Today we were taken by dugout canoe to one of the other islands on the lake, Bushara. Geofred, who helps to manage the tourist lodge on Itambira, took us – he paddled hard for an hour each way while we sat on our little wooden stools slotted into the bottom of the boat and admired the view. The water felt warm to the touch when I dribbled my fingers in it.
Lake Itambira is a large fresh water lake in the very South- West of Uganda, close to the border with Rwanda. Formed by the historic drowning of river valleys it is the second deepest lake in Africa, after Lake Tanganyika and the fifth deepest in the world. It’s shape is rather octopus-like with two long tentacle-like limbs to the South and lots of islands in its middle section, of which Itambira, where we are, is one.
This morning the lake was dead calm and opalescent under the early morning mist. Dug- out canoes criss -cross to and fro between the islands. Close up they look mundane with a paddler, one or two passengers and some cargo, possibly sacks of sorghum, which is now being harvested, or charcoal. But from a distance they are magical little shapes silhouetted on the water with just a slight slip-steam behind. They make the view across the lake even more perfect as they draw your eye towards them, as in a painting.
Itambira is my home this week. It is the headquarters of Itambira Island Seeds of Hope, the charity which Sally and her Ugandan friends, Naris and Diana, run. The tourist lodge here exists in order to finance the community work for several rural parishes around the lake ( more of that later). When I came three years ago the main parts of the lodge for visitors were already in place, lots of small tree houses dotted around the site, a large conference room used for training local people and a lovely restaurant with a swimming jetty. Now Sally also has her own house at the top of the hill called Mutuku House (red house) – it has a striking red roof. The gardens have also grown lots and there are many more flowers..the whole site is looking very well cared for; they are growing almost all the vegetables they need, including mushrooms, grown in plastic bags containing the spore mix, in the dark of a hut. The mushrooms just gradually appear as if my magic and can be harvested continually if hanging new bags is done on a rolling programme.
Mushroom growing is one of the many projects encouraged by Seeds of Hope in the local community. They are both very nutritious and a good cash crop. A few nights ago we discovered how delicious they are when Hilary, the chef, cooked us delicious mushroom soup for supper. A team of 8 people run the business, maintain the site and its buildings and look after the guests. They are committed to the project and work hard. Sally and Naris do the strategic planning and one of the employees, Barham, who has a degree in development studies is also involved in working with the local communities.
Today our canoe trip was to Bushara, the island which has the oldest, most established tourist lodge on it. This was originally begun in the 1980s by the Anglican diocese who own the island. Bushara is a beautiful island with its original forrest still intact, huge numbers of birds of many varieties and lovely walks around its perimeter and through the forest. The tourist lodge uses tents a bit like glamping. We met Evas who has worked there for 14 years and was very pleased to see Sally.
Once home at Itambira we were able to consume some red juice on Sally,s balcony and watch the sun beginning to set before it disappeared behind a cloud. It was a perfect warm evening.
Kate’safricana2 