Showing posts with label Uganda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uganda. Show all posts

March 24 - National Tree Planting Day in Uganda

    Posted on March 24, 2022  


This is an update of my post published on March 24, 2011:




Trees are super important for many reasons. Depending on the tree, a tree can provide shade, shelter from rain and snow, homes for animals, wood and paper, and food for humans and animals. Trees take carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas—out of the atmosphere, and they put oxygen into the atmosphere. They hold soil in place and therefore prevent erosion. They provide wind breaks and natural noise barriers.  They are beautiful!


Lions in trees?
Yes - at least in Uganda!


All of the fruits above grow on Ugandan trees.
Below, star fruit in Uganda.




Many countries have an “Arbor Day” or Tree Planting Day that urges people to plant and care for trees. Today is the Arbor Day of the African nation of Uganda.





Learn more about Uganda

This east African nation is landlocked, which means that it doesn't border on an ocean. However, it does border on the largest tropical lake in the world, Lake Victoria. It is sometimes called the Pearl of Africa.

Uganda is a great place to go on safari and see chimpanzees, elephants, hippos, lions, buffalos, more than a thousand species of birds, and maybe even a leopard or cheetah. Of course lots and lots more animals live there, too! Go here for information about Ugandan wildlife - and scroll down for photos and more info!


Here is a great Uganda tourism video. 


Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda



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May 24 - Lubiri Attack Memorial Day in Buganda

Posted on May 24, 2020

I read the name of today's holiday on a list - "Lubiri Attack Memorial Day in Buganda" - and my first thought was "Where's Buganda?"

My initial impulse was that Buganda is only one letter different from the nation of Uganda, and that hunch was correct. Uganda is the name of the nation artificially carved out of Africa by colonizing Europeans (in this case, the British), and Buganda is the name of the ancient African kingdom. 


The portion of Uganda that is Buganda is shaded red on this map.
(The blue is water - with the large bit of blue in the lower right
corner being Lake Victoria!)

(The people of Buganda are the Ganda people, or Baganda, although one person is a Muganda; the Ganda language is Luganda.)




The Lubiri attack memorialized today was ordered by Uganda's first Prime Minister, Milton Obate, in 1966, and it was carried out by forces under the command of Idi Amin. Amin later ousted Obate and became a military dictator. It was all a terrible time for the Ugandan people, including the Baganda.

The kingdom of Buganda was officially restored in 1993, and the kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a king, Prime Minister, and Parliament. It has a lot of autonomy within Uganda.

Interestingly enough, the capital of Uganda, Kampala, is inside the kingdom of Buganda - and the capital of Buganda, Mengo, is apparently inside Kampala. It's a bit like nesting dolls, isn't it? Buganda within Uganda, Kampala within Buganda, Mengo within Kampala.

Buganda has beautiful sights, like Bujagali Falls.








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June 3 - Martyrs Day in Uganda

Posted on June 3, 2019

Martyrs Day Commemoration
There's no way a Martyrs Day can be anything but solemn - rather than the happier celebration Ugandans will be able to hold in a few days, on National Heroes Day. On this date in 1886, a lot of people were executed at the orders of Mwanga II, the King of Buganda. Actually, the King of Buganda was executing people over a two-year period, with the result of 45 martyrs being put to death.

Why? you may ask. Well...the reasons were messy and at least somewhat uncertain, but they were partly political, partly religious, and partly because the king was angry when people disobeyed his orders. At that time and place (and many others, in the course of world history), the king didn't have to justify killing his subjects - he could basically order the death of anyone, anytime, for any or no reason.

Turning to happier topics...

Uganda has the source of the longest river in the world, the Nile, at Jinja. The latter is called the adventure capital of Uganda because of the white water rafting...


Lake Bunyonyi is believed to be the second deepest lake in Africa, and it is special because of the 29 jungle-covered islands. Aren't they pretty?





Uganda is known for its mountain gorillas, because they are both magnificent and highly endangered - and because Uganda has about half of the world's mountain gorilla population!

Uganda also has other big mammals people like to visit Africa to see in the wild - AND a lot lot lot lot lot of birds! This nation is less than the size of Michigan - and has only a teeny-tiny percentage of Earth's land mass - but it is home to about 11% of the world's birds!!!








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