Bed buying, rain, birds - and a cautionary tale

We went shopping for a guest bed on Saturday.  Lots of carpenters along the highway make beds - essentially the same design - so buying one is simply a matter of driving and finding one that looks finished.  We found one on Saturday morning that needed an hour of work to be finished according to the carpenter.  Fine.  We paid a deposit and agreed that we would be back at 3pm.  At 3pm we returned and nothing had been done to the bed.  The chap was confused - “You want it now?.  OK 20 mins”.  So we sat in the car and listened to the radio for 2 full hours before our bed was finally ready.

This is a typical experience.  Somehow the communication is just wonky and the two partners in the deal have a completely different understanding of the arrangements.  What did this chap think was happening at 3pm?  When was he expecting us?  Why did he tell us the work would take an hour, then 20 mins, when it actually took 2 hours?

Oh well.  We now have a nice bed all ready for guests.

After a prolonged period with virtually no rain since Christmas we have had some heavy falls in recent days.  There was a map in one of the national papers last week that showed big chunks of the country under drought and food shortages.  Hopefully the wet season that is about to begin will be at least average and well distributed across the region.  I’m planning to bring a rain gauge back from Australia when we visit in a few weeks.  I’ll set it up here at Katuuso somewhere and the science teacher can monitor and chart the daily rainfall.  At the moment the dust has gone and the mud has yet to appear so driving on the gravel roads is as good as it gets.

My patch at school continues to deliver with new birds every day.  Last week I added Red-headed Lovebird, Diederik Cuckoo, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, African Yellow White-eye, Afep Pigeon, Garden Warbler, Grey-headed Nigrita, Black-throated Canary, Red-chested Cuckoo, Tambourine Dove, Thick-billed Cuckoo, White-browed Scrub Robin, European Honey Buzzard and Speckled Tinkerbird.  Some of these are forest species probably wandering due to the dry conditions.  With the rain coming I expect they will return to the forests but other species might arrive.  Lots of birds are always on the move in Africa and the Eurasian migrants leave in March-April.

We’ve had a professional videographer volunteering from Australia with us recently.  Liam has shot and edited a number of  promotional videos for School for Life.  An example of his work showing new kids on their first day at one of our schools is online at https://vimeo.com/204991194.  Unfortunately his laptop with much of his video work plus other irreplaceable photos etc. was stolen in a restaurant in Kampala last week.  

What is your backup strategy?

Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill