Adventures with Julia

After a stressful and frustrating start getting Ugandan visas, this month long adventure has worked out very happily. We had a good time visiting with Jonathan and staying at 2 of his properties. Connecting with our goddaughter, Juliana, was a delight. We are pleased to see her pursuing a medical career. We both deepened our relationships with her. We enjoyed the bit of time we had with Anivious, the young Batwa lady we sponsor, and we enjoyed spending time with Kellermann Foundation people, especially Scott, and meeting the Dental Vision construction crew. It was a pleasure connecting with some of the other donors and especially the bishop. Although the clinic is not finished, it will be reasonably soon and we will see it in action when we return in a year.

Kenya was full of people new to us, but several are now familiar friends. Our guide, Claire; our helicopter pilot, Andy; Claire’s husband, Rod, and their friends Wendy and Rob; property managers, Amory and Karina.

We hope to spend more time with all of them….again …..sometime.

It was difficult to download videos so I have chosen the two that would transmit plus some of our favorite stills. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we have.

Happy trails,

Julia and Mark

Friday, May 16, 2025

While staying at Mogwooni Homestead with Claire and Rod Jones, we learned a lot about them over the days we had together. Besides Rod’s rose business and his interest in lawn bowling, we learned Claire has a cheese business using the milk received from some 40 goats she owns. Her staff manage the goats and make a variety of feta cheeses, which she sells to commercial enterprises. She maintains a large garden for their household use as well as chickens. She hopes to sell the cheese business this year and have more free time. She loves her safari business and plans to keep doing that.

Friends of theirs, Wendy and Rob, came for lunch one day and stayed for the afternoon to play lawn bowling with us. They were delightful company and the six of us had a grand time.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Finally, we began the helicopter portion of our Kenya trip. We lifted off from Claire’s Mogwooni home at 7:20 and flew an hour north to a clearing in the forest where a group of Pokot tribal people met us to perform a ceremonial dance. Claire had arranged the performance of a wedding ceremony and about 100 tribe members showed up.

They started with a blessing with everyone seated and shortly thereafter the dancing started and lasted for about an hour.

It was a delightful experience as we were the only observers and the dancers performed as if we were not there, which was perfect. We got many photographs. They all seemed pleased to be there and had fun dancing.

We learned that the Pokot are farmers and pastoralists. They have developed skills in pottery and metal work. Tribal elders make all the decisions for the tribe, including marriage. Women have no say in anything and circumcision is common. The Potoc clan is approximately 200 years old and clan history is handed down orally.

By 9:30 we were back in the helicopter and headed for a coffee break on the rim of the Silale crater in the Great Rift Valley. The temperature was heating up but was not yet unbearable.

After coffee, we continued up the Seguta Valley along the Seguta River and on up to Koros camp. The camp is about an hour south of Lake Turkana by car, if you are looking at the map.

Andy made a stop on a large sand dune in a dune field that was very interesting to see as it rolled on. The temperature was over 100 degrees and so hot our feet were burning through our shoes. Glad to be back in the AC in the helicopter, we flew over a Samburu village and then on to our next camp, called Koros.

The meadow was full of purple/blue flowers. After an hour we headed further north to the southern edge of Lake Turkana, where we landed on the shore next to Amory and Kaitlin’s boat. They keep it there to use with guests, primarily for fishing Nile perch, and had driven up early to provision it with lunch and drinks. We all jumped on board and Amory headed into the lake at a good clip. The water was rough and unpleasant for me, but he slowed down and Karina ran out two fishing lines. Soon Mark had one but it was too small at 4 kilo. Then he caught another one that was 25 kilo. We agreed to keep that one and have it for dinner. Amory found a pleasant lunch spot on South Island in Lake Turkana, under a shady tree next to a sandy beach. So we all went swimming, trusting there were no crocks nearby, and enjoyed individual chicken pies and drinks. While we fished, Andy relocated the helicopter to our lunch spot so we could fly away after lunch.

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

There are no bugs or mosquitos. In fact, we have seen very few bugs on the whole trip and no snakes, thankfully.

We learned that there are about 310,000 Samburu people, 826,000 Pokot, and 1 million Turkana people living on different tribal lands in northern Kenya. There are 50 million Kenyans in the country. Koros is in the Samburu region. The air is very hot, but the camp is in the trees and pleasant.

We watched birds from the dining area and chatted with the camp managers, Karina and Amory. They have managed this camp for 6 years and are happy living in the wild. They own several quad bikes and have a fishing boat on Lake Turkana, so they can provide activities for guests. There are 7 cabins, but only one party is allowed at a time. So we have the place to ourselves.

Late in the afternoon we went on a quad ride to a sundowner in the woods. Amory had us bouncing across dry mud fields at a good clip. It was a fun, but dusty ride.

Monday, May 19, 2025

We are in the helicopter at 6:40 for an early start to beat the heat. We headed for a section of rock wall that contains several ancient petroglyphs and get to see a few before the temp hits 100F.

From there we flew to the Lothagam Fault between 2 volcanic ridges. At the north Lothagam Pillar burial site, 42 human remains were found in one site. There are many burial mounds, but most have not been excavated due to cost.

We take several photos of the area and stop to look for fossils. We find several ancient fish bone fossils, but nothing human. The temp is only 98F at 10:30am.

Our next stop was the top of Mt Nyiru, which is at about 8,500 feet and much cooler. Andy landed on a pretty green meadow at 8,100 feet and we enjoyed a very pleasant coffee break.

It was so hot, we determined to go swimming in the camp dipping pool. It felt delicious so we stayed in the water a good while.

Dinner was served at 8pm and included very tasty Nile perch as well as several side dishes. Again, we went to bed directly after dinner.

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Coffee at 7 and in the Land Cruiser by 7:30 for a long game drive. Except for a coffee and biscuit break, we did not stop until returning to camp at 3.

We headed south to the only bridge over the Galana River and then north and deeper into the park. We were looking for anything of interest we might find and we ended up finding a lot.

First we stopped for some plants I was interested in identifying: caccia, small yellow flowers on a mid sized bush; triaspie niedenzuiana, which looks a bit like a snapdragon and comes in white, lilac or pink; and japvanica, a plant used for stuffing pillows.

After crossing the bridge we walked out to see Lagards Falls, which had been named in 1888 by Captain Lagard. Brown, but beautiful.

Soon we were seeing animals and identified: a gerenuk, a black headed lapwing, an Oryx, Grants Gazelle, a very dark giraffe, a bird and a shy female lion.

We stopped to have tea under a tree that we learned the tree was housing a monitor lizard in a hole five feet up the trunk.

In the far end of the pond were a maribou stork, a few wholly-necked storks, a couple of grey heron. Finally, we left that scene and passed by another watering hole filled with female elephants and their babies. By then it was getting late so we drove back to camp for lunch and a swim in the pool.

At 5:30 we were off again for our night drive. We were determined to repeat our path of two nights earlier where we had seen approximately 20 spotted eagle owls during our drive. Rollem drove really fast for a game drive and I wondered why until we reached a pretty sandy beach on the bank of the Galana River and saw an unusual sundowner set up with chairs, pillows, blankets and cushions next to a full bar with snacks as well as drinks.

We sat there until well after sunset thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Eventually we drove slowly back to camp watching for signs of life.

We spotted a flock of guinea foul and I managed a reasonable photo of this very elusive bird.

Unlike the other evening when we saw 20 owls, we only saw 7 spotted-eagle owls, all in the beam of our car lamp. The one on the left has a small animal in its claw.

One was eating a catch and another pair were getting on together. Then we saw another lioness on the hunt, 3 African wild cats (the size of house cats), and one elephant shrew (a small mouse). No photos.

All in all, a very good day. We were all satisfied at dinner and headed for bed by 9:30.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

After Jonathan departed River Station, we hung out until 11am and departed ourselves. We boated across the channel to Katunguru and transferred to a Land Cruiser driven by Julius, our driver for the next several days. After a very bumpy 4 hour drive on rain damaged dirt roads we reached Buhoma, the town where the Bwindi Community Hospital is located. We were booked into the BCH Guest House and glad to have the driving behind us for a while.

We were no sooner moved into our room, when we met up with other people arriving for the dedication of the Dental/Vision Clinic. We visited a bit and then headed to the clinic to see how it looked. It was disappointing to me as the place is decidedly unfinished. We walked through all the rooms in spite of the muddy and sticky floors. The ceilings were done, exterior window frames and doors installed and the terrazzo floors not quite finished. There was rough plumbing and electrical, but no finishing details inside or out.

The contractor showed up and told me that he expects to be done in a month. I am not convinced, but I cannot control the outcome.

Shortly before dinner, Juliana, our 21 year old goddaughter, arrived and we happily sat together for dinner and a good visit. She has just finished her first year of University and is volunteering at BCH for her break time. Unfortunately, the dining room is very noisy when full of people so we had a hard time hearing each other.

The room we were booked into, called Blacky Shacky, is very basic. Only cold water in the sink, trickle of water in the shower, no shampoo, 2 tiny pieces of soap, thin queen size mattress, windows with no screens, a toilet that does not accept paper and a bare stone floor. We knew it would be basic when we made the arrangements, but wanted to be near the other dedication attendees. And it is only for 4 nights. We were in bed early and drifted right off to sleep.

Friday, May 9, 2025

We joined other guests for breakfast and then all walked to the D/V Clinic to give it a thorough look. Having rained heavily during the night, the walk to the clinic was exceptionally muddy, and so the clinic was very muddy too. Ugh!

This was a work day for Juliana, so it was the perfect day to visit Anivious, the Mutwa girl we sponsor. She is the same age as Juliana, but she will be a sophomore in high school. The difference between them is significant. Juliana is average size, charming and outgoing and speaks good English. Anivious is a tiny person, very shy and speaks English poorly. They are both good students, however. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of her.

At lunch time, Mark and I walked to the street vendor,Susan, who sells samosas. We buy them from her every time we are in town and she remembered us cheerfully. We enjoyed a beef and a veg samosa each. Then Scott toured Mark and me through the pediatric department to show us his plans to improve that wing of the hospital.

The afternoon was very relaxed.

At 5:30, Scott, Juliana, Julius, our driver, and I went to a place new to us for dinner, called Buhoma Lodge. I had veg lasagne and the 4 of them had pork roulad. We had a good time together, but the dinner was mediocre in my book.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Finally got my hair washed in our frugal shower and dressed for the Dedication. After breakfast everyone assembled in front of the D/V Clinic at 9:30.

The BCH choir sang How Great Thou Art and To God Be the Glory. It was lovely. Then Dr Charlotte welcomed everyone. Laura, the Kellermann Foundation ED, Rick lead Rotarian, Debbie from Isle of Man, Scott spoke about Lavonne, Stacey about vision care, and I said something, but can’t remember what.

After the simple dedication at the clinic, everyone walked to the graduation grounds for the 4th UNSB (Uganda Nursing School Bwindi) ceremony. 220 students were graduating and there was much falderal.

Many speeches by the bishop, ministers, professors and politicians. Scott gave a humorous talk. There was also a lot of singing and dancing and way too much rain. By the time we left, mud was everywhere and the graduates had not yet received their diplomas.

Everyone was served a boxed lunch of rice, matoke and chicken. I could eat only a part of it.

Spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the guest house porch typing and chatting with other dedication attendees.

Scott, Juliana, Julius and I went back to the Buhoma Lodge for cocktails and visited with many other Kellermann folks who had the same idea. Finally we returned to the Guest House for a light dinner and bed.

Sunday, My 11, 2025

The church service began at 8am with the choir singing hymns. The minister arrived and began making comments while people filed into the BCH chapel. There were several speeches by different KF members including me. I chose to have Juliana join me and share the reading. It went very well and I learned that Juliana has a good public speaking voice.

The service went on for over 3 hours, but Mark, Juliana and I slipped away after 2.5 hours. Enough was more than enough.

Around 11am we joined a group of fellow muzungus, ie white people, on a Batwa Experience walk through the woods with periodic stops to learn aspects of Batwa life before they were expelled from the forest.

We learned about the different plants they used for medical problems and about the foods they ate, which included mostly small animals. We learned how they used traps and snares as well as bows and arrows to catch animals. They did not hunt gorillas, but sometimes a gorilla got caught in one of their snares.This was part of why they were expelled from the forest. They did not cook their food, but ate it raw and fresh. At one point we were invited to try out a bow and arrows to see if we could hit a target they wet. We all tried, but only 2 of us succeeded. By then it was raining again and Mark and I hiked back to camp at a good clip. We missed the musical part of the Experience.

At 12:30 we departed Buhoma with Julius and Juliana and followed Scott with the Lipperts. They were headed for the Kihiihi airport and we were headed for the Savannah Lodge next to the airport. After dropping the Lipperts at the airport, Scott joined us at the Savannah and we drove on to the Congo refugee camp near Kihihi, called the United Nations for High Commission Refugees UNHCR. Scott wanted us to see what a refugee camp looked like.

The people did not look much different than the Ugandans we had been around. They looked a bit lost, especially with nothing to do, but were not starving as they receive a modest meal. They did not feel safe to return home and said they would not go back. We were thronged, but not pushed or grabbed. Many smiled when we did and answered questions that Julius asked in Swahili, which he speaks fluently.

Finally, Scott signaled for us to leave and we piled into the Land Cruiser and drove away with many people looking as us forlornly. Very sad prospects for the thousands of refugees currently in Uganda.

Back at the lodge, we had dinner, talked awhile and went to bed.

Monday, May 12, 2025

At breakfast at 7am, the 5 of us enjoyed our last visit together and drove to the airstrip. The plane was on time and Mark and I flew to Nairobi at 9am.

Saturday, May 3, 2025

We arrived in Entebbe on Thursday, May 1 and were met by our friend and long time Ugandan guide, Jonathan Wright. After some hassle getting through immigration with our new visas, we sat at the airport another hour waiting for our rented Cessna 210 to be readied for our 1 1/2 hour flight to Bungugu airstrip in North Central Uganda. The pilot flew us over miles and miles of forested landscape, finally depositing us in the middle of the Murchison Falls National Park. A car was waiting for us and took us the last hour and a half to Pappa’s Camp on the White Nile River at an elevation of 2025 feet. Finally, after 3 days of delays, we are at our first destination on this adventure, a real tented safari camp, complete with a bucket shower.

The river is only a few steps from our tent and rages as it makes a bend just in front of our tent flap. Mark and I are in heaven with the rushing river drowning our tinnitus. A lovely hand made ravioli dinner was a satisfying meal after a long day even if we did not finish until 10pm.

Friday, May 2, Mark and I slept in, missing our first game drive opportunity. For once neither of us minded. It felt good to slow down. After breakfast, we watched about 16 hippo’s cavorting in the eddy next to the community tent. Late in the afternoon, Jonathon took us on a game drive in the park.

The park is populated with Ungulates called Uganda Kob, water buffalo, and several lions, which must be in heaven, their prey is so readily available. In addition to the large herds, we saw Rothschild giraffe, wart hog, hyena, side-striped jackal, and a variety of birds, including a favorite of mine, the night jar.

These are 2 of 4, month old cubs. Below are a boy and girl about 3 years old, who have been named Phil and Mimi.

The cats were most notable because we saw them in several small family groups—a mother with 2 one year olds, a mother with 4 babies, a brother and sister pair about 4 years old, and several single females.

But the dominant male was not to be found. During the drive we stopped for a sundowner drink and managed to get back to camp well after dark. The hope for a cat hunt did not materialized. The Kob here isn’t concerned about the sleepy lion.

A nice curry dinner was again served late, but we managed to get to bed by 10pm.

Good thing, because we were up at 5:15 for the morning game drive on Saturday, May 3. We saw all the same animals we had seen the day before, and we heard the male rumble, but could not find it. By 9am we arrived at a preset outdoor breakfast and were treated to wrapped omelettes full of goodies and called a Rolex. We learned that the Rolex is a very popular breakfast dish in Uganda.

As breakfast was served beside the Nile, it seemed like a good opportunity to do some fishing. I watched while Mark cast his line into the river many times before giving up. Finally we were back in our tent and had delightful bucket showers. Mark’s was cold, so I waited for hot water to be delivered and luxuriated under the warm spray while listening to birds singing in the tree above. We relaxed until a late lunch was served—tilapia for me and Jonathon and pasta for Mark. At 5pm we gathered for another game drive. The same lions and more were scattered about the countryside. They all looked very healthy and content in a world of thousands of easy to capture Kob.

Shortly before dark we encountered a group of giraffe, called a “tower”. We counted 15 animals of different sizes. They too looked very healthy. After dark, we passed a large porcupine lumbering along the road. Lightening and thunder threatened us most of the way back to camp, but we managed to get almost through an outdoor BBQ dinner before the storm drenched everyone. We grabbed our plates and drinks and finished eating indoors. Shortly after dinner, we grabbed a large umbrella and headed for our room and bed. I’m not sure which I like better, the sound of the river or the rain.

While at Pappa’s Camp, Mark and I met Marcia McIntosh and Nick Okeyo, seasoned safari builders who usually work their magic across Kenya. They’ve been in Uganda for a short stint working for Jonathon on a new game lodge next to Papa’s Camp and have joined us on game drives and kept us company at meal times.

Sunday, May 4, 2025.

Breakfast was served outdoors beside a fire pit on the bank of the Nile. We shared our last meal with Marcia and Nick, climbed into the land cruiser with Jonathon and headed for the Bungugu airstrip.