D&K's Blog
  • Honeymoon 2013
  • Europe 2014
  • East/South Africa 2016
  • Prev
  • Next

Where’s the Forest?

August 3, 2016November 22, 2017 By Denise

For our next adventure, we headed to a village in Uganda, Rubuguri, where we would volunteer with an organization called Big Beyond. Getting there from Madagascar, via Rwanda, took two days and involved two flights (the second of which we shared with the Uganda National Rugby Team, whose exuberant personalities took up even more space than their imposing physiques), a private taxi (that we shared with our guide, Joseph, and two fellow volunteers, Amy and Michela, and all our luggage), followed by two public buses, followed by another private taxi, followed by an utterly mystifying border crossing that entailed walking back and forth between three little buildings carrying itty bitty scraps of paper, followed by one last taxi ride, a stop for lunch, and picking up an impromptu additional passenger, who turned out to be the principal of one of the schools in the village. On the way, we happened upon a big flock of beautiful crested gray cranes, Uganda’s national bird.

Waiting for our luggage to be loaded. The bus station was very busy with music turned up to 11.

 

Gray crowned cranes

The gray crowned cranes disappear, revealing the beautiful landscape of South-West Uganda.

Besides the variety of transport, the journey was interesting in other ways. Kigali is a modern city with multi-lane, well-paved highways, guard rails, traffic lights, signage, functioning drainage—all those engineering details that we take for granted in the West, but which had been nearly absent in Madagascar. Once we left the city, the road continued in good condition as it climbed into the mountains, but roadside commerce was sparse, with few obvious hotels, restaurants, or rest stops for travelers. I found this surprising, if only because we were traversing the area between the region’s largest city and Volcanoes National Park, home to the mountain gorillas that are one of Africa’s biggest tourist attractions. We did see signs of waterworks, electricity, and endless agriculture. Rwanda has one of the highest population densities in Africa, and it seemed as though every inch of the land was in service to feed them all.

As we neared the border the pavement ended. Once across, the road gradually narrowed. We stopped in a largish town to exchange currency and have lunch, which was served buffet-style, with a selection of stews made with goat meat, carrots, and Irish potatoes. From there, the road became much rougher as it climbed into mountains. There were patches of trees, but mostly the land had been cleared and terraced far up the steep hillsides.

This was the first time Karel and I were trying a volunteer experience as part of our travels. The way it works is you pay for your room and board, and you do volunteer work on projects the organization has in progress. We thought this would be a good way to get off the well-worn tourist trails, meet local people, learn more about what life is really like here, and do something interesting and helpful. Karel did some research and found Big Beyond, a small non-profit based out of the UK with a few projects scattered around eastern Africa.

The Big Beyond base of operations is a walled compound of a couple of acres or so, on a hillside, surrounded by larger farms and homesteads. Within the walls are the main house and kitchen, a large pavilion for dining and working, guest quarters, bath house, and several out-buildings. Also, a few chickens. Across the road on a separate parcel is a large, fenced garden. The neighborhood is a sort of “suburb” to the village, with an elementary school, a cantina, and even a “convenience store” where you can buy bananas and onions and whatever else the proprietress has on hand that day.

The kitchen gardens at Big Beyond provide food for the volunteers and staff, but are also active experiments for adapting new foods and techniques to local conditions.

Our home for three weeks was simple but easy and comfortable for westerners. A pipe from a mountain stream provided ample fresh water for washing, and the kitchen boiled water for drinking. The staff built a fire under the boiler every evening (except occasionally when they forgot) for hot showers. Neighbors brought a daily supply of fresh eggs and cow’s milk early each morning—until the cow gave birth to a calf, at which point our milk supply was diverted to other important purposes. Solar panels provided just enough power to charge devices during the day and run a few lights in the evening. Karel and I had a private room with a double bed, a non-working ceiling light, shelves, and a full complement of resident insects.

Our room for the next few weeks.

It turned out that everything was new. Big Beyond had moved there recently—within the past few months—from their original location on the ridge across the valley. There had been an incident involving a break-in and theft. They decided the location was too difficult to secure, and too far from the village. So, Karel and I were the first to enjoy the “couple’s quarters,” and pathways and outbuildings were still under construction while we were there.

We were greeted warmly by our hosts, Nick and Yoly, and the staff, shown to our rooms to drop off our things, and invited to the pavilion to hang out until dinner. Everyone was friendly and kind, but seemed a little preoccupied. I couldn’t help but feel as though we had interrupted a major discussion. Ah, well, not our concern. We had plenty to think about, simply adjusting to a new place, a new routine, and a new community.

The guest building in which we stayed.
This entry was posted in Uganda, Vacation 2016: East/South Africa
Share

Related Posts

  • Bwindi traditional story telling

    August 14, 2016April 16, 2020
  • Why Trees Matter

    August 12, 2016April 15, 2020
  • The Loooooong Walk Back

    August 12, 2016April 14, 2020

Post navigation

  Have I Got A Job For You!
The First Day in Bwindi  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

14 + nine =

Archives

  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2015
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • October 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • September 2012

Meta

  • Log in

Previous posts


© Karel Zuiderveld and Denise Cote. All Rights Reserved.
en English
nl Nederlandsen Englishfr Françaisde Deutschit Italianopt Portuguêses Españolsw Kiswahilisv Svenskath ไทย