Orientation week – 11 February 2016

Kuthi Muzungu, (hello white,)

As said in the previous story I arrived late on Monday afternoon at my final destination; Ruboni Community Camp. The village is reached from the main road after 17km, then you have to walk approximately 2,5km to reach the camp. Although it is possible to travel all the way to the camp, often it is harder to find someone willing to take you all the way.

Ruboni Community Camp is high up in the mountains. The area surrounding the camp is fully green. Many trees and a variety of animals such as birds. If you go another 2km further than the camp you will reach the Ibanda gateway (=gate of Rwenzori National Park). Around the park there is no fence, therefore all animals are free to go wherever they are pleased. Sometimes it happens that the village gets visited by monkeys or elephants.

I am staying in one of the rooms, originally meant for two people. Since it is located rather low on the hill, often these are not chosen by visitors and it is somewhat of a permanent residence. Although it is often not chosen by visitors I do not mind staying there since every day I am able to see the amazing view. The restaurant of the camp is approximately a climb of 150m from my room.

On Tuesday I saw around the camp and the staff fixed the electricity. Now, we have electricity going all night while my first night at the camp there was no electricity if the generator was not on. The generator could only last up to 2 hours of lighting.

The next day me and Felex travelled by ‘’boda boda’’ to Kasese Town. Here, we took an minibus to the Elephant Center Campsite. This center is so different from Ruboni, especially since the Elephant Center is a very dusty and almost no colour can be found. Here we looked at the rooms and the potential of the camp. I also walked to the equator. At the moment, the Elephant Center grows cotton but in March is will change to specific nuts. That is the moment to see most elephant cross the road to get the food. This is a cheap way to see the elephants since the Elephants come out of the National Park where you have to pay quiet some money to enter. Comparing the Elephant Center to Ruboni Community it a much hotter there since they are located in a valley and closer to the equator. Since Ruboni is up the mountains its colder but still rather warm. However during night time it can become quiet cold.
When we returned to Kasese Town we had some late lunch. Afterwards we went to the E-café, using the internet is cheap however the connection is slow. Then we took the ‘’boda boda’’ up to the village. From the village on I took a ‘’boda boda’’ to the camp since I bought a big box consisting of 12 water bottle of 1.5 litre. Buying water at the camp is rather expensive since they also add transportation costs, therefore it is cheaper to buy a box myself.

Today, it is Thursday, I walked to the village and have working in their office. I have read the concept and marketing plan and been able to gain an idea. After work I will walk back up to the camp (after a full day of work, we have to climb the mountain).

See you soon,

Joëlle