Christmas 2018

Dear friends and family, Christmas is here!

Santa Claus' arrival is imminent and the excitement is palpable and growing! Memories of happy childhood Christmases flood back. Presents, good food, family, spiritual observations ( probably in that order!)  - the essential ingredients. Peace and love, hopefully even forgiveness, permeate the atmosphere. 

This has been a wonderful year. I found myself in Canada in January, not my favourite month to be home. In February I had two romantic weeks in Puerto Vallarta with my friend. The weather was glorious and there is lots to see and do there. I had one nice trip out of town, with relatives of my friend,  to a beautiful beach north of Puerto Vallarta and I did think how nice it might be to have a holiday there as Puerto Vallarta has become very urban and busy.  

In April I attended an ocular melanoma conference in Denver, Colorado to reconnect with my many new friends and keep up with the science of, and research into, the disease. I spent a few days afterwards with very special friends who live just north of Denver. 

We had a perfect summer in Victoria, starting in April. The weather was so dry that we had very serious problems with forest fires throughout the province. Climate change is trying so hard to get our attention. Will we listen? Do people care?

I spent lots of time on the mainland as my friend lives over there and this gave me many opportunities to spend time with Geoff and his partner Aileen. They are just home from a very exciting trip to Nepal and Bhutan where they did some serious trekking in the Himalayas. 

In August I returned to Africa, always a very meaningful event for me. I travelled through many countries, several of which I had never visited before. Highlights were a visit with some of our closest relatives, the mountain gorillas, a visit deep into the Okavango Delta, climbing up the sand dunes on the Namibian coast, seeing the remains of our illustrious earliest forbears in both South Africa and Ethiopia, and spending lots of time with the animals and birds that make Africa by far the most beautiful continent. 

I have close family in South Africa and it is always a special pleasure to spend time with them. I also rediscovered a first cousin in Uganda whom I had not seen for perhaps thirty years. 

The most exciting project of the year though for me has been the formation of a national advocacy body for ocular melanoma, to support patients and caregivers and encourage progress in the care of those who find themselves living with this rare and dangerous disease. I was diagnosed with it in 2010 and developed metastasis in 2012 so I consider myself very lucky indeed to be alive. The official launch of Ocumel Canada will take place at the beginning of January. Now the hard work begins in earnest.

And so I find myself yet again eager to embrace the mystery and excitement of another year of living with passion. What a privilege to be alive and well!   Best wishes for a happy festive season.  Peace and love, Nigel

Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a very distinct history within Africa. It has never been colonized. The Italian fascists occupied the country for five years during WW2 but left quickly and the emperor of the time, Haile Selassie, resumed his reign. Ethiopia also has a long history of repelling invaders. 

Ethiopians are not one distinct ethnic group. Over 80 languages are spoken and there is enormous geographic and cultural diversity. Christianity came early to Ethiopia,  in the 4th century CE, and two thirds of the population belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The church has a powerful influence and still gives the country very conservative mores. It is surprising to see the devotion of even its young people, praying fervently in and around the churches, kissing gates and windows, bowing before icons and asking passing priests for a blessing. The priest offers the cross and the penitent kisses it and is touched by it. 

The population is high, over 100 000 000, and Addis Ababa is a sprawling, mostly uninteresting megalopolis. Land cannot be privately owned but is leased. The highlands are intensely cultivated, almost everywhere the eye can see and 70% of the population still lives in rural areas. 

The emperor was overthrown in 1974 and replaced by a communist regime, now mostly known for a campaign of terror and mass murder. It was replaced by a democratic government but one party has dominated until today. It is extraordinary that slaves, which numbered in the millions, were not freed until 1942. With such a different social history, a visit is well worthwhile. 

There is an evident gentleness about the people, and manners are very important. Greetings are elaborate with much shoulder touching while handshaking! The man hug must have come from here! Women seem to be surprisingly equal for Africa and are everywhere involved in commerce and industry. The young seem to have little to do in the towns and cities though and given how numerous they are, this must create a lot of social stress.

It is very challenging to be an independent tourist here as information does not abound and most people just hire someone to take them around everywhere. Everyone seems to be a 'guide'! When I have chatted with potential guides I have quickly concluded they have neither the linguistic skills nor the background knowledge to be helpful and would better be described as drivers. I have chosen to proceed on my own and have had a wonderful time. Those offering help have not been a persistent nuisance. I feel no danger, day or night.

The weather is lovely in October as the rainy season is now over, it is green everywhere and temperatures are moderate on the high plateau. There is much history to be explored, starting with the Kingdom of Axum near the northern border with Eritrea.

Heritage Day

September 24 is Heritage Day in South Africa and South Africans have an annual opportunity to think about diverse cultures and their heritage. My clever cousin chose a special way to celebrate. 

We drove to a new museum, named Cradle of Humankind, where the story of human evolution is retold in an impressive collection of exhibits which benefits from modern technology and innovation in a way that old museums cannot. The context is perfect. Close by, the Rising Star Cave was the location of exciting and rich fossil discoveries in 2013 which led to the detailed description of 'homo naledi', a branch of the family that evolved in the area millions of years ago.

The most amazing discovery in this cave is that 15 different individuals ended up in the same cave and it is surmised that it is a burial chamber. Long before 'homo sapiens' appeared, this branch of the family seems to have had rituals surrounding death. It is likely that these remote indirect ancestors, while still good tree climbers, had a consciousness about life and death that resembles our own.

The limestone caves all over Southern Africa have revealed many long hidden treasures and have been a main player in leading paleontology to the current robust theory that 'homo sapiens', our direct ancestor, first stood and walked in this part of the globe and gave rise to all modern peoples. There were many other branches of the family that were born but died out. 'Homo erectus' for example, developed outside of Africa and spread far and wide, including back to Africa. However, 'homo sapiens' won the war of survival and came to dominate the planet, for better and worse. So, we are truly all African and it always feels like home to me. 

We also descended deep into the Sterkfontein Cave close by, where Dr. Broom, in 1948, discovered the remains of 'Mrs. Ples', first thought to be the skull of a woman. Advances since then in science and knowledge have led to the likelihood that it is the skull of a 14 year old boy! The humanlike remains in this cave all ended up there by misfortune, either falling in or being dragged in by predators that had killed them. It was not an ancient dwelling place.

The new museum has one exhibit where the visitor walks the timeline from the present day back to the beginning of the earth and marks the five mass extinctions that we now know about. The most cataclysmic mass extinction, a mere 251 million years ago, destroyed over 90% of all life on the planet. Will the sixth mass extinction, currently underway,  created by climate change and our profligate abuse of the earth's resources, be of that dimension? 

Victoria Falls

In the last leg of the trip I crossed the border into Zimbabwe, my home from 1984 to 1987 and I spent two days at Victoria Falls. While the economy is still in disarray, destroyed by the avarice and cunning of the now deposed Robert Gabriel Mugabe, tourism prospers. A currency crisis continues and the country has no currency of its own. Most trade is done in American dollars but often there is no change and credit cards often don't work because of the patchy infrastructure. 

Despite these considerable obstacles, the majestic splendour of the Victoria Falls draws visitors from all over the world. On the Zimbabwe side one can walk all along the edge of the gorge facing the Falls. Where the water is most plentiful, the long drop, over 100 metres in places, creates an ever present mist which falls immediately again as tropical rain, creating a lush rainforest in the immediate area. The noise really does sound like thunder, giving the name Musi-Oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders. It is a beautiful experience to walk through this mist and watch the spectacular view disappear and reappear. There are many viewing points along the way where  you stand right on the edge of the gorge and watch the water tumble over the cliff. In September, viewing is at its best as the water in the mighty Zambezi is at its lowest. Early in the year, when the river is filled with rains, one sees much less but the spectacle is even more unlikely. I have seen it in many moods and it is always spectacular.

Livingstone wrote in his diary, " No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight."  The scene seems so unlikely, almost impossible. Why does this mighty river, carrying water from all over the centre of Africa to the Indian Ocean, along a 2 kilometre almost straight line cliff, suddenly drop 100 metres straight down? No similar drop is visible in the surrounding landscape. It seems as if the river should flow almost flat along the ground. Instead, it engages in this miraculous athletic feat, creating rainbows everywhere, giving rise to a rainforest in the midst of endless dry savannah, filling the air with a mighty roar and blowing mist high into the bone dry surrounding air. It is a magical place indeed - a wonder of the world.

Chobe National Park

Along the northern border between the Caprivi Strip (Namibia) and Botswana, lies Chobe National Park which boasts the largest elephant population in the world. In September the rains are still a month or more away so the game concentrates along the river to have access to water. If there are antelope and other smaller animals, there will be lions and leopards to feast on them. 

At this stage of the trip, day temperatures were moving close to 40 degrees and the nights were a very welcome relief. I had an early morning and a late evening game drive in addition to a sunset cruise on the river. Botswana requires that their parks use Botswana guides so our excellent guides had to stay at camp. The level of guiding was very amateurish by comparison and there was a wild drive along very sandy roads basically in search of large cats! I did have the thrill of seeing a leopard coming down out of a tree having stored his food up high. I also saw two prides of lions. Besides the cats, there was an amazing concentration of game along the river and also an impressive number of birds. The challenge was getting the guide to stop the jeep, even briefly!

Elephants were everywhere. It was thrilling to see such large herds with many very small babies. When the day gets hot, the herds move towards the river and spend a long time there

drinking, bathing and cooling themselves. They also spray mud all over themselves and then add a coat of dust for good measure. For the first time I was able to watch elephants swim through the deep river to an island. You can't see what is happening under water but they glide along surprisingly smoothly for such large animals! Crocodiles and hippos were also everywhere. In both the Okavango Delta and Chobe, hippos are often out of the water during the day grazing on soft grasses. Hippos usually lie around in the water during the day and graze at night so this was a wonderful surprise end it made photography easy. 

Watching this drama of nature playing out in front of my eyes brings great joy and I realize there is a naturalist in full view inside me. Perhaps I have misspent my life in schools. This is the school where I have always wanted to be!

The Okavango Delta in Botswana

A vast catchment area in the south of Angola feeds the Okavango River which pours into the Okavango Delta, a vast water area completely surrounded by desert. The Delta is relatively shallow and filled with islands of grasses, interspersed with channels of faster flowing water and paths created by elephants and hippos crashing through. It is very difficult to comprehend how there can be so much water in this hot dry part of Africa. The water level peaks in June, months after the rains recede and is at its lowest point as the rains begin. Four metres of water is considered low in the Delta, and how many rivers never reach the ocean?

A four hour fast boat ride took me far into the delta through a giant outdoor aviary. Lying in the reeds on both sides were all sizes of crocodiles, some as long as 4 metres. They would stay dead still until the boat was very close and then, in an explosion of action, jump into the water. The stunning colours of the carmine bee eaters and malachite kingfishers and vast numbers of fish eagles and little egrets delight. 

My destination was Pepere Island, a small island far into the Delta where a very sparse tenting camp has been set up with no electricity and no commerce. Hippos came through the camp later in the evening. The following day I took a long mokoro (traditional dugout canoe pushed by a person with a very long pole)  ride on the channels created by large animals and admired the endless flowers and grasses, including beautiful water lilies of various colours. There were tiny frogs everywhere, on the reeds and the water lily leaves. Those frogs create a deafening chorus as the sun sets and later larger frogs with deeper voices join them. At one stage I was very close to a huge hippo who quickly took shelter underwater. 

Then I had a long walk through the bush with a very knowledgable guide who could explain the bird, animal and plant life. We were in search of elephants but sadly came across none. 

However, the following day our patient guide headed out again and we came across a breeding herd of elephants, with four babies. This makes it much harder to approach the herd as the mothers will do what it takes to guard their babies. I have always found the walks in game parks especially exciting as one puts one's life at risk to get closer to the animals without the protection of a vehicle. 

Today I have made the long return journey up along the Okavango River and then driven the length of the Caprivi Strip and am poised to enter Chobe National Park, with its 50 000 elephants tomorrow. 

Garden of Eden

The Etosha Pan in northern Namibia has long held the reputation of being rich in animal life. The past few days have been a very joyful experience filled with exciting sightings of all kinds of animals, some for the first time ever for me.

Yesterday morning I came across a pride of 10 lions, including 3 little cubs. I learned later that the cubs had been left together in the open by the waterhole as the pride went hunting, making them extremely vulnerable to predators. This is how it is in the lion world. Pregnancy is very short, just 3.5 months and the mother gets the cubs through that most vulnerable phase. Submissive males in the pride are involved in caring for the cubs later. When the power structure changes, all cubs in the pride are killed. This vicious and fragile power structure seems to be partially responsible for a shocking decline in lion numbers in the world.

Bird life in the eastern side of the park is extraordinary. It would be worth a visit here just to do birding.

Today we head north into the Caprivi Strip and tomorrow another dream comes true, a visit to the Okavango Delta and a voyage by mokoro, the traditional dugout canoe. 

End of earth

Four wonderful days in Cape Town, one of the world's most beautiful cities, at end of winter when everything is green, is balm for the soul.  Highlights were a day in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and a trip to the top of Table Mountain, wrapped in mist. The city abounds with delicious food and, of course, excellent local wines. I also had a quick tour down to Cape Point Lighthouse, back past the large penguin colony at Boulders, and over Chapman's Peak, where two short years ago I ran with my friends and son in the Two Oceans Ultramarathon. 

There may be many serious problems in South Africa but there are also many more things that work well. The infrastructure is without parallel in Africa, the rainbow of people all seem to be able to work well enough together for institutions small and large to be friendly and efficient and life is good for those who can afford to avail of all the pleasures. 

Poverty is its Achilles' heel and solutions for that will not be easy, not when the huge majority is poor.

Rwanda

My visit to Rwanda has come to an end. It had been on my list for a long time and the visit has been very rewarding.

What is different about it? We all have heard about some of the differences.  It is indeed amazingly tidy. There seems to be an ethic abroad in society that work should be done with great care. I have seen people dig out tiny weeds from cobbled roads and others scraping dirt from brick surfaces. There are decorative plantings everywhere and people are forever pulling weeds out of the lawns. Sweepers swish the leaves off roads and pathways. There is no plastic strewn about, mostly because plastic bags are banned. During Umuganda, often groups just go out and pick up litter.

The country has also felt very safe. People seem extremely friendly and willing to chat. I have felt quite safe walking around after dark. There are low key random police checks out on the country roads but no heavy military presence is evident anywhere. 

The scenery is magnificent everywhere I have been. It is indeed the Country of a Thousand Hills. The countryside is green and lush even at the end of the dry season. Rivers look clean and water is plentiful. Everything that is stuck in the ground grows. The temperature has been surprisingly moderate and varies only between 25 and 30 degrees perhaps year round. It is cooler than neighbours because it is so high up, even though very near the equator.

The only cloud on the horizon seems to be the large population (12 million) in a very small area. Families still tend to be large although there is now new emphasis on family planning and often it is economic pressure and education for women that reduces the birth rate. Rwanda has the highest rate in the world of female political representation in parliament - 65%.

If life is kind, I will be back. There are many adventures still to be had here. 

Umuganda

In 1998, the concept of Umuganda was reintroduced in Rwanda. It had other names and other drivers previously. This time, the idea was to get the peoples of Rwanda to learn to work side by side, in peace, to rebuild a nation brought to its knees by the horrific genocide of 1994.

And so, every last Saturday of the month, starting at 8 am and continuing for 3 or 4 hours, the people are asked to come out and work together on a shared project. Building, repairing, tidying up, creating and landscaping - any kind of project is welcome. Committees throughout the country coordinate the work. This concept is one of the reasons that Rwanda is really different among African nations. 

Of course a national organization on this scale has issues. In some places no one knows how to get started. In others, there is no funding available for projects. Leadership may not work well. But by and large, it has been an extraordinarily successful initiative and it is estimated that up to 80% of the population is involved on any one project day.

The president, Paul Kagame, who has led Rwanda since the end of the genocide, leads by example and joins in in person with a hoe! No one is above physical labour. 

Public transit shuts down during Umuganda. It starts up again at 11 am.  How do you think such an idea, in one form or another, could work in our beautiful country Canada?! In this age of individualism perhaps it would not fly far!   Our pioneers worked together to survive. Why couldn't we?

The Congo Nile Trail

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8jpgfVks7RGVVSUH7. 

The rains have come but adventures must continue! This morning I headed out early with Freddie of Gogisenyi Tours on a mountain bike. We headed for the hills immediately! They are not difficult to find around here! 

Freddie's knowledge of the local countryside allowed us to spend almost all of our time off road and we rode through many villages. The countryside is incredibly lush everywhere and cultivation is in high gear with the arrival of rain. The terrain was very challenging for me as I don't really ride on steep or dangerous trails! The hills were steep and often the trail was a bed of sharp rocks! I felt very relieved to get through the experience without breaking something! 

This Western Province of Rwanda is very beautiful. There is a trail, called the Congo Nile Trail,  which runs all the way down along the east shore of Lake Kivu and tourists are starting to ride and hike it in increasing numbers. You can spend several days on it and stay in camps and lodges on the way. Today I rode the first section of it. 

People are invariably very friendly. Adults and children all call out greetings in many languages. The children were coming and going from school. Adults were all busy tilling the fields, moving goods to market, selling produce and coming to and from Gisenyi. We passed through enormous tea and coffee plantations and saw a very large brewery. Beer is big business here! The locals prepare banana beer and sorghum beer for sale in their local villages. There is a wide selection of commercial beers all brewed in Rwanda. 

This was an exciting combination of seeing Rwanda off the main roads, visiting local villages, getting some good exercise and contributing to a nascent tourism industry. We started in fine weather but towards the end got caught out in a thunder and lightning storm. Twice we had to shelter from heavy rain. I managed to get soaked despite this and now have to dry out naturally, in close to 100% humidity, as I travelled very light from Kigali! 

Felix

Felix

On my first walk along the shores of Lake Kivu, I was accosted by a young man named Felix who wanted to walk and chat. Who could say no?  He needed to walk as he was recovering from a broken leg incurred while playing soccer, a passion around here. He had had a Quebec teacher in school and had learned a lot from him. His father had six wives. Felix was born of the first wife who was deserted long ago, leaving the mother to raise her own family. Felix seemed to know quite a lot about Gisenyi and was able to share with me much of the history of the place. I was a little concerned that he might be walking too far on an injured leg but he protested that it would be fine. 

He lives with his old grandmother in a very modest little house on the hills above the town.  He misses contact with his father who now lives in Uganda with a new family. I enjoyed the walk after my long bus ride and I also enjoyed the stories woven by Felix. 

As with all stories, if they go on long enough, dark clouds will gather. We had toured the entire town, visited the border post I was interested in and explored the large open air market and we were headed back to the hotel when the story moved in an unwelcome direction. Felix was about to sit an important exam tomorrow and could not enter the examination hall with a dictionary. He wondered if I could perhaps find a way to buy him a dictionary so that he could get on with his life.

Well, you can imagine I am now feeling trapped. I quickly resolved to take the high road and explain to my friend Felix that at the beginning of the story he just wanted company on his therapeutic walk and I was happy to provide that as we were going in the same direction and could entertain each other. I took some time to explain that every single encounter with strangers in Rwanda to date had been respectful and friendly and I hoped sincerely that this experience would turn out the same way, I must admit that I also gave a fairly long lecture on the importance of honesty and trust in human relationships. I could feel energy surging as I delved further and further into this delicate area of the human experience.

As I went on interminably about such topics, like a teacher missing his vocation,  I noticed that Felix was no longer keeping pace with me but falling further and further behind. I stopped to check on his wellness and he assured me he was well so I relaunched into my expansive deliberations. When we finally reached my hotel, I extended my hand in friendship, thanked him profusely for his friendship and bade him goodnight. He forced himself to extend his hand too but only managed to touch his fingertips to mine, all the while averting his gaze. There was a pronounced lack of enthusiasm from him now and he muttered as headed off very quietly in the other direction. I sincerely hope he has recovered from his encounter with the tourist from Hell. 

Courage

The solo traveller must be able to draw unexpectedly on reserves of courage. Plans can easily go awry, especially when very far from home, as I am now. I have been exploring Kigali, capital of Rwanda, for several days now. Time is limited so I need to fit more in. Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu, has been beckoning. It takes maybe five hours on a public bus to get there. Yesterday, I was up early and ready to head out to purchase my bus ticket for today when suddenly all planning was interrupted by a sharp pain in my mid back. It came out of nowhere and with no warning. I was unable to stand and had to just lie down. 

After a few hours, with many negative thoughts trying to invade my general happiness, I felt I could stand and perhaps walk. I limped outside and headed for the bus station. After a few minutes it was obvious that walking was not a good option so I hailed a moto-taxi (see public transit post) and reached Nyabugogo Bus Station quickly. The press of humanity was overwhelming. People, buses, noise, heat everywhere. I made an attempt to get a measure of the lay of the land and then pain forced me to beat a premature retreat, ticketless of course. Not enough courage in my account!

After a surprisingly good sleep overnight, and a very kind post breakfast massage with camphor ointment from the lovely young lady who is taking care of me here, this morning was a different story. I am now able to walk slowly and I got lots of help from friendly people on the way to and at the bus station so I am now in possession of a bus ticket for the morrow, leaving Kigali at 10.30 am. The journey will take around five hours, I think. I am imagining myself having a mountain bike adventure on the Congo Nil Trail on Thursday. May all the stars align.

The crowds thicken as the bus station is near

Visiting long lost family

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HFDVsPzfm1TPuvsC7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HFDVsPzfm1TPuvsC7

This is the highlight of the trip. I have spent ages preparing. Up at dawn to make hurried preparations, a quick breakfast, and off into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in search of mountain gorillas, one of the world's most endangered species. We go through a briefing and registration and are assigned to groups based on fitness. Some gorilla families live far away! Each group has no more than eight visitors. The permits must be bought months in advance. 

I am well dressed for the adventure. There are stinging nettles everywhere so I am wearing winter running tights under my safari pants and running gloves. A long walking pole is needed for steep slopes. Protected by armed guards (protection from mountain elephants)  in front and behind, and a knowledgable guide, we trek out into the forest. 

After two hours, we learn that the trackers are nearby, having struggled with confusing tracks all morning but eventually locating the troupe. We are guided very close to the gorillas who are resting after foraging all morning. The family has 13 members, the leader a splendid silverback. There were several babies in the group, the youngest only 8 months old. We watched as they rested, the adults trying to nap, the babies refusing to do so and amusing us endlessly with their antics as they climbed, fell, wrestled, fed, fought and reconciled. Every now and then the adults would reach out and pull the babies back but they did not rest. 

I was struck by the vulnerability of the 8 month old. His muscle control was very weak but he was very brave as he struggled to explore his environment. He fell about constantly, often ending up upside down back amongst the adults. The young feed from the mother for up to three years, very similar, appropriately, to human young. The expressions of the young were almost invariably astonishment and befuddlement, much to the delight of our group. We enjoyed a full hour of this interaction but the last 15 minutes, the silverback decided the group needed to get back to feeding and we followed them as they set out on their second foraging of the day. They don't necessarily stick closely together as they move through the tight undergrowth in search of their favourite foods. They enjoy a tremendous variety of plants, perhaps over 70, and sometimes treat themselves to ants and termites too.

The silverback is a magnificent creature. He was sitting up straight as we arrived and then he settled down for his nap too. At one stage, he flopped over onto his stomach so we got a beautiful view of his silver back. He participated frequently in care of the young, pulling them back gently to the safety of the group.The silver colouring happens as the male reaches 12/13 years. 

This was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had and when it was over I was overwhelmed by feelings of joy and delight.  This is an opportunity not to be missed, to come into contact with our first cousins for the first time. 

In search of wildlife

Up early and on the road for a game drive. There was actually very little game visible. We were lucky to come across a pride of lions, one sitting up in a candelabra tree and another lying in the shade, very pregnant. At 11 am we arrived at the Kazinga Channel, which joins Lake Edward to Lake George and boarded our boat for a cruise along the banks. The banks were crowded with animals and birds and the boat was able to get very close. We watched herds of elephants come down to drink and there were literally hundreds of hippos in the water. I saw two baby hippos, being carefully guarded by their mothers. Another new sighting - giant forest hog, a larger version of the lowly warthog, the earth's ugliest animal.

Up early and on the road for a game drive in Queen Elizabeth Park, a huge area of land in the Rift Valley. There was actually very little game visible. We were lucky to come across a pride of lions, one sitting up in a candelabra tree and another lying in the shade, very pregnant. Tree climbing lions are quite common in Uganda! It must be much easier to find lunch that way. 
Two hyenas also obliged us, one of them snacking busily on a red leg of something. At 11 am we arrived at the Kazinga Channel, which joins Lake Edward to Lake George and boarded our boat for a cruise along the banks. The banks were crowded with animals and birds and the boat was able to get very close. We watched herds of elephants come down to drink and there were literally hundreds of hippos in the water. I saw two baby hippos, being carefully guarded by their mothers. Another new sighting - giant forest hog, a larger version of the lowly warthog, the earth's ugliest animal.

The horror of genocide

This morning I worked up my courage and spent several hours in the National Genocide Memorial in Kigali. I knew it would be a gruelling experience. 

In this place, the remains of over a quarter of a million victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide have been given a dignified final resting place. While their remains have come from mass graves all over the country, the row of mass graves here gives them a name and a place of burial at last. The tragic work of digging up mass graves continues. 

The British based Aegis Foundation has funded a fitting museum to tell the story of the massacre. The foundations of ethnic hatred are traced back to the German and Belgian colonial eras when there was a racist fascination with ethnic difference and power and influence were distributed to differentiate. We see traces of this in the history of colonial empires all over the globe and many of the fomented hatreds live on in our time. 

The museum record makes it clear that the massacre was organized by the Rwandan government and had been in the planning stages for some time. The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi died in an unexplained plane crash in April of 1994 and this unleashed the violence. Perhaps more than one million people - men, women and children, were slaughtered in a cataclysmic explosion of violence. The sheer brutality boggles the mind. This was an intended final solution to the presence of Tutsi people in Rwanda. The wall of names makes it easy to see that entire families were killed together.

The museum goes on to cover several other genocides of the modern era - the Jews of Europe of course, the Herrero in Namibia and the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.  Common factors are pointed out - the myth of a chosen superior people, danger of being overrun by 'others', the defence of homeland.

A visit to this museum is a timely reminder that we need to be on the watch for divisive ideology in our own countries. The United States is currently led by a person who has called all Mexicans rapists. There are many examples of dangerous thinking emerging in Europe. The monstrous side of our humanity is never far from the surface and it is good to be watchful for it wherever we live. Nuns and priests in Rwanda were convicted for participating in the slaughter. 

The only happier moments in the museum come from reading about the heroic actions of some people in saving innocent lives. 

The long row of mass graves

The list of names goes on forever. Whole families were exterminated.

I

Realities

As we rode along a dirt road in south west Uganda, I spotted some large earthworks and asked what was happening. It was explained that there is a lot of work available breaking rocks from the cliff with fire and chisels, and then hammering those rocks into gravel. Building materials are in big demand. A wheelbarrow full sells for $2. A small truck load fetches $10. There were many people involved in this excruciatingly hard and boring work, including women and children.

I wondered how desperate one would have to be to spend from dawn until dusk hammering rocks. My friend Alan, in training as a guide, told me that when he left high school it was the only work available to him and he settled in for a spell as a rock crusher. Ambition and good luck have since led him to greener pastures. It is hard to find work when there is no work available. 

Alan happily posed for this picture of him as it used to be.

Overland

In transit

After my extraordinary experience in the Mountains of the Moon, I spent a night by Lake Bunyonyi and had a lovely quiet boat ride, during which I was able to spot some crested cranes, the national bird of Uganda. A long jail term awaits anyone who harms them.

Then, I was dropped off in Kabale, a busy provincial town 20 kilometres north of the Rwandan border. I got a shared taxi ride and was soon at the border post, crowded with trucks and cars. Very few pedestrians were going through, especially Canadians pulling suitcases! It was easy to check out of Uganda and walk a kilometre over a muddy dirt road to check in to Rwanda. I had an electronic visa, which caused a bit of consternation, but before long I was headed out on foot into a new country. There was no sign of a place I could change money so I continued until I found a van that was pointed in the right direction. Passengers were loading and I was told I could pay when I reached my destination! 

We did not travel very fast as these vans have a 'speed governor' installed in orderly Rwanda and can not exceed the speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour! The van left when it was full and continued to get a good deal fuller as we proceeded. A knock on the metal door frame signalled that a passenger wished to alight. The 80 kilometre journey took two hours, what with controlled speed, many stops, limping uphill and the tying on of various kinds of baggage!

When we reached the crowded central bus station, I went in search of an exchange bureau. I had been chatting with a young fellow beside me during the journey, and while I was looking for money, he paid my fare! I insisted on paying him as he had told me what a struggle his life is economically. Imagine though, he was prepared to part with his money to help a complete stranger. This is what Africa is really like. It is normal and expected for people to be kind, neighbourly, helpful, polite and respectful. 

It is worthy of note that the two hour journey cost $2! To get from the bus station to my quarters, I had to pay $6 for a ramshackle private taxi! That journey took five minutes! The taxi driver had no English and had no idea where the guesthouse was. Nor did I of course. Thank goodness for Google Maps which works perfectly in the centre of Africa. I was able to give him very clear left and right turn signals!

Public transit

I have a new efficient and very swift mode of transport here in Rwanda - motorcycle taxis - or moto-taxi.  I remember seeing them in Bangkok but never used them. Here in Kigali they are everywhere, always ready, and the only challenge is communicating the destination! The maximum fare is 500 Rwandan francs - 65 Canadian cents!

Yesterday I moved about quite a bit on motorcycles. This driver was very happy to have his picture taken! You can see the passenger helmet hanging on his arm.

Western Uganda

I got up after a sleepless night and enjoyed an amazing downpour of tropical rain, preceded as always in Africa by a very strong smell of the red earth. No sooner had it stopped than the sun came out and off we set on a long cross country odyssey all the way to the western border. Uganda has been booming for some time. The population has just surpassed 40 million and I think I saw all of them today. The towns are brimming with life, a press of people, lively markets filled with beautiful fruit and vegetables and all the stuff of modern life, and traffic everywhere. The land is green, even at the end of the dry season and the soil is obviously very fertile as crops abound - many fruit trees, avocado, coffee, tea. Plant it and it will grow in this climate.

We crossed the equator on the way and stopped for a moment for pictures. A heavy lunch made me very sleepy! Finally, our destination, Queen Elizabeth National Park and a spectacular view over the plains to Lake Edward, marking the border with the poorly named Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ruwenzori Mountains rise to the right. Rain threatens as the long rains begin. The air is filled with birdsong and is very warm. This is a moment in paradise.

The phoenix

The Phoenix

On Saturday, August 11, 2018 I reach Heliopolis. Do you remember the story of the Phoenix? Every five hundred years, this legendary bird flies from deep in Arabia to Heliopolis where it burns to ashes at the Temple of Atum before regenerating from the ashes into a new life, ready to start all over again.

My first 500 years is up and I am about to go through this cathartic crashing and burning, only to emerge on the other side in a new life. Early Sunday morning I land in Entebbe, in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa and the adventure begins. 

Africa is where all our stories start. To the best of our knowledge (imperfect as it is) a small group of bipeds left the Rift Valley at the beginning of human history and peopled the entire world, giving rise to cultures as varied as Inuit and Indian, South Pacific Island and Aborigine, Equatorial and Arctic.  The diversity dazzles and sparkles through time. We speak the gamut of languages and design our own individual journeys from birth to death. Our stories are endlessly fascinating. There is no end.

My own journey has been chequered of late, what with disease, divorce and dislocation but I have a growing sense of calm and serenity as I approach Heliopolis. The road has been very rough in places, untended and unloved,  but now it is time to enjoy the open vistas and  the delight of breath. I am excited about this new journey. Planet Earth is my home and I love it, the seasons,  my family and friends and the freedom to roam and explore at will,  to make decisions and plans, to abandon them if they are futile, to delve in where there are opportunities. 

And so, until soon, on the other side of the equator, in the centre of Africa, the Heart of Darkness or the Temple of Light, take your choice. A new story starts.