UgandAshis 52 The hawk swoops

UgandAshis 52

August 23, 2009

The hawk swoops

The balcony view of this house is great. Just in front of my house is a swamp and a half wild plot of land. It must be teeming with life as hawk, egrets and the ibis all vie to be present there. Just now I had a hunch a hawk had seen a snack. Indeed he landed and about two minutes later he/she took off with a 75 centimeter snake dangling from its claws. Must be a munchy feed for its youngsters.

Rainy season has really started and when it rains it pours down in buckets. It explains why this land is so green and has so many lakes, ponds, rivulets etcetera. Planned to start August 15th it started the 15th. Spot on time.

In the mean time my parents are arriving tonight. And tomorrow I shall surprise them with a barbeque for about 20 of my friends. Somali, Iranian, Baha’i, Ugandan, Congolese and Dutch will be eating side by side. As it is Ramadan the barbeque will start after sundown and not to late as three young girls will be running around. Like Lonneke and Nard I am sure my parents will love the country and the people and after so many years they will finally be able to go and do some proper safaris.

In either a Toyota super custom or a land cruiser we will be off on Tuesday where I take on a multitude of new tasks (next blog) and they will be hopping around from volcanic crater lake to chimpanzee park to botanical garden visiting my different employers, meeting my friends, seeing the patients, watching the bees hum and enjoy the view of Ruwenzori mountains.

The next week professor Ekke, Lynnea, Yogi, Bruno, Emmanuel, Ismail and my parents will be staying at the mansion. It is starting to become a real community. Around the corner is my favorite neighborhood restaurant where we will have Ethiopian coffee and enjerra with the crowd of people.

Our garden is delivering massive quantities of fruits and vegetable. Today we harvested a bunch of matooke (plantain), a jack fruit and saw that the tomatoes are getting there. The hamerkop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerkop) agrees the strategy and just now flew off. It is time to plant some more trees in the garden and flowers. I am aiming to see the majestic sunbird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbird) in and out of the garden. Just as in the garden in Fort Portal.
A message for all you birders out there. Uganda is the place to be twitching your heart out. Even those of us who are less inclined to our feathered friends Uganda is the place where you do become interested in ornithology. It is not for nothing Uganda has these phenomenal birds out there to be admired by all of us (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marabou & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Crowned_Crane) Oops I am off my parents shall be landing in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Stroopwafels are on the way!

Namaskar,

Ashis Brahma