Vaccinations

Well, a few things have happened since I last wrote. The day after I got back for Christmas holidays (19th) I had a trip orientation day. I met most of the team members, and they all seem really nice.

The Team:
-David Moore: Executive Director of ACTS. He's the trip leader. 65-ish. Well-developed sense of humour.
-Bern and Nancy Cassidy: Retired couple - Bern was an engineer, so he will likely be guiding the engineer interns. Nancy is a retired teacher. She's going to be overseeing the education program. She says she loves babies, which is good, because I don't. Both in their mid to late 60s I should think.
-Melanie: I don't remember her last name, but she's an engineer intern. About twenty-five I reckon and a second generation Chinese Canadian. She seems very nice. I think we'll get along well. 
-Tim Folkman: The only non-engineer besides me. About 60 or there abouts. A cheerful sort of chap. He used to be a Forensic Chemist working with the police, which I think is cool... it'll give us something to talk about on the plane if I'm sitting next to him.
That's it so far. I haven't met the other two engineer interns, Michelle and Matthew, but I'm guessing they'll be close to my age. They're from Ontario, so we're going to meet up with them on the way.

The Flight: Departs January 15th. Vancouver Island to Vancouver, Vancouver to London, London to Entebbe, which isn't the capital of Uganda (it's Kampala), but it's a major town in central Uganda. Then I think we'll be in Kampala for a couple of days while we get our visas sorted out. Then we'll probably be off to ACTS' compound in Mbarara, which is in the south of Uganda, near to Rwanda (so I'm desperately hoping that I'll be able to hop across for a few days to sniff around the historical sites and museums... if I can drag some of my team members with me, that is...).  We're going to be living in tents for most of the time, which will be interesting. 3 months of camping does seem to me to be a long time, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Other Info:
-I've got most of my vaccines already - rabies, flu, polio, and meningococcal. I'm also taking typhoid medication orally, and then I'll be on to the malaria meds - fun stuff.
-Animals: Gorillas!!! And chimpanzees. Hippos, crocs, leopards and lions (although the big cats are mostly in parks, as are elephants). As for reptiles, there are snakes: rock pythons, which are supposed to be the biggest snakes in Africa (fortunately, there aren't supposed to be many about), and the nastiest are the black mambas - the longest venomous snakes in Africa. They do also have a lot of rather horrible looking spiders, which upset me more than the snakes, but oh well. On the plus side, there are a lot of very interesting looking birds. Must make sure to borrow Mom's binoculars for the trip.

That's about it for now! Merry Christmas everyone!