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an urban primate with a conscience
Browsing All posts tagged under »Masindi«
Return to The Budongo Forest Reserve
When I emailed my Ugandan friends from the conservation field station and told them I was coming back after two years they couldn’t believe it. I only had a small window to get to Budongo in western Uganda. Uncle Charlie and I have had a pretty mental travel schedule using various buses and staying probably […]
Back Across The Border
June 23, 2014
The journey back to Uganda began very early. We decided to catch the first bus leaving at 0600 to try to hit Kampala at a reasonable hour. No wifi this time, smaller seats and lots of screaming babies for ten hours. Ah well the first experience was too good to be true. Crossing the border […]
The Cutter – Day 72
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 […]
Getting from A to B – Days 69 and 70
May 12, 2012
There are no official public taxis in Biiso that go to Masindi, even though it’s a major town. The local people here get around by using cars that masquerade as buses. And what I mean by that, is that if you decide to take one, you will be one of 9 people squeezed into a […]
First Impressions – Day 60
May 6, 2012
The road to Biiso is remarkably smooth. You notice when your teeth are no longer chattering driving along a Ugandan road. The potholes have been filled and the road flattened – it’s one of the main routes used by large oil trucks heading to Lake Albert. Our white pick-up truck cruised along speedily with Zephyr […]
Fish – Day 54
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 […]
Jasonga – Day 41
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 […]
Easter Holidays – Day 34
April 8, 2012
Yesterday most people decided to leave camp for the four-day public holiday to go and see their families during Easter. It’s a big holiday here and people stop work on Thursday afternoon and make long journeys back to the villages. I was going to be the only student left behind as the other Westerners went […]
Row row row your boat – Day 24
April 1, 2012
Up until now I have had no evidence other than hearsay (albeit reliable hearsay) that Cordia was being logged to fuel the boat/canoe building trade. Today I came across more pit sawing sites in N5 and in one of them we found an oar. It must have been about 15 foot in length. These […]
britaine.co.uk
June 28, 2014
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