Entebbe

After the trip to Murchison it was time for the good-bye party at camp. All the field assistants, housing staff and researchers were invited. For dinner we had chapati (thin bread), beans, beef, g-nut sauce (the best) and cabbage. Five cases of beer, 5l of Waragi, 3h of dancing and lots of laughter later, the party was over and I had to give everybody a ride home. What a night it was though! Even though I have only spent six weeks in Budongo, I have become really attached to the people and the place. One day I will be back!
On Monday I packed my stuff, said my goodbyes and early Tuesday morning we took off towards Entebbe. The only thing I was really worried about, was the transportation of Erglis! The eagle had been doing great, running and pooping all over the library and cheering everyone up. Now it was time for him to receive professional care at the UWEC (Uganda Wildlife Education Center) in Entebbe. There he will get a proper education (!). Seriously though, they will start feeding him with life pray and are hoping to train him to the point where he can be released - at least into the vicinity of the UWEC. Erglis received little food and an extra dose of water and already we pulled out onto the Royal Mile. A last time passing by Obita's house, the sawmill, the Sonso river and finally Angelos hut. Through the villages of Nyakafunjo and Nyabyeya and off towards Hoima. Once through Hoima, I encountered the first paved roads in almost two months. What an akward feeling.
About half way to Kampala, Fabian in the back noticed that Richard the driver had a hard time keeping his eyes open. After the second warning I told him to pull over and I drove the rest of the way. As soon as I saw the traffic situation in Kampala, I was glad to give up the position and let the now well-rested Richard do the rest of the driving. After 5 h of worrying about my baby-eagle, we finally pulled up next to the UWEC. We met up with the veterinarian of the Ngamba chimp sanctuary (www.ngambaisland.org), Lawrence Mugisha, who led us to the reception area of the UWEC and made sure the local vet would receive him. Erglis had been real good all drive long, only trying to escape the box he was travelling in twice. I was sad to see him being taken into the back of the isolation area, but the people there are really nice and were very happy to see him in such good shape. Good luck buddy!

Once that was done, Joy, one of Zinta's volunteers who had come to town with us, and I strolled through the zoo part of UWEC and relaxed by Lake Albert. Quite a beautiful place! We saw a Kimoto dragon and a big gang of vervet monkeys tried to steal food from us. They rewarded us later with a big play and grooming session, involving about 30 animals with at least 12 young ones.
The zoo keeps animals that could not be reintroduced again, and so we got to see Rhinos, Shoebills, Lions, Grey Parrots and so on.
In the evening, Fabian and I enjoyed dinner at a nice asian restaurant, went for a few drinks and stayed at the Flight hotel. The next morning at 5 I was picked up by the airport shuttle....