Boiled, Bitten and Blown

We've come back to Uganda at the start of the hot dry season. Surprisingly this year there hasn't been any rain in Kampala. Apparently the last rainfall was on 28th December and it's now 18th January, 3 weeks later. Certainly there has been no rain at all in the 2 weeks we've been back.

Last year I don't remember such a long dry spell in Kampala, although it is common 'up country'. Last year at the college in West Nile there was no rain from around 9th December to around 9th March. When I visited at the end of February the ground was so dry it crunched as I walked.

It all adds to the growing pile of evidence that climate change is already causing more problems in Africa than in the developed countries of the North. This is especially true for farmers, who have less knowledge and technology available to help them prepare for longer, hotter dry seasons and shorter, later and more disruptive rains.

It has also been very hot in Kampala this last week with daytime temperatures of around 32 degrees in the shade in the afternoon. The office I'm in gets very hot from lunchtime onwards making it hard to concentrate on figures. At least with the clear skies it has been cooling down well overnight making it a bit easier to sleep and very pleasant in the morning.

The mosquitos seem to be out in force as well, especially in the office. My colleagues tell me I must have 'sweet blood' as the mosquitos like me and manage to find any areas that aren't covered in insect repellent.

Today the wind has picked up. It is reasonably cool and pleasant on the balcony, although when we tried to brush off some of the sandy dust it just blew back. Is all of this sand blowing down from the Sahara? At least my washing dried very quickly this morning, hanging it on the balcony was better than a tumble drier.

At work I've been working on the consolidated report from all of the partners for the last quarter. Many of the partner organisations have now finished the funding so we can finalise the reports and agree their budgets for the next tranche of funding. I've got another week in the office to finish off this piece of work before I head 'up country' again.

It's been good to be around Kampala for a few weeks to get the flat sorted after Christmas and meet up with friends in the evenings. We're also making the most of all of the DVD's we were given for Christmas!