Uganda Taekwondo Federation

I am so happy and humbled to inform you that I've been recently appointed the Head of Organizing Committee of the Uganda Taekwondo Federation. Taekwondo is a martial art from Korea, it is mainly a kick self defence sport.

My two kids are training since some years and the elder is now black belt. This is a sport that I recommend mainly to kids, as it teaches discipline, fitness and focus, and to the women, as it teaches very convincing self defence tactics.

In order to celebrate this new position, allow me to show some pictures we did in May 2009 during a regional competition in Kenya (Nairobi - Kasarani Stadium). Uganda Team did so well, my kid, for this first competition, managed to get a bronze medal. It was such a great experience for him and for all of us.

The Uganda Taekwondo national team, with myself (the white guy), my wife and two kids (just behind the table). The team collected more than 10 medals and four trophies, the best one being the most supportive team.

Despite those angels' face, these guys are real killaz ;-) My son, Kassim (second left), with his bronze medal.

The first TV interview of Kassim. He appeared on Kenya Broacasting Corporation the day after. We were all so excited. It is true that sport can really be a family stuff.

Actually the new board of the UTF was created following resignation of the former Chairman. The resignation is a polite word to hide the facts, the guy was propely toppled by the board due to mismanagement claims.... It is therefore our duty to clean the reputation of amateurish federation. If we manage to uplift the Federation, I'll definitely update you on this.

The Source of the River Nile

What an exotic signpost, isn't it?

Despite some different versions (some say the source is in Rwanda), it is widely accepted that the actual source of the River Nile is the Lake Victoria, in Jinja, in eastern Uganda.

The first European to find the source was the British Speke, in 1858. A monument was raised at the exact spot where Speke was standing when he discovered the source.

A statue of Gandhi also graces the place. It was sponsored by the huge Indian community living in Jinja. The reason of this statue is that the ashes of the "no violence" prophet were sprayed all over the Nile waters.

What is quite surprising when you have an overview of the said "source of the Nile" is the striking difference between the waters of the Lake Victoria (upper part of the picture) and the waters of the River Nile (the lower part of the picture). The Lake's water is darker and troubled, while the River's water is clearer and the flow looks more peaceful. In order to find a possible answer to this difference, you may need to ride a small boat to reach the island in the middle of the waters.

Once you reach the island, you'll find some fishermen eager to show you the "real source of the nile", meaning that the actual source of the Nile is not only the lake's waters but also coming from underground springs that keep on pouring a clean water into the river. This, they say, explain the difference between the Lake's and the River's waters.

Hoax or fact? This is part of Africa charms, we never really know on what ground to stand. But definitely, if you ever come to Uganda, you cannot afford to miss the Source of the Nile, it is just less than 2 hours from Kampala. Enjoy...

The Rebirth of Entebbe Flasher

Entebbe is the former capital city of Uganda. It is a nice (but quite boring) town on the shore of Lake Victoria. Entebbe houses the national airport, the zoo (they prefer to call it a recreational centre), the beautiful Botanical Gardens and a place I fancy so much, Entebbe Sailing Club.
Entebbe Sailing Club has this typical charm of “good old British colonial times” and a beautiful white sand beach. It is well equipped with all kind of alcohols and sails (laser, optimist and catamaran). The Entebbe Flasher is from far the biggest catamaran of ESB and most likely in the whole Uganda.
After many years spent on the sand due to its broken mast, the Entebbe Flasher was able to return to where it belongs, the Lake. A bunch of passionate sailors managed to find a 12-meter mast to install on the huge catamaran. After two days of hard work, the friends were finally able to sail, yet with some apprehension, the “beast” again.
Below are some pictures of the rebirth of Entebbe Flasher, the “biggest” catamaran of Uganda. Enjoy the breeze.

East-African Fabrics

Let me use this platform to promote what my sister-in-law, Aisha, is doing best.... weaving. Her workshop is using a huge wooden machine (photo to come) and they are able to weave any design and size. I have several of those fabrics at home (t-shirts, table mat, bed covers), they are so beautiful. Since they are made of organic cotton, the more they are washed the softer they are. Just have a look, you may be interested by these traditional East-African fabrics. Personnaly I fancy the white cotton more than colours, it last longer.

Wetlands Of Uganda

Being at the heart of the Great Lakes region, Uganda is blessed with so many wetlands, in all parts of the country. As a photographer I was hired to cover several of those beautiful locations in order to illustrate a global conference in South Africa. The trip was so hard (lot of dust, poteholes, well the satisfaction of off-road journeys) but the experience so interesting, meeting people going about their daily activities within and around the wetlands, such as fishing, farming and using the papyrus for making different items (mats, baskets, etc).

Here in Kampala, people are always complaining of floods when heavy rains are pouring on the capital city. But what they should remembers is that the several hills (initally they were 7, now they are much more) are naturally surrounded by water. At the beginning of the last century, people used to move from one hill to another one by boat. Such heavy rains are really scary, water level can easily reach the engine of a Land Cruiser and people, especially children, have ever disappeared, falling inside open manholes.

Now during our journey, my guide kept on talking about one very special plant, that grows only (???) in Uganda wetlands and that has the characteristic to be CARNIVORE. Burning with impatience to meet the beast, I was thinking about such huge plant that can swallow a full grown man (kind of the one featured in the Great Horror Picture Show).

However when we reached the place where this plant grows, the guide advised me to walk slowly, we may step on it. And indeed, the beast is not that huge as you can witness on the above picture. As you can compare with the finger and the bic pen, the red carnivore plant is not really scary, yet when you observe well the picture (click on it to get the whole photo), you will notice that the plant is actually enjoying a free meal (follow the pen...).

These are other wild animals you may find by following the wetlands tracks...

Nyero Rocks

OK.... I was expecting tons of feedback, but I got gnuts. No problem, may be the first message wasn't that good. Or may be I'll need a little bit more patience.


So our first paragraph will be about a wonderful site in eastern Uganda, on the road to Kenya. About 3 hours from Kampala, the Uganda capital city, you will find a small town, or is it a big village, called Kumi. From there, after less than one hour drive (4 wheel drive of course) you'll reach a place called Nyero Rocks. Nyero Rocks is both beautiful and mystical place, let me tell you why.


The only sight of those rocks is quite amazing: they are kind of round shape, of height from 5 to 8 meters. They are usually two, one on top of another one, and they constitute a kind of vertebra long of 1 km. In between the two rocks, in the empty space, some people long time ago decided to set their abode. They were like 5 meters above the ground, so they were safe from any wild animals. Today, there is no more wild animals, despite the fact that the landscape is wild Savannah. This is due to a war that took place some decades ago (80's), and like any common sensed human being, wild animals hate wars and escape when they can afford it.



What is surprising is that according to some paints those people did on the caves' wall, it seems that one of their major fear was a huge crocodile. But today, there is not even a river. The place is so dry.

This is the crocodile I was talking about. Another amazing fact is that: we don't know who did those paints and we don't know what material they used to do them. Some American scholars who studied the site in the 70's estimated that the paints were made about 500 years ago. Quite a long time... I have my self sent some samples to the French guy who discovered Lucy, but no response yet.





Another interesting thing is that there is a family staying there, in order to keep safe the site and especially the grinning stone that the first people there where using. This family is so friendly, they even can allow you to stay there for the night. Believe it or not you could make wonderful rave parties there, if there was power!!!! Seriously speaking, take a tent, some firewood, a goat, some drinks and some friends and enjoy one of the most mystical nights in your life.


So far, my favourite paint is the one attached; it represents the sun. Some sun rays look like snake, some others like ladder (the ancestor of snake and ladder game, dunno?). What is so curious, is that I have ever seen documentaries where the sun was also drawn with ladders in South Africa. Is it a clue of the unknown origin of Nyero first dwellers.
What I have learnt from the caretaker is the way the were drawing the sun. They simply tied with a rope their right and left index fingers. One finger stands in the middle of the sun, the second turns around the first (still tied with the rope) in order to draw a near perfect circle. Once the first circle is done, they increase the length of the rope in order to draw the second circle.

That is it, folks. This is my first paragraph of a huge book, because for sure Uganda has so much to say to the World. Have a good day and take
care.








This is one entrance of Nyero caves.

Hi everyone,

This is my fist attempt to create a blog. Just wanted to try it. This blog, as you can read its title name, is all about Uganda. A nice country really, but with not really a good reputation: Amin Dada, aids, the mad Kony and his bloody Lord Resistance Army, enough names to scare the bravest of tourists or the most adventurer of investors.
However, it is a sweet country. Winston Churchill called Uganda the "Pearl of Africa" and so for many reasons.
I'll tell you those reasons later, according to my inspiration rate.
So please fell free to comment on what you know about the Pearl...