There we were sitting in a banda at the New Court View Hotel eating breakfast. Jane later joined us so we could chat a little. Soon a familiar all-terrain vehicle arrived at the hotel. It was Nelson who was going to drive us to the Eco Farm where I had stayed for almost half a year in 2014. I jumped off my seat and went to say welcome to Nelson with whom I had many interesting conversations and who was a superb eagle-eyed Safari guide. I chatted a bit with him before the others arrived as well. We then put our bags into the car, said goodbye to Jane and took off, heading to Chopalwor.
The ride was excellent and I really have to say that the roads became a lot better since 2014! No more potholes and frayed tarmac. This is due to the Chinese who are investing a lot of money in Uganda i.e. they’re building water power plants and in order to do that they need propper roads. I don’t know about the contracts with the Ugandan government but I hope that it’s a fair deal for both sides.
On the way Claudia asked Nelson to stop to buy a sack of charcoal. When he found a good place he stopped and after a while came back with empty hands. Needless to say he succeeded in buying charcoal. He just came back to drive closer to the place where he could get the sack. The car was already stuffed with luggage so the sack of charcoal needed to be lifted and attached on top of the roof. As the sack was heavy, Nelson asked (actually he forced) ome bystander to help lift the sack and fasten it. After they had finished. After finishing the transaction financially we continued our journey. We soon turned into the dirt road to the Eco Farm right at the new post sign. Then we entered the farm’s ground which was now secured by a gate. I got out and helped unload the car. Then Alito came along, who’d been working at the Eco Farm for a couple of years. He helped us with the charcoal. Then I had to say goodbye to Nelson who invited me to visit him at his home the next day.
Then I went to the main house where Charles slaughtered and prepared a chicken for supper. He was wearing sunglasses which seemed a bit unusual. He then told me that he had an eye-infection and almost lost eye-sight on his right eye. When he took off his sunglasses I could see that his lense was not clear. Poor guy… his doctor told him that the eye-sight might get a bit better but it was most likely to stay like this…
Moritz, the farm dog, whom I had relieved from many ticks during my stay did not recognise me… When Stefan tried to pet him he flattened his ears and started to growl. I decided to wait for a few minutes before I would welcome him. We then sat down for a coffee before we went to our bandas for a siesta. Actually I started to write a couple of pages in my notebook for my blog.
I sprayed myself before I left my banda… Even though it was pretty dry for a while there’s mosquitos flying around in the evening and along with the mosquitos goes Malaria. I was lucky by now, never suffered from it, but – on the other hand – always used mosquito spray and wore long pants and long sleeves at dawn. Prevention helps!
Then I took a walk through the compound. Many memories came back to me during my stroll. Not only have the roads changed, also the farm changed quite a lot. But I’ll tell you later about this.
We all met again at the mainhouse where we met Alfred, who finished supper. He was an old friend of Claudia’s with whom she had worked back in the days when she worked at a park. He still works for the park and has a project just a next to the farm. They’re building an elephant trench to prevent the elephants from destroying the farmer’s fields and harvest. When the food was ready we all sat at the table and enjoyed the chicken, that Charles had prepared along with some local food like matoke and kalo which was very nice. Moritz was begging at the table. He has grown so fat during that year… Some neighbours seem to provide additional food which he cannot refuse to accept.
Alfred told us a bit about his work and invited to visit him at the trench in the morning. We also discussed the orphanage project and private stuff before we went to bed.
it’s always hard to say goodbye
good old Nelson after stowing our bags in the trunk
on our way back home we stopped to buy a sack of charcoal that this young man
helped lifting and attaching on the roof of Nelsons’s car
back at the Eco Farm – my banda on the left Nelson and Alito unloading the car
Charles was preparing supper
Moritz seemed a bit suspicous about the visitors… he would later remember…
my banda in which I had lived for almost half a year at the Eco Farm
Big surprise for Stefan: his brand new house
nice interior design
walk-in closet and a shower (no water though)
we had a coffee before we went to our bandas for a siesta
final preparation for supper
enjoying supper with the poor chicken and local food (matoke and kalo)
Moritz begging… even though he had already had his share and put on quite some
weight since I had left
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