For the last month we have been reminded that Christmas is a time for sharing. But at the start of a new year how many of us carry this sentiment through the rest of the calendar months and how many of us would put a stranger before someone we know? Our natural tendency if we […]
May 17, 2012
The area I’m in has been plagued by cholera for more or less a month now. The worst of it is in the villages which lie along the lake’s shore including Bugoigo (remember camp Guan-Tanna-mo!) but there have been a few cases here in Biiso. Once again a lot of people are blaming the Congolese […]
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 […]
January 31, 2012
How would you react if you had a 20-stone male eyeballing you while his Mrs and children clambered all over you? Most people would probably need a fresh pair of undies as my friend BQ pointed out to me. Well one tourist probably did what most people would do and sat as still as possible […]
May 25, 2011
Isn’t this such a great picture?! It was emailed over to me by my Irish friend BQ. It’s how I look when my head hits the pillow after a busy news day. This is two month old Kituba, who has only just been named officially by Dublin Zoo. For the first two weeks after his […]
April 5, 2011
They’ve may have won the first round, but conservationists say they are stepping up the pressure on the Congolese government to say ‘no’ for good to two British oil firms drilling in Africa’s oldest park. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a UNESCO world heritage site, permission had been granted […]
March 31, 2011
I’m at that age now where most of my friends are either married off with children or are brooding. I’ve been warned with many a wagging finger and raised eyebrow by my yummy-mummy mates, that unless I start procreating now or at least consider freezing my eggs, (I don’t even freeze leftover food!!) I’m likely […]
March 12, 2011
This week I was mortified to see just how much my electric bill has gone up. It’s a utility I know I can’t live without, but it makes me so cross that certain companies are hiking up their prices even when they’ve earned a bumper profit in the recession. Electricity is something I think we […]
February 24, 2011
Girl Power is a phrase that was banded about in the mid 1990’s by the phenomenally successful pop quintet, Spice Girls. Females of all ages were no longer tarred with the same brush as the ‘burn-your-bra’ feminists of the past; but given a new perspective in mainstream media. The phrase was so popular that the […]
January 3, 2013
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