Hix Does Uganda (Part I) - All But A Shoebill

[nanoboy]

I'll probably have four cameras with me: a Canon DSLR, a Canon IXUS compact, a Canon D20 underwater camera, and GoPro Hero2. I'll have three lenses for DSLR - a 70-300mm zoom, a 18-55 Zoom, and a 100mm Macro. Plus my flash. I've also recently bought a pair of binoculars, 10 X 25.

As for money, I have two credit cards but you also require cash and in Uganda credit cards are not widely accepted outside the big cities. But the good thing about being on safari with a tour company is - everything is already paid for: transport, accommodation, all meals, park entry fees, trekking permits, boat rides etc. The only thing I'll need cash for is souvenirs, drinks, tips and "items of a personal nature".



Hix

That's a lot of gear! That sounds like your entire hand luggage entitlement. Why the under water though? Uganda is landlocked. You doing some diving in Lake Victoria?

Why the Go Pro? You plan on doing some adrenaline-charged activities like white water rafting?

Yeah an all expenses paid tour is great. I went on one once where we paid the tips up front so we didn't have to stress a out who to tip, when to tip, how much to tip etc. By "drinks" I assume you mean alcoholic drinks.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

By "drinks" I assume you mean alcoholic drinks.

Or maybe water

~Thylo

 

[nanoboy]

Or maybe water

~Thylo

True, good point. Clean drinking water might cost more than alcohol in some parts of the world. I have also read (or maybe I saw it in the movie 'Lord of War') that in some parts of Africa, an AK-47 is cheaper than a loaf of bread.

 

[Hix]

Bottled water is included in the price of the Safari. I don't drink alcohol, but I imagine I'll have to pay for Coca Cola.

The underwater camera is a contingency. I don't want to spend 8 hours climbing mountains, find the mountain gorillas and then get caught in a torrential downpour and be unable to take my camera out of my pack. The underwater camera is just incase that scenario happens.

The GoPro is small, and I use it mainly for video. When diving I have it on my chest, but I don't think I'll be doing much of that. If a situation arises whereby I can put it down on the ground alongside an animal trail, or by a bird feeder, I will use it for that.

As for hand luggage, the small lens and GoPro will be in my checked in baggage. But the cameras and my laptop generally take me a little over the hand luggage limit. I may try something else for this trip.



Hix

 

[nanoboy]

Bottled water is included in the price of the Safari. I don't drink alcohol, but I imagine I'll have to pay for Coca Cola.

The underwater camera is a contingency. I don't want to spend 8 hours climbing mountains, find the mountain gorillas and then get caught in a torrential downpour and be unable to take my camera out of my pack. The underwater camera is just incase that scenario happens.

The GoPro is small, and I use it mainly for video. When diving I have it on my chest, but I don't think I'll be doing much of that. If a situation arises whereby I can put it down on the ground alongside an animal trail, or by a bird feeder, I will use it for that.

As for hand luggage, the small lens and GoPro will be in my checked in baggage. But the cameras and my laptop generally take me a little over the hand luggage limit. I may try something else for this trip.



Hix

Aha! So you are one of those guys who tries to fit a truck chassis in the overhead compartment!

 

[Hix]

Nope, I don't put anything in the overhead compartment. I shove it under the seat in front of me, and then I grumble that I can't stretch my feet out.



Hix

 

[nanoboy]

Nope, I don't put anything in the overhead compartment. I shove it under the seat in front of me, and then I grumble that I can't stretch my feet out.



Hix

Yes, I seem to do that as well - but only because other travellers would have filled the overhead compartments with truck chassis.

 

[sooty mangabey]

One Google search will answer that in a jiffy. He was the biggest thing a couple years ago for about 1 week.

Hmmmm.... this makes it sound rather more trivial than is actually the case! (Even though I'd agree with your encouraging the poster to use Google to do some of his own research.)

Kony and his movement have bought enormous suffering to a large part of central Africa. The championing of the case by an American organisation with that whole "Kony 2012" thing was rather naive, perhaps, but did bring it the to forefront of the world's attention - if only "for about 1 week" as Nanoboy says.

The impact of Kony on the wildlife of the area is notable: Lord's Resistance Army funded by elephant poaching, report finds | Environment | theguardian.com.

I have also read (or maybe I saw it in the movie 'Lord of War') that in some parts of Africa, an AK-47 is cheaper than a loaf of bread.

Don't believe everything you read! There are about 55 countries in Africa. At the moment, just a handful of these are significantly more lawless and dangerous than, say, Belgium. Uganda certainly isn't one of them!

 

[nanoboy]

Hmmmm.... this makes it sound rather more trivial than is actually the case! (Even though I'd agree with your encouraging the poster to use Google to do some of his own research.)

Kony and his movement have bought enormous suffering to a large part of central Africa. The championing of the case by an American organisation with that whole "Kony 2012" thing was rather naive, perhaps, but did bring it the to forefront of the world's attention - if only "for about 1 week" as Nanoboy says.

The impact of Kony on the wildlife of the area is notable: Lord's Resistance Army funded by elephant poaching, report finds | Environment | theguardian.com.



Don't believe everything you read! There are about 55 countries in Africa. At the moment, just a handful of these are significantly more lawless and dangerous than, say, Belgium. Uganda certainly isn't one of them!

Kony is one of many, many warlords around the world. I counted 17 dangerous countries in Africa.

Who here has seen 'Blood Diamond'?

 

[sooty mangabey]

I counted 17 dangerous countries in Africa.

...which I suppose beggars the question of how one defines 'dangerous'. Anywhere can be dangerous, or safe - to a large extent it's a matter of luck, and personal behaviour. I don't think there's anything especially dangerous about Uganda (or most other places in Africa - Central African Republic and Somalia and other such places are the exceptions).

Who here has seen 'Blood Diamond'?

....not noted for it's documentary veracity, of course! Having recently seen the excellent John Hilcoat film The Proposition, I'm a bit worried about coming to Australia and being shot at by Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone....

 

[DavidBrown]

...which I suppose beggars the question of how one defines 'dangerous'. Anywhere can be dangerous, or safe - to a large extent it's a matter of luck, and personal behaviour. I don't think there's anything especially dangerous about Uganda (or most other places in Africa - Central African Republic and Somalia and other such places are the exceptions).

Much of Uganda is fine. The northeast area bordering Congo is having security problems because of spillover from the endless conflicts in Congo and from remnants of Kony's followers.

 

[Hix]

... I'm a bit worried about coming to Australia and being shot at by Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone....

So am I.



Hix

 

[nanoboy]

From reading your posts Hix, I get the impression that you aren't married and don't have young kids.

Is that a fair assumption, or are they staying in Oz while you are away?

 

[ThylacineAlive]

Hey Hix, will you be visiting the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre while in Uganda? They have Giant Forest Hog, you know!

~Thylo

 

[Chlidonias]

Rabies - the most expensive - is a three shot vaccine, and each shot costs $105. So at $315 per person, if your supervisor and his wife have two kids, the rabies shots alone will cost over $1200.

I've never got rabies shots for travelling. They are expensive and (apparently) painful, and all they do is give you a little more time to get to a hospital if you get bitten. They don't actually stop you getting rabies.

The only new shot I need to get for my current trip is Typhoid because that inoculation only lasts three years.

 

[Chlidonias]

Anyone who can make a travel decision based on a Willard Price book is clearly a very sensible man! Now, watch out for the chopped-up leopard whiskers in your drinks....

my primary desire to go to Uganda was also due to reading about the Mountains of the Moon in Gorilla Adventure

 

[Chlidonias]

As for money, I have two credit cards but you also require cash and in Uganda credit cards are not widely accepted outside the big cities. But the good thing about being on safari with a tour company is - everything is already paid for: transport, accommodation, all meals, park entry fees, trekking permits, boat rides etc. The only thing I'll need cash for is souvenirs, drinks, tips and "items of a personal nature".

I don't know the current situation but when I was planning my Uganda trip several years ago (which still hasn't happened) you couldn't get money or change travellers cheques anywhere except in the capital. So unless you wanted to be carrying great wads of notes on your person for several months you would need to keep tracking back and forth from the capital every few weeks.

 

[Hix]

From reading your posts Hix, I get the impression that you aren't married and don't have young kids.

Is that a fair assumption, or are they staying in Oz while you are away?

That is a fair assumption. It also a correct assumption.

Hey Hix, will you be visiting the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre while in Uganda? They have Giant Forest Hog, you know!

Yes I know. My first two nights in Uganda will be spent at the UWEC. However, there is a national park where Giant Forest Hogs are regularly seen during the day - they appear to be more active and less shy than usual in this park (just can't remember where it is at the moment). So I hope to have plenty of photos of them in the wild.

I've never got rabies shots for travelling. They are expensive and (apparently) painful, and all they do is give you a little more time to get to a hospital if you get bitten. They don't actually stop you getting rabies.

Someone else said that, so I asked my doctor about it yesterday when I got my second rabies shot. And he said that the three I'm getting now will give me protection, and it is thought that it should be enough so that if I get bitten by a rabid animal I will be protected. But current policy is that because rabies is such a nasty little piece of work, if I get bitten by a rabid animal I get further treatment which consists of two more shots - just like the one I had yesterday (and a quick Google search confirmed this). And he stressed that nobody who has had the three initial vaccinations has ever died of rabies.

Incidentally, it's no more painful than any other type of vaccination.



Hix

 

[DDcorvus]

From reading your posts Hix, I get the impression that you aren't married and don't have young kids.

Is that a fair assumption, or are they staying in Oz while you are away?

Having a family do no prohibit you of traveling to places other people think are ridiculously dangerous . Although planning a research trip to DRC even went too far for my wife (although this is not the reason the project is still in its planning phase).

 

[Hix]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, travelling with other people is something I have avoided for a number of reasons, but one of the benefits is not being forced to miss things I want to see in order to see something I'm not interested in.

When I was younger and the whole family went on holidays, I would try to visit the zoos alone but sometimes (like for San Diego Zoo) the family wanted to come along. Being non zoo or animal-type people they would often embarrass me by their behaviour.

In the past I have often been called "mad" for getting too close to a snake, or a rhino, or a shark, or some other dangerous animal. "Too close" was, of course, their definition based upon their own fears. And it wasn't always my family - it could be anyone who knows little about wildlife (and knows nothing about me).

So when the safari company told me I could join an existing tour through Uganda, I had mixed feelings - it would cost me a lot less, but I might be stuck with zoological ****** who would cramp my style.

So it was with considerable relief when I discovered that one of the three is a Zoochatter.

Seven billion people on the planet, but it's still a small world.

http://www.zoochat.com/173/sigma-150-500mm-f-5-6-a-329518/#post694793

I fly into Entebbe in exactly four weeks. The countdown is on.



Hix