Revenge of the Spiders

It's obvious that I've upset the balance in the one-room ecosystem I call my house. By killing off the spiders, I've encouraged the mosquito population to bloom, thus inviting mosquito predators into my home... namely bats. Yep, I woke up last night around 3 am to the fluttering of wings in my room. After tucking my mosquito net tightly around my mattress, the bat continuously bobbed and weaved all over the place, once colliding with my bed net. I slept in the fetal position in the middle of the bed covered with my sheet, my solar light on overhead (still no power at home after over a week) until the sun rose and I was brave enough to leave my safety bubble.
I expected to find the bat in the daylight, and with the help of some Ugandan friends, to eradicate it from my house. No such luck. The bat is no where to be found... I'm hoping that it came up with its own exit strategy, but am doubtful. We'll see what tonight's darkness brings. While looking for the bat, I did find a mouse that had taken up residence in my linen drawer. My house is a zoo.

Monsters

In addition to the matunda monster, there's a new rafter of riff-raff in town.

Don't let its beauty fool you...

The matunda (= passion fruit) monster has a slow, methodical and tireless plot of entangling me in its vine and holding me hostage in my own house. I think I can actually watch it growing, with it's spindly spiraled fingers reaching for me in slow motion. It tries to trap me every time I walk to my outdoor shower and had sneaked a tendril inside the house and was heading for the bed when I returned from vacation. I recently gave it a haircut to show it who's boss, but it's coming back with a vengeance.

It's a creeper...

Ok, back to the new gang on the block. One of my neighbors must have been good last year, because Santa decided to bless him with a rafter of turkeys. Loud turkeys.

I'd taken down the curtain that usually covers my door to be washed, and my doors were open to let some air blow in. I felt something staring at me and looked up from my book to find an ugly large male turkey peeping in. He and his gang of ladies had taken to relaxing on my porch and found it rather rude that I'd want them to vacate the premises. After chasing them off the porch, I think the big guy felt embarrassed about being shooed in front of his lady friends and decided to retaliate. Let me tell you, turkeys are terrifying. And they're extra-terrifying when they're coming at you full speed with their gobblers wiggling and creepy droopy noses dangling, gobbling at the top of their big turkey lungs. He chased me inside where I promptly shut the doors and caught my breath. Once I got enough courage to return, I came armed with my broom and successfully chased them outside of the gate.

The perpetrator with his ladies

Enemy #1

Between the matunda, the turkey gang and the army of mosquitoes that have taken up residence, even staying at home turns into a misadventure. If I'm still here come November, Pajule may be down one loud male turkey.

On a lighter note, I've watched the sun set every day this week and it never disappoints.

Tonight's sunset from the front yard

Shouldn't have killed those spiders!

When I got back from vacation, I wasn't surprised to find quite a few 'squatters' had taken up residence in my absence. With help from my friend Brenda, we swept the floors, walls and ceiling to clear the small frogs, lizards, insects and spiders. Now, there are usually at least a handful of spiders that live on the ceiling. I let them stay because I assume they reduce the number of other insects in my midst. Same goes for the small lizards.

After our thorough cleaning upon return, the population of mosquitoes has increased exponentially. I'm on a full out assault, burning mosquito coils, spraying and smacking every buzz in earshot. Before bed last night, I killed 5 that had somehow managed to get under my mosquito net! This morning I must have killed 10 more!
Despite my best efforts, I'm still covered in bites. Let's hope that the Mefloquine is doing it's job!!!

Tractor

It's FINALLY here! Peace Together Uganda is now the proud owner of a brand new Massey Ferguson tractor and disc plow. Thanks to funding we received through a grant funded by PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), we'll begin an agriculture program, forming 21 farmer's groups and renting the tractor to the community. The proceeds from the tilling program will benefit the education scholarships that enable 20 local orphans to attend primary and secondary school. I'm hoping that I'll see the expansion of the education program before I leave later this year. So excited to finally have a sustainable, income-generating asset!!! Yee-haw!

Vacation- Part 2

After a great time in Paje, we headed to Stonetown. The main hub of the island, Stonetown has elements of Arab, Persian, Asian and European influence. The architecture, food and people were fantastic. I'd definitely recommend Zanzibar to anyone traveling East Africa. 

Beautiful doors everywhere. 

At the spa!!

Amazing seafood

At 'The Rock' restaurant with Aubrey

Kids playing at the Stonetown wharf

Heather, Liz, Aubrey and I before hitting the town

cloves on the spice tour

So much good, cheap seafood!

spices

After a nice trip to Stonetown and a spice tour, we headed to Kendwa beach for the new year's celebration. The beach was great, but not as nice as Paje. It was definitely more touristy and had more of a party atmosphere, which was nice for new  year's... but I liked Paje better overall.

Frank the pup having some water and escaping the heat

The gang in Kendwa 

Vacation- Part 1

Zanzibar was great. It exceeded all of my expectations and our group of 6 was just right for moving around the island, exploring and general shenanigans.

We started out at a rented house on the east coast of the island in Paje. We came stocked with liquor from the duty-free shop at the airport in Uganda and bought some groceries in town before settling in to the house.
We spent a relaxing 6 days in Paje on the beach, cooking and eating freshly caught seafood and enjoying the house's saltwater pool. The white sands and crystal clear blue water was amazing.

Puppies on the beach!

Snorkeling

That's all my internet can handle for now. More pics to come...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just made it back home after a fantastic vacation in Zanzibar. More pics to come...