WEEKLY WRAP UP
Zookeepers For a Day and Mural Mission Accomplished!
My week in photos — Week 4 — April 7–13, 2022
Wow! This week has been very exciting! We finished our mural project, PLUS we got to be zookeepers for a day!
Talk about being on high!
Thanks for taking the time to read my weekly wrap-up. Dennett hosts this challenge in her publication Weeds and Wildflowers which you can access below. We post 7 photos for 7 days and recount our last week of living on this planet we call Earth. To learn about other writers that take part in this challenge, read all the way to the bottom:)
I feel like the 7 days of last week were really all about just two days, and the rest are inconsequential in comparison. Some weeks are just like that. I’m sure many can relate. Please understand that these two days will take up the focus of this post. Sorry to deviate from the intention of this challenge, but like everything in life, things aren’t always so straightforward!
Warning! There may, or may not be, more than 7 photos!
This last week was really the icing on the cake for our time spent here at the zoo. Thursday wasn’t that exciting of a day, and the only photograph that I could find that could possibly have been interesting is one of a squirrel running into a bush. Definitely not share-worthy.
So let’s cut to the good stuff, shall we!?
The man in between us is our friend Cris. Cris actually was living in Kikorongo, a village in Uganda that we stayed in last year for 6 months, when we first met him.
He was our guide, motorbike driver, honey provider, and friend while we stayed there. Having graduated from University with a degree in Wildlife Conservation, he was a wealth of knowledge and we learned so much from him on the different forays that he took us on to explore the surrounding region where we were staying. We even visited his home village, a traditional Ugandan fishing village.
If you are interested, I made a video of that day on our YouTube channel.
Cris got hired on by the Entebbe Zoo last October and is ultimately the reason that we went there. He was the one that told the outreach manager that he would do well by chatting to us about the potential to collaborate on animal conservation education projects through our artwork.
Of course, he is still at the zoo, so we have had a nice time reconnecting and getting all caught up on the last few months.
Early in the week, he mentioned to us while we were having lunch that, if we wanted, we could go with him to feed the mammals one day.
IF WE WANTED?
Ummmmmmm YES PLEASE!
Of course, we jumped at the opportunity! Friday was the big day, and we barely slept Thursday night. To say that we were excited would be doing a disservice to how we felt.
The closest thing I can compare it to is possibly Christmas morning as a 5-year-old!
We first gathered at the meeting spot where one crew cleaned the night cage of Charlie the elephant, and another crew (we were in this one) cleaned the lion cages and the pond where the leopard hangs out.
As we moved from lion cage to lion cage, we had three young lions watching us intently, 2 males and a female. They were waiting for their turns to be let outside, as they are the youngest, and newest additions and the staff have to abide by the hierarchy rules in the lion pride that they have formed.
It was amazing to see these animals so up close and personal, and we got much joy out of watching their antics, as they were just like those of a normal house cat. The only difference was that we weren’t going to put our fingers through the cage to give them a scratch.
If you know what I mean!
Once in a while, they would let out a crazy roar and I swear the cages would rattle! Did you know that a lion's roar can be heard up to 8 kilometers away!? WOW!
From this area, we loaded up into the truck and moved on to feed the cape buffaloes, some zebras, and the rhinos.
But the creme de la creme, truly came when we entered the giraffe enclosure! We had actually seen the crew in there feeding them the week prior, and we commented about how cool it would be to do so. Well, one week later, there we were ourselves.
And let me tell you, it was way cooler than we expected!
Immediately when we drove into the gates, the three giraffes walked as fast as they could towards us, then continued to follow us all over the place while we distributed their food around their field enclosure. As soon as they would catch up to us we were able to feed them bananas and some of the greens that we had in the truck. To have a giraffe bend its head down towards you, so close that you can touch it, was just astounding. I almost could not believe that it was real!
Ahhhhhhh. Pure Bliss!
To summarize the experience of this day in mere words is truly an impossibility. It really felt like everything we have been working towards for the last four years of our nomadic journey came to an ultimate pinnacle on this day. We could not have possibly imagined a more amazing experience for ourselves if we had tried.
This day was truly magical and we could not be more grateful to Cris and the management at the zoo for allowing us to partake in this day of dream-like moments. We are truly so blessed!
I’m positive we slept with those grins on our faces, and we walked around the zoo on a cloud for the rest of our time there!
Please note: I will be making a video of this experience on our YouTube channel soon! The link will be posted here when it is complete.
Saturday was the next exciting day because we finished our mural project! This project was a labor of love and took quite a bit longer than originally anticipated! But it turned out really great and the management and staff of the zoo are thrilled with the outcome. Below is some sneak peeks of the project, but for the full report, including before and after shots, click the link to the article that I wrote about it.
Sunday was a rest day and we didn’t do much at all. However, on our walk back to our Banda at the end of the day, we came across a troop of our favorite monkeys at the zoo, the De Brazza’s Monkeys. We were actually quite surprised to find so many, because we had only seen one or two at a time before, and didn’t realize that there were more.
This monkey is very tame and not afraid of people. Although they are wild, many of the zoo staff have petted and held them. As this was our last day at the zoo, and our last chance to attempt to pet one, I did not miss the opportunity when one jumped up on the railing right in front of us and sauntered by. As predicted, she didn’t mind at all, and actually reached out to touch my arm as well.
For a second I thought that she was going to climb over to me, but she just kept going along the railing.
Monday we actually started another mural project at the zoo! But this time we are painting in the restaurant, and as it is managed by a lady who has her own hotel nearby, as part of our exchange with her, we have moved there to spend the nights.
Most of our days have been spent in the restaurant since Monday, so I will just post this one photo from today, to bring you up to date with where we are at there.
We are just so thrilled with our time spent at UWEC — Ugandan Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (aka Entebbe Zoo), and we can’t possibly imagine an experience that better encapsulates who we are and how we want to contribute to our planet. We really felt like every day was a dream, and the experiences we had there will certainly live on in our memories for the rest of our lives.
The best part is that we aren’t finished yet! The outreach manager, Philip, is working hard to secure the funding to continue with our projects in the schools, but there are also a few more projects around the zoo that we eyed up, and they are keen to have us back to work on more when we have the time.
But for now, we will finish in the restaurant, then we will be heading back to a couple of communities that we started projects in last year so that we can wrap those up before moving on to other things.
I have now placed all of my weekly wrap-ups on a list. If you are interested in learning more about our traveling life, this is a great way. Thanks for following along on our journey!
Thanks again to Dennett for hosting this challenge and for allowing all of us the opportunity to share our weeks in photos. Look for posts from these other writers as well: Anne | Jane | Erika | Eileen | Juan | David | Mia | Susan | LensAfield | Kim | Barbara | Diana | Barb | Sandra | Shruthi | Ellie | Pene | Olive | Gustavo | Penny and of course, our host Dennett.
If I have missed anyone, please let me know and I will add you to the list!
Thanks for reading! Hope everybody has a great week!
xo Jill
Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We have now been on the African continent for over 2 years! Join our adventure by hitting the links below! Subscribe to Medium to get full access to my writing plus thousands of others’!
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