Safari and Salt (4/24-4/26)

So, I am in Africa and I think it is pretty stereotypical to assume that people go on a safari and they are pretty great to go on, once. I went on one in 2009, at least I think that is the year. I sometimes forget which trip was which. It was with Ross and Rachel when they were both here. At the time it was super exciting and we got to see most of the animals up close and personal thanks to a guide/driver who really liked to bend the rules. (At the time we didn't know that the rules are that you can't go off the road to get closer to the animals) We also saw my favorite animal, the Giraffe because they are only in two of the national parks and we chose to go to Murchison Falls which had plenty of them roaming around. There is something about these very tall, and gracefully awkward creatures. The only animal that I didn't see that time was a zebra but I didn't really feel a strong need to go and see them. Since we planned on going on a safari, however, we chose the other parks, Queen Elizabeth, and Lake Mburu which were likely to have zebras and elephants, but no giraffe. 

Don't get me wrong, safari's are great, but they can be relatively expensive compared to the amount of money I have gotten used to spending daily here. When I was at the hospital I spent 2,500 on transportation to and from Mulago, 2,000 for breakfast, 4,000 for lunch, and usually just cooked from home. That translates to around $4 per day. Going on safari made me feel like more of a tourist. Maybe that's why I didn't love it as much as the first time. I like just living here and being a part of everything rather than feeling like I am here to sight see. Anyways, here are a few of the highlights from the trip!

Boat ride in Kazinga channel. Lots of hippo, water buffalo, and so many beautiful birds.

The top of a small hill in lake Mburu. The best part of the safari was the day we got to walk around the park to appreciate both the scenery and any animals that let us get close.

These three little warthogs didn't get scared off when I started talking to them, but apparently they are usually really jumpy and run away. Maybe they thought I had something useful to share?

My favorite bird of the trip. These little guys sing pretty songs and they are almost patriotic with the yellow, black, and small amount of red they are showing off in their feathers.

Some water buffalo make me sad. When the males get old and they lose a fight to stay in the herd, they are kicked out and have to live alone for the rest of their lives. Don't feel too sorry for them, though. They are the most aggressive of the water buffalo so be sure to stay far away and don't disturb them when there are only 2-3 gathered in one place.

Elephants possibly the second best animal we saw. There were dozens of them traveling together at a time and they were often very near the roads so we could get a really good look. 

Water bucks = pretty big deer?

Zebra! If you look at them too long, they just don't seem real, especially when there are groups of them moving around. They are just very oddly painted horses with a mohawk of a mane.

My favorite hippo picture! these two were going at it for quite a while. I think they were just play-fighting,  but I wouldn't want to get in the middle. Just in case you weren't aware, hippos kill the most people out of any animal in Africa (or so I have been told)

Safari wouldn't be complete without seeing long horned cattle and a boda boda in the park

Sunrise over Kazinga channel

View from the walking safari. Those foothills in the background are part of the Rwenzori mountains. I was sad when I found out that the Rwenzori water that I always choose out of the many brands of bottled water is not actually water from the mountains, but just named after the mountains. False advertising!

I think one of my favorite parts of the trip had nothing to do with animals. We were taken to one of the crater lakes, Lake Katwe, to see how salt is traditionally mined from the lakes. I always love learning about the jobs that people really do in this country. This is the main source of income, in addition to fishing, in this particular location. In this part of the west, many people are own a section of the lake where they mine out Sodium Chloride after each rainy season when the water evaporates within their plot. Each plot can sell for around 5 million shillings ($20,000)  if the owner choses to sell. The salt is good for eating but is not iodized. We were told that even without iodizing the salt, people that use mainly the local salt have rarely had problems with goiter (which basically is a problem with the thyroid gland in your neck that can cause a really big mass). 

There are also people that mine the sodium bicarbonate directly from the main portions of the lake. They walk around and break up the bottom of the lake and pull out big chunks of a salt that is not edible for humans, but animals often use as a salt lick. They can gather enough salt in a day to pay up to 200,000 shillings (about $80) per day. The biggest concern is that the saltiness of the water can be caustic. Women that go in the water without a protective covering have suffered damage to their fallopian tubes and urinary tract. Most women, therefore, don't do mining except in the plots for salt a couple of times per year. The men are known to have some external damage and it is expensive to buy water overalls so they are known to wear a condom instead for protection against the salt damage. When they leave the water you can see the whitish dust covering their whole body from walking around in the water all day.

Forgive me if any of these facts are incorrect. I am not fully up to speed on all of my types of sodium. Between that and sometimes having a hard time understanding the words that the guide were saying, I might have mixed some things up. Basically, salt mining is the livelihood of many people in the area and it seems to be really hard work to make a living. Also, there are lots of hippos that live in the water around the village and at night time, they are walking around and if you disturb them, you might get attacked. Not exactly a safe place to live and work, right?

Salt remnants from one of the salting plots - similar to what is actually found when harvesting at the end of the rainy season (we are just in the middle of it now)

Stacks of salt licks gathered from the main lake

Timber rafts that are used by the men to walk around and collect the salt licks during the day. The lake used to be about ankle deep with water but over time, the mining has caused the water to be at least 2-3 feet deep in most places

Beautiful view of the lake. The partitioned areas in the foreground are all privately owned plots. The line in the middle is where a pipeline used to carry water to a factory that produced iodized salt in the 1960's. When the pipes corroded, nobody ever replaced them so there is a big empty factory building in the middle of the small village area.

I also just needed a place to share this picture on a billboard I saw when we stopped to take a photo at the equator. I was just glad that somebody is educating people about corruption in government. Trying to fix it is a huge task, but I think the public is realizing that things need to change. I really like the man with the bulging belly and buttons that are about to pop off….

So Long, Farewell

Goodbyes have never been a good thing for me. I have a hard time moving on from the things that I love. Maybe that is why I always enjoy coming back to the same places where I feel I have connections with people rather than continuing to travel to new locations. I don't really think there is anything wrong with always going someplace new, but for me, I feel like the impact is greater and a little more deep when you can keep going back and learning a little more about people every time. For example, when I went on my first real missions trip to Chicago, I ended up continuing to go back every year for the next five years, even after I graduated from university. Every year I got to reconnect with people and get updates on how they were doing over the past year and conversations always got deeper the longer we knew people.

Since coming to Uganda, I have a select core of friends that I have met which started with my brother's first trip in 2007 and my first trip in 2008 when I was introduced to one of my best friends who unfortunately lives all the way over on this side of the world. Pretty unfortunate that we had a really strong connection from the time we met, but pretty amazing that we were able to keep in touch regularly over so many years. Over time, the circle has expanded so that I have met people's parents, siblings, and other members of their extended families. It really does feel a lot like home and I think there will always be a tug of wanted to be in two different places because my heart feels it has a home in both. 

Although I am sad about being away from the friends I have made, it's never so bad because we have technology to help us, such as Facebook, Whatsapp, and Skype. It's pretty easy to stay connected at least a little bit. The saddest part for me is leaving the orphanages, especially the ones where we know the kids very well because you never know what will happen the next time you are back. Over the past week, we have tried to make house calls to the orphanages that we were involved with through our previous project with Medicine for Sick Children. Unfortunately, the doors were closed on this chapter, literally. JaJa's orphanage and Nantale's orphanage were places that seemed to have things together and there were outside sponsors helping. However, when we showed up at their gates, we found locks on the outside of the door. From far away, I know it is a bad sign to drive up and see the lock. It means that nobody is inside because the lock would prevent them from getting out. We have some contact numbers but mostly they don't work and the neighbors only know when they left, but none of the other details. We are going to continue to search until we find out at least a few of the details. For now we have to be content knowing that when we were here in the past, it was our time to offer help and now we are moving on to different things instead.

Closed doors are always a bad sign

Today was really a horrible day, even though it was actually pretty fun. It was the last day with the Wooly kids at Watoto. It was a usual visit day full of coloring books, volleyball in the yard without a net, braiding (or knotting) my hair, and finishing with delicious local food. At the end of the day, the kids piled in the car so there wasn't even enough room for us. I got to walk back with Arthur, the boy that I sponsor, instead of riding in the car. It was so nice to have a quiet time to talk to him without all the commotion. I realized how much I love this 11 year old and the whole group of kids. We know them so well. Every year we visit them a minimum of 3 times, and have at least one full day outing to some fun place in Kampala. I know all of their personalities really well and I feel like I am really "Auntie Margaret", just like they call me now. Even the most stubborn girl, Ruth, who used to always call me Mzungu, and never speak in English has now been calling me by my name and coming around to talk to me. I still wonder if she is just looking for sweeties, but I am considering it a win. 

My face about sums up how I feel. The picture looks about how much they were pulling. 

At the very end of the walk, Arthur asked when he would see me again. I had to tell him I honestly don't know. With starting residency and moving along with training, I don't have a clear plan of what my purpose will be both in Minnesota and in Uganda. I have no idea if or when I will be back. In my heart, I feel like I will always be back, but I just can't be completely sure and that makes me more sad. I wish I could say I will see them next year but I might not. I have to trust that if it is meant to be, I will see them again, and it hopefully won't be too long from now. I am convincing myself that I am just saying "so long for now" rather than "goodbye forever". I need to trust that whatever God's plan is for the kids, it will be for the best, but I really hope that I am a part of the plan some time. For now, when I get home I will still be able to pray for them, I can write to them, and even call occasionally every few months. I hope they know how much we love them and want the best for them, even though we are from such different places in the world. I left with an extremely heavy heart today and cried for a good portion of the way home, but I think it is good to feel close to them and be sad to be separated from them. I think it is a sign that there is a strong connection and the relationships we have with them are important and meaningful. 

Kenneth and Irene. I don't know where he got that shirt, but I was instantly a fan of his support for the Muppets!

Arthur and me. We made sure to have an individual picture every visit this year!