some sights and sounds of uganda! =)

the course has been busy here with research and reports and presentations, but it’s not all work and no play... we’ve definitely been blessed with opportunities to see some of the beauty uganda has to offer! (and it sure is nice to get away from the city sometimes!)

siipi falls... just outside of mbale

and inside the falls...


and a few days ago we took a nice little boat ride in lake victoria...

to ngamba island!!

where it’s a chimpanzee conservation area

cute little guys...


and in kampala, we’ve been north of the equator, and ngamba islands is south...

so we had to jump in and swim across the equator! (we didn’t have our swimsuits... but we figured clothes dry quick enough in africa)

the equator swim club... bjønar (norway), nailoke (namibia), chantille (canada), lars (norway) and me =) (and heidi too but she missed the picture!)

and last but not least... we took a trip this weekend to

murchison falls, uganda’s biggest nature conservation area... with lions and tigers and bears, oh my!! actually, i think we’re on the wrong continent for tigers and bears, but we got to go on a game drive and saw one lion! no ligers either, but some more typical african animals! =)


giraffes

and elephants

and hippos

and crocodiles

and buffalos..

...and pumbaa!!

im really so blessed to have been to *two* safaris, once already in tanzania and now in uganda too!

boat ride up the nile

top of the falls...

looking back down the nile

and looking out to Congo =)

we’re going to be doing another field research project on VEDCO (vounteer efforts for development concerns) this week while staying in kampala... working on group reports & presentations the week after... and final exam... and then it’s soon pretty much time to come home!! it’ll be quick few weeks im sure... well hope you guys are all doing well... take care & talk to you again soon!! =)

xox!
rainbow =)

mbale =)

helloo! hope you've had a nice week! we headed out last sunday...

along some pretty african red soil roads... to mbale, a town in the east close to the kenyan border! it was nice to get away from the big city in kampala... and see some nice lush country landscapes!


it was still a pretty busy little town... but i guess thats what happens when you squish pretty much the population of canada into 2.5% the land area! =) but we spent most of our time right in the farms... so it was definitely a change of scenery from the bustling streets of kampala!



this is a pretty neat course – learning about rural development and preparation for the masters students doing their research, so we had a chance to meet with some great grassroots farmer groups...

first, Dubana

a group that gives high-yield “mzungu” dairy cows to farmers (and takes the first female calf born back to give to the next farmer) and offers training for improved farming...

and processes its own yogourt! mmmmm! =)
and Bungokho...

a church-based practical skills training group.

my group was focused on Dubana so we got to go to visit farmers in their homes for and ask them a bit about how the organizations have impacted their livelihoods. our group did 16 interviews altogether... got to meet some very interesting, spirited and very impressively hardworking farmers & their families that shared their experiences with us... that accompanied us wherever we went! not unusual for farmers to be supporting their 7 kids and 15 other orphans.


it was super nice, and they were all super happy to welcome us too and show us all the things that they’ve been doing... proud farmers (as they should be)!!

cows from the project

groundnuts

coffee seedlings

and even bio-gas stoves

and i just love the curious little kids that accompanied us wherever we went




me and eldri... researchers at work! =)

getting between farms was always an adventure in itself! =)

and a couple farm discoveries for the city girl... who knew what these plants actually look like!

coffee

vanilla

jotrophe bioenergy plant.. subject of lars’ thesis =)

and just cuz he's so cute..

baby goat!

alritee thats it for now =) hope you guys are all doing well... lotsa love and talk again soon! muah!

rainbow =)