I have to say I think I have been blessed by the people I’ve been meeting during this mini adventure. Maybe it’s the expression I wear that diverts the idiots, not sure, but I’m glad it’s working. The night before the start of the two-day biodiversity and conservation conference I was sat in the reception […]
May 18, 2012
The door to Masindi Prison is grey, heavy and made of steel. I lifted the door knocker outside and banged hard, after a few seconds I heard the jangling of keys and the sound of a bolt sliding across a latch. The door swung open to reveal a smartly dressed guard wearing a red beret […]
May 14, 2012
Kalegeja is only 4km from Biiso. The road there is quiet and discreet and the village is tiny. Everyone knows everything about each other and the accepted practice of pit-sawing is seen as one man’s way of overcoming poverty and providing for his family. The Budongo Forest is on their doorstep, and the reserve is […]
April 28, 2012
Next week is my last at camp Budongo. I feel quite emotional about it. I love the surroundings, the staff; field assistants, the researchers and Mary’s cooking (chapatis just won’t taste the same elsewhere!). It will be hard to leave dry-eyed even for a cynical old boot like me. Nine weeks have vanished, but I […]
April 18, 2012
It’s taken a while but I’ve finally had my first encounter with a pit-sawyer. It wasn’t hostile so I wasn’t chased out of the forest by people brandishing spears (stop panicking Mum and Dad!!). It was in fact instigated by me and the man I questioned is retired and pushing 70. They call him Jasonga […]
April 1, 2012
“In the areas you’re working, there is only millenii,” said Dr Fred Babweterra filling the kettle. It was music to my ears and the elation and relief swept across my face leaving me beaming at Dr Fred. “Africana is much smaller, it doesn’t grow more than 5m high and the trunk is not as thick. […]
April 1, 2012
Just when you think your research is going to plan, you realise you’ve got so much more to do and you question whether you’ve been complacent. Today I had a panic attack. Isaac came to see me in “my office”. It’s the room adjacent to my bedroom where everyone in House 4 can plug-in mobiles […]
March 18, 2012
Jaana, nvua ness-sa ming-gee sana (Yesterday the rain was very heavy). I woke up to what sounded like pebbles falling onto the tin roof above my head. I looked at my watch and it read 0305. The wind was howling and as I crawled out from underneath my mossie net and peered through the curtains, […]
March 4, 2012
Thanks to everyone who emailed me about the species of bird in my last post – for those still in the dark they were marabous. Now stop with the emails already! So today the Wee Bern and I shared a cab into Kampala. I waved goodbye to the staff at The Boma and vowed to […]
May 27, 2012
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