GREEN | CLIMATE | AFRICA
Green Means Life — Transitioning From the Desert To the Jungle
Experiencing the impact of plant life around us.
In the past 5 years of full-time travel, we have seen some extraordinary landscapes. I wrote about many of them in my last monthly prompt response at Globetrotters ‘Terrains Of the World’.
But this month, to celebrate March, we editors at Globetrotters are asking writers to write about all things green.
When I think of green I think of plants. The most significant time that I remember realizing that green means life is when we flew from Sudan to Uganda in 2021. For more than the past year, we had been traveling mostly in areas of the Sahara Desert. While visiting Morocco, Egypt and Sudan, we had adapted to the brown around us.
We didn’t even really realize how much being surrounded by green plant life would mean to us. We hadn’t experienced even a drop of rain in many months, and the first day we walked around in Uganda there was a slight sprinkling of rain and we absolutely loved it. We were also so in love with the abundance of plants and nature. The air felt different, the land felt different, and we felt different.
This YouTube video sums up our happiness within the first 30 seconds if you want to check it out:
The life around us was obvious, and the color palette presented to us was astounding. We were simply in awe of the incredible varieties of plants.
Now, we had previously spent 2 years in Central America and the Caribbean, so we were well aware that the tropics had green in them. But I think after being away from it for so long, it was so much more profound when we returned to it.
We certainly appreciated it so much more because of our experiences in the desert and dry climates.
Uganda houses the Rwenzori Mountains which are home to Africa’s second-highest mountain, Mount Stanley. There are numerous freshwater rivers that run out of the mountains, which means that the surrounding landscape stays fresh and green year-round.
The green half of my lead photo is looking up into the mountains. You can see that there is green for miles.
But the greenery in Uganda didn’t stop at the plants. We also spotted a few green creatures that fascinated us.
While sitting on the balcony one day I spotted a shade of green in a tree that didn’t match the rest of the foliage. Upon further investigation, I realized that I had spotted a Jackson’s Chameleon.
It was the most vibrant green I had ever seen!
He was so incredible. And how adorable are those little horns? Apparently, they do use them to fight other males if you can imagine.
We also caught sight of this green juvenile praying mantis that was in a stage of metamorphosis.
I wrote an article about him showing how he morphed and changed in the couple of weeks that we watched over him in the garden where we were staying.
We also spent some time in the Savannah of Uganda. While it is a much drier climate, it is still surprising how much green is around.
Sadly much of this area is experiencing less and less rainfall and it is becoming drier and drier. Farmers aren’t able to grow crops anymore and the area is starting to experience famines.
Soon, I’m sure, this area will be more brown than green, which is very sad.
While much of the African continent is teeming with life, there are many parts that are brown and barren. Sadly, the brown areas are increasing, but there are some groups that are putting in great efforts to reforest and save the greenery from the encroaching deserts.
Without green, there is very little life. We all need to be aware of these issues and do what we can to mitigate them if we want a healthy and peaceful future on our planet for generations to come.
Ronald Smit also wrote an article directed toward the environment in his green submission. Ronald lives in Zambia.
Scott-Ryan Abt focuses on Tanzania for his post about green.
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