Category: Wildlife of Africa

Relishing the source of friendship, mother earth, and opportunity

On By dhanya8In Adventure, Friends and Family, Taking time, Travel, Wildlife of Africa2 Comments

Repeatedly during my time here in Uganda I have pondered upon time, as a transient and inconsistent concept that spans out across moments like lifetimes, and makes others fly past so fast that I have to pinch myself to know whether or not it was real or imagined. With my recent injury and some other hecticness of life and its practicalities, time and I have been embroiled in deep conversation once more.It became clear that I needed to play with it somewhat, in order to celebrate the arrival of christmas in one of the ways I had been wanting; to be with some of my beautiful new (yet old – our souls have known each other for eons) friends, I had to recalibrate the calendar and bring yueltide forwards. Change was yet again on the horizon, as has become the most constant of happenings in my living breath and I was no longer set to be returning to Uganda after December. My heart was aching, yet it was not the time for sadness. Continue reading “Relishing the source of friendship, mother earth, and opportunity” →

Seizing the day, Sipi-style

On By dhanya8In Adventure, Culture and customs, Flora and fauna, Taking time, Travel, Unexpected challenges, Wildlife of Africa4 Comments

Uganda is an incredibly diverse country.  There is some massive wealth here in Kampala, and from those in  the west, (from what I hear; this is the president’s land).  The rainy season has barely touched us here in Kampala, and there are some 50 districts across the country that have people dying from famine due to the arid lands caused by this lack of water.  Meanwhile Ugandan friends in the west send me reports of torrid rainfalls, putting a stop to all best laid plans and causing damage to property and lands.

It fascinates and intrigues me how there can be such diversity in a land-locked country, that in comparison to others, is not that huge in size. In my time here, I have actively sought time and space to explore its different corners as best I can. Sickness put a stop to it for a few weeks, and although I have developed a wonderful community of friends (better named as part of my family in all honesty), I was itching at the bit to get back on the road. Continue reading “Seizing the day, Sipi-style” →

A search for tranquility … a discovery of mishaps

On By dhanya8In Adventure, Taking time, Travel, Wildlife of Africa1 Comment

Work has been very busy here, and although I have been used to having a half-term break between the September – December school term, my current workplace here in Uganda does not have that.  So the idea of working straight through from August 15th to December 16th was quite a change to my routine.

Needless to say, when we received a very last minute email to inform staff that we had Monday 12th September off, due to Eid-al-Adha, I felt a huge excitement wash over me and a huge smile landed itself on my face.

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I began the long weekend with a Braai, enjoying time with new friends as the fire slowly roasted our meat and the smell of delicious tastes wafted through the air. Continue reading “A search for tranquility … a discovery of mishaps” →

Remembering how to be a philocalist (part two)

On By dhanya8In Adventure, Culture and customs, Travel, Wildlife of Africa6 Comments

It was so refreshing for me to have left the concrete suburbia within which I presently live, to once again return to the sensation of being in Africa. I had lost sight of it very quickly and I knew that I needed to act on this before I became further swept up into a confusion of neither being here nor there. Continue reading “Remembering how to be a philocalist (part two)” →

Remembering how to be a philocalist (part one)

On By dhanya8In Adventure, Culture and customs, Flora and fauna, Wildlife of Africa2 Comments

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that it is all around us, (if only we remember how to look).

I have now entered my third week of working here in Uganda, and quite honestly I lost this ability almost immediately upon commencement of this. Whilst I won’t go into the finer details of why, I can simply state that communication is hugely vital in pretty much all aspects of life. When making the minor decisions such as to leave the entire “life as you know it” in order to fully immerse yourself into the unknown, having some form of clear communication channel around this is somewhat useful. At least it is for me. Thus when I found myself at my new workplace on day one, in a role entirely different to the one I thought I had come for, I was utterly thrown. In fact, I was devastated. Continue reading “Remembering how to be a philocalist (part one)” →

Where the wild things really are

On By dhanya8In Adventure, Travel, Wildlife of Africa2 Comments
As the sun rises, so do the Impala.
As the sun rises, so do the Impala.

For my first experience of an African safari, I took the advice of a friend and opted to go on tour with Red Chilli Safari, beginning from their hostel in Kampala. It has quite a spectacular setting given its nearby location to the hecticness of the city. Dinner and meeting new people on my first night there, after watching the sun go down over the hills whilst sipping a cold Nile Special, led me to an early bedtime, ready for an early rise.

Each of the following three days continued in the same manner, with each one beginning around 6am. It is not for those who want to lie-in that is for sure!

Continue reading “Where the wild things really are” →