Slightly put off by the $140 price tag to enter the park again we decided to visit some less mainstream places. On the bumpy road to the village of Katwe eagle eyes Cara spotted several families of elephants some distance away on the lake shore. We watched them through the binos playing in the water wishing we could see them a little closer. Luck was on our side and by the time we were close to the village the elephants had made their way up the hill and were crossing the road in front of us. Elephants in all shapes and sizes, some of whom made it quite clear that driving past was not going to be an option. One local motorcyclist decided to give it a go then made a hasty retreat as Mummy elephant ran towards him with her ears flapping. We watched them for ages (too long according to Drew) before continuing to Katwe.
We purchased some fruit and ridiculously hot chillies, as I later found out when cooking dinner, then drove on down to the salt pans at the side of the lake. We passed up on an official guide and when we got down to the lake edge we found a local lady who worked one of the salt pans and she gave us a really honest and interesting tour. Click on this link Salt Pans at Katwe for a better explanation of how the salt pans are formed, the back breaking work and the health risks workers face.
Final stop was a chilled beer in the locals’ lakeside bar. These are Drew’s favourite places rather than the haunts of the Europeans on their “African Experience” whirlwind tour.
At night as I was drifting off to sleep Geoff heard crashing in the bushes and I peered into the darkness to see an elephant family on the other side of the anti elephant ditch being pursued by rangers with torches.
I woke early in the morning to the sound of villagers banging pots and pans and blowing whistles. The elephants were back again, the sounds got louder and then the sound of gunshots. Godfrey told us that they had spent the night over the road and having been chased out of the village they had decided to wander along the road and try their luck in our camp. They reached the first tent before being chased away by gunshots. As Godfrey said “there will be a big big mess if they get into camp, there will be nothing left of it”.
The conflict between conservation and people is constant. All these countries have rapidly growing populations and the communities on the borders of the national parks are trying to eke out a living growing food and keeping livestock. The animals in the reserve are also growing in number and in the dry season when food is scarce, a field of juicy watermelons or mangoes is as irresistible to a herd of elephants as a few goats are to a hungry lion. Eco tourism brings dollars in but hardly any of that reaches the poorest people. It raises the question of whether we, with our comfortable homes, well fed stomachs, free education and health care really have any right to insist that these habitats are preserved for the animals when the people are struggling to survive. Answers on a postcard please.
Pirate Travels 