A visit to Mabira forest and a renewed faith in humanity

Last week I was slightly discouraged about the state of the medical system in Uganda as well as the attitudes that seem prevalent in some aspects of Ugandan society (women not being valued as highly as men, etc). Also, Annie and I seem to continually be faced with people who want to rip us off/cheat us out of money or anything else just because we are white. We decided that we just needed to get out of Kampala for the weekend. Annie and I both like nature/hiking so we decided to visit the Mabira Rainforest. It is one of the biggest rainforests in Uganda (about 300 sq. kilometers) and the guidebook rated it highly. We made our way to the old taxi park and found a mini bus that was heading toward Jinja (Mabira forest is between Jinja and Kampala). A nice Ugandan man in the minibus knew the road between Jinja and Kampala very well and he told us that he would tell us where to get out. It was so refreshing to have someone volunteer to help us without asking for anything. We got out of the minibus and were surrounded by a delightful little market and lush forest. About 30 second after leaving the transport it started pour down rain. It made sense - it probably RAINS a lot in a rainforest. We ducked into a little restaurant and ordered some tea. It was run by a older woman and her entire family (children and grandchildren) lived in the adjacent room separated from the restaurant by a little curtain. She seemed delighted to have us as customers and was particularly thrilled when we ordered some matoke (cooked green bananas) and beef stew. She was so nice and welcoming and charged us a very fair price even though we had to sit there for over an hour while it rained. We explored housing options and found the most affordable option was to stay at the housing provided by the park itself. We were shown to a delightful banda/house that was surrounded by lush forest. Although there wasn't running water, a woman very kindly brought us warm water to bathe with. The park director found out that we had been working/studying in Uganda for over 2 months and gave us a small discount off of the normal tourist fee for staying in the banda and hiking in the forest - a very refreshing change from the norm.

After a refreshing shower and watching the monkeys swing from the trees around our banda Annie and I walked to the road-side market. We were able to purchase grilled bananas and chicken that we ate with a plate of delicious beans. All for a price much cheaper than Kampala. We finished off with some fresh pineapple for dessert.

The next day we hired a guide and had a delightful hike through the forest. We saw lots of birds and fascinating botanical specimens as well as hundreds of butterflies. Our guide stopped us towards the end of the walk - a cobra had been lying across the pathway. Fortunately, it slithered away and didn't bother us.

Here are some pictures from our awesome weekend:


Here is the view (away from the forest) on the top of a nearby hill.

Here are some children that were carrying firewood to their homes. They were really cute.

Annie and I in front of the a field of sugar cane. The pictures from inside the forest are a larger file sizes so I didn't try to upload them.

This picture exemplifies one of the highlights of our trip. There was this little craft shop run by the women of Najembe (the road town of Mabira Forest). I poked my head in the little shack and found this woman making a basket. It was a heart warming sight to see someone actually making the crafts that they were selling. Apparently, there is a lot of the plant that they make baskets out of growing around the forest. Annie and I noticed that her baskets weren't as Fancy as the ones available in Kampala, but I told Annie that I had a very good feeling about this woman and wanted to by something from her. We picked some of the baskets she had made and asked how much. She gave us a very fair price and we bought several. She was so happy that we bought the baskets that when we stopped by later she gave a taste a a sweet potato paste she was making. She indicated she sold it by the road and we were confused if we were supposed to give her money or not (she didn't speak any English). We decided to give her a couple hundred shillings and she came after us with a huge banana leaf filled with sweet potato mush indicating that this is what we paid for. It was so refreshing that she didn't try to cheat us. Anyway, now I have a huge simple basket that I bought from this woman. It is very special because the woman who made it was so nice!