The Circle of Life

Feeling small when encountering the big five

Written by

Dieter

Published

March 24th, 2023

In

Lira, Uganda

When you step outside the compound, life begins

That’s right. The ants in my bed, termites in my sink, giant snails on my walls and chickens on my terrace aren’t the only life-bearing things walking this green part of Africa I call home. Outside the compound, cows, goats and pigs are freely roaming the lands. They eat whatever piece of green (plastic) they can find and they love taking naps in the middle of the road. They rule the streets, as they cross the road whenever they want – or decide to change their mind halfway and (almost) cause traffic accidents. This is going to be story about life of all sorts. Not sure where it’s going to end, but I think we can agree it had great start. So get comfortable, make sure the toilet door is locked, or your boss isn’t watching, and read on.

The river Nile at the amazing Murchison Falls, who give the National Park its name.

Life happens while you're busy making plans

I’ve probably mentioned it so many times on this blog already, but it remains true. Whatever plans I make, the universe almost always decides to throw in a challenge and up the stakes. During my second week in Uganda, my grandfather passed away. These things are never fun, of course, but I can assure you they’re even less enjoyable when you’re on a different continent than your family is. Tears and sadness might hit me (again) once I hug my grandmother and parents in June, but until now I was happy I could follow the livestream of the funeral and say my silent goodbyes from a distance.

Not even two days later, I was standing next to an open womb and assisting the surgeon while he delivered a baby boy via C-section. It felt surreal to help put a little human on earth and be there at the moment he took his first breaths.

Death and life are like these Ugandan cows. They’re ubiquitous and even though you’re mostly only witnessing part of their stories from afar as you drive by them, we’re all bound to brush their skin at some point, or inevitably hit them when they’re blocking the road completely.

It’s not just on these existential levels that life in Uganda happens despite all the plans you’re making. Your hospital shift may end at five, but if it rains the boda bodas don’t drive and you’re stuck at work until riding a motorbike through the mud isn’t such a suicidal mission anymore. You may want to have Rolex for breakfast, but then usually the guy selling it is nowhere to be seen. Going to a hotel to work for school, eat some nice food and (ab)use their wifi might seem like a solid plan, but of course the wifi is down that entire day. Adapt, improvise, overcome, is the main motto here.

The same thing happened when going on a weekend trip last week. We were supposed to be leaving at 8:30, but the tyre that needed changing and the police check for unpaid speeding tickets decided otherwise. Then again, living this unplannable life certainly has its charmes as well.

Because it works the other way around as well. When we were visiting a southern white rhino reserve, they told us we would be lucky if we saw more than two. Two hours later, we came back having seen nine of those magnificent beasts from up close in their natural habitat.

Maaaa Tziwengaaaa Babaritzwawaa*

Ever since we entered Murchison Falls National Park last Saturday morning, I’ve got Circle of Life stuck in my head. (Of course we were one hour later than expected, because the new tyre needed replacing again.) Nonetheless, there’s no better sound or melody describing the feeling of seeing a herd of elephants grazing nearby. Or of seeing more than twenty giraffes living their best lives in the wild. Or of bribing the ranger in order to drive off-road and spot some lions from up close.

Driving through the park searching for wildlife might be called safari in some less animal-developed countries, but locally it is known as a game drive. Game, of course, being derived from the fact that you’re never sure whether or not you’ll be able to spot some or even any animals. It’s a game where you hold none of the cards and the animals rule and decide like the dice in a game of Monopoly. Again, luck seemed to be on our side as we saw so. many. amazing. animals. Within 24 hours of arriving in the National Park, we had spotted 4 out of 5 of the African Big 5 (buffalo, lion, elephant, rhino), with only the leopard having been elusive enough to escape our sights (and cameras). Checkmate.

* I sincerely apologise to the writers of this song for butchering their lyrics like this

Swimming with Elephants

Due to it being raining season, we had the entire hotel to ourselves. And by hotel I mean luxury tent with real bed and mattress. As luck would have it, the weather was so good we had the best time in the pool (which we had all to ourselves as well). By the time we were ready to leave and take a shower – the full fifteen minutes after the time we had agreed upon to meet at the reception – we spotted two elephants quietly grazing about a hundred meters from the pool. The perfect magical end to a magical weekend.

So that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed reading this little slice of my diary. In case you were wondering; yes, I’m mostly here for the nursing internship, which is going very well – thank you for asking. But I’ll tell you about that some other time. For now “my” lizard has awoken and has started doing its rounds around my room, keeping me safe from mosquitos and flying ants. Which means it’s time for me to go to bed.

If you made it this far, please send me pictures of your best dishes which have some or more mayonnaise in them. I miss it terribly. Dieter out.