Before I left for Uganda, two of my good friends, who shall remain nameless, instructed me to bring back specific and unique souvenirs for them: an elephant and a giraffe. They assured me that I should have no trouble smuggling a baby elephant and a baby giraffe in my luggage. What are two checked bags for after all? Well, despite living in Africa, I do not encounter these mammals on a regular basis. In fact, the last time I saw either of them was in the Pittsburgh zoo. In this blog, I would like to describe some of the animal life that I do encounter. I must admit, however, that I am not even an amateur zoologist; what I here write is based only on my casual observations from everyday life and what I have heard from others here in Karamoja. For more information, you could always try Wikipedia...or come for a visit.
As I said, there are no elephants or giraffes here. According to one of the K-jong workers, there used to be elephants in this area, "but we ate them all." I don't know how long ago. So, what mammals are there in Karamoja? Cows, goats, mangy dogs, and the occasional cat. Those are the ones that I see on a regular basis. The cows and goats are the most prevalent. It is not uncommon to have to clap or hiss at cows to get them to move off the road, and for goats wander, bleating, into our church services (I mean that literally). Allegedly, there are hyenas up the mountain that might occasionally wander down and cause problems. For the most part, though, our large mammals are relatively domesticated. Many of them even live in villages.
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| Goats outside Nakaale Presbyterian Church on a Sunday morning |
One other mammal that we have in Karamoja is rats. I personally haven't seen many, but I know there are several kinds. For example, there are the kinds that come out at night and nibble on people while they are sleeping. Those rats are killed on sight. Then, there are also bush rats. When the K-jong burn fields, young boys often stand at the ready to catch and kill the bush rats who are fleeing the fire. According to our community health education, well-cooked bush rat tastes like chicken. I would not be surprised to learn that Karamoja is home to many other types of rodents--I've been told that porcupines live in the foothills of the mountain--but these seem to be the more common ones.
On to reptiles. Not my favorite. But also fairly common. We have lizards, toads, and snakes. Of those, geckos are the ones I encounter most frequently. I'm no herpetologist, but I'd say I've run into at least three different kinds of gecko. There are the pale brown ones that I typically see in my shower a couple times week. This afternoon, when I took down my mosquito net to shake it out, I accidentally captured one of these lighter-colored reptiles. They are very speedy, and, consequently, I have not yet managed to get a good picture.
The third kind of gecko is significantly larger, dark green, with yellow stripes. The one pictured likes to hang out in the window sills of my building. I call him Buddy. As in, "Oh, hey there, buddy, I didn't see you there." Overall, though, geckos are fine; they don't bother people (except when one accidentally steps on them [ahem]), and they eat mosquitos.
A few weeks ago, we found a monitor lizard in a hole on property. We speculate that he was sick and crawled down there to die, which he did a few days later. Evidently, then, there are monitor lizards in Karamoja.
There are also toads. One found its way into my colleagues' room recently. I did not observe the action, but I heard the commotion and many cries of "Eew, gross!" Another toad (let's call him Tom) occasionally makes an appearance while I brush my teeth at night. Tom is only slightly smaller than my fist.
And snakes. Unfortunately, we do have snakes, though I have not seen many, for which I am thankful. Here are the snakes I've seen so far: a couple small, baby black mambas, which met there demise in the form of a field hockey stick kept for such purposes; a 10+ foot long python or possibly boa constrictor which was already dead when I saw it (picture included); and a yard-long-ish snake that might have been a puff adder. The puff adder was in a tree above one of our village outreach "schools." Needless to say, we relocated for the morning, and a handful of young men from the village came to evict and kill the snake. As you can see, snakes are not really tolerated here. I don't know if there are any non-venomous snakes in the area, but the standard protocol is to assume it is dangerous and beat it do death. I think that is enough about reptiles.
Birds. There are many, many birds, the vast majority of which I do not know. Here are just a few:
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| Pied / Vested Crow. They are quite loud and frequently around the compound. |
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| Brown Kite |
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| Small, colorful bird outside my window |
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| Don't know this bird either |
Other than insects, which I won't go into, that is an overview of the animals I most frequently encounter in Karamoja. Perhaps not the most exotic selection. The nearby Mount Kadam is home to baboons, colobus monkeys, and no doubt many other animals. Elsewhere in Uganda, on the game preserves, I understand there are even elephants and giraffes. But here in the bush, the animals are too common to seem wild.
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