The dry season in Karamoja....

We wouldn't know this year because it has rained a lot!!!! It would have been a good time for a second crop but we didn't plant one this year. Past years have been so dry by this time that the weeds have all burned in the hot sun. They are calling the rains the "Christmas rain" because normally it will rain the week of Christmas and the week after and then it would be dry for the next month or two until we get closer to the rainy season in March when it rains more than just weekly.

We have a huge crop of big bad weeds in all the fields. Craig is fearing plowing will be very hard this year with all the over growth. And the abuse on the tractors will be hard. He would like to break ground on more acres this year but there is so much work to be done before planting time.

Just when they feel like they are where they should be on the construction, something happens. Like a wind storm that blows the roof of the generator shack, so that needs to be rebuilt, or a flood from 2 1/2 inches of rain in two hours that washed out the recently placed drain field and broke all the newly laid pipes and water tank.

The generator shack has been around for awhile, 20 years or so, so it needed a bit of repair before the roof went. So as long as they are doing the roof Craig is doing the other repair work. He has been putting up more bricks and then steel trusses were used for the roof supports and tin sheets for the roof. The doors are being welded and will be hung next and then Craig will finish by trying to seal all the hole and cracks to make the building rat and snake proof. Which is a big job here in rat country!!! And they (rats) like us too much as they want to be right there with us!!!!

There has been what has been described as rat parties nightly in the main kitchen in the main house. And they are very smart and cunning. they know how to feast on beans, rice and peanut butter without setting off the traps. And they really like Donna's bananas, but just a big bite out of each one!!!!!! I guess they are discriminating eaters. Right now they like Donna.

Now that we are in the dry season (kind of) there are more snakes around. Two nights in a row the dogs alerted us to snakes in the courtyard after frogs. Which we have an over abundance of also. (You must always dump your shoes or boots out before you put them on because that is one of their favorite places to hide). Foxy, a Karamajon dog whose has an Irish accent (she rolls her RRRRR's as a greeting), is very good at detecting the presences of snakes. She really doesn't like them much and she lets us know. She will keep growling until we check on her and then she stands in front of who ever is the brave person that goes out of the house to look for what she is growling at. Praise the Lord for a baseball bat that is our weapon of choice. The guys are wishing it was about a foot longer but it does the job!!!! They haven't had one come after them in a long time now.

One sure sign that we are in the dry season is the wind. In the morning it is very calm and sunny and hot, but by mid to late morning the wind has come up strong and clouds are starting to roll over Mt. Kadam. The wind is great for the laundry hanging on the line but that is about it. Our houses are so full of dust and dirt. you can't shut the windows or it will be so hot in the house you could not stand it, so you have layer upon layer of dust everywhere. Even in the refrigerator at times. I have even had a pan of dust covered brownies, which the dogs just loved!!!!!

Sometimes at night the wind will still be strong and you are awaken to the snapping of the curtains in the breeze. That's are real jolt, it sounds, in your sleep, like a gun shot or cracking of a tree branch. And the wind makes the guavas drop on to our tin sheet roof in the middle of the night. That sounds like bowling balls are being dropped over our heads and rolling off on to the ground. Night time sounds of Africa!!!!!!! Some time I'll tell you all about the cat fights on the tin roofs in the middle of the night!!!!!!!

I'll try to see if my computer is up to sending some pictures of the shack and other things this next week..

We are going to Kampala and I'll write about Christmas sights and sounds of Kampala.