ADVENTURING THROUGH AFRICA!

Conroy shares a moment with new friends in Bostwana. He has ridden through 10 African countries since October 2011. COURTESY PHOTO 

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A tone of disappointment hits his voice at the mention of the word plane, as though to imply he should have travelled to South Africa on a bicycle.

“I will never board a plane again, that was my last time. It inconveniences me a lot because I have to pack my bicycle and it could easily rust,” he says, his face stuck to his ‘best friend and worst enemy at the same time.

After a few weeks in South Africa, he crossed to Namibia, later moving to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and now Uganda. Next on his schedule is Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Morocco. His ultimate goal is to visit at least 35 African countries.
“I would have loved to go to Sudan and South Sudan, but the thought of dust from the desert puts me off. It can be hard ridding in such conditions,” he says.

“I love Africa, I have stayed here much longer than I expected, but I just don’t feel like leaving this place,” he says of the continent that has hosted him for over two years now. “I am shocked by the way the west makes Africa appear a continent of misery. Some people actually think Africa is one country. I am going to write a book about my experience in Africa to correct their misconceptions. I think the greatest thing about Africa is not the tourist attractions but its people,” he speaks on and on, looking me straight in the face. He utters every word with a sense of nostalgia.

He will not allow me to disrupt the free flow of his memories of Africa, “I was in Zimbabwe and people came and thanked me for not believing the bad things the west says about that country. Amazing people I tell you, with extreme resilience.” With all his numerous encounters in the past and those that lie ahead, Conroy is not about to stop riding. Not with the many people he claims give him feedback of how his life story has compelled them to do something different.

“I met a guy working with Nasa, in charge of the last stages of space air stations launches and shared my story. He sent me a message saying he resigned from NASA and sold off his property to pursue his dream in New Zealand. Such stories inspire me,” he says. He emphasizes, “I am not dying to enter the Guinness Book of world records or even prove a point. It is not a competition, I am only doing something that makes me happy. I might wake up tomorrow and say I have lost interest. I am done with it.”

The cyclist who hopes to ride to the Middle East, Europe and Asia, admitting he suffers immense pain of body and mind in pursuing this form of happiness, only affirms the passion and resilience every word and step he makes points to. The reason why, if and when he runs out of money, he will, “trade skills with currency, get a small job so someone can give me food and accommodation before I proceed.” He shares his experiences on his website- Tired of I.T.com. If that is what it takes for a man to live a life outside the conventional and achieve fulfillment, then Dave Conry, like his magic bicycle, one can say, might just be the only man of his kind in the world.

RIDING A BICYCLE FROM SOUH AFRICA TO UGANDA

Above, the rider camped at Red Chilly in Mbuya. He stayed in Kampala for a few days and continued his journey to Rwanda. Below, he met Keneth Kaunda when he was in Zambia. PHOTOS BY ISMAIL KEZAALA AND COURTESY PHOTO

In Summary

The bicycle adventurer. Canadian Dave Conroy gave up his job as a computer consultant and set off on the adventure of his life, cycling to different countries in the world. He has already been to 10 African countries on what he calls a “one of its kind” bicycle.

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Dave Conroy’s life story is as incredibly amazing as it is unbelievable. For four years, the 35-year-old Canadian, currently in Uganda, has ridden his bicycle around North America and Africa and is still on the move. He quit a well paying computer job, sold off his life possessions and set out on a mission to discover the world- on two wheels. How long it takes him, he has no idea. Whether he will pull it off or not, he is not sure.

A bicycle, his everything
From first impression, Conroy comes off as a perfect time manager. The appointment at Mbuya based Red Chilli Hideaway is set for 4pm. A phone call at the guest house’s gate to announce our arrival receives an instant, “I will join you in a second.” Hardly had we identified a seat for the interview, than a well built medium height man dashes out, dressed in a tight fitting red t-shirt and pair of black multi-pocketed cargo pants. Walking towards us, his pair of weighty, mountain-climber like shoes stamp the green compound.

When the photojournalist asks to have photographs taken first and then leave us to proceed with the interview, his face lights up with a contagious smile. He reaches for his bicycle, holding it with enviable warmness and murmurs, “this is my wardrobe, kitchen, girlfriend, office, bedroom, best friend and worst enemy at the same time.”

The sports bicycle, he claims, is the only one of its kind in the world. It was specially assembled for him in Britain six months before he hit the road. He will not reveal how much it cost him, but heaps praise on the machine whose rim bears 13 stickers of flags of the countries he has visited so far.
On average, the bicycle’s weight, with all the six bags he travels with combined, comes to 75 kilogrammes.
“It has some amazing features. I charge my electrical devices like the music system and phone using pedal power. The faster I pedal, the more energy it generates, so I only use petrol and diesel for the cooking stove,” he says, holding its tyres that have most recently ridden all the way from South Africa.
When we finally zero down on a comfy place for the three hour long interview, the sight of a tent draws more questions than sheer admiration.
This is his bedroom, anywhere and anytime wherever darkness dawns on him. The water proof, one metre long structure has a cozy yellow interior and air mattress.
“I need a good night’s rest otherwise I won’t ride the next day so it has got to be that cosy,” he shares, nodding his head. With a fairly good rapport established, we are now set to dig into his life.

Life of a computer nerd
Born in Canada, the last born of three children of two working class parents admits obsession with computers, calling himself, “a computer nerd.” By the age of eight, he would sit behind a computer for an average of 12 hours a day. Not playing games. And neither surfing the internet. In any case, this was in the 1980s when social media platforms like Facebook or even its founder, Mark Zuckerberg were not yet born.

Whilst other children played about, little Dave busied himself trying to learn how computers worked. Scratching his head to understand complex computer aspects like programming and networking. “My parents were okay with it because they knew where I was,” he quips. Nature however, was not okay with it. The computer without play lifestyle took a stall on him. “My life went crazy, I was not sociable, and I spent a lot of time on the screen, seeing things and yearning to learn everything about them. I could not sleep, I was not happy with life,” he says.

He started to worry about how to be successful, rich and what he was going to do with his life at 70. For a teenager, life was taking him on a rollercoaster of illusion and out of the world fantasies. Perhaps, he suggests, this had to do with his childhood environment. His sister was on special needs education following a pre-mature birth. Today, she is his role model. “The doctor said she would never sit upright. Today she has two children, a degree and is happily married. She inspires me because she didn’t let someone’s opinion determine her life.”

Describing himself as an introvert, architect of ideas, who loves adventure and doing things outside the conventional, almost structured western way of life, this single man, who shoves off the marriage question, set out to do something different with his life. First, he quit high school. A few weeks to graduation. The reason?
“I wanted to see what would happen. But on a serious note, school was too slow for me. It was not giving me the challenge I wanted in life.” That was only a step into a zillion miles of an anew life that would leave tongues wagging. Next on the agenda was to resign from a well paying computer related job that earned him consultancy stints beyond Canada.

Daring to follow his dreams
Then came the bombshell. He sold off all his possessions. From the mansion to whatever came with it, be it kitchen ware, clothes or furniture. Everything had to go. He only remained with two boxes of books and letters from friends.

“He has gone crazy. May be he wants to kill himself,” he quotes reactions to his eye-brow raising actions from family and friends. “I knew what I was doing. I told them you can express your concern, you are allowed to but just sit back and watch, wait and see and wish me well,” he told them.

It is this that amazon.com, in a review of his self published 240 page book entitled, “Tired of I.T. How I learnt to stop worrying and love the bicycle,” calls Dave’s quest to, “reprogram his mind and find inner peace.”

Conroy saw that inner peace in only one thing- the bicycle. It is at this point that the idea to discover the world and its peoples was born. For six months, he did extensive research on the internet and read self help books. About tourism, bicycles, cookery, accidents and first aid and everything he needed for a ride around the globe. The initial plan was to achieve the dream in nine months which later stretched to a year, two years, three years and now four years. He has since stopped counting.

The start of an incredible adventure
He chose July 2009 as the start of his journey. On the D-day, he didn’t sleep, thanks to intense anxiety. Much as he loved bicycles, he had taken two decades without riding one. He awoke, hurried to a restaurant for breakfast and grabbed his bicycle for a ride from Vancouver to the Gulf Islands in Canada. That was in 10 hours for a distance of 160-180km. His speed has since gone on a down ward spiral to 140km in 2010, 120km in 2011, 100km in 2012 and 80km in 2013.

Deep in the woods’ wilderness, he suffered his first set backs. First came mosquitoes and other strange insects that stung him, ripping skin and causing unstoppable bleeding. Then surviving death by a whisker when a suspected poacher shot at him twice, mistaking him for an animal. Luckily both bullets missed him.

That however, did not deter his ambition to cross to the United States, where he spent 30 days cycling across different regions of the vast North American nation. Another package of challenges awaited him in the wild with four legged creatures ranging from wild cats to beasts he had never seen attacking him. He pulls out a small knife, pushes its sharp end to his lower lip and says, “this lip is paralysed for the rest of my life. I got fellow riders in the US and we hang our bikes in trees. Mine fell and hurt me.”

SAFARI TO QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

Hippos at Kazinga Channel. Photo by Jude Katende 

By Jude Katende

In Summary:

At the heart of Queen Elizabeth National Park. This haven of wild life is one of the must visit places in Uganda. The most incredible thing about the park though, is the fact that each visit is a novel experience and maybe even better than the first.

Like a colleague quipped, you can never get enough of Queen Elizabeth National Park. This statement is very true. Every time you get there, there is still something new to discover. Although I had been to this place before, it was still quite refreshing to revisit what Uganda Wildlife Authority dubs as Uganda’s most popular tourist destination.

A light drizzle accosted part of the morning ahead of the wonderful safari. On that Friday morning, a group of journalists and I set off from National Theatre at 11.15am, one hour late from the originally scheduled time.

A journey of learning
Our two vans were to move together, as matter of policy from Great Lakes Safaris, our hosts. A stopover at the equator which divides the earth into the northern and southern hemisphere was made and as usually happens here, Kodak moments took centre stage. “Smile, say cheers,” and other such requests combed the air as camera flashes shone on our faces.

Noel Edroma, our guide and driver was good company as he explained several things along the way, things he had learned over the years from when he was an “intern” of sorts, like he were reading from a book about the park.
Going through its unique selling points, he said the park used to have rinderpest and tsetse flies in the past. These helped drive away many people who had started encroaching on the land. When it was sprayed and eventually rid of the “enemy”, people moved back into it but are now mostly live on its fringes.

At the haven of nature
We arrived some minutes past 7pm, exhausted. After we were allocated double and triple rooms, dinner and sleep occupied our minds most ahead of Saturday’s game drive. On Saturday, we woke up for a 6am breakfast and Edroma spread out the itinerary.

“The park has about 2,500 elephants. Males have rounded foreheads,” he explained. The park has a network of many game tracks which end at the Kasenyi fishing village. As Edroma had intimated, we saw elephants, waterbucks, warthogs, the Uganda Kob and herds of Buffaloes.
Kobs make sharp sounds to alert each other of potential danger in case they see strange faces or a lion in vicinity, such sounds were made when our vans inched forward. When mating is a whole different game.

However, our highlight was when we quietly watched lions at their mating ground. With the aid of binoculars, we saw about four lying down quietly around a rock. Not far from them were the Kobs, also at their mating ground, north east of Mweya. “Males have their own territories they keep from fellow males,” says our guide.

He added that females search for strong males to mate with preferably those with better genes. Uganda Kobs prefer flat areas because they can then easily see the lions from a distance. We saw a female Kob trying to win the hearts of some males but by the time we left she had been unsuccessful. Edroma told us that unlike humans, the female Kobs search for their mating partner.

They swing their tiny tails as a sign that they are ready and available. Although the males sniff at the tails when wooed, it is the females to make their pick, a tumultuous task, so we learned with first-hand experience. We don’t know if our presence and prying cameras made life hell for the animals, but we let them have their peace and off we continued to Kasenyi.

The Kasenyi community
At Kasenyi crater where Lake Bunyampaka lies, Edroma told us, plots (portions containing salt in the lake) are demarcated and sold the way land is sold. In the Kasenyi community, we saw how life entirely depends on fish. Most people here say they do not benefit from the animals and that the animals sometimes encroach on their land. Life is slow and residents have many children. Most houses are made of mud and wattle and people spend time conversing as they wait for the fishermen.

At Kyambura Gorge, Bernard Ejadu, another guide told us that the 100 metres deep place has five primate species. It comprises the gorge, Kyambura River and Kyambura Forest. I was lucky to have visited this gorge sometime back, unlike my colleagues because it wasn’t on the itinerary. Seeing that this large expanse is also within Queen Elisabeth National Park, it tells you how big this park is. Touring it in two days may seem quite hectic, but you won’t have seen everything.

Cruising along Kazinga Channel
The following day we set off at Kazinga Channel at 3pm. Edna Pukwatsibwe, our guide, took us through the history of the place as we sailed on the waters. It is then that I remembered she was the same guide some years back when I visited the park no wonder she knew the channel like the back of her hand.

Edna says the channel is within the Albertine Rift Valley. The natural channel is eight metres deep and stretches 40km long. It is home to 95 mammal species and 612 bird species. Hippos, which live for 45 years, can kill but donot eat people. Hippos stay in groups called schools. A school has 40 members usually with one dominant male.

Elephants have a 80-100 year life span, we learned. Edna said an elephant has a sharp memory. It can take revenge if you encounter it again, years after doing something bad to it. Along the channel, there are plenty of fauna to see.
There were lots of bird species such as Egyptian geese, the yellow billed stork and white pelicans as well as hippos swimming side by side with buffaloes. Elephants and crocodiles were also a good sight attraction. The two hour journey includes a point where Lakes Edward and George “meet.”

At 5pm, true to the guide’s word, we were back at the shore with our vans waiting for us. Departure on Sunday morning at 7.50a.m made us yearn to reach our respective homes.
Viewing lions on our way back made the whole trip worthwhile. Several tourists’ cars inched close to the animals who felt agitated seeing cameras flashing away and disrupting their seemingly peaceful and quiet evening.

Celebrating Bukusu tradition at the cultural Festival

A group of kadodi dances performing at a cultural event.


In Summary

A community separated by history and physical location comes to together to share the beauty of its cultural wealth.

It was pomp and colour when the Bamasaaba in Kenya welcomed their leader, Omukuka Wilson Weyasa Wamimbi on December 30, 2011 at the Bungoma Cultural Centre. Leaders from the Bukusu community led by the minister for Foreign Affairs, Moses Wetangula, were at hand to welcome him on his arrival from Uganda.

Accompanying the Omukuka we inzu ye bamasaaba, head of the house of bamasaaba), who reigns over six million subjects in Kenya and Uganda were several cabinet ministers, cultural leaders and traditional dancers from Uganda.

In attendance were politicians, Bifwoli Wakoli, an assistant minister, and MP for Bumula, Musikari Kombo, a nominated MP, and Alfred Khang’ati, MP for Kanduyi.

Wilson Wamimbi, a former Uganda High Commissioner to Canada, was installed as “Muyinga” (an equivalent of king) of the Bamasaaba in December 2010. He took over from Omukuka Yonasa Mungoma who had been at the helm of inzu ya Masaaba ( house of Masaaba) from 1962. Before then, each of the 26 Bamasaaba clans in Uganda and over 200 in Kenya had its own leader. Wamimbi was elected by the clan elders to serve a non-renewable term of five years.

The now annual Bukusu Cultural Festival held at the newly commissioned Bungoma Cultural Centre was the second, the first one was held at Kanduyi stadium in December 2010.

The aim of these festivities, says Florence Nabwala, the Bungoma District cultural officer, is to preserve the rich Bukusu culture which has significantly been permeated by foreign cultural imperialism. She thanked the Bungoma County Council for donating more than seven acres of land for the construction of the cultural centre and Nzoia sugar factory for partly funding its construction. The centre cost Kshs5m(about Shs137.9b) to build.


Speaking at the same function, Dominic Wetangula, the chairman of Bukusu Council of Elders, said the unity among Bagisu of Uganda and Babukusu of Kenya would help to solidify socio-economic and political relations between the two communities ahead of the proposed East African Community federation.

In his book, An outline history of the Babukusu, F. Makila says, Mubukusu, the forefather of Babukusu, and Mugisu, the patriarch of bagisu, were both sons of Masaaba. Disagreements between the two sons resulted in Mubukusu leading the proto-bukusu across river Malaba (Lwakhakha) into Kenya.

Wetangula’s side of the Bamasaaba history
However, Wetangula argues that Mubukusu and Masaaba were both sons of Mundu and that babukusu are therefore not bamasaaba. John Osogo in his book, A History of the Baluhya , tresses Bukusu and Bagisu genealogy to Wele, a god or first ancestor and father of Sela and Mwambu her brother. Sela and Mwambu bore two children, Malaba and her brother Mugonma, ancestors of present-day Bukusu and Ugandan Bagisu respectively.

Dr Vincent Simiyu of the History department, University of Nairobi, says estimates using various chronological methods show that the separation of the Bukusu and Bagisu occurred in the 12th and 13th centuries. Some Bukusu populations are today still found in Yembe and Cheptui divisions of Mbale district and also in Bugisu and Sabiny (Sebei) districts in Uganda.

Bagisu and Babukusu speak dialects of Lumasaaba and live astride Mt Masaaba which European colonialists renamed Mt Elgon after the local inhabitants of the area, the El-kony. Bifwoli Wakoli’s clan, Bayemba like many other Bukusu clans is found in Uganda. Interestingly, one of his brothers is named Mugisu, after the Bagisu ancestor, Mugisu.

During the festival held at Sang’alo village, the visitors from Uganda spoke in Lugisu which their hosts, Babukusu understand very well. Omukuka Weyasa urged closer ties between the Bamasaaba through sports and joint cultural events. He invited babukusu to attend the Bamasaaba cultural day to be held in August which will mark the beginning of the circumcision ceremony, imbalu among the Bagisu.

The crowd was entertained by Kadodi dancers from Uganda and Tindikiti and Namatete bands from Bungoma. Unlike their counterparts from Uganda, Bukusu musicians regrettably wore modern European suits instead of traditional attire. The dress code was not consistent with the music.

The Dini ya Msambwa adherents mesmerised the crowd with their singing and drumming. However, none of the speakers at Sang`alo explained to the crowd the origins and philosophy of this religious outfit. Conspicuously absent during the function were professional historians and anthropologists from Bungoma County.

In an attempt to explain the ancestral ties between Babukusu and Bagisu, Kombo amused many when he called the host community the Kitosh a derogatory term used by colonialists to refer to Babukusu. “It is significant that professionals are involved in the planning and execution of cultural events so as to enable participants to benefit from their key note speeches,” avers Prof Simiyu Wandibba, a seasoned anthropologist who has published widely on Bukusu culture.

We have now tailor trips and tours to Uganda for groups, schools, families and individuals

We have now tailor trips and tours to Uganda for groups, schools, families and individuals who want to go out to Africa, see the people, the culture , the music , the wild life but also be useful and help out at various projects.

There are various projects for you to work with while in Uganda including:
Animal care and Conservation projects involve hands on work with a range of wild and domestic animals African animals in Zoos, animal sanctuaries, and Safari parks. There are also Land restoration and conservation projects where you can help out with term conservation initiatives in Uganda

Community based volunteering including building projects, health care and professional roles.
Join a variety of local building projects in rural remote and poor villages in Uganda, no prior knowledge or specific skills are required for this kind of work, just willingness to have a go. You will work with very friendly people in some of the most beautiful locations in the country, working with a small charities and projects.
There are also opportunities for those with professional skills like teacher, Doctors, nurses, social workers, Knitting and crafts,conservation and environment and so on

Volunteer in child care, care homes, orphanages and other children related projects in Uganda.
This is a unique opportunity to play a life-changing role in the lives of some of Uganda’s most under privileged children. No previous experience is needed here as well, just an abundance of enthusiasm and a desire to make a difference even if just for a short time.

Teaching volunteering work projects in Uganda , including teaching English, Music and drama, art and other subjects at primary and secondary school level.Education is very important to Ugandan young people and those who can be educated to Secondary level will have much better opportunities in life.All lessons are taught in English which makes it easier for our visiting teacher. For people who do not have formal teaching qualification, there are opportunities for you to work as an assistant in a class with local teachers.

Tailor made school expedition, tours and field trips to Uganda with a focus on student development through training, planning, challenge and cultural immersion. School tours and trips are mostly done during the summer holidays for school groups. The School teams are given chance to take part in community projects, volunteering, adventure & cultural activities in a range of exciting and challenging locations in Uganda.

Have a look here on our website if you want to organize a trip for your school, youth group, Church group, family or just want to go out as an individual. get in touch now or check Rafiki Adventures