Awesome African Adventure. Day 16-April 24, 2025

Wilson’s Exclusive Adventure – Kibale and Kasenda (Wilson’s Village)

Suzie awoke early in and sunrise was happening. So that got me up and even broke out the tripod (which I swear I’m never carrying again, cos until today I’ve never used it on any o’seas trip)

Over for breakfast at 8. Met a couple of the 3 dogs lazing on the path.

Yummy fresh fruit and French toast with Spiced African tea. (The tea smells like it may be lemon verbena???) African tea is boiled with milk.

There’s already birds flitting around.

Walked around the garden and had a look at plants and flowers and animals and reptiles and frogs and things. A lovely relaxing morning.

Wilson returned after washing the car and took us for a little walk before lunch where we saw a few more lizards and birds.

Wilson explained that since the price of tea has fallen, some tea plantations have been abandoned. The one we walked past was full of weeds and a mess.

After another delicious lunch. (Leek soup and Spanish omelette Rolex) Wilson drove us to a nearby Catholic Church run campground to see the monkeys.
We were lucky to see three species within 200m of each other. The easiest primate tracking to date.
We saw Black and White colobus
Vervet Monkeys (not Velvet as I misheard the name in Entebbe)
Red Colobus Monkey.
Also some Banded Mongoose as we were leaving. Photos not so good today. I’m trying to improve my sharpness and messed up a lot today. No doubt I will find some to share.

A village market took ‘roadside stall’ to a whole new level. We drove through and it felt like we might almost run over the produce.

Then onto Rwankali Country Haven, a lodge under construction, to see the views and the Ankale Cows. These are the really long horned cows. This land is close to Wilson’s Village and he assisted the woman who owns Rwankali to purchase the land with fabulous views across the valley and mountains with a crater lake thrown in. This development has been of benefit to Wilson’s village.
We had a walk through the lodge. The owner has built two cottages in addition to the main house/lodge reception, kitchen, etc. there are two more cottages to complete before it’s right ready to operate.

The gardens were amazing and she has tea, coffee, bees and a range of other crops growing on the land. If you are ever planning a trip to Uganda we all reckon it would be a fabulous lodge to stay at. Might be pricey though.

We drove a little further to Wilson’s Village – Kasenda. He grew up here as one of 8 children. He was a smart boy and his parents paid for him to attend primary school. He was as identified as a clever child who should continue to secondary school. His parents could not afford it.
The local church was contacted by the teacher and they funded his secondary education and I think they continued to support him at University. While Wilson and his own family live in Entebbe, he is passionate and committed to making a positive difference for his Village. He is known as the Director and he has provided leadership to the Villagers. There is a Committee of Villagers who make all the day today decisions but I think Wilson is a bit of an ideas man, sees the possibilities, enlists the support of others he can learn from and makes things happen. There are 188 Families in the Village with an average of 8 per family.

We arrived and did a quick visit to the school. This a free school provided by the Village. Wilson sourced the teacher. There is no government funding. There is a focus in the village on the importance of education.

Wilson explained that 10 families are dedicated to a certain project such as Vanilla beans. Each project establishes a community cooperative to make it happen. The groups of 10 families work together to make the cropping or animal project work. So far they have the following cooperatives:
Coffee, goat, chickens, bananas, plantain, corn and passionfruit. Wilson has his own Turkey project. Some of the bananas are tended to by ‘convicts’ these are men who have done something wrong (often violence/ family violence) and instead of involving police the committee of villagers determine the length of time they will spend in the banana project (Community Service)

The woman are the ones who started the project work. As the men were always involved with alcohol. Chickens were started for the women. When the men saw the success of the chooks then the men wanted a project so the goat project began.

The village has a women’s refuge for victims of Family Violence- they are housed and protected from their abuser and give back by assisting with the work of the village.

It is quite an achievement and something Wilson is justifiably proud of.

Home to have a drink, download pics, eat tea yet again. (Pumpkin soup, Fish with rosemary chat spud, matookq and veg, ending with a crepe with maple syrup

Then back to pack, shower prep for the blog etc. and go to sleep.