I sat on a bench at the hospital and after 10 minutes a Doctor saw me. I felt terrible. A nurse took a blood sample from a finger prick and in minutes they told me my problem. I had malaria, severe malaria at that. They took me to another Dr. He told me that I had 30% malarial parasites in my body. Most foreigners are very sick with just 10%. He said I was showing some resistance and said I was 'like an African'. That made me feel good, at least I had some natural resistance. He said the strains of malaria here are resistant to the antimalarials I was prescribed back home but no pills keep anyone safe from malaria.Pills are recommended for malaria but for my severe malaria I would need 24 hours of Quinine through an IV. I would have to stay the night in the hospital. They called my hotel and told them wouldn't be returning that night. The Dr put me in a private room with 2 beds but the other was unoccupied. Amelda, my nurse found a vain in my right hand and put the IV in at 5pm. I felt relieved that I was finally getting treatment but it would still be a while before recovery. I foolishly should have went to the hospital at the first sign of a fever.
Quinine is a very old treatment for malaria and comes from the bark of a tree native to South America. The Dr said its only used for the treatment of severe malaria. The malaria was giving me nausea and so was the quinine. I managed to eat a little rice and beans while I watched a bit of TV outside my room. The treatment would be 4 hours IV, then 4 hours rest. 3 regiments of this. The IV came out at 9 and I tried to sleep. I was still having hot/cold sweat and soaked the sheets again. They woke me up at 1am for my second round. My head still pounded and my chest constricted by the parasites resulting in a weak cough. My body ached, I just looked forward to when it would all be over. I woke up in the middle of the night to vomit. I went back to bed and vomited again in the late morning. It was terrible. There wasn't much food in me because I wasn't hungry, so just resulting in dry heaves near the end. They put the last IV in at 9am but because I was not responding well and vomiting, they lowered the rate of the IV.
Food was a joke. They would ask me what I wanted but they didn't have what I wanted. They only had local food. Someone was going out to get me food and I begged the nurse ( not Amelda, she was good) for them to get me some instant noodles. I needed soup, something not requiring chewing and not greasy. I ended up with my second choice, chips and chicken. I ate the most of it and it was ok but hours later vomitted again. I took an antinausea pill but it wasn't helping. It was a sick catch 22. I needed food in my stomach to take the pill not to make me nauseous but was too sick to eat. The IV finally finished at 5pm, 9 hours later. The Dr suggested I stay another night so they could observe me. I told them I needed a bath, to be clean. I had sweated so much. They arranged for a driver to take me back to my hotel and get a shower and pick up what food I wanted along the way. This was good. I got my clothes on and we left. I stopped at another nice hotel on the way to check it out because I needed a nice place to recover after the hospital. I showered at my place and got all my stuff and checked out. I was also happy to have my stuff because when I was feeling ok at the hospital I was so bored, there was nothing to do.
All the movenment and excitement of the trip was too much for me and after I got back I vomitted again. I lied in bed for a while. Later when I felt up to it, I got some hot water from the nurse and cooked my instant noodles. My throat was raw and on fire from all the stomach acids coming back up. It felt like I was slowing broken glass but I managed to get all the noodles down. I went to bed that night and slept a bit better without an IV in my arm. I woke up in the middle of the night with an intense discomfort in my stomach. It felt like I was pushing my stomach out. It stuck with on and off the whole night. The morning wasn't any better but I still ate my other packet of noodles. I took my first dose of after quinine meds. Even though the quinine was finished the malaria was still there and needed more treatment. I have 3 days of this one drug to take and then some anti-nausea and ibuprofen/panadol to go with it. The Dr thought I was doing better and said he would check on me later but at this point, I just wanted to go. I hadn't been sick for 16 hours and I wanted to recover in a hotel room, not the hospital. He thought that was fine and discharged me.
I paid my bill, which was incredibly cheap. For all the Dr consultations, drugs, 2 overnights in a private room and my food cost me $35. They make it cheap because malaria is the most common affliction here and if it was expensive to treat, more people would be dying of it. The only good thing to come of all this was that if I get malaria again, it will be less severe. Now I really do have some resistance. The hospital was nice enough to give me a ride in the ambulance to a hotel.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Masaka
After breakfast I went to check my email. After writing for a while I started to feel the body aches that I recognize as the oncoming of a fever. I went back to my hotel, took some panadol and rested. The next day I still didn't feel good but not too bad. I didn't feel like writing though and spent the day resting. I thought I might have the flu from all the days in the damp forest and got some medicine from the pharmacy.That night I got the cold and hot sweats and sweat through the sheets. The following morning I was feeling much worse and my fever was slowly rising. I tried my combo of antibiotics and flu tablets but they did nothing. It was beginning to get serious and I took a boda boda to the hospital to see what was wrong with me.
Last day at Kalinzu
After my long day with the chimps yesterday, I just wanted an easy day today. I had planned on just walking the research road again. It turns out Frank and his guide, Lawrence, were also going that way so I joined them. I told Frank about about my tripod troubles and he showed me a way I could still easily attatching my camera to the tripod by just removing one small piece. He was a professional photographer and had this happen many times. We left the road to enter the forest and re emerged at the research camp and walked back. I spent the rest of the day hanging around camp. Frank went to the tea plantations around dusk to take photos and I stayed behind and collected firewood and built a nice teepee. After dinner we had our last fire at the campsite.
The next day Frank left to check out another forest nearby with Robert and we tentatively planned to meet up in about 10 days at Lake Bunyoni. We had both been to many of the same places in Uganda. I was on my way for a week of relaxation at the Ssese islands, a group of 84 islands in Lake Victoria. I wouldn't make it there in one day though. I wanted to get to Masaka, spend a day catching up on the blog and emails and then go. I wanted to take a bus and they come about once an hour. I missed the 10 bus and then next bus didn't come till 12 but it didn't stop! I hopped into a minivan instead for Mbarara. From Mbarara I took a proper bus going to Kampala but I told them I wanted off in Masaka and only paid to get to there. I couldn't see out the window well from my bench seat at the front of the bus and thought it was taking a while to get there. I asked where Masaka was and the driver told me we passed it 30km ago! I was pissed! No one rememeber the only white guy on the bus was getting off in Masaka. They stopped the bus and hailed another bus for me. I finally got to Masaka in a lousy, tired and hungry mood. It had taken me all afternoon and was now almost 7. I talked with friendly other passengers to get an idea of what I should be paying for the ride. Their ride from Kampala to Masaka was $3.50 and I should only pay $1 - $1.50, that was fair. I was a bit shocked when the driver asked me for more than the whole fair to Kampala! I told him I would give him what was fair but he was refusing. He wouldn't accept my money so I walked off the bus. He followed me into my hotel. There was no way I was paying the price he wanted. I was out of patience and politeness at this point and shoved the money into his pocket and told him in less then graceful terms to leave me alone and get out of here. That worked.
I took a room at the cheap Buddu guesthouse. I thought I would only be here for one night but I was wrong.
The next day Frank left to check out another forest nearby with Robert and we tentatively planned to meet up in about 10 days at Lake Bunyoni. We had both been to many of the same places in Uganda. I was on my way for a week of relaxation at the Ssese islands, a group of 84 islands in Lake Victoria. I wouldn't make it there in one day though. I wanted to get to Masaka, spend a day catching up on the blog and emails and then go. I wanted to take a bus and they come about once an hour. I missed the 10 bus and then next bus didn't come till 12 but it didn't stop! I hopped into a minivan instead for Mbarara. From Mbarara I took a proper bus going to Kampala but I told them I wanted off in Masaka and only paid to get to there. I couldn't see out the window well from my bench seat at the front of the bus and thought it was taking a while to get there. I asked where Masaka was and the driver told me we passed it 30km ago! I was pissed! No one rememeber the only white guy on the bus was getting off in Masaka. They stopped the bus and hailed another bus for me. I finally got to Masaka in a lousy, tired and hungry mood. It had taken me all afternoon and was now almost 7. I talked with friendly other passengers to get an idea of what I should be paying for the ride. Their ride from Kampala to Masaka was $3.50 and I should only pay $1 - $1.50, that was fair. I was a bit shocked when the driver asked me for more than the whole fair to Kampala! I told him I would give him what was fair but he was refusing. He wouldn't accept my money so I walked off the bus. He followed me into my hotel. There was no way I was paying the price he wanted. I was out of patience and politeness at this point and shoved the money into his pocket and told him in less then graceful terms to leave me alone and get out of here. That worked.
I took a room at the cheap Buddu guesthouse. I thought I would only be here for one night but I was wrong.
Jan. 24, My Birthday
Chimptracking and chimp habituation are activities on offer at Kalinzu. Robert assured me I would see chimps here because I told him my story of Queen Elizabeth and I didn't want to waste any more money but I did want to see chimps again. The price for habituating the chimps for the day was just a bit more than double the tracking, where you only spend one hour with them. It was my 32nd birthday and I thought this will be my present to myself and arranged to do the habituation.
Habituation is the process of getting animals so used to humans or vehicles that they act like you are not even there after time, thus making it easier to study their natural behaviour. Now this wasn't real habituation, that can take years but it would be me spending 10 hours with them in the forest following them where ever they went and stopping when they stopped. Accompanying me would be 2 trackers, Robert and Yoshia, a Japanese researcher who has been studying the group we would be following for the last 2 years. We would be following group S, which has about 25 individuals. Group S is already habituated, so they wouldn't run from us when we found them. We left the office at 8 and headed left on the main road. Robert heard the chimps calling near there from his house in the village. We got to a point and entered the forest without a trail. Our tracker lead the way with his machete. The other tracker was in the forest looking for the chimps and directing us to them.
We found the other tracker, Joseph and shortly after he lead us to the chimps who were feeding in trees on a steep hillside. It was 9.15. I got comfortable looking at them through my binoculars, super happy to be seeing our closest relatives again. They didn't stay still long though and soon we were heading down the hill following them. When chimps move long distances they move along the ground. When ever we saw them all beginning to descend, we knew they were on the move. As we moved through the trail less forest I was stung badly by an intense pain in my crotch. I had to immediately whip down my pants to see the cause. It was an ant biting the hell outta of my penis! I squished him right away and after a bit the pain went away. I can't believe an ant bit me right there. It's just another one to add the list of things that have tried to feed on my genitals - leeches, ticks and mosquitoes. They won't have them!
It took us a little while to catch up to them. They were a small group but spread out and I wouldn't realize were they all were until they begin calling. There was a female in heat in the group and this was driving some of the males crazy. The chimps settled down near a main trail and we sat and ate some lunch. As they called I realized they were all around us. Chimps spend a lot of time on the ground feeding and the dense bush of Kalinzu makes them hard to see. They didn't stay too long again and we were on the move. I asked Robert if this was normal. He said they were on the move a lot today but some days they stay in the same place all day.
Around 1.30 thunder begins crashing loudly and the wind picks up. It rains lightly and picks up later but on the forest floor I feel nothing and don't put on my raincoat. Sometimes we cross trails during the day but mostly we are bushwacking all day. I look ahead as to where we are going and wonder how we are going to get through but we do. Joseph just hacks away. The one bonus and big difference between here and Semliki forest is that not many plants have thorns here, it's very gently going, except for the occasional stinging nettle type plants that I brush on that burn like fire. In the mid afternoon we have lost Yoshia and the other tracker. They have followed the female in heat and we continued with the rest of the group.
When we do find the chimps, everyone is busy taking notes. Robert has a photo album book of the chimps to identify who's who. Around 3.30, we've lost the trail of the chimps. Joseph is searching hard. Robert and I sit and wait and hope to them to call to reveal their whereabouts. Joseph picks up a faint trail and we follow. At 4 we hear them call, we are close. We find them one last time as Robert suggests we get going. I tell just until after the group is gone. This last sighting is one of the best, with clear and more close views. After the last chimp has swung out of sight we begin the way back.
Chimps don't move like monkeys at all in the trees. They use their arms a lot to move around and swing and are fascinating to watch. There's also something special about being in a forest harbouring chimps. It has a definite feel to it, like the forests containing tigers or Rafflesia ( the world's largest flower, up to 1m across).
We hacked our way to a trail and then to the research road and back to Kalinzu. We arrived 10 hours after leaving. The weather was overcast and cool all day and I hardly sweat at all. I didn't feel to tired either. Yesterday I walked to the small village on the hill opposite Kalinzu to look for coffee and see what else they had. I didn't find coffee but I did find coffee spirit, 40% coffee flavoured booze. I bought a few 2 ounce packets for 50 cents and a couple of sodas because I was drinking so much water I wanted to treat myself.
Frank had a hard day before he arrived at Kalinzu and he spent the entire day lounging around camp. After dinner we made a fire and I brought out my ipod speaker. It was an enjoyable evening to top off an extraordinary day. A birthday I won't forget.
Habituation is the process of getting animals so used to humans or vehicles that they act like you are not even there after time, thus making it easier to study their natural behaviour. Now this wasn't real habituation, that can take years but it would be me spending 10 hours with them in the forest following them where ever they went and stopping when they stopped. Accompanying me would be 2 trackers, Robert and Yoshia, a Japanese researcher who has been studying the group we would be following for the last 2 years. We would be following group S, which has about 25 individuals. Group S is already habituated, so they wouldn't run from us when we found them. We left the office at 8 and headed left on the main road. Robert heard the chimps calling near there from his house in the village. We got to a point and entered the forest without a trail. Our tracker lead the way with his machete. The other tracker was in the forest looking for the chimps and directing us to them.
We found the other tracker, Joseph and shortly after he lead us to the chimps who were feeding in trees on a steep hillside. It was 9.15. I got comfortable looking at them through my binoculars, super happy to be seeing our closest relatives again. They didn't stay still long though and soon we were heading down the hill following them. When chimps move long distances they move along the ground. When ever we saw them all beginning to descend, we knew they were on the move. As we moved through the trail less forest I was stung badly by an intense pain in my crotch. I had to immediately whip down my pants to see the cause. It was an ant biting the hell outta of my penis! I squished him right away and after a bit the pain went away. I can't believe an ant bit me right there. It's just another one to add the list of things that have tried to feed on my genitals - leeches, ticks and mosquitoes. They won't have them!
It took us a little while to catch up to them. They were a small group but spread out and I wouldn't realize were they all were until they begin calling. There was a female in heat in the group and this was driving some of the males crazy. The chimps settled down near a main trail and we sat and ate some lunch. As they called I realized they were all around us. Chimps spend a lot of time on the ground feeding and the dense bush of Kalinzu makes them hard to see. They didn't stay too long again and we were on the move. I asked Robert if this was normal. He said they were on the move a lot today but some days they stay in the same place all day.
Around 1.30 thunder begins crashing loudly and the wind picks up. It rains lightly and picks up later but on the forest floor I feel nothing and don't put on my raincoat. Sometimes we cross trails during the day but mostly we are bushwacking all day. I look ahead as to where we are going and wonder how we are going to get through but we do. Joseph just hacks away. The one bonus and big difference between here and Semliki forest is that not many plants have thorns here, it's very gently going, except for the occasional stinging nettle type plants that I brush on that burn like fire. In the mid afternoon we have lost Yoshia and the other tracker. They have followed the female in heat and we continued with the rest of the group.
When we do find the chimps, everyone is busy taking notes. Robert has a photo album book of the chimps to identify who's who. Around 3.30, we've lost the trail of the chimps. Joseph is searching hard. Robert and I sit and wait and hope to them to call to reveal their whereabouts. Joseph picks up a faint trail and we follow. At 4 we hear them call, we are close. We find them one last time as Robert suggests we get going. I tell just until after the group is gone. This last sighting is one of the best, with clear and more close views. After the last chimp has swung out of sight we begin the way back.
Chimps don't move like monkeys at all in the trees. They use their arms a lot to move around and swing and are fascinating to watch. There's also something special about being in a forest harbouring chimps. It has a definite feel to it, like the forests containing tigers or Rafflesia ( the world's largest flower, up to 1m across).
We hacked our way to a trail and then to the research road and back to Kalinzu. We arrived 10 hours after leaving. The weather was overcast and cool all day and I hardly sweat at all. I didn't feel to tired either. Yesterday I walked to the small village on the hill opposite Kalinzu to look for coffee and see what else they had. I didn't find coffee but I did find coffee spirit, 40% coffee flavoured booze. I bought a few 2 ounce packets for 50 cents and a couple of sodas because I was drinking so much water I wanted to treat myself.
Frank had a hard day before he arrived at Kalinzu and he spent the entire day lounging around camp. After dinner we made a fire and I brought out my ipod speaker. It was an enjoyable evening to top off an extraordinary day. A birthday I won't forget.
Kalinzu part III
All visitors walking the trails at Kalinzu are supposed to be accompanyed by a guide. As you all know, I like self guiding very much if it's possible. After walking in the forest a few times, I could see the labyrinth of trails and it could be difficult to walk alone in the forest here. But after walking the research road yesterday, I thought ' Hey, I can walk this on my own.' I asked Robert and finally got permission to do self guiding. I told them I would just stick to the research road. After breakfast I headed out. I walked slow and silently along the road. It's an overcast day with no sun. The sun hasn't been out much at all since I've arrived. Throughout my walk I see all the primates of Kalinzu, except the chimps. I come back after 3 hours. After lunch I realize I lost the piece attatching my camera to my tripod somewhere on the road. At that moment I thought I really needed that piece so I went back to the road ( I would later learn a way to still use my tripod without that piece). I kept my head down and search meticulously but without luck. I didn't want to go back to the trail, I just wanted to relax but I had to give it a shot.
The next day I was going out of the Kalinzu down the main road to a viewpoint. It took me an hour to reach the highest viewpoint. It was a great view, though by this time in the morning 10, it was obscured by haze in the distance. On one side was intensely cultivated land where mostly plantain was visible. On the other was the forest of Kalinzu. Shortly after I got back it turned cold and started to rain a lot. I had planned on doing an afternoon forest walk with Robert but cancelled this. I went to my tent to sleep and read. When I got up and went up to the office I saw a backpack lying on the ground. Frank, a 40 year old German backpacker had arrived. We got along instantly as he was in Africa for the animals and had travelled a lot throughout southern and eastern Africa. It was nice to have someone to converse with. After our dinner of beans and plantains, we hung out at the campsite till we both crashed. Frank was camping as well. Actually, there is no formal accomodation at Kalinzu, only a campsite. That was one other thing I really liked about it.
The next day I was going out of the Kalinzu down the main road to a viewpoint. It took me an hour to reach the highest viewpoint. It was a great view, though by this time in the morning 10, it was obscured by haze in the distance. On one side was intensely cultivated land where mostly plantain was visible. On the other was the forest of Kalinzu. Shortly after I got back it turned cold and started to rain a lot. I had planned on doing an afternoon forest walk with Robert but cancelled this. I went to my tent to sleep and read. When I got up and went up to the office I saw a backpack lying on the ground. Frank, a 40 year old German backpacker had arrived. We got along instantly as he was in Africa for the animals and had travelled a lot throughout southern and eastern Africa. It was nice to have someone to converse with. After our dinner of beans and plantains, we hung out at the campsite till we both crashed. Frank was camping as well. Actually, there is no formal accomodation at Kalinzu, only a campsite. That was one other thing I really liked about it.
Kalinzu part II
Breakfast is at 8, which usually dictates what time I get up. After breakfast Rachel is going to be my guide. We walk the main road to a side road into the park. This 3 km track leads to a research camp occupied by Japanese researching chimps. We see many primates and I like walking this overgrown road. It's easier to see the animals. I get a few very good sightings of l'hoest monkey, the one that eluded me so at Kibale where I only saw one. We left the road for a while and headed into the hilly forest. We came out at the research camp and then took the road back. We had been out for almost 4 hours when we got back. Then Rachel had to cook me lunch. There's only 4 guides here and Rachel seems to be the only cook. She is 27 and also has her 4 year old daughter living here. She has a full load. I was in no hurry for lunch and she could take her time. I rested and read.
Around 6pm chimps are calling loudly right near camp but there is no one around to take me into the forest. It costs more here to go on a specific chimp walk but not as much as the national parks. Red tailed monkey, l'hoest and baboons visit the campsite often while I stayed here.
Around 6pm chimps are calling loudly right near camp but there is no one around to take me into the forest. It costs more here to go on a specific chimp walk but not as much as the national parks. Red tailed monkey, l'hoest and baboons visit the campsite often while I stayed here.
Kalinzu Forest Reserve
The drive from the tiny village where I slept to Kalinzu was only 20 minutes. Before I left I bought a rice sack to protect my pack. I put it over top and then cut holes in it for my straps. It would do the job, not for the rain but for the dust and dirt.
Kalinzu reception and campsite is located just off the main road. I met Robert who told me about the reserve. This wasn't a national park and therefore no hefty fees. There was no entrance fee and all the guiding, camping and food was very reasonable. Robert said there were many trails and enought to keep me busy. I planned on staying for about 5 days. The only thing I didn't like was their established campsite. It was beside the reception and it plain view. I asked if there was anywhere else. He showed me a developing campsite behind the office and down a hill. There were still a few falled trees around and the grass wasn't cut super short but the site looked good to me. It was surrounded by forest on a hill but the tent sites had been cut into level terraces. It needed a little bit of touch up to be perfect and I asked Robert if he had a hard rake. He did, I borrowed it and went to work. Leveling uneven ground is major part of my job back home when planting summer flowers and fall bulbs and I like doing it. I choose the highest site with the least bit of grass and the most cover from the trees. I knew I would be spending some time here so why not make it really comfortable. I pulled out the remaining grass and weeds. My arch enemy the ant was living in the ground here but that wasn't going to stop me. They didn't bother me as I raked away their home. After some sweat and blisters I was finished. My rough and calloused hands from work had by this point turned into a soft mushy mess. I cleared a space around the bench and table and my area where I would dry my clothes between 2 trees. I was happy and satisfied. I ate lunch and after that Robert and I set off into the forest.
Kalinzu is 147km sq and mostly secondary forest. It occurs at altitudes ranging from 1400m to 1800m. It had been selectively logged a while back and has 3 part. One for ecotourism, one for use by local people and another not to be used by anyone. It contains a variety of animals ranging from chimps, blue monkey, l'hoest monkey and others to civets, pangolins, leopards, snakes and chameleons. It appeared fairly lush and dense some pockets. The leaves on the trail were most and thick green moss grew on the trees. It felt like home again to be back in the forest. The forest is very hilly, a stark contrast to the flat Semlike forest. I was able to get good views of the blue monkey which unlike the red tailed, black and white colobus, vervet monkey and baboons, I had not seen that often. We exited the forest into a tea plantation. It was my first time walking through tea. I was in a sea of tea. We walked to the main road and then back to Kalinzu. I had a cold bucket shower and relaxed before dinner.
Since I stayed 6 nights at Kalinzu and had no choice but to eat here, there was nothing around, I ate only what was localling available. I had only a few choices and made combinations with them, rice/groundnut sauce, rice/beans, rice/matooke, potatoes ( called Irish here) with groundnut sauce ( probably my favourite) and beans/matooke was about the extent of it. For breakfast I would have an omelette, bread, bananas and tea. No coffee here. It was plain food but 3 meals a day only cost $4. The cook/guide Rachel was a great cook and did what she could with the food adding in a few veggies here and there.
I took one of the folding reclining chairs from the office down to the campsite so I could relax with a backrest. There isn't much traffic on the road at night and I sleep well, though it's a little chilly at 18C.
Kalinzu reception and campsite is located just off the main road. I met Robert who told me about the reserve. This wasn't a national park and therefore no hefty fees. There was no entrance fee and all the guiding, camping and food was very reasonable. Robert said there were many trails and enought to keep me busy. I planned on staying for about 5 days. The only thing I didn't like was their established campsite. It was beside the reception and it plain view. I asked if there was anywhere else. He showed me a developing campsite behind the office and down a hill. There were still a few falled trees around and the grass wasn't cut super short but the site looked good to me. It was surrounded by forest on a hill but the tent sites had been cut into level terraces. It needed a little bit of touch up to be perfect and I asked Robert if he had a hard rake. He did, I borrowed it and went to work. Leveling uneven ground is major part of my job back home when planting summer flowers and fall bulbs and I like doing it. I choose the highest site with the least bit of grass and the most cover from the trees. I knew I would be spending some time here so why not make it really comfortable. I pulled out the remaining grass and weeds. My arch enemy the ant was living in the ground here but that wasn't going to stop me. They didn't bother me as I raked away their home. After some sweat and blisters I was finished. My rough and calloused hands from work had by this point turned into a soft mushy mess. I cleared a space around the bench and table and my area where I would dry my clothes between 2 trees. I was happy and satisfied. I ate lunch and after that Robert and I set off into the forest.
Kalinzu is 147km sq and mostly secondary forest. It occurs at altitudes ranging from 1400m to 1800m. It had been selectively logged a while back and has 3 part. One for ecotourism, one for use by local people and another not to be used by anyone. It contains a variety of animals ranging from chimps, blue monkey, l'hoest monkey and others to civets, pangolins, leopards, snakes and chameleons. It appeared fairly lush and dense some pockets. The leaves on the trail were most and thick green moss grew on the trees. It felt like home again to be back in the forest. The forest is very hilly, a stark contrast to the flat Semlike forest. I was able to get good views of the blue monkey which unlike the red tailed, black and white colobus, vervet monkey and baboons, I had not seen that often. We exited the forest into a tea plantation. It was my first time walking through tea. I was in a sea of tea. We walked to the main road and then back to Kalinzu. I had a cold bucket shower and relaxed before dinner.
Since I stayed 6 nights at Kalinzu and had no choice but to eat here, there was nothing around, I ate only what was localling available. I had only a few choices and made combinations with them, rice/groundnut sauce, rice/beans, rice/matooke, potatoes ( called Irish here) with groundnut sauce ( probably my favourite) and beans/matooke was about the extent of it. For breakfast I would have an omelette, bread, bananas and tea. No coffee here. It was plain food but 3 meals a day only cost $4. The cook/guide Rachel was a great cook and did what she could with the food adding in a few veggies here and there.
I took one of the folding reclining chairs from the office down to the campsite so I could relax with a backrest. There isn't much traffic on the road at night and I sleep well, though it's a little chilly at 18C.
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