Mountain Gorilla Trekking, Rwanda

After we completed our debriefing session that took place last Friday, a group of 5 of us headed back down to Rwanda. On Sunday we had passes to hike to see a family of mountain gorillas in the Parc National des Volcans in the northwest of the country. It took us about 2 hours to reach the gorillas and although it was not much of a climb to get there, it took a considerable amount of effort to deal with the thick underbrush. Because the gorillas are constantly on the move, there is no set trail. Also, the quantity of stinging nettle was high and some of the more unfortunate people were wearing shorts. It was a very nice hike through the bamboo forest with the views of the several volcanoes in the area. We visited the Amahoro family (17 gorillas) and spent one hour sitting with them. One hour is all a group is allowed and it went by very fast. We were very impressed how close we got to sit to them and how peaceful they are. Overall it was an amazing experience

Our giude, Fidel, gives us a briefing in the morning

The area is very scenic. The volcano here is in the Congo

"Don't take photos!" The guide got a bit too close to a friendly gorilla. Good thing they are peaceful animals

Just incredible animals

This big silverback was the leader of the family

Yes I was there

Enjoying the view

This little guy was about 1 year old

This guy walked to within an arms reach of where I was sitting

End of Project Update (Sort Of)

I say sort of because the project isn’t actually complete. But for me it is over; my term is up and all the engineering related stuff is finished. What remains is another month and a half of construction. Right now the crew has completed one of two sources fully and water is flowing to the reservoir tank. From the tank, the 15km network of pipes is connected and is full of water. The water reached our work camp at the beginning of March which alleviated the need to drive to fetch water. This marked one of the most important engineering achievements for the project. Once the water was flowing properly, the engineering related issues were minimal. The crew is now completing the second source and the pipe to the reservoir needs to be laid out. This will bring the quantity of water to a rate that can support the entire project area. Next, they will build somewhere between 30 and 40 tapstands in the communities. Finally, they have to build a second reservoir tank to expand the storage capacity for 20 year population growth. It kind of sucks leaving the project before it is complete but there is really nothing left for me to do there. Also, I am returning to the camp around April 23 for a few days to visit the crew and to see how the project is going so I am looking forward to that.



Group shot before Jim and Joe left at the beginning of March






During the pressure testing of the pipes many people took advantage of the brief time water was flowing to at the end of pipeline






The tank was full of water for about a month before the roof was built. The result was a large growth of algae

Building the dam at the second source. It was interesting because the development of the two sources were so different from each other

The Bushenyi sediment is pretty much complete. The tried a slghtly domed roof for the first time

The roof has been put on the reservoir tank

This is the primary development of the second source. A trench captures the water from the many small eyes and feeds the pond. The dam allows the water to flow into the catchment box. The trench and pond are filled with large stones and will be covered with plastic and buried to protect the water.

Some idiot cut the pipeline with machete. One of the many leaks that had to be fixed during the pressure testing

For our last night Tyler and I bought a goat for dinner

Myself, Apollo, and Tyler sample the goat

Murchison Falls NP

For my last month end off I joined a group heading to Murchison Falls National Park in the Northwest area of Uganda. The group consisted of 5 of the girls, one of the girl’s parents, and me. Needless to say, it was a different group dynamic than I am used to. Overall the trip was very good with lots of interesting animals and scenery. Murchison Falls is located on the Nile River just upstream of Lake Albert. The park is the largest in the country and encompasses the end of the Victoria Nile entering Lake Albert and the start of the Albert Nile exiting Lake Albert. Most of the game we saw in the area between the two parts of the river and around the delta of the Victoria Nile. We also had a boat cruise up the Victoria Nile to the bottom of Murchison Falls. The entire Nile River is squeezed through a 6 meter wide gap and, although it doesn’t drop a huge distance, is quite an impressive sight mainly for the power exacted by it.
Our trip started Friday with a bus ride to Kampala where we spent the night. The Last King of Scotland just opened in Kampala so I got a chance to watch it. It’s quite a movie, all the more interesting being in the country. Being that it was filmed here, and ignoring the main plot of the movie, the movie gives a pretty good impression of modern Uganda. The movie itself is amazing primarily because it is quite realistic as far as my knowledge of the history is concerned. Anyways, back on topic, Saturday was spent driving to the park. Sunday morning was a game drive and Sunday afternoon was the boat cruise. Monday morning we did a short hike to the top of the falls before returning to Kampala. Tuesday morning we were back on the bus to Mbarara and back to the camp in the afternoon. A lot of road travel but worthwhile. It is amazing but we have less than 3 weeks left before we are finished our terms here.


There is a family of warthogs living around the camp where we stayed





We saw a leopard which was pretty cool. Generally hard to see I think. This was the final animal of the big 5 for me to see
(Photo: Melanie)



A lion couple







We spooked this hippo and got to watch it run off in panic






Lots of elephant up close








A large lizard






A giraffe in the distance







One of the guides











A buffalo at the edge of the river







A crocodile on the bank






We saw an incredible number of hippos in the river

Lots of crocodiles just below the falls

The falls viewed from the boat cruise

The top of the falls. It is incredible how close they let you go to such a dangerous place