So a week after my departure from Toronto, here I am - sitting in Kampala at a lattitude just north of the equator, but at an elevation that makes for a delightfully temperate climate. It has been raining nightly, though often the ground is dry by 7 a.m. when I sit in the garden of the guest house, enjoying the silence before my colleages join me and the incredible view of the city from where we are staying.
After several days delay for one of my travelling companions, all four of us were finally together on Friday, but the delay was welcome for those who needed the time to let their bodies adjust not only to jet lag but also to anti-malaria meds. Luckily, I have had no difficulty with either!
The talk in Kampala since we arrived has been CHOGM 2007 (http://www.chogm2007.ug/) the gathering of the Commonwealth (53 heads of state and 5000 delegates convening in Kampala). The Queen and, I presume, her husband, Prince Charles and Camilla are scheduled to arrive tomorrow and it's all anyone talks about and why a lot of internationals are in the city. Talk about timing. Public holidays have been announced for this coming Thursday and Friday and street closures for security purposes may be obstacles for our non-royal purposes. However, we hope to travel north by the end of the week.
I'm not sure what I can really say at this point as to this point we have only met with one NGO and a north american based one at that. We'll be meeting with local NGOs this week in Kampala and then with groups in Northern Uganda. From now we should have more reliable access to internet.
The country itself, is stunning. The earth, red as brick. All manner of birds (more than 1,000 varieties in the country) distract me continually and while I've been able to get some good shots with my snazzy new digital camera, and I will post some soon. Everyone we meet here is very welcoming and friendly and I so look forward to meeting people in different parts of the country.
We have two mobile phones so should anyone want to give a call (no charge for incoming calls!! what a concept!) let me know via email and I'll send you the number.
That's all for now, this is more just to let everyone know we did indeed all arrive, we are all healthy and I hope to have another update soon.
The talk in Kampala since we arrived has been CHOGM 2007 (http://www.chogm2007.ug/) the gathering of the Commonwealth (53 heads of state and 5000 delegates convening in Kampala). The Queen and, I presume, her husband, Prince Charles and Camilla are scheduled to arrive tomorrow and it's all anyone talks about and why a lot of internationals are in the city. Talk about timing. Public holidays have been announced for this coming Thursday and Friday and street closures for security purposes may be obstacles for our non-royal purposes. However, we hope to travel north by the end of the week.
I'm not sure what I can really say at this point as to this point we have only met with one NGO and a north american based one at that. We'll be meeting with local NGOs this week in Kampala and then with groups in Northern Uganda. From now we should have more reliable access to internet.
The country itself, is stunning. The earth, red as brick. All manner of birds (more than 1,000 varieties in the country) distract me continually and while I've been able to get some good shots with my snazzy new digital camera, and I will post some soon. Everyone we meet here is very welcoming and friendly and I so look forward to meeting people in different parts of the country.
We have two mobile phones so should anyone want to give a call (no charge for incoming calls!! what a concept!) let me know via email and I'll send you the number.
That's all for now, this is more just to let everyone know we did indeed all arrive, we are all healthy and I hope to have another update soon.
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2 comments:
Glad you got there safely. Please email your telephone number. I'd love a live update once in a while.
Peace
Benno
Also glad to hear (read) you're in safely. Good luck with everything, and I can't wait to see the doity boids.
- Adrian
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