Uganda: Life in the Katanga Slum

Well, it's been over a year since I was in Uganda, and I've realized that I need to start this blog again to inspire me to make time for posting some of my photos. It's always so exciting for me to be somewhere taking photos, but then I come home with a daunting 3000+ photos and they simply find a nice resting spot on my computer. :)

Anyway, here are a couple of photos taken in the Katanga Slum in Kampala, the capital of of Uganda. It was often tricky to take photos of the children going about their daily routines, as a couple of light haired whitey's tended to attract quite the kid following. 30+ kids following us around the slums excited always made me wonder where their parents were!

Children paused in a narrow alley in the Katanga Slum in Kampala, Uganda

Daily routines in the Katanga Slum, Uganda

Uganda - Living Conditions in the Slums

When I was in Uganda in February and March, I spent a lot of time doing outreach in the slums. Here are a couple of photos shot walking down the road by the Bwaise Slum in Kampala, Uganda. The living conditions are shoddy and extremely unhygienic at the best of times during the dry season. I can only imagine what the conditions are like well into the rainy season because I caught the first two days of it and already these lowlands of the Bwaise slum turned into a swamp.

Early morning in the Bwaise slum, Uganda

A shot walking alongside one of Kampala, Uganda's largest slums

 

Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda: March 2011

While in Uganda in February & March, I took some time to be a tourist. 

I headed to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Southwestern Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. The fact that the mountain gorillas are the world’s most endangered ape, along with the 1988 movie Gorillas In The Mist (about a scientist named Dian Fossey who studied and later fought for the mountain gorillas), has made gorilla trekking in Bwindi a very popular tourist attraction.

The current population of the mountain gorilla is approximately 700, with over half of these estimated to be in Bwindi and the remainder split between Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcano National Park in Rwanda, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There are 6 habituated gorilla groups to see in Bwindi, and a maximum of 8 people trek per group. It takes almost 2 years to habituate a family for human interaction. I paid $500 USD and trekked for about 4 hours (so much for thinking I was in shape!) to see the Mubare family. It was the first of the Uganda mountain gorillas to be habituated in 1998 and there are now 6 members including an 8-month-old baby.

It was an incredible experience. It was unreal how unaffected by humans they were and although we were supposed to stay a minimum of 7m from them, they apparently don’t follow that rule…and they’re huge!!

Here are some of the photos from my trek:

A mountain gorilla peers through the trees in Bwindi, Uganda

A lazy blackback mountain gorilla caught mid-yawn in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

A blackback mountain gorilla stopping to check out the trekkers in Uganda

Kashundwe Baby, the 8 month old youngest member of the Mubare gorilla family in Uganda

Mubare family silverback, Ruhondeza, in Bwindi, Uganda

The silverback of the Mubare gorilla family in Uganda

Uganda - Children at Work

I have had a very busy month since returning home from Uganda & Dubai. Africa inspired me to go back to school to research affordable housing, and I've also been doing back to back photo shoots. In the midst of all that, I have begun to sort through my 3000+ photos. The difficulties of women and children continue to monopolize the theme of my photos from Uganda.

A naked, barefoot child clings to his father near the Katanga slum in Kampala, Uganda. 

A Canadian tourist in Dubai, UAE

After five weeks in Uganda, the first thing that came to my mind about Dubai was excess, excess, excess! Every building is more architecturally elaborate and taller than the last. Our hotel (Jumeirah Beach Resort) had a mere 20-25 restaurants to choose from. The population is about 2 million with less than 20% being of UAE descent. It is the 20th most expensive city in the world. It has everything from indoor skiing to massive malls to camel racing (which is huge by the way)! The beaches were beautiful, the water turquoise and clear, and the marinas filled with multi-million dollar yachts. All in all, it was a pretty amazing place to explore with my family before heading back to Alberta (& the life of luxury after backpacking in Africa).

A view of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE: The total cost of construction was $1.5 billion, there are 160 floors, and at 828 metres, it's the tallest man-made structure ever built.