It is long since I was in Bwindi last, and I hope to return there again one day. I got diverted from small mammals from the forest to those from the savannah and am now studying elephants, trees and bush fire in North-Eastern Uganda.
I first visited IFCP (the Impenetrable Forest Conservation Project - as it was known then) in 1990 at the invitation of Tom Butynski and Jan Kalina who were running the project at the time. This was before the forest was gazette as a National Park.
My best times at ITFC are the get-together parties we used to attend that involved various stakeholders such as UWA, CARE & IGCP. These parties would be organized at the park headquarters in Buhoma where all BMCA stakeholders informally met over lunch, dinner and drinks.
Although I have moved into a very different field – working in marine chemistry, and chasing new molecules from the sea, these days – I will always have fond memories of my days following the Bwindi gorillas (and collecting their food plants and poo).
The excitement and expectations of my research project leading up to my arrival at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) were realised the moment I passed through Ndego Gate on the park’s south-eastern edge and made my way to ITFC.