Chopper Chimps

It’s the ‘Year of the Gorilla’ in Uganda & Rwanda. There have been a host of events (a most notable one being 50 people in gorilla suits distributing conservation leaflets in the centre of town; this resulted in an outcry from some Kampala residents, who were convinced that the chimp population had escaped from the national parks). This weekend, saw the launch of the ‘Friend-a-Gorilla’ campaign (http://www.friendagorilla.org/) & a ‘Gorilla Gala’.

On Thursday night, my friend Dave (a pilot) & I hatched an idea for a little publicity stunt - to fly over the gala venue dressed as gorillas, waving from the chopper. All we needed were the gorilla suits… I really didn’t think we’d pull it off… but we did!

If seeing the mountain gorillas of Uganda wasn’t enough, actually being one in a helicopter was chopper'tastic!

Zanzibar

Beautiful Zanzibar - the land of coconuts & cloves, mazes & mosques, beaches & sunshine divine. My friend Al joined me for a fortnight of sun dhow'ners & a veritable marine safari, which included some scuba diving, dolphin spotting & a get together with a band of giant tortoises. Stone Town is a maze of alleyways & mosques, with rich Swahili & Arabic architecture; hawkers selling dates on street corners & children scampering though the streets on their way to school. The beaches are beautiful & often populated with locals, swishing their kangas, harvesting sea-weed, or preparing their dhows for the afternoon's fishing. I recommend!

Hairy Lemon

A weekend at the Hairy Lemon with the Dutch bunch - a little back-to-basics island on the Nile (in eastern Uganda). A perfect spot for relaxing & risking Biharzias... The place is named after a pub in Ireland, I believe.