After almost 10
weeks, my days in Uganda are coming to an end. I have had such an amazing time
here. While I came in with little information and zero expectations, I feel
like I’m leaving with an experience that’s complete.
These past few
weeks I was staying in an agricultural community called Kataara. It is about
1.5 hours away from Kasese so Erick and I decided to stay in a lodge to reduce
the daily commute costs. This area had no internet so I was completely cut off
from the rest of the world for some time. It was great to get away. After two
weeks, we finished the rodent collecting and my summer fieldwork was officially
over! It’s amazing how time flies… At the beginning the days felt like weeks,
and now the weeks feel like days.
Last weekend
some Emory labmates who are doing research in Rwanda this summer (Gabriel
Andrle, Jessica Deere, and former ENVS post-doc Winnie Eckardt) visited me in
Kasese and we went on a safari of Queen Elizabeth National Park. A lot of my
research focused on the outskirts and community-park boundaries, so it was
great to see the heart of the park. The safari was AMAZING. The first day we
left early to see the lions coming back from their evening hunts, then we drove
to see the bigger mammals, then an afternoon boat ride along the Kazinga
Channel to see elephants, hippopotamus, water buffalo, and some amazing birds,
then ended with a visit to the Bunyampaka salt lake mines and a sunset-lit
drive home back through the park. The next day we took the long trek down to
Ishasha to see the famous tree-climbing lions, and then we went to the Kyambura
Gorge to see the chimpanzees. It was even more amazing than it sounds.
After the safari
I left Kasese and headed to Kampala where I’m currently staying for the rest of
my time abroad. I leave for America on Monday. I will definitely need some time
to process everything I experienced over the past two months. It will be hard
going back to America for many reasons, but I’m also looking forward to it. I
am excited about the school year – we will have a good soccer team this season,
the J. Pollard Holmes Residence Life staff is amazing (including fellow IRES
colleague, Oceana Hopkins!), and my classes are going to be really interesting.
Even though I’ve had an incredible time in ‘go-with-the-flow’ Uganda, I think
I’m ready to head back to the crazy American life.
Weeraba, Uganda!
Leo R.
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