Dear Friends,

I am writing to you from Kampala the capital city of Uganda.  I just came back from Bwindi and Mweya. These places are in the western part of Uganda.  The purpose of this visit is to photograph different animals in their natural settings. Bwindi was especially exciting.  I photographed the endangered mountain gorillas whose numbers are now under seven hundred world wide. To reach to the gorillas, I joined a couple from South Africa photographers as well and together we set off to meet these animals.  We were not alone in the forest, also with us was our guide and  three soldier from the Uganda military, there to protect us in case we met with anti-government guerillas,. We walked for four hours one way through the impenetrable forest of Bwindi.  This meant climbing and hiking to the top of the mountain and then to the other side and down into the valley.  Our guide followed the gorilla trails until we found the group we were tracking which had eighteen members and included some new babies.

These gorillas are wild and we had to practice how we would behave in case the male gorilla decided to attack us.  We had to make sure we didn’t look him straight in the eyes if he charged.  Luckily when we found the gorillas they were tired and resting after a heavy breakfast of bamboo so they didn’t pay much attention to us.  Only the two month old baby gorilla showed interest in us. He kept showing off and seeking our attention.  I took many photos and will post them on my site when I come to the US.  From Bwindi I visited Queen Elizabeth National Park where I again took many photographs of other very interesting animals such as elephants, lions and hippopotamuses. 

I plan to spend the next few days singing in Shangalia and Nyumbani Orphanages in Kenya.  I have visited these orphanages in the past and have played music with the children there.  These orphanages host kids from the streets of Nairobi, some of who are HIV positive and others who have developed AIDS. I will be joined by the Berklee College of music therapy students and together we will sing for the orphans.  I have been looking forward to this for a long time, so I am very excited.

My next post card to you will be next week when I come back to Uganda from Kenya.

Please keep in touch.

Samite