There are more than twice as many people in Uganda now as when we visited 13 years ago. The population has doubled. Doubled, as in every person times two. It is almost inconceivable. Where do they live? What do they eat? Crops are grown on every surface that can be farmed and no slope is too steep. Agriculture keeps much of the population busy, but it is not a high paying industry unless you own the farm. We spoke to local people who told us teachers are poorly trained and rarely paid and the local paper’s headline said a high percentage of children cannot do sums and subtraction. From Rwanda to here, it is out of the frying pan into the fire. No wonder so many people ask us if anyone can make it in America.

We enter Uganda at the crumbling Katuna border post where the trucks are stacked 10 long and three deep. It is surprisingly efficient and we quickly adjust to driving on the left again – Rwandans drive on the right. Best to drive sober in all these countries. A few kilometers from the border, Lake Bunyonyi has facilities for us at the edge of lake – we are the only campers on this steep and lovely piece of property. There’s bandas (rooms) and a restaurant and since it is Sunday the local folks are making an outing of it, visiting the lake and having lunch. A group walks into our camp and exclaims, “look at the white people” to their children. They whip out their phones and pose for photos with us; they have me hold the baby and take photos, all the while chatting in their local language. What a hoot.

Uganda is a former British colony and to honor the visit of Queen Elizabeth back in the day, they renamed the Kazinga National Park – it is now Queen Elizabeth National Park. I find that charming for some reason. Queen, as it is called, is the second largest park, consisting of rivertine areas, huge grass-covered plains, and the remnants  of volcanic explosion craters. Large mammals are a bit scarce, decimated by poaching in the ’70s but coming back slowly. Lions, elephant, elusive leopard, and prodigious bird life make it interesting. Here we scouted for the famous tree-climbing lions – their favorite fig trees are marked on the map! We did not see them, the weather was quite unsettled and much rain came down so likely they were wet and miserable under some bush. However, I did not feel skunked as I spotted this bird – the Ross’s Turaco – and it was kind enough to sit still for photos. I’ve seen it twice before, both times at Kapishya Hot Springs, and it was so twitchy I could never get close. These shots don’t do it justice – on the wing it has gorgeous magenta feathers that flash like neon. It is one of few birds with that color feather. Isn’t it adorable?

Other species spotted include this African Blue Flycatcher and this Fan-tailed Widowbird. The Black headed Gonolek has become quite common, I don’t go all primate when I see one now.  Fire finches and Fine-spotted woodpeckers are lovely. They are not on the “Ugly Five” list – not to be confused with the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). This Marabou Stork qualifies, in fact I think it is on the top of the ugly list. But what can you do when you’ve evolved this big air sac for flying high and it happens to be pink? Deal with it.