, the wildlife veterinarian who is famous for his research on lions at Queen Elizabeth National Park. That was a pleasant surprise for sure! We continued our tour around the vet school. It being a Saturday meant that a lot of the doors were locked, so I would have to wait until I went there again to get a real picture of the school. I was also fortunate to meet the Dean of CoVAB, Dr. Anthony Mugisha (no they are not related, I asked). Very nice man, and was very supportive of Lawrence advising me for my trip. I also got to meet a few vet students. They were quite pre-occupied though; they were JUST getting into final exams. 

First authentic African cuisine!

After Makerere, we continued to go pick up his kids that we dropped off at their aunt's for the time we were at school. Lawrence then proposed we go out for lunch for some authentic East African cuisine. I could not pass that opportunity up! He took me to a very famous restaurant, well known by locals and tourists for their food. In the accompanying photo, I got to try a mix of different things including: curried rice, pumpkin (orange), cassava (hiding under the rice), stewed beans, sweet potato (top yellow), steamed greens, and some matoke (steamed green banana, also under the rice). The pink sauce in the upper left came out of a banana leaf that it was steam cooked in. It has beef cubes in it. Lawrence asked me how I thought the beef tasted. I thought it was a little tough. He then explained that cow was most likely slaughtered that morning, which did not allow for it to age and tenderize a bit, like we are used to in North America. Anyway the food was DELICIOUS, I couldn't even eat all of it, I was so stuffed.

After lunch, Lawrence proceeded to take me to a currency exchange so I could get some Ugandan Shilling. The exchange rate is about 1CAD to ~2500UGX. So it took a bit of getting used to seeing the prices of things so high. For example, he also took me to get a cell phone that I can use during my stay, it cost 100,000UGX. During all of these errands, I took in as much of the scenery as I could. Kampala is one busy city. People, bikes, cars, bota-botas (taxis) everywhere. Driving here is NOTHING like driving at home. Its almost like organized chaos in a way.

Throughout the day, we also began to more solidly plan my itinerary during my stay. More to come but I will be heading to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre on Monday for the week in Entebbe, then depart there to Ngamba Island with the chimps the week after. I will have more time to explore Kampala when I get back. My schedule at first is quite tight, but it keeps me busy! For the morning tomorrow, I will be attending a short conference on Ecosystem health initiatives. Lawrence is the moderator and he wanted me to be there. I will mention how it goes!

I also FINALLY got my luggage! After almost 3 days, it came. Seems like everyone's luggage that was supposed to leave Amsterdam, coming to Africa, did not. Annoying but what can you do right?