0 degrees latitude. Behind this sign were three pans with a hole in the bottom of each. One south of the equator, one on the equator and one north...each pan about 25 feet apart. The pan on the south of the equator circled through the hole counter-clockwise. The pan on the equator drained straight down the whole and the pan on the north of the equator drained into the hole clockwise. Really was fascinating to watch how this world works in such a simple demonstration.
Wait a minute...I'm from the south and Pam is the yankee. We were standing on the wrong side of the equator.
On the way to our gorilla trek. A day's drive down from Kampala, a day at the park and a day's drive back to Kampala.
Our quarters...a tent with toilet and hot shower water.
On the trek...following up in the rear this guard with AK-47 in the unlikely event we ran into trouble.
White peppers.
Our driver from Kampala.
On the trek...this leaf...twice as big as B's head.
We hadn't hiked 30 minutes when we found our gorilla family. AND...after hiking 15 minutes one direction, turning down into the forest and hiking back from our original destination, I looked up and there was out tent/cabin. This family had come down the mountain nearly right to our front door. We were able to get very close to the gorillas.
Nap time.
"Who dat say who dat when I say who dat."
This one was really a ham and like showing off for us. While watching him, we heard two others behind some trees screaming. Our guide said they were some of the youngsters fighting over the food. Their mommas went to break up the fighting. The dominant male was resting in a different area, but he got up and walked over to where he could see what was going on. By then the mothers had their children under control. If not, the father would have stepped in, but it would have been physical punishment. Squabbles usually end before that happens.
Safari Queen
Stretching those legs before running the annual gorilla marathon.
Monkeys see, monkey's do.
Father gorrilla checking out his fighting offspring.
This is coffee country. The red beans are ready for picking. They are then dried and become dark brown.
Herbs and leafs used for all sorts of illnesses. Even viagra for men and women. They also treat those who are possessed with evil spirits.
This is the daughter of the healer. She has been trained in the ways of healing as was the healer's father, grand-father, great-grandfather and so on. Passed down from generation to generation. She is wearing traditional healer garb for a woman healer.
This fellow is standing in what looks like a canoe stomping bananas to make banana juice. Before the bananas reach this slopping trough, the huge bunches are put in a pit and covered by banana leaves, similar to a compost pile. The heat generated ripens the bananas. It takes a lot of stomping to get the juice, which is drained into jerry cans (the yellow can in the foreground). It is then boiled. It is then drank either as banana juice or the juice can be fermented into banana wine. Neither the juice nor the wine will keep very long so most is boiled and distilled into banana gin, with a very, very large alcohol percentage.
Distilling the banana wine. Boiled in this 50 gallon metal drum, the wine evaporates and is lead out of the top of the drum into some piping that sits in a small creek where it is condensed back into liquid. We call this moonshine back home.
We visited the Pygmys. This is their chief.
This is a viagra tree. The bark works wonders. Much of the lower part of the tree was missing bark.
Pygmys traditional dance show for us.
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Ron Barker, you just think I'm short. Compared to the Pygmy people I'm a giant among men. They prefer to be called Batwa now.
A boat ride at the source of the Nile in Jinja, UG. Runs all the way north to sea level at the Mediterranean Sea. As I recall the elevation at the source of the Nile is 3720 feet above sea level...which is why the Nile Runs north to the Mediterranean Sea 4132 miles.
At Sipi Falls
Very tame.
On to Murchison Falls Park and Paraa Lodge. Ugandan Kobe.
Saw a huge leopard right in front of our vehicle on our way to . The boys tried to get a picture but it was too dark.
Wart hog.
Jackson Hartebeest. They are slow to make up their mind, but once they do, they are very fast runners.
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Rhino and baby.
Male water buffalo...very unfriendly. When male loses his dominance in the herd, he is kicked out. The loser water buffaloes travel together but will attack Water buffalo in a mixed herd are not aggressive, are shy and will walk/run away.
Female elephants have a menstrual cycle and create "pads" out of soft grasses. When full, they bury them. If a native ever finds them, it is a sign to the native that he will become a rich man. Elephants mourn for those that die. They bury their dead and stay around the burial site for about a week.
Church Sunday in Mbale. This is one of the few church buildings the church actually owns in Uganda. Due to problems obtaining clear title, nearly all buildings here are rented. Beautiful Sipi Falls and Mount Elgon are part of Mbale.
Water buffalo cooling it in the mud. It also gets rid of the ticks.
Vultures looking for breakfast.
Ugandan Crested Crane
Lion and lioness.
Saw a ton of hippos out of the water in sunlight. Was very unusual for us as they normally graze 5-15 kilometers away from the river at night and then stay under water in the day time...very sun-sensitive skin. When a female is ready to have a baby, she moves away from the "school" of hippos she lives with. After the birth, she hides her baby in the marshy area. In 2-3 weeks, she can tell if her baby is a male or female. If a female she returns with baby to her school. If not, she stays away because the dominant male will likely kill the baby. When the baby is strong enough to protect itself, male youngster and mama return to their school.
Ole crock slinking into the River Nile. They can live into their 80s. Crocks don't have sweat glands so keep themselves cool by keeping their mouths open. We didn't see very many crocks this time because it is the rainy season so the animals don't need to drink from the Nile; they have water holes out in the forests and savannahs. During that time the crock leave the Nile or rivers and will travel MANY miles to the various water holes where they will catch their prey.
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Genesis Chapter 1:
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 ¶And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
9 ¶And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
14 ¶And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
24 ¶And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 ¶And God said, Let us make man in our image, after ourlikeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 ¶And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
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beautiful
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