Arcas' Stories
By Simona Muwazi/2002
THE JUNGLE TRIP
American specialists say that Lake Nabugabo is one of the cleanest lakes in the world today. We travel frequently to this lake for camping, and both Tamaris and Arcas knows this nature resort very well. As soon as we start preparations for the 240km (150 miles) trip to the camping site, both of them smells what is in the air and become so excited that they start carefully checking the luggage, just to make sure that their pellets, bowls and tinned food has been packed for the journey. Naturally, they are the first to jump into the car (and it's an ordinary five-seater saloon car), and start calling everyone to rush through breakfast and set off.
Nabugabo is a special place. It is a small freshwater lake about 52 square km in size, surrounded by thick forest vegetation, jungle. There are very few inhabitants in the vicinity, and they live just around the resort. There's no electricity, no running water. For miles and miles it's only lake water, forest and the skies. It's a virtual paradise for nature lovers and for those tired of the speed and noise charasteristic of civilization.
There are uncountable species of birds and their music, fish splashing in the water, the unmistakable calls of countless monkeys, to mention only a few of the "natives" of Nabugabo.
On their first trip to this paradise, our two poodles were at a loss, wondering what sort of creatures the monkeys were, and why they were getting a bit too close to our cottage. The poodles spent a whole day trying to chase after them, but in vain - the monkeys were too fast and too clever. In any case, there is a lot of other interesting things besides the monkeys, so they finally gave up the futile chase, and stopped paying attention to these creatures, which had got into the habit of teasing them. "It's best to take a swim in the lake and forget the silly monkeys" they decided.
Tamaris is a very good swimmer and loves simming far out in the lake while Arcas prefers swimming closer to the banks and playing with a bell in the water. There's no worry in anybodys mind as there are no crocodiles in the lake.
It's a beautiful scene watching the sun set over the glittering waters of the lake, and for the poodles this means a lot - time for the bonnfire, a fresh warm dinner, which doesn't go without fresh fish! They love it, and they're sure to get some for dinner.
After dinner it's time for evening fishing, and the moment Lukas, my brother, picks up his fishing rod, Tamaris and Arcas dash to his favourite fishing spot before he gets there. Interestingly, the poodles have got into the habit of helping to collect twigs for the evening fire, propably knowing what the reward will be.
There's a whole range of fish species in the lake including tilapia and Nile Perch. The latter grows up to 2 meters in length, though we have never been lucky enough to catch one of that size. No words can be used to describe the apprehension with which Tamaris and Arcas observe every catch of the fishing rod or the net, and they welcome every catch with a delighted bark - it means there is food for everyone. Following the evening fishing everyone is worn out, and it's time to break off for the night surrounded by the music of the ripples on the lake, and the sounds of different forest creatures. Tamaris, Arcas and Lukas - the 'Holy Trinity', as we jokingly call them, sleep in the same bed, even at the resort.
And trust that 'Holy Trinity' very early in the morning will, when you are still enjoying the warmth of your bed after a tiring previous day, be all over you, pulling away the blanket, demandin breakfast before setting off to catch butterflies and dragonflies!
After a few days at the resort we decided to go on an expedition into the jungle - rucksacks over the shoulders and off we went. It is impossible to describe the sounds and scents of the jungle, but shortly you feel like a Robinson Crusoe! There is all sorts of animals in the jungle, but the fact that our poodles are born hunters doesn't give you a chance to see any of them.
Worse still, the poodles hunting instinct made them chase a group of baboons to our camp. Luckily, there were no little ones in the group, or else we could have encountered some serious problems. The leader of the group, having heard a fracas, came and took away his band, and we in turn broke camp and moved on, not willing to take chances and risk anyones life.
On one ocasion, our Holy Trio went chasing after a very large colourful butterfly, something we are quite used to do, and didn't pay much attention to. After quite a while, we realized that they had not returned, when all of a sudden Arcas showed up alone. It then struck us that Tamaris and Lukas must be in trouble. Throwing everything aside, we set off to find them. After a roughly one-and-a-half hour marathon through the jungle following Arcas, we found Tamaris and Lukas hobbled toghether under a tree-trunk. Tamaris was administering first aid to Lukas, whose leg was swollen with several safari-ant bites. While chasing the butterfly, the three of them landed smack on top of an anthill.
Following this incident, we decided to return to the resort, which took us about four days. We spent another few days at the lakeside, and we spent most of our time picking various seeds out of Tamaris' and Arcas' coats. They didn't like it one bit! Nevertheless, they sat through it patiently.
Finally, when we started packing our stuff on the eve of departure back to Kampala, it was very obvious on everyone's face that nobody wanted to leave this paradise. That evening, around the fire, everyone was quiet, the poodles looking like they were about to die. We talked about our Persian cats, who had not travelled with us, and accepted the fact taht every good thing comes to an end, our trip to Nabugabo not being an exception.
The following morning we had an early breakfast and set off to Kampala. We had one more week of vacation to settle down before we returned to school and our usual work. Our family council resolved that our next trip should be to the islands of lake Victoria.