Hi Christine, am I getting to grips with ‘real life’ in Uganda? I don’t have to walk several km a day to collect water so am definitely one of the privileged few! But getting out into the communities is exciting and refreshing. Ugandans are wonderfully welcoming people – and visiting the farms and watching the dance are a delight. The community activities are very affordable too.
As for Mt Elgon, the area is an environmental and now human disaster – and there will be more mud slides and more deaths; the people aren’t being moved quickly enough. They also have the highest birth rate anywhere in Uganda (Uganda has 3rd highest in the world), so they have removed 1000s of trees and are cultivating on steep slopes. It’s a tragedy, but like many, avoidable.
A group of us hiked to the summit of Wagagai in 2009 – you might enjoy reading A girl called Kevin: our guide up Mount Elgon

Hi Tom, thanks for your comment. the traditional / medicinal uses of 1000s of plants are endlessly fascinating. I missed the Wikipedia article?

Tom Rucker