Chimp Island

Still claiming for that second tree house then Jacqui?

Monitor lizard (maybe)

Yellow billed kite (definately)

Police and rioters clashed for a second day in the Ugandan capital Kampala in a dispute involving a tribal king.

Three people are reported to have died in the latest clashes, bringing the death toll to at least 10.

Violence erupted when the government banned the king of Buganda from travelling to Kayunga, an area which says it has seceded from his kingdom.

A spokesman for the king said on Friday he had postponed Saturday's planned visit, Reuters reported.

Pasted from <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8251907.stm>

This is how the BBC reported on the violence in Kampala. Subsequent reports claim that the death toll rose to 20 and that the Army were deployed on the streets of Kampala with heavy weapons and tanks.

When we drove through Kampala on Monday 14th September signs of the violence that had claimed so many lives the previous days were still in evidence. The Army were still on the streets and apart from the usual machine guns I saw one soldier carrying a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher.

An officer, busy on his cell phone, stood close to the gathered wrecks of at least a dozen burnt out vehicles. Driving through these scenes everyone in the group kept their cameras packed away, as the sight of them would have brought unwelcome attention from the troops.

Amazingly, people were going about their normal business, just like any other Monday morning.

As the report suggests, what sparked the violence was a ban by the Ugandan President on the visit of a tribal king to his Kingdom. I don't pretend to understand the politics behind the President's decision but it serves to underline the complex tensions and divisions that are ever present throughout Africa due to age old tribal allegiances.

The previous day we had skirted Kampala on our way to the Ngamba Island chimpanzee reserve (http://www.ngambaisland.org/) on Lake Victoria. Compared to the adrenalin rush of rafting the Nile this was a very sedate day.

The boat ride out to the island took 90 minutes. Regular readers will be pleased to know that I took plenty of sea sickness pills and managed not to feed the local fish and birdlife.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the third biggest freshwater lake in the World. We set out from its northern rim, not far from Entebbe. Looking south all I could see was the flat horizon of the lake. If we had carried on in that direction we would have travelled for over 200 miles before reaching land.

Ngamba island is the home to 44 chimpanzees who have been rescued from misery all over the world. The island afforded ample opportunity to rest and catch up on the lives of Jeeves and Wooster. But it was also alive with wildlife that proved more alluring. Yellow billed kite circled lazily over the island and a variety of waders fed at the waters edge. Black and white kingfishers posed on branches and plunged headlong into the water. Amazing dragonflies danced over the hot, sandy earth. A pair of lizards, about 6 feet long moved slowly through the bushes. I still haven't identified them, although I suspect they may have been monitor lizards.

Access to the chimps was strictly limited. The island was reminiscent of Jurassic Park in that there was huge fence that divided the humans from the chimps. They could be heard squabbling among the dense trees but it was only at feeding time that they actually emerged and came into full view.

From our viewing platform we spent about 40 minutes watching the chimps until the last piece of fruit had been thrown by the staff and one by one they disappeared back into the trees.

It's an often quoted fact that chimpanzees share 98% of our DNA. Observing their behaviour brought home just how much like us they are, especially when they stand up on two legs. Most of all though, it is their social interaction that make them seem so human. During our brief stay I witnessed greed, bullying, attention seeking, abuse of power, jealousy and exhibitionism. In fact they reminded me of a peculiar sub-species of human - politicians. It wouldn't surprise me if some of these chimps are still claiming expenses for their former homes. And when I come to think of it, the Alpha male, Mikka, looked an awful lot like Jacqui Smith. Although obviously much fitter and not quite as hairy.