After 23 hours in the airport and planes, I have finally arrived in Uganda!
I landed in Entebbe where I spent the night at a hotel, then in the morning I rode to Kampala where I met my advisor, Dr. Innocent Rwego. Some team members and I will travel to Kasese (a town just outside of Queen Elizabeth National Park) where we will stay for a few weeks.
I wrote my IRES proposal on collecting mosquitoes in QENP and for the whole Spring semester I thought that was what I would be studying, but one week before I left for Uganda I met with Dr. Gillespie and he told me plans have changed. I think will now be working on a few different projects while I'm here: one is studying leptospirosis in rodents and another is looking at schistosomiasis in baboons. Plans might change again, though.
This morning I took a two hour taxi drive into Kampala. The roads were terrifying -- the middle yellow line separating the traffic seemed arbitrary and lanes were nonexistent; I saw a small motorcycle accident just 15 seconds after getting into the taxi. After the drive, I walked through the street markets to arrive at the One Health Central and Eastern Africa office. On one road there were loud horns and yelling, then when I turned the corner to a different street, there was music playing and everyone laughing. It felt as if those 10 steps took me to a completely different country!
I unfortunately won't be staying in Kampala long, but I hear Kasese is a fun town, so I hope to do some exploring while I'm there. Dr. Rwego told me Kasese is one of the hottest cities in Uganda... and I have a feeling Uganda heat is very different than Atlanta heat.
Internet will be very scarce, so I do not know how often I will be able to post, but I am really enjoying my first day in Uganda. I will also take many many pictures while I'm here -- I hope to upload some in the near future!
Later,
Leo R.
A great first snapshot of your experience!
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Jessica and I were at Entebbe Airport for a short while on the 20th, we were looking for you! Glad to hear all is well and you are starting to figure out your project! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it's already an adventure. I'd love to hear more about your project details, as it develops. My father-in-law just visited me in Paris after traveling in Benin and meeting with colleagues there, one of whom is working on developing a mathematical model for understanding how schistosomiasis spreads both through the body and a population. It seems like this is a massive issue throughout Africa.
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