UgandAshis 44 Bruno and Yogi

UgandAshis 44

August 2, 2009

Kampala, Uganda

Bruno and Yogi

The two mixed Belgian-German shepherds are growing like crazy. Even Bruno is turning into a chubby potato. Of the two Bruno is the one that is more active and who loves to bite all day while Yogi is mellower and also much bigger than his brother. Thanks to the hard work of Nard and Ismail they now have a doghouse to call home. It is labeled as the Yogi house with lotus flowers and on the back of the house is a label of secret society called the Marabou Squatting Team and an L.Y.S.I.A.S. emblem.

The two of them play all through the garden and it is a joy to observe the canines. After about 2 months Amir will come back to Uganda and Yogi will have to get used to being the only canine in the house. As always Nard and I are very busy to find him a Marabou friend. We have offered up to 60.000 shilling and have sent several squads of MST members out to collect the golden Marabou egg. Yet so far we can use some help in our quests.

As to the other animals in and around our compound there are the ever present kites; yesterday one swooped down and caught a rat. After due consultation we were assured that our dogs are too big to catch. Then there are the ever present frogs which have Nard enthralled. To date I cannot understand why and I know that Nard does a victory dance after seeing them. Anecdotal historical evidence shows that there are snakes in the garden, small and to make it dramatically poisonous.

Bruno and Yogi in the mean time rule supreme, adored by all, peeing everywhere, nosing around. Yes these two remarkable fellows are indeed brilliant. They give the house a feeling of a home.

Talking about homes given the fact that I spent about 4 days a week in Fort Portal nowadays I am bound to find myself a nice place there. As it is there are some accommodations for guest lecturers and I shall sign up for them the next time I come. It seems the Internet is ok there so I will give it a shot. Another advantage is that there are great people living there as Prof. Ecke. He invited me to a 2 day walk to the area of the Bakonzo, a tribe of small sturdy people living near the Ruwenzori Mountains. It is a beautiful area and there may be a lot of traditional healing taking place there.

The Bakonzo are also isolated from mainstream Uganda so it will be great to get to know some of the people working there. I was told that at one time in history the hospital was working very well with expatriate doctors but that currently the hospital is out of drugs a lot. If we forge links and connections there we may be able to help.

Namaskar,

Ashis