back in mad Madagascar

(Sorry no photos as yet, not stable enough internet at the moment!)

As I sit here in Toamasina, the coastal port on the east of Madagascar with it's clear blue skies and flat geography, England and the first world seem very very far away. I'm not sure why it feels so far away, it's not for the lack of any 'stuff', we can get the majority of 'stuff' that you can in the stores and restaurants here, even though there aren't any of the multinational food giants such as Walmart or McDonalds here on this island of 25 million people, which is a Godsend really, but it's just the fact that everything just seems to be that little bit harder. 

Maybe it's the humidity that's getting to me, but it could be the traffic, or the pot holes, the slower way of life, known locally here as Mora Mora, not that that's a problem, I like living life at a slower pace or maybe the threat of the malaria carrying mosquitoes, or lack of a stable and fast internet connection, our only contact with 'the outside world'. 

Don't get me wrong we aren't living in the middle of nowhere this is a 'city' of around 250,000, but with the limited infrastructure, access to electricity, water, decent schooling, etc for the majority of our neighbours then we might as well be. 

its funny that even now after spending the majority of my last ten years away from England it's hard for my mind to remove itself from the first world that my body has become used to and from the 'normal' experiences that I had grown up with.

Since our last blog update we have mainly been working in Antananarivo (Tana) with the team of people whom we trained up with the Emerging Leaders 'Leadership for Life' programme when we were last in that crazy of capital cities. 

The team there, mainly from a huge local church of 15,000, and known to us as 'Team Tana', have been using the programme to directly impact over 800 people in the last six months, with indirect impact on 16,000 people given the fact that most people share the leadership principles with another 20 people whom they either live or work with.

We had the opportunity to join six of our Team Tana guys as they got up early on a Saturday morning and travelled around two hours across the city on a local Taxi Be, more of those later, to share the last of the four modules to the ladies who are being cared for by the awesome charity, Iris Ministries in Tana. 

We know Caroline, the founder of the Malagasy expression of the charity started by Heidi Baker in Mozambique, very well and it was great to meet up with the young lady in charge of social development, Melanie, again. Our team did a great job, sharing the principles in effective and understandable ways with the ladies, who were mainly illiterate, on what was the second two groups that they had already worked with.

The main reason for this latest visit to Madagascar is to introduce the new Emerging Leaders children's programme, called LEAD NOW, which has been piloted in both Kenya and England with amazing results. During our time here we will train up local teachers, around 130 from various schools in both Tana and here in Toamasina, who will then be delivering the LEAD NOW programme to the children they teach in government and private (don't even think of Eton or Harrow!) schools with a view to 'rolling it out' throughout this vast and needy nation.

We have had such favour during our time here in Madagascar, this is our fourth visit, after initially coming out for a short two week visit whilst we were still based in South Africa in 2014. Not only have we already met up with our European Union Diplomat friend for a couple of lovely evening meals, as well as being invited to a 'european film night' as his guest in Tana but we were also hosted for a meeting with the Minister of Education whom we also signed an agreement with allowing us to train up the teachers in the LEAD NOW programme.

This was all exciting stuff, I even had to make a speech in front of quite a crowd, including local and national reporters from both the written press and TV stations. All this bodes very well for our continued work here and by the end of this week we will have already shared the LEAD NOW training with over 50 teachers.

Next week we also have the opportunity to return to work in the local prison here in Toamasina, where we will not only be training up the prisoners but also the guards who were worked with last year in the adult programme, Leadership for Life. We are very excited to have the chance to invest in some of the 'lifers' who have been very keen to pass on the programme to those who they share their 'space' and lives with.

We have really enjoyed our time back here, meeting up with our Teams, sharing meals and other fun times with them. we have even had a bit more freedom to venture out into the streets around where we stay (in Tana). As is our desire we don't want to experience any place as 'just a tourist' and so we have been walking out to have local Malagasy coffee on the streets, buying our fruit and veg (which we have always done during our time in Toamasina but Tana it just seemed a little more challenging), taking our lives in our hands as we joined the throngs of people who travel by Taxi Be (think South African Taxi or large but very old minibuses in the UK with around 25 people sitting on one another in a vehicle that should only take 15 people, they place planks of wood between the seats as more and more people load up) and loving the fact that we have the opportunity to hail a local 'private' taxi which is an old style Renault, Citroen or Peugeot not seen on the streets of England since I was about 10, think Renault4 or Citroen2CV.

Time is once again rushing away with us, we are staying in Toamasina for another couple of weeks, once again hosted by our good friends Cho and Deborah, and then on to Tana for 10 days before flying back into the normality of England.

We do hope to be able to provide a further update with photos and stories of our next month with you before we leave and you can always be sure of a FaceBook or Instagram update in between times.

gorillas in the mist

mountain passes, no problem for our rally driving guide!

after our busy time in South Africa and then a short burst in Uganda we made the most of some down time and ventured out on a 'road trip' which would take in some of the most stunning scenery in middle eastern Africa and allow us to experience something quite special in wildlife terms, that of being able to spend an hour with a family of mountain gorillas.

we had been planning this trip for quite some time and it was to be part of my (Tim's) elongated 50th birthday celebrations, which shouldn't actually take place until the date in August should we make it that far! Joining myself and Maz on the 'road trip' was our good friend and fellow ex-Village of Hopeer (is that a word?), Emma Podmore, who we'd joined in Kampala to share our Leadership principles to the team that she is now serving with at 'Revelation Life'.

our trip started in Kampala, the somewhat haphazard capital of a 'landlocked' country termed 'the pearl of africa' by former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. I say haphazard in the way that the whole city is spread out along the northern shores of the mighty Lake Victoria, sitting atop many hills which provide challenges in both road infrastructure and suitable building plots. I could expand but that maybe a topic for another blog or poem at some later date.

we followed the road east out of the crazy Kampala traffic, another haphazard feature which could extend into further ramblings, towards our first point of call, the evocative 'equator', the centre of our world, a line spanning around 25,000 miles, passing through 11 countries, ten bodies of water (including oceans, seas and lakes!) and water was the feature that we will most remember about our first crossing of this 'line', yes it was pouring down. we bailed into the local 'cafe', obviously some kind of tourist mecca by the looks of the prices on the menu, and had brunch of Rolex and chapati chips with an avocado dip, watching the skies drop what would seem their whole contents onto this little part of africa we were inhabiting at that moment. I thought the equator was going to be hot and sunny!

just chilling

back into the vehicle, which was to be our home for most of the trip and turned out to be an incredibly versatile beast, suitably drenched but fed and watered and continued onward eastwards towards Mbarara and lunch. 

we'd all taken up our comfy positions in the MPV, Maz and Emma in the middle row and myself laying across the backseats trying to protect my back, but what with the frequent potholes and the Ugandan national roads authorities wonderful decision to place 'rumble strips' across the road when entering and exiting any 'built up' area it was hard to get comfortable. That coupled with our driver and guide trying to emulate Lewis Hamilton at certain points, later he would resemble Colin McRae at his rallying best as we swopped around the mountain passes but well get there soon, or soonish as we still have someway to go on what would prove to be one hell of a journey to our first nights destination.

after a quick stop for lunch we gathered ourselves now entering into what is known as 'little switzerland', the roads got narrower, the hills higher and greener and people were waving from their roadside stalls and still onwards and upwards towards the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, yes it is as remote and serene as it sounds, however the mountain passes were now dirt roads and Richard (aka Lewis Hamilton) was now entering into his Colin McRae rally stage with gusto. He wasn't reckless but with the sides of the road dropping away to far off tea plantations that looked like a patchwork quilt stretching out into the valley's below I wasn't too comfortable with the speed of our traverse and after over 8 hours travel I think I had good reason to worry, both for him and us!

we entered the national park and were greeted by sounds of the rainforest, we were now at near on 7,000ft, the air was still, sweet, pure and a tad chilly compared to the heat of the 'day in day out' thunderstorms that we had experienced in Kampala which now seemed like a world away.

it was a tad cold at 7,000ft

our accommodation for the next two nights was at a hotel run by an NGO called bakiga lodge to act as a sustainable income generator for their fresh water programme which secured local springs for human consumption, what a great idea! the fixed tents and cabins were wonderful, with views across the lush green cultivated valleys covered in swirling wispy mist to the snow capped peaks of volcanoes in Virunga National Park in DR Congo!

falling asleep with blankets pulled up high to fight of the colder temperatures and the sounds of the wild close at hand had us dreaming of what the morning might bring, rain during the night woke us briefly and before dawn we were up, showered and ready to rumble into the jungle and to find our distant, or not so distant, relatives who had napped just across the valley.

there are only around 880 mountain gorillas left in the world and all of them inhabit the mountain ranges in Rwanda, DR Congo and thankfully for us Uganda, as that is where we had arranged to have our rendezvous with our tight knit family. only a few family groups have been introduced to humans, some for us 'tourists' to enjoy, others for research purposes. that said less that 80 people per day are able to venture into their precious domain and today some crazy intrepid explorers from england were to be three of those blessed people.

a policeman came too!

after a briefing from our guide, John, we were somewhat surprised to be joined with another ranger with a gun and a policeman who also had a gun, they were to be our protection, not as we thought from a rampaging king kong who had 'smelt the blood of an englishman' trespassing in his backyard but from the somewhat less seen but slightly more dangerous forest elephant who had made Bwindi their home after us humans had cut off their path back to the swaths of savannah which we would visit later on in the trip.

trackers had been up and out before us to find the groups of gorillas and due to the issues with my back we had been promised that we would be part of a group of 'tourists' who would be led towards the nearest group. great news I thought, however upon entering the forest we quickly found traces of huge fresh droppings, broken down trees and other mess which meant that we were now following a herd of elephants, who had inadvertently driven our family of gorillas deeper into the forest!

in total there were eight of us in our group, us three from England and five Norwegian medical students who were taking the weekend off from their time serving at a hospital in Kampala. they were great fun to be with and we were grateful of their company.

we trekked and trekked, uphill and down dale, the trees were quite sparse on the ground but created an almost unbroken canopy above us, the path was clear, due to our huge grey friends who were travelling before us. after around an hour we reached the spot where the gorillas had been sleeping the night before but after some radio contact was made with the early morning trackers we found that they were much, much, much further on so once again we trekked and trekked. it was quite fun really and apart from my back ache we were all having a wonderful time.

mama and baba walked between myself and Maz

'apparently' Maz and Emma spotted the herd of elephants off in the distance, moving away to the right, we then moved on left towards our bounty which were become ever more elusive. i'm not sure that the girls really did see the elephants but i certainly did hear the ranger behind me cock her gun (yes they let ladies have the power in Uganda!) in readiness for use and that was enough for me to think that they might have.

give me a break!

we finally made contact with our trackers and after cutting our way into some very deep undergrowth were given a final briefing by John, this was it we were given the go ahead to approach the family! the first sighted was a huge silver back, aged around 35 and previous head of the group, he was chillaxing on his back in the dappled sunlight, he didn't seem to mind one bit that we were all standing gawping at him and apparently the middle digit on his left hand was in a permanent state of full extension and we were assured that he wasn't giving us the 'middle figure' gesture that perhaps could have been his prerogative.

the leader, a huge silverback

the guides led us further off the beaten track and we soon came upon a couple of younger silverbacks who were slightly more interested in our 'happening upon them', but with a few calls (or should I say grunts) from the rangers they were put at ease. we were then introduced to a couple of mums and their babies, one of around three years the other a smaller four month old who was so cute. we spent ages just watching these females who seemed so a peace with us being there.

it's hard to describe the feelings that you have in this special space and time, I suppose 'magical' would be one word that summed it all up, another would be 'honoured'. to actually be sat right next to one of the worlds largest and most endangered mammals was something I will never forget. just the size of these creatures was inspiring, as was their care for young and each other. it truly was an amazing experience and I'm glad that I had the chance to make that happen.

with my bad back, you've got to be kidding!

soon our hour long time with our new found friends was at an end, we'd taken endless photos, a few videos, especially of a mother and baby literally brushing past Maz' leg as she (the gorilla not Maz) moved between our group. now it was time to move on and head back to base, a task easier said than done.

as we said our goodbyes to these gentle giants the midday rains came, at first it wasn't too bad, hacking our way through thick vegetation, long gone were the helpful elephants, but it soon dawned on us that this was going to be a long slow return to base and a wet one at that. even the young Norwegians seemed to tire but after a lunch break, planned but not expected we made base by about 2.15pm some five and a half hours after setting off and over three hours later than any other of the groups who had ventured to see the other families.....so much for joining the short walk group!

wow what a day.

hold still elephant we want a photo! 

early to bed and early to rise as we jumped into our trusty vehicle and made a long and winding journey zig zagging along dirt roads through tea plantations, coffee groves, small settlements high up in the mountains and seemingly miles from anywhere on towards the Queen Elizabeth National Park and hopefully sightings of tree climbing lions, who apparently frequent these savannah plains.

open sesame 

it was around noon when we reached the park gate, to the left was a road leading towards the DR Congo border, we turned right and found to our surprise the the roof of our vehicle opened up which allowed all three of us extended views across the open plains dotted with huge fig trees, a favourite haunt for the lions.

the queen elizabeth savannah

without going into further detail we didn't find the lion (well not yet!) but we did see herds of Kob, (a east african antelope that we'd never seen on previous safaris), a herd of elephants and numerous birds. the park was stunning and spread over a vast distance. 

unfortunately time didn't allow us to 'just sit' and observe the amazing vistas that were presenting themselves to us as we were 'rushing' towards a boat trip between the two smallish lakes that border the park. 

arriving at the pontoon we headed away from lake George to the larger lake Edward in search for hippo, crocodile and elephant. ever the eagle eye Maz pointed out a distant spotted hyena which the boat sped towards not wanting to disappoint the huge group of tourists who had joined us on this short cruise. we seemed to have returned to the world of man all to soon and our time with the mountain gorillas seemed very very far away.

tree climbing lion, minus his tree!

Richard, remember him, our guide, formula one rally champion, had something playing on his mind when we arrived back at shore, we were on the quest to find the tree climbing lion and that would take us further north east to the mighty and impressive rwenzori mountains. He certainly didn't disappoint not only did we find the breeding grounds of the beautiful Kob but also two male lions sitting dozing in the late afternoon sun after what must have been a delightful meal of same said Kob.

tricky jungle conditions!

we ended this long and eventful day at our final stop over at another wonderful lodge, Enganzi, which overlooked the Queen Elizabeth park and rwenzori mountains, the sunset was amazing but with another early start to end our adventure we were soon off to bed.

ahead of us was the long journey back to Kampala but we had a couple of exciting excursions along the way, firstly a gentle walk through the forests of Kyambura Gorge where we had arranged to trek chimpanzees. 

end of a happy trip

although the sightings of our nearest human primate were more limited than those we had had with the gorillas earlier in the trip, basically one lazy male high up in the tree canopy, the walk through the forest was incredible. once again it was another unspoilt part of africa and we felt so far away from civilization as the birds called their pretty songs and beautiful butterflies fluttered about us as we made our way over simple bridges and out back into the tea plantations that surround this forest.

we made it.....

now the chase was on to beat the sun and make it to the equator before sunset, this we managed with minutes to spare and with perfect conditions as we straddled the northern and southern hemispheres it was a perfect end to an awesome and once in a lifetime road trip.

thanks for the memories Uganda, we hope to see you again soon.

P.S Richard our guide was delightful, he certainly added to the trip and all in all his driving was fantastic and he only wanted to ensure that we got the most out of our time in this most amazing of places. I would highly recommend the tour company who we booked with and would be glad forward details for anyone interested.

slipped disc, slums and saying goodbyes (uganda part one)

'lift up your head'
the charity workers, including ThembaCare
receiving their certificates in community leadership

so as I sit (or should I say stand) here in our accommodation in Antananarivo, Madagascar, not only does South Africa feel a long way away but so does Uganda where we have just spent the best part of three weeks working and serving with the team at Revelation Life (RL) in Kampala.

some local farmworkers in grabouw with their
certificates

our three months in South Africa seemed to fly by but we were so pleased with the amount of people who were able to attend the Emerging Leaders (EL) programme that we had been using to see mindset change in the workers on the farms and within the local communities that we had grown to love during our time at the Village of Hope many years before.

saying goodbye to Joe :-(

it was sad to say goodbye to South Africa, especially Joe who has been leading the EL programme in SA and who had been our translator during the times we needed to share in Afrikaans.

a few albatross out at sea 

although our time of teaching finished really well, with over 700 people receiving the programme, the same can't be said about my (Tim's) health, unfortunately soon after we posted our last update I went out for a run along the stunning clifftop path in Hermanus and pulled my calf and achilles (which has been a problem for me for a few years). running has become a great way for me to relax so even though i'd picked up this injury I was keen to keep fit whilst waiting for the muscles to heal. however I must have overdone it at some point and cutting a long story short slipped a disc in my lower back which has resulted in sciatica down the side of my left leg.

maz, mel and emma go
swimming in a tropical storm!

I was cared for by our friends at Paul Cluver Wines, with Inge administering painkillers and Dr Paul giving me advice on what I should do to help my healing. however I am still feeling very sad that this is hampering my ability to engage fully in everything we are now doing post South Africa.

during the last few weeks of our stay in the stunning Elgin Valley we were joined by my parents and enjoyed some time with them, especially over our joint anniversary weekend when we took a day trip out to sea, past Cape Point, to find the evocative and somewhat allusive albatross. if you'd like to read about that adventure then please visit this link to the cape town pelagics blog where our day has been captured so well by their team.

trying to relax my back overlooking the Nile

on Good Friday we took the short 2 hour flight from Cape Town to Jo'burg and then Jo'burg to Entebbe (Uganda) and were greeted by our good friends Emma and Mel (who was visiting from South Africa!) and enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend away at a retreat centre overlooking the source of the Blue Nile.

by tuesday morning we were back working, this time in the slums around the eastern side of Kampala where RL are bringing hope to some of the most vulnerable people who live in the challenging conditions, homes made of simple handmade red soil bricks, built around a very flimsy timber (stick) frame. many of the homes sit right next to the 'stream' which flows with all kinds of materials, we'll let your imaginations run but to say it smelt is an understatement.

leading your team training in the slums

the team from RL had gathered not only themselves but also their local community workers and quite a number of community leaders who joined us at the RL 'Dream Center', an old converted container with a mezzanine roof which was to be the venue for our Leadership for Life (LfL) programme for the next three days.

the Revelation Life 'Dream Center'

it was so good to be sharing this life changing, mindset transforming, teaching with the people, they were very engaged and we are confident that with the help of the RL team there will be real tangible change in both the lives of the people, their families and eventually the whole community as they 'see themselves as leaders' understanding that 'leadership is the ability to write a story with my life which influences the thoughts, feelings and actions of others in a positive way'!

the four modules of 'Leadership for Life' delivered
to the staff and community members of RL

by the second weekend we'd moved to a 'compound' (not a great word but one that is used for a home surrounded by a garden and maybe a couple of other buildings, surrounded by a wall) where John Cleverly and his wife, Sue, and their lovely kids and a couple of dogs live. it was great to be able to share stories and discuss relevant and realistic ways in which individuals and charities can engage effectively in some of the poorest communities on the planet.

happy people who received the LfL programme
at the beautiful 'family center'

during the second week we spent two days at 'the Family Center', a wonderful project set in the tea plantations between Kampala and Jinja (adventure capital of Uganda). this center is run by RL and is a place where families from the slum areas are given a chance to 'get away' from the daily challenges, learn new skills, including farming, receive counselling and are basically invested in for around eight months with the hope of restoring broken dreams and relationships and with the help from the RL team find a new home and way of life back in their family village.

home visits with the RL
social work team

we were able to share the EL LfL programme with these families, some local neighbours and local leaders from the near by village, once again it was a truly amazing experience and we are hopeful that the RL team will continue to use the leadership principles we shared as they speak good news into these peoples lives.

although it was busy it wasn't work work work and we were able to spend a four days on a road trip to the western part of Uganda, bordering Rwanda and the Congo, but we'll save those stories for a separate blog which we hope to upload during the next week, but just to say that these will included encounters with gorillas, lions and chimpanzee so keep your eyes peeled for that one.......!