Hi Folks,

I generally use this blog as a forum to say what I like, usually spontaneous blabbering about how I love to travel and about the great sights I’ve seen. I usually mention some experience that was particularly meaningful to me (like a stop at an ancient pub somewhere), but likely unimportant to the world at large. I’ll also occasionally touch upon a subject that I think is important, but usually that soap-box stuff is quite a bit less compelling than I think it is. Thankfully, very few people read this blog.

Today, on the other hand, I am going to go a little deeper than usual as I write about an exceedingly beautiful country, one that I am committed to investing in via ecotourism, and one that is home to some of the most captivating creatures in the history of our planet—the majestic mountain gorilla. That country is Uganda, and I am pissed off about it.

You see, Uganda is one of my favorite spots in the world. With pristine rainforests, vast savannas filled with wildlife, and wonderfully welcoming people, Uganda is stunning in so many ways. I can safely say that any traveler would do well to visit Uganda, virtually assuring them that they will return with memories of a lifetime.

Paradoxically, it is also an oppressive place that perpetuates hatred in the form of criminalization of homosexuality. Shockingly, if you are gay in Uganda you may soon face either the death penalty or life in prison. I am not writing today to debate the morals of homosexuality, but its criminalization and the outrageous penalties under consideration seem a clear violation of human rights, and in that regard I believe it is incumbent upon me to make our travelers aware of the other side of this otherwise extraordinarily attractive country.

So here’s my dilemma: If Uganda’s government is unjust and oppressive, why does Natural Habitat Adventures continue to run trips there? Well, the answer is simple: I have spent my working life promoting tourism as a means for positive change, to help build understanding among cultures and to promote conservation.

Rather than encouraging a negative approach, I believe that a more constructive method of change would be one where people from different cultures meet each other and exchange ideas (and dollars), encouraging Ugandans to understand the majority of the western world’s feelings about their government’s proposed legislation. Further, if we boycotted tourism to every place that committed injustices to humans or wildlife, we’d never travel anywhere! For example, the Chinese have oppressed Tibetans’ rights for years, and in Alaska they hunt wolves from helicopters. Injustices are everywhere.

In the end, I cannot tell you what to do. But as a concerned tour operator, it is incumbent upon me to inform you of the issue. If you have considered a trip to Uganda and this is an issue that is important to you, then you’ll have a decision to make: do you go to Uganda, or boycott tourism there? You already know my opinion.

I hope to see you out there!

Ben

P.S. If you feel I have used this forum inappropriately, or if you want to add your thoughts, please feel free to make comments below or send me an email at info@nathab.com.

Dear Friend,

I just finished Thanksgiving dinner with my family – a free-range turkey supplemented with two types of potatoes, three squashes and several carefully-prepared bean and vegetable items I’d never seen or heard of before. Add a choice of fine wines and a table full of freshly baked deserts (for just five of us!) and today I lived like a king.

But I met a king last week who didn’t live much like this at all. Truthfully he was a Masai chief, or an elder, but the point is that in his small Tanzania boma (an enclosed area where families build their homes) filled with cows and children and dung huts, he and his people wouldn’t dream of a meal so lavish.

But they did have a “Thanksgiving dinner” of sorts.

We were the second tourist visitors ever to this particular boma (or so we were told) so the chief called in all the children from the nearby grazing areas (the Masai are cattle people) and all the men within shouting distance and they hurriedly created a celebration of their own, with dancing, chanting, story-telling and a delicacy most Americans would probably avoid at all costs—a blood, milk and urine mixture stirred with a stick.

Kindly, the cows provided this item right in front of us, not by their choice.

The milk and urine were poured into a hollowed gourd and carried by a colorfully-dressed older woman while three men held the small cow (all Masai cows are small compared to the ones we’re used to) by the head while two others tied a leather strap around the cow’s neck to encourage a vein to pop out. Then other men took turns trying to shoot an arrow into the cow’s neck to get the blood to spurt out. And here’s the weird part: it took them 23 tries on two different cows to hit one in the neck…from one foot away. I was thinking, ‘I’m no warrior but I bet I could accomplish that with a toy bow and arrow from my basement in one or two attempts. Or maybe just use a knife.’ But so it was, they have their ways and who am I to question.

Anyway, in terms of a delicacy when the blood finally spurted out they mixed it into the gourd and stirred for five minutes until the woman pulled the stick out and, somehow, the mixture turned into a wad of gooey pink mush. Two young boys clamored and fought for the stick, just like my brother and I did when my mom baked a cake.

Once again, I am humbled by what I see on my travels, thankful for what I have, but also thankful that I have the opportunity to regularly witness the world.

Thanks for listening,

Ben
Founder & Director

Natural Habitat Adventures