Heleen and Michel in Uganda

A special present

2015-03-29T10:23:00.000+03:00

Last week were where invited at the new house of one of our chefs. She very proudly inherited a big three bedroom house with dogs, goats, chickens and a big land to grow potatoes and vegetables. As a farewell gift we were given banana, avocado, fresh eggs and a live chicken.

Well, at home the chicken got a lot of interest from the dogs. First we left it in the garden, with the dogs inside the house, but when it got dark we had to lock it in the shower of the boys quarters. The dogs and cats are already timesharing the garden, adding a chicken in this schedule is not easy. First thing in the morning Michel made a fence, so the chicken would be protected against the dogs. Unfortunately our security guard at night stepped in it and tore the wire mesh for 3 meters. A big repair within the first 24 hours. For the first days the dogs were not allowed together in the garden. A gang of three dogs could easily get to the chicken and hunt it down. Which they did try, one by one. Little Tara manages to crawl under the fence, but since the chicken is her size and there is no help, she leaves it alone. Wodan our big guard dog prefers to climb the fence at the crack of dawn (around 6.15) and then starts to play with the chicken. The chicken survived. After locking Wodan up, he understood that he cannot grab the chicken by the neck and play with it, like he does with the cats in the morning. The chicken took her own action against the three dogs an decided to fly to the neighbours. So at dusk we had to catch the chicken and cuts the wings to keep it in. Yesterday for the first time we left all three dogs with the chicken the whole day unguarded. We came home and she was still alive. Beside chicken food she get leftover pizza and bread from Dutchess. We wonder how her eggs will taste.

Too late for the yearly update!

2014-05-20T15:51:00.000+03:00

We keep saying things will change, we have had a number of good attempts to work less. So we have time for ourselves and even an update of the blog. Working 5 days a week, more getaway weekends, more senior staff at Dutchess. But to be honest Dutchess is taking still most of our time. Because of the successful growing of Dutchess we have finally decide to hire a manager for the restaurant and kitchen to free up our time and to professionalise Dutchess. The advert went out a few days ago. If we manage to update our blog more often, we have succeeded!

Since Christmas 2012 Dutchess has grown a lot. We are known as the best restaurant in Fort Portal. Also the guesthouse is nr 2 on tripadvisor. The new pizza oven opened on January 2013. The move was a big success. All the staff combined in one place is easier to manage. Also the setting of Dutchess is much more beautiful than the Gluepot bar, so also our clients are benefiting. The new oven is a big success. It is twice as big, but takes less than half of the firewood. Also no more heat or smoke where the pizza’s are prepared. The baking of the pizza takes now half of the time. Many improvements were implemented at Dutchess. In the rooms safes and ceiling vans, everywhere security camera’s and a second internet provider. The implementation of a Point of Sale system has made a big change. We are so used to having an electronic order system in Europe, but it is not so trivial in a developing country. To start with you need always electricity. So the POS PC and internet server have their own invertor with batteries. Michel implemented an open source POS system with all our menu and shop items (around 500 items). Our administration is now much easier and our customers get their bill in one second. The cashier make much less mistakes. Everybody happy, but nobody realises the effort it took to get an electronic bill.

The increases popularity of Dutchess has made our staff members grow to 25 people. We are now a well known employer in Fort Portal. Setting up a local business using as much local suppliers and local staff as possible has been our idea to improve the local economy. The effect of Dutchess has been much wider. We have in Fort Portal now two other places which are making pizza’s. They have hired our former chefs and even used our Italian pizza oven builder from Kampala. One of the other restaurant has made a huge investment to improve his place, new furniture, parking and also internet. They also serve cappuccino, instead of just Nescafé. Then new Indian restaurant has copied some of our menu items, even the baskets in which we serve bills. They have hired our former staff. Our well trained staff gets a job easily at another place. The positive side it that Fort Portal is getting more developed for restaurants and hotels. The increased competition makes the choice and the available quality for visitors better.

Another small success is the acquisition of a garden statue. At our marriage in 2009 we received a donations to buy a garden statue. Before we could even think of looking for one, we moved to Uganda. We did not forget about it. Last year October Heleen saw a statue in wax of a “tower” of three Guinea fowls just flying away. A couple of weeks ago the statue was finalised and made into bronze. The decision was easily made. So after 4,5 year we finally got our wedding present.

Our own short getaways have been limited the last year. A visit to the Sesse islands, lake Mburo and Queen Elizabeth were very nice, but no long holiday. Heleen has left Dutchess a couple of times to Michel to do private trips as a tour leader. Besides Uganda, she went to Laos and Cambodia and will go to Madagascar in August. September 2013 we visited together Netherlands, Spain and Poland in a 4 weeks visit to Europe. The visit to the Netherlands was during Eva’s 50 birthday. Which was a big celebration with a Bird show. Michel stayed behind to help his brother, Remco, to recover from a severe operation. In April this year Michel had to go back to Spain for the sad reason of the funeral his father. The work and travelling has also delayed two major projects. The building of our own house, just out of town, has not started. We have made the designs and are planning to go to the constructor this month. We are expecting to be able to move within a year!! Other plans of horses and vegetables gardens will have to wait for this. We have also decided to postpone the finalisation of the cheese factory until after the building of our house. We are trying to set priorities right now. All-in-all we are looking back at a busy and successful year, and are looking forward to a new home and some more time to relax.

Yearly update

2012-12-15T15:36:00.003+03:00

Michel and Heleen have not been very faithful in updating you. Since the opening of Dutchess we have not given ourselves any time to sit down.

The opening of the restaurant in Dutchess last January was very hectic. The construction of the first floor was not finished and still needs finishing touches, but we have gone far! The restaurant is running fair. We are getting known, but can receive more quests in our big garden. We first opened for lunch, then for breakfast and then also dinner. The first months we had to stay in the kitchen all the time, but now our three chefs can manage on their own.

In March we had an important visitor. Jack Luitjes , a Dutch bread baker, trained our staff for a couple of days on making bread, speculaas (a cookie) and raison bread. The speculaas and bread is a big success. The bread is being made in the wood oven of the pizzeria and looks excellent. The speculaas and bread is sold at Dutchess.

The shop at Dutchess is doing well. We call ourselves a deli. We sell bread, cheese (5 types), yogurt, ice cream, cookies, cakes, coffee, bread toppings (meat, jam, honey). Most of it is home made. But we also resell some local products like coffee, salami, honey and peanut butter.

In June we had the official opening of Dutchess. Our first room was ready, again we had to panic a bit to get the room ready in time, because the room was used by somebody from the Dutch Embassy. The opening was a big success. We served bitterballen, pizza, snacks with home-made quark and home-made pesto. The culture band was very entertaining!

In July Heleen had a friend with her family over for 3 weeks and took them around Uganda. Great to see friends again and also to show a part of the beautiful Uganda. The children loved the bungy jump and the horse riding. The parents were most impressed by the gorillas.

The planned “monthly” getaway did take place for the second time this year in August when Michel’s parents came. We visited a lovely small Nature reserve and looked for a Sitatunga, which we saw. We also made new Sri-Lankan friends when visiting a hydro plant which is build in a valley with endangered palms. We keep saying we have to do this more often...

Finally we thought we could relax and focus on the marketing of the restaurant and guesthouse. The website is published: www.DutchessUganda.com. But no rest. The Landlord of the Pizzeria decided to stop the rental agreement. We decided to move the wood-oven to Dutchess. More construction work...

Around the same time we also got news about a possible birth of Jack Russell puppies at Heleen’s sister Eva . We had planned to go to the Netherlands in May 2013, but we wanted to add another Jack Russell to our menagerie and decided to pick it up in November. During the visit we stayed most of the time at the small farm of Heleen’s sister.

Besides cleaning stables we also helped to move a boat from the river into the meadow for repairs. A huge movement involving several trucks and a crane. But most of our visit was spend on seeing friends and family. And doing some shopping. Going by plane with a puppy of 10 weeks, 4 tv’s, a wii, 1 printer, 1 icemachine, 4 kg new cutlery for the restaurant (in total more than 100kg) was an adventure on its own.

But enough plans for the future. In January the pizzeria will move to Dutchess. In February we want to start the cheese factory. But also Dutchess is still not finished. We keep having ideas and adding chairs, tables, sunscreen for the balcony, tv, safes for the rooms... And when we have time and money we will start building the house on our hill. We bought a big piece of land (3 hectare)- half of a hill with beautiful view of tea plantations, a part of Rwenzori Mountains. It is 7 kms out of town in a lovely rural environment. But we also have other projects in mind. Horse riding safaris, keeping milk goats, some chicken or starting a chocolate factory. Everything is possible... Maybe also time for a more regular contribution to our blog.

Dutchess opened?!

2012-01-31T13:14:00.003+03:00

After one year of building and renovation. Finally we have opened our restaurant. Excellent news. The last two days before opening were hell. Five people helping cleaning. Three people doing the last installation work. Sinks, toilets, missing wooden decoration in the floor. One person doing shopping so we can serve something. These were the first two days of “holiday “ of Heleen’s visiting family. But all the efforts were worth it.

Customers who have been here once keep coming back and we get many compliments about the food, drinks, the garden, the lovely woodwork, the design of the fences. Luckily enough no one comments on the absence of any lamps shades, the struggle to leave the restaurant in the dark with only the torch of the security guard, the limited amount of furniture, the emptiness of the internet cafe and specially the search to find the place without any sign posts.

The new staff is getting used to us and our perfection of everything made in the kitchen. If finally the dish tastes right and it goes nicely decorated on a warm plate to a customer, they can hear Heleen mumble, it took more than 40 minutes.
The place is lovely. We have an office were we can enjoy the view of our garden. The not fully grown garden has already many birds, beautiful turaco’s and sunbirds. The big tree in the back gives lovely avocados.

But how are we doing? We are exhausted. The renovation, running the pizzeria, training the new staff has taken its toll. The monthly short holiday away has take place once, in October. We are planning a new getaway for next week. In the mean time the carpenter is finishing the windows on the first floor, the electrician is putting in the wires and the mason putting tiles in the bathroom, so the building is not completely finished. Will the first floor be finished before the next high season in summer?

Holiday or Disaster?

2011-10-23T17:04:00.000+03:00

Since 15 months we have not been on holiday together. Either the pizzeria or construction work is taking our time or Heleen is on tour. We have been travelling with family and friend, but -no offence- this is different from spending time together away from home.

Despite the rainy season, we have rain every day, we decided to take a break for FOUR whole days! Aim is to visit Kabwoya Wild life reserve on the shore of Lake Albert. None of our friends have been there. But Lake Albert is the warmest place in Uganda and we like to explore.

First I will start with all the things which went wrong. We got stuck in the vicious mud of the park twice. First time with our own car for 4 hours. Our dinner was at 22.30. Next day we got stuck with the landrover of the lodge. This took only one hour. On our way to Hoima a shock absorber of the car broke. We had to stay an extra night in Hoima. The new shock absorber and mechanic had to come from Kampala and did not arrive at 14.00 like agreed, but only at 18.30. The repair took 3,5 hours instead of 40 minutes. During the extra day in Hoima we did not dear to drive the car and the whole afternoon it was raining.

This all sounds like a disaster, but actually we had a great holiday. The construction and pizzeria were hardly discussed! We had a excellent three days in a gorgeous, hardly visited park. The very luxury lodge is build on the edge of a cliff looking down on Lake Albert. The days is the park we did not have any rain.

The getting stuck in the mud was a great experience of how to get out and which tools we need to bring next time. It also gave an opportunity to see a duiker, oribi and buffalo in the park. We went horse riding in the park and surprised warthogs, Uganda cobs, bushbuck by our presence. Michel brought home many souvenirs from the fossil hunting in the park.

The visit to the nearby fishing village was also very good. Friendly fisherman explained about drying and selling the fish and making boats. The anxious children really tried not to interfere Michel photo’s of the nets, but failed completely. It was also good to see that the oil company working in the park, did not seem to have a bad influence, only better road and more business.

We were even lucky to have an excuse to extend our holiday, because of the car break down. And we have found a good car mechanic , who is willing to bring spares from Kampala and install them right away.

We relaxed completely and did not feel like going home. But even the log trip home was nice. The new shock absorbers improved the performance of the car on the bad road. Arriving home we were lucky. No cooking, but a good pizza was waiting for us. We are planning our next trip...

A working holiday

2011-09-05T12:08:00.001+03:00

So this time not a report from Heleen or Michel, but a report from a visitor. Last July I stayed with a friend for a month with them to help them with the pizzeria.

In the beginning the plan was to help in Dutchess, but unfortunately the building process wasn't ready yet. After arriving in Uganda we first went to Jinja to relax for a bit. Heleen came to pick us up. The car was already full with bottles and other stuff for making the cheese. To our surprise Michel was coming with us to Jinja too. But he came with more stuff. This time for the new place Dutchess. After the night in Jinja we went to Fort Portal. Not new to us, because last year we travelled with Sawadee and Heleen was or tour guide. So the pizzeria wasn't new for us either. We went there two times last year, because the pizza was sooooooooo good.
And it still is. And I can know because I think I had like 18 pizza's in a month.

At home we were welcomed by the dogs, every day again! It really felt like coming home. Not only because of the dogs, but also because Heleen and Michel totally opened their home to us. In the four weeks we helped with making cheese/yoghurt, painted the pizzeria and if it was necessary we helped with the pizzeria it self. Serving and making pizza and counting the stock. Especially painting the fence was funny. There were a lot of people walking by to watch the blond girl painting the fence. But they all
said I did a good job ;-). The make-over of the pizzeria was a success. The new colours are great, they installed a new toilet and they sorted out the electricity. Dutchess is still in the building process but it is already looking great. The fence they designed themselves is awesome. The terraces are real eye catchers.

I have a lot of respect of what Heleen and Michel are doing over there in beautiful Uganda. Not only they are managing a restaurant, building another one and making cream/yoghurt and cheese, they also made time to travel with us. I will never forget the evenings when we watched “Weeds” or “True blood” with the dogs on our laps, or the night clubbing with Heleen and the staff of the pizzeria to say goodbye to everybody.

The last week I travelled with Heleen. Unfortunately Michel was sick at the same time :-(. We went for Ishasha to see the tree climbing lions, but for the second time in my live I didn't see a lion in the whole park. And I helped to bring Heleens average down a lot. After the disappointment of not seeing a lion we also got locked up in our rooms. And off course, at that moment our phones didn't work. In Lake Mburo we almost got a hippo on our car. He was only 10 centimetres away from the car. It was dark and we just didn't see his big pink.........

So all together it was a great adventure! Heleen and Michel; thanks for everything. I will be back when Dutchess is finished!

Sky above Fort Portal

2011-05-27T22:05:00.002+03:00

Yet another boring update

2011-05-27T21:17:00.014+03:00

Construction work has taken all our time. The renovation of our restaurant/cheese making and the improvements at the pizzeria we are running. We follow the news of riots in Kampala, the earth quakes in Japan and early and hot spring in the Netherlands. But it is all too far away to have an effect on us. Michel is too busy being barman at the pizzeria and Heleen is trying to get grips on money flow, compared to dishes prepared.

First some pictures of the renovation. Construction work is going own as we speak. The walls inside and out have been plastered. The carpenter is putting the first window frame in place. The terraces in the back garden are now being constructed.

The renovation does give some headaches, when the plumber is just finished the guys from the kitchen break some water pipes. The electrician has to come back several times because the plaster guys have hidden a number of boxes in the wall. The water reservoir did not fit on the small tower build for this purpose. But the result is excellent. We can not wait to sit on the balcony of the first floor sipping a fresh juice or a cold beer and enjoying the town view and the Rwenzori mountains.

But “construction” is also going on at the pizzeria. The easy-to-manage pizzeria needed more changes than we expected. We are both perfectionist… Two members of staff have been replaced. The change of the barman/cashier had the most impact. Michel resorted to a night life as a barman. Going to bed at 2.00 eating pizza every day. It looked like a student life, but he just celebrated his 40th! birthday. After a month finally the new barman manages on his own. So Michel has to get up early in the morning again! Heleen is trying to control the orders and the money flow. Introducing order books (can you do without?) and whole flow of money and goods is traceable and automated. Also purchasing is getting done in bulk to reduce costs and time. More improvement projects are planned, training staff in customer care, improving workflow in the kitchen and promotion of the pizzeria (we now have a website www.GluepotPizzeria.com, are at facebook and leaflets of the menu are being spread in Fort Portal). The only item which does not need any work is the quality of the pizza’s. These has been excellent from start. Our learning curve in Ugandan business, running a restaurant and bar is steep. We are all geared up for the Dutchess restaurant!

In our spare moments (WHEN?) we make cheese, yoghurt we even made mozzarella for the pizzeria for 2 weeks, because the supplier was longer on holiday that expected. When we make 20 liters yoghurt , it is sold out within days without advertising. The same applies to fresh cheese (something between feta and mozzarella), and cream cheese (boursin). We already have a regular set of clients (lodges and individuals) interested and what is left over is sold to clients of the pizzeria.

In business!

2011-03-10T18:13:00.001+03:00

It sounded very tempting. Pizza at your own restaurant every evening. We have a team of 6 men cooking and serving the guests. We are very lucky, they are doing a good job. We agreed we would not change to much, since the building is rented as has its limitation. But off course everything has to be better and more efficient. It has been a difficult two weeks.

Our business is based on people eating pizza and people watching soccer. It is interesting to balance the interests between these groups. Also shopping is interesting here. Some items need to come from Kampala (300 kms away), the mozzarella travels also 350 kms to our pizzeria, 3 different super markets in Fort Portal, fresh milk from the diary plant, fresh goat and beef from the butcher, pork from a different place, fresh vegetable from the market, cigarettes from the tobacco shop and 5 different suppliers for drinks. All these suppliers are necessary to keep the purchasing prices as low as possible and the availability and quality of the food and drinks the best.

The pizza still has a great tast, but it now includes judging the service, balancing the ingredients and testing the quality. Things have changed...

We started with two

2011-03-07T07:27:00.006+03:00

Arriving from the Netherlands we took our two Jack Russels dogs Kito and Couda with us. Our collection of animals is growing. We added Snippy a fox terrier whose owners went back to the UK and did not want the dog to be 6 months in quarantine.

But in our house uninvited a collection of mice and rats added themselves. The mice preferred banana, tomato, courgette, sweet potato and kitchen utilities with a specific soft plastic. The rats had a preference for everything within hard plastic. Our outdoor bags, horse riding caps, but specific dog food and peanut powder kept in plastic boxes. The first group was not smart enough for the dogs and the Dutch mouse traps. The second group got more smart and did not get caught. We tried to lived together in peace. But when the damage got too big and they were waking us up at night with their destructive nature the decision was made. We were going to take a cat.

We ordered for a young cat so Couda, who is the biggest hunter might accept it as a puppy. After a month no kitten. During a visit to Kampala we saw an advert for kitten and decided to take one to Fort Portal. On our way back with a lovely 10 weeks old wit gray kitten, we received a call. Were we still interested in a cat? Actually no. Without our consent this tiny little white spotted kitten of probably only 4 weeks was dropped at a friend’s place.

The cats are very cute, unfortunately not all dogs agree. Every day we train one of the dogs to accept the cats as part of the household.
We have been very successful so far. With the barking of Couda in the house in the background, we can relax and sit in the garden with two cats and two dogs. So far Chui (leopard in Swahili) has not triggered any mother feelings in Couda. Couda still sees the fluffy kitten as something to hunt. We seriously hope this is just a matter of time.

So our household now consists of Kito, Couda, Snippy, Engo and Chui and the mice and rats have left us. We have lived her now for 8 months. I am not sure where will end up. If our garden was big enough we would have added some chickens....

Emergency Pizza

2011-02-20T19:15:00.006+03:00

Two weeks ago the owner of our favourite eating place told us he wanted to go back to Italy. He was looking for someone to take over his Pizzeria. To be honest, it did not take us long to decide. The first restaurant in town with excellent foreign food was about to disappearfrom Fort Portal! This is really an emergency. Our only consideration was if we would manage time wise. Pierluigi convinced us that the place hardly needs any time to run it.

The pizzeria is a small place with 16 tables and a small bar. The location is right in the main street in an old building . The building is known for the oldest bar in Fort Port The Glue Pot (since 1960). The interior of the place could definitely improve, but the pizza’s are great. Pierluigi build an wood oven, specific for pizza. The people who come there are wasungu (whites), mohindi (Indian) and Ugandan. The Ugandans come for the meat with chips, the bar and football. The wasungu have their special night Wednesday and especially eat pizza and spaghetti. The mohindi prefer quite evenings so they get quick service and they come for pizza, chips masala, fruit juices and Indian tea. We really have to learn a new type of business. The pizzeria has 6 staff members: 3 in the kitchen, 2 in the restaurant, 1 in the bar. The new name will be Glue Pot Bar and Pizzeria. The pizzeria is of the few places that does take away and they even deliver by motorcycle!

If you want to see the flashy website of the pizzeria you can look at pierpizzeria.com
Also important is that the pizzeria is using 40 kilo of mozzarella per week. We have taken over possibly the biggest client of our cheese factory.

The restaurant to be

2011-02-03T15:42:00.005+03:00

Our major project: the renovation of the house we bought has finally started. The house is on our names. The municipal county has approved our plans. We are adding another floor to the building and the contractor started November. The first two months only seem to destroy the house. The roof was taken off. Columns need to be cut in the existing house, to hold the first floor also during earthquakes. Finally at the beginning of this year we saw results! The first floor received it’s floor and walls. The quality of the work is better than we expected and so far the delay is only 1,5 week in 3 months time! We expect the roof to be on at the end of February. In the mean time we are looking at the next phase, getting the doors and windows, getting plumbing and electricity in and setting up fences around the plot (instead of old iron sheets).

Most outside doors and window frames in Uganda are made out of iron. Our house will have wooden doors and window frames. The most used and available wood is mahogany. So we placed an order with a local carpenter for 28 doors and 27 windows. The owner personally went to Congo to select the trees for our house. The trees have to cross the Blue Mountains –which go up to 2000 meter high - until they get at the Semliki river, which is used to transport them to Uganda. Arriving in Fort Portal the wood first has to dry. Hopefully we will have the doors and windows in April.

We have not even discussed getting tiles, toilets, shower head.... We are thinking about the furniture and decorations and staff but that is too early.

We were lost

2011-01-28T22:30:00.009+03:00

This expression is used in Uganda if someone has not seen you for a long time. No were we not lost, but very busy.

Just a small review. Michel had a small accident while setting up the cheese container. He suffered of a concussion for 6 weeks and had some stitches in his arm. But a visit of two friends , Pim &Tanja livened up the place. This gave Michel the opportunity do some sightseeing. He had not left Fort Portal since our arrival in June 2010! We visited one of the most beautiful national parks of Uganda, Murchinson Falls and spend a couple of evening s unpacking gifts, sinterklaas sweets and some items that did not make it to the container. Unfortunately the visit resulted in malaria for Michel, but he recovered quite quickly.

In the meantime Heleen guided two more groups of tourists in Uganda and Rwanda. One in October and one during the Christmas holidays. During a gorilla tracking one of the gorilla’s touched the guide and held his arm.

Setting up the cheese factory has been delayed by this all. But the arrival of Michel’s parents at the beginning of January are giving a huge boost. Everybody is working to get the cheese factory finished mid February. Heleen is setting up a clientèle by making yoghurt, quark, full cream and fresh cheese at home at a regular basis. The kick of f of the selling started at a Christmas bazaar. This was a great success thanks to Pim and Tanja. The first samples of our products now have found their way to the most important lodges and hotels. Methods of making the products are improved and everybody is very positive.

To be honest with all our activities, we were a bit lost.

Emergency cheese

2010-10-08T19:13:00.002+03:00

We are slowly making progress in setting up our lunchroom and cheese factory. The architectural plans for the renovation are finished. We are in the process of selecting a contractor for building the extra floor on top of the house . Under Michel’s supervision improvements are made to the exterior of the gardens. A huge wall of 4 meter high and 25 meter long is being build to make sure the back garden does not end up at the neighbor yard, which is much lower than our place.

At home we are making yoghurt and fresh cheese to try out the milk. Also we try to get goat milk, which is very difficult. In the mean time everyone is asking when the cheese will be available. Specifically the local pizzeria, who now gets all his cheese from Kampala (300 km away). On his specially request we made mozzarella. We tried several times to get it right and proudly we let the pizzeria test it. The Italian owner is very happy with the cheese. We agree we would only start to make big amounts when the cheese factory was finished, but can make 6 kg in our kitchen in case of emergency.

Four days later… the pizzeria has an emergency. The mozzarella, send deep frozen by bus from Kampala, got lost. When found back the next day, it was spoiled. At 13.00 we get a call if we can make 6 kg of mozzarella, otherwise they might not have enough.

Our first order! We are so proud. Eight hours later we are less proud. We are not equipped to handled big amounts in our small kitchen. We are completely exhausted and the kitchen is a mess, whey and curd everywhere. With headlamps on (since the electricity was cut half way) we made in three batches of 20 liters of milk the mozzarella. At 21.30 we drive off to the pizzeria , who is very happy to see us, since the mozzarella just got finished 15 minutes ago. But we tell him we are never going to do this again unless the cheese factory is finished. The rest of the evening we spend at least half of our profit on pizza and drinks.

Very proud we tell everybody, they are eating our cheese. Victory and a big lesson on making larger amounts of cheese. We keep the cheese activities low profile for the time being.

Cranes and heavy containers

2010-09-15T18:15:00.012+03:00

Getting the container from Amersfoort to Kampala took us 2.5 month. We have heard many bad stories to get it through customs but managed to do this in a couple of days. Getting the container to be placed next to our house, seemed to be more difficult. The transporter is suddenly being difficult about placing the container on the ground, so we look for a crane in Fort Portal. After 3 days we have found a man who says he can place the container, if it is empty. We get a transporter to bring then container to Fort Portal and arrange some help to unload. The truck with container went to the lunchroom to be. While our caretaker was preparing lunch for the helpers and the truck drivers, Michel tried to find the guy, who was suppose to take the container of the truck. After literally following the bulldozer with the man, it turned out that the proposed solution was not possible. In three days time he would make time, but would place it without a crane. Michel had only to make a special talus en get some poles. (The cheapest solution for this was to just cut a tree). In the meantime the truckdrivers needed to head back to Kampala. The truck luckily had a small crane so he could unload it just on the side of the truck, everybody thought…. It turned out that the container was too heavy. With a lot of patience it took the drivers one and a half hour to put it down by tilting it to it’s back and then move the truck centimeter for centimeter. A weak heart is not recommended for this method.

The next move a couple of days later looked even worse. A bulldozer scoped the container placed it on a special prepared driveway. For 15 meters the container was pulled by a winch rolling on 4 logs. The pictures tell the story.

Boxes and more boxes

2010-09-15T17:56:00.005+03:00

The container has arrived, after problems with the work permit, we had some problems with the transporter, which is a weblog story on its own. But finally the container arrived in front of our rental house; not really in front, more against the gate of the house. Damage of one bag of cement... Because the crane was not strong enough to unload a full container, we unloaded it on top of the truck. We had arranged a couple of people to help us. Every item had a sticker and every room had a label. What can go wrong?

Unbelievable, while opening the container, it looked exactly the same as when we closed it. No items where moved, so far nothing is broken. We only have some water damage, since the container roof was hit by large object probably a hook of a big chain. After two hours with 8 people the container was unloaded. some items were placed in the garden, most rooms including the garage were unreachable because of the number of boxes and items laying all around. Michel went off to our house on Mugurusi road, the place where the container needed to be offloaded. Heleen stayed behind to create some order in the house. Boxes labelled kitchen turn up in the master bedroom and so on. But still one week later we have too many items, too little cupboards and continuously essential screws missing to put things together.

To put as many items in the container as possible everything was taken apart. Even the legs of the sofa’s were taken off. This means a challenge when putting things together. The legs of the sofa’s were separated in three different boxes. The screws for the television cupboard only showed up in one of the boxes after a week unpacking. Now, after a week of unpacking the house is liveable. The kitchen and living room do not contain anyboxes. All the other rooms still have.

But the pleasure of sitting on a sofa, specific your own sofa, drinking espresso, having good kitchen tools is unbeatable. The biggest joy is too see Couda, the oldest dog to wag her tail fanatically, when she discovers her eating bowl somewhere between the boxes and the first week playing with a different toy every day.

Patience and a lot of help

2010-08-25T22:15:00.002+03:00

Five days Kampala, what a difference with the quiet Fort Portal. We were suppose to go together and we had already agreed that Michel would drive in Kampala. The traffic is chaotic and Heleen was not looking forward. The evening before leaving, our worries about the concrete slab for the container in Fort Portal were too big. We decided to split up. Heleen was facing a 4,5 hour drive on partly bad roads and traffic chaos in Kampala. Her tasks were, to get a -proof of existence- certificate from tax authority, transfer of the car on our name, getting the work permit, getting the container cleared by customs and to come home with a fridge, gas stove/oven and electrical switch and wiring for the house. To get this done you do not only need to know your way in Kampala , but also know how the Ugandan systems works.

The major item was the work permit, since this is key in getting the container cleared. We had delivered our papers in March to a friend, who would arrange it. But no success, even when Heleen arrived in Kampala she was told, wait till tomorrow. Finally after two days Heleen was given the papers and contacts to follow up herself. After 5 days of running up and down between tax authorities, immigration and banks. Standard procedures are long. Simple tasks normally take hours or days and to separate tasks, different departments and a bank need to be visited. Payments for government or tax fees need to be done at the bank to separate tasks. (Electronic banking is starting to be introduced, but does not fit in the system, sine you need a proof of payment on paper). Efficiency is not high on the list at organizations, with low salaries.

This means that even if you have approval for a special pass (sort of intermediate status, before the work permit is approved), it normally takes two days to pay and get it entered in your passport. Although the procedures are long and we had heard horror stories of containers not being cleared for 3 to 6 months, everybody was willing to co-operate. Heleen told everyone that she could not stay a weekend in Kampala and even government officials were cooperative. A transfer of a car normally takes 4 days, they reduced to 2 days . Approval for special pass normally 4 days, now done 1 day. Receipts at a bank for payment 3 hours, reduced to 45 min. Entry of special pass in passport 1 day, reduced to 4 hours. We know Uganda has entered the top 5 of most corrupt East African countries, but all the help Heleen received was without extra payment! It is interesting to see that in the Netherlands you have to pay for emergency procedures. When you need your passport or driving license quick, it can be arranged but you pay a lot more. Here an explanation was enough. Uganda is a great country!

After living in a empty house with a borrowed bed, a borrowed bread machine, no table, 2 chairs we are looking forward to the container. It also means we can really start to make cheese. So getting the container cleared also very high on our list. When arriving at the container Heleen was almost in tears. The locks were tampered with and many were broken. The seals of Dutch and Kenyan customs however seem to be complete. But to be sure a surveyor was called in to assess the situation. Waiting 1 hour for the surveyor before opening the container was horrible. One hour of visions of a half empty container. After cutting the seals the container was opened and the contents was untouched! Tax authorities were very co-operative and inspection of the goods was finished very quickly. It was time to go home for Heleen with the good feeling that she conquered the bureaucracy and Kampala, and had a car loaded with luxury goods.

Preparing for the container

2010-08-20T22:28:00.004+03:00

This week we split up for the arrival of our container. Heleen went to Kampala to arrange clearance of the container (and to do a whole lot of other things) and Michel stayed in Fort Portal to supervise the construction of a simple concrete slab for the final destination of the container. We need to place the container “first time right” because there is not a crane in the vicinity of Fort Portal that can lift it, so we bring a crane from Kampala. But what about the other containers in Fort Portal, you think; well these either do not leave the truck and are emptied on site or are lifted after empting.

The construction of the concrete slab needed a bit more arranging than expected. Since the container will stand on the ground for some time we want to place it above the ground on concrete to prevent rusting. The cheese making requires the container to be place on a level surface. And taking into consideration that the ground has a slope and the rainfall can be extreme, the design of the concrete slab includes a brick wall foundation, reinforced concrete pillars and hard cores (big stones) on a cement base to support the weight of the container. A local architect that draws our ideas about the renovation of the old house made the design.

We hired a contractor, agreed on a price and just before we wanted to start on Monday the Mayor and the Town Clerk including a delegation of politicians were inspecting the road work near our plot. The Mayor saw the building materials and ordered the contractor to abort work that was not even started. Michel spend the rest of the day with the architect writing a proposal letter to the Town Clerk, including drawings of the concrete slab and discussing with the Town Clerk on how to proceed. An approval of the Structures Engineer was needed, but the man was not in town and could not be replaced. Finally the next day we got an informal approval after an on-site inspection of the Structures Engineer.

Materials like sand and the hard cores are bought in the surroundings of Fort Portal and brought by the architect who conveniently owns a small truck (he also has a driving school that is run by his wife from the same office). With the truck most materials were delivered behind the house. To reach there, the truck has to drive down a sloping driveway. The house is approximately 3 meters below road level. With every load, the nicely decorated walls of the driveway moved outwards. The truck holding the container would never be able to pass the house without collapsing the driveway. We decided that the 12 meter driveway needed to be repaired in a permanent way: remove the 1 meter top layer, put in rocks in a particular order, use iron mesh to hold the walls and finish the top layer with small grid. Meaning more truckloads of stones and grid and hiring hard working men.

Buying a house (1)

2010-08-07T21:53:00.006+03:00

Looking for a house is not simple in Uganda. Buying a house is even more complicated. After looking around we had several options. Our favourite option is a plot walking distance from the city centre in a posh area of schools, lawyers and NGO’s. Most houses in the area have been renovated, but ‘our’ house has not been maintained for many years and is not occupied, except by some homeless people. Everything of value has been stolen from the house. Electricity wires, sockets, the electricity meter and even the cast iron lit of the septic tank. But the house has pretty outside walls and is big (17 x 11 meter), the plot around it is even large for a place so close to town (24x48 meter).

There are many reason why this house is for empty and still for sale. Not only is the place completely looted, but also a tenant was evicted (a Dutch man, which will we know well) and has claims against the owners about investments done by him and goods stolen from rooms. But the major reason of the state of the house is that the owner died 20 years ago and left behind 6 children, with 6 different mothers. In the age of 0-10 years old. Since the children were minors an uncle became caretaker of the house. To make a long story short 3 years ago the children took charge, hired a family lawyer and went to court to reposes the house. Since then the house is for sale and have had a number of offers and close deals. But the six children (influenced by family) could not agree. We did an offer on the house three weeks ago, but were warned to be very careful with the family. We checked with a Ugandan friend, the land office, their lawyer, etc. The family wanted to meet us, but only Michel was around. The real estate agent, the lawyer and our Uganda friend were not welcome and Michel meet 6 family members representing 3 children. The meeting was not successfully because the family refused to lower their price and we did not hear from them for 2,5 weeks. The rumour circuit was not silent at all. We spread the rumour we were not interested. Their family lawyer presented the family his bill for the last 3 years of his work. Suddenly the family was interested in a negotiation and we settled on the price the same day.

Normally in the Netherlands this means the deal is done and the rest is just administrative. We made another round to the officials Land office, water& electricity company, city council, the local chair person (appointed as guardian of the neighbourhood) and the former Dutch tenant. We hired our own lawyer to protect our interest. In a week’s time the family cleared the property and we transferred money from the Netherlands (which is a story on its own) to a just opened Uganda account. Friday at 8.30 all 6 children would be there to sign the agreement and to do the transfer of money.

The day went slightly different than expected. At 11.00 only 4 children were there. One would not come at all, but send the grandmother, which had not arrived yet. Another one probably on the way, but could not be reached. The original proof of ownership had to be taken from court by our and their lawyer. Finally grandma arrived. At 12.30 we were at the bank to do the transfer. As if we were not allowed to buy the property there was a power-cut and the automatic generator failed. At 14.30 finally the last child arrived signed and the bank transferred the money. Then the whole family moved to the house. We expected a handover of the keys and we even took a camera to capture this wonderful moment. But nothing goes as expected:

3 of the 4 locks had to be cut, because the keys could not be found.

Suddenly the small shed on the property was not included in the sale and they wanted to take it away. And the only piece of value in the house, some kitchen cupboards was claimed by one family member. I asked if there were also planning to take the trees and the roof of the house, which they almost took seriously.

The family is not used to bank transfers and were suddenly afraid they handed over the house without receiving the money. It took us and the bank a long talk to convince the transaction was definite, even though the money had not arrived on their bank account.

At 17.00 we came home exhausted, too tired to celebrate. The next quest is getting the house on our name. This is taken up by our lawyer.
To be continued...

House hunting (3)

2010-08-07T18:22:00.002+03:00

After 2 months of house hunting we know which questions to ask if a house or plot is worth visiting, even though the answer is often: “You just have to see”. When Heleen came back Michel knew about a special plot 15 km out of town, but on the foot of the Ruwenzori mountains (5000 m high!). No water and electricity, but near. The site was also close to a campsite. The man travelled specially to Fort Portal and by car we went to his plot.

When we parked the car and wanted to leave he asked us if we do not have boots. This should have made all the alarm bells go off, but it was a rainy morning and we were still too polite. When we started walking on a footpath I ask innocently if the car cannot reach the plot. The owner nods and says when the area is more developed. During the walk we get explanations about all muzungu’s (whites) who have lived in the area; 2 people, and how the sometimes take a motorcycle to climb the steep hill. A future neighbour (woman with child) is following us to work up in the fields. After 30 minutes steep walking we reach the campsite. Completely out of breath Heleen asks Michel if he is serious about this place. For courtesy Heleen decides to look at the plot and politely mention this is not what we are looking for. But after another 15 minutes Heleen decides that hurting her knees is not worth the courtesy. Heleen explains we do not want to live in a place where we have to climb the mountain for 45 minutes. He says surprised:”But madam you will get used”. By the way the nearest electricity pole is 1 km, if the hospital gets connected in the future.

Michel decides to continue and after 15 more minutes he reaches the plot. The owner has two wives and lives with one wife in a mud house on this plot (called semi-permanent house). He now mentions that he would like to keep the house, but is selling the rest of the plot. The house is on the only not-completely-vertical part of the plot. The rest is too step to do anything except growing beans and potatoes. We add to the list of questions: Is the house/plot accessible by car? Anyway, the view was breathtaking, despite the damp morning we can see as far as lake Albert and lake Edward.

House hunting (2)

2010-08-06T21:48:00.001+03:00

The house hunting resulted in moving to a different rental house on the 10th of August. Finally a house with running water. The house has three bedrooms, two showers, a real kitchen a hot water. It is a big improvement compared to where we camp now. However the new garden is only 1/3 of the current size and has no banana plantation. One of our dogs (Kito) will dislike the new place, no more hunting and chasing animals in the garden. The house also has boys quarters; separate smaller buildings in the garden. We have employed a lady named Hope, who will life there. Initially she will work half days in the household for us and when the cheese making starts, she will help with all the cleaning involved with the cheese making. The biggest advantage is that we will be able to travel since we have now someone who can take care of the dogs.

Even after moving we still will be camping. The house we rent now is fully furnished. Although I would argue if plastic plates can be considered as fully furnished. We are moving to a house without furniture. The moving will not take long, although we have now have 4 dog baskets en two dog pillows (yes we only have 3 dogs). We will borrow a bed and a bread making machine. In the mean time we have acquired 4 plates, 4 mugs, 4 glasses, cutlery, a set of pans and 2 chairs. This means we will just survive. Although we still have to find a solution for the fridge and the stove.

We have good news on the movement of the container. I has arrived in Mombasa and the transporter is expecting it in Kampala in a weeks’ time. How long customs will take is not clear. In the best case we will have our goods mid August. Worse case I do not want to think about. It means more camping.

No news good news

2010-08-05T19:45:00.004+03:00

It has been silent from our side. Heleen has been working outside Fort Portal as tourleader. Nine Dutch tourists came for 23 days to Uganda and Gorilla trekking in Rwanda. At the start it was difficult to leave behind all the new exiting things in Fort Portal. But the very pleasant group made it easier. Also the visit to Rwanda was new to me, which was impressive. The country was very poor in the eighties and the genocide in 1994 has left the country devastated. A lot of donor money and a strong government has brought Rwanda further than most African countries today. Good roads, clean country, even plastic bags have been banned. The visit to the genocide memorial was something not to forget. The government planned the genocide a long time ahead. In 3 months time almost 15% of the population was killed.
The rest of the trip was more cheerful. Visiting the chimpanzees and gorilla’s is always a highlight. Trying to find a working television with satellite to be able to follow the world cup was a challenge. During the most important games we were in the most remote places. In the East (where we visited beautiful waterfalls) we had to travel 20 minutes to a big hotel in the next town. During the finals we were in a National Park and had to visit the staff canteen to watch the game.

In the meantime Michel was holding the Fort at home. Walking the dogs, making dog food, doing the dishes, cooking , fetching the water, doing the laundry is much more work on your own. Also the house hunting continued, which resulted in a number of good opportunities. Michel has also found a few jobs. He is repairing PC’s in two guesthouse, mainly cleaning the computers from viruses, and gives private science lessons to the son of a friend.

The internet connection is also a continuing story. We were using a dongle, but connection was very bad an maximum speed was 40 kbps. Downloading pictures or any software was a nightmare. But during one of our searches we met a technician of Uganda Telecom , who was testing the new wireless internet network. The new network is uses the wireless WiMax protocol that has a range of 5 to 8 km from the central base station. Michel did the configuration himself, since the service centre had not been trained yet. Since two weeks we are the first user in Fort Portal. When the connection is working it is very stabile at 128kbps (even with the outdoor modem attached to a stick in the house near the window at 6 km from the base station). For us this speed is acceptable, but as soon as we open up a internet cafe we will upgrade the speed. Unfortunately the network after the WiMax is down every other day, it takes some time before they discover there are real users behind it.

Hunting for a house

2010-06-27T21:29:00.001+03:00

Our first goal is to find a new place to life. Preferably a place to life and to put the container to start making cheese. To get the container installed with electricity, water supply, drainage, a roof with the solar panels for electricity and hot water is quite a big investment and sets quite some demands to a house. Just being able to get there with a truck and being able to place the container is in most cases a challenge due to the hilly dirt roads. We are looking for rental places and places to buy. The easiest would be to rent a place in “Boma” the administrative centre of town, with colonial houses. Rent is between 300-400 euro a month. Most mzungu -white people- stay there. But our preference is to stay in a place more out of town, where we can grow our own vegetables and live in a more mixed environment.

I miss funda.nl, the internet site which is very clear in the availability of properties in the area. We have several contacts, some via reference, one real estate agent, some just people knocking on our door, who know we are looking for a house. At first we depending on boda-boda (moped), which make it quite difficult to travel, but since a week we have a car, so we now drive around town with normally 2-3 people in the back giving terrible directions to where we should be going.

We see on average 5 houses a day, most of them are not really suitable. To get a picture or idea of a house before we go to visit is quite difficult. Our demands on a house are very non-Ugandan. We prefer a veranda to overlook a garden, preferably with a view. A standard Uganda house has a veranda directed to the road side. Most of the life around a Ugandan house is around the backyard of the house. Which, if finished, has a wall around it with an outdoor kitchen and a number of small rooms, which are used as storage or staff rooms. Sometimes we are asked an inspection fee, sometimes a house turns out not to be for sale. The last 1,5 week we are exhausted when we go to bed, trying to match our ideas with the houses we have seen.

It’s raining

2010-06-21T13:03:00.000+03:00

It is strange how quick you adapt to new situation like little supply of water. Before we flush the toilet we first check if the water is running. If not we don’t flush, but use a bucket. If it is raining we put a bucket under the gutter to collect water for flushing the toilet. We now have 200 litres of containers in the house and a drum under the gutter for roofwater. Also the new container with a tab and a small bucket underneath, simulating a kitchen sink is a huge improvement. The water comes on and off every other day, so we do not have to be paranoid about the water being on or off, like the first week. The first time the water was on it took us 2 hours to fill all containers. We are looking forward to implement roof water harvesting and getting our water filter system (in the container ) operational. This would mean we do not have to buy drinking water or cook our water any more. A great improvement environmentally seen!

It ‘s a dog’s life

2010-06-21T13:01:00.001+03:00

Couda and Kito had to adjust to their new life quite a lot. Food wise we have to adjust their diet. Michel allowed only 1 kg of dog food in the luggage to bring to Uganda, which is almost finished now. Heleen tried to adjust them to the food her dog in Zambia just to get: Nshima (maize porridge) with dried fish, but Kito refused. A -not so quick- search on the internet indicated that this is also the wrong food. So we have changed to bones with some meat and raw vegetables and sometimes leftovers from us. Couda already loves vegetables and but even ate the Nshima. To get Kito adjust to the vegetables some dried fish/sauce is added. He approves the new diet and finishes his bowl. We also will buy some organs meat, but also Michel has to get used to meat in the fridge and freezer. Bones with some meat we can buy for just over 1 euro per kg, probably the vegetables are more expensive! The dogs have adapted well and are chewing away their meat/bones in the garden every day.
Couda and Kito are suppose to guard the house, they still have to get used. They primarily bark at children and noisy chickens around the gate. Knocking on the metal fence or hooting from a car at the entrance is not recognised as a doorbell yet. But non accompanied visitors in the garden get shocked about how vicious small dogs can be. All Ugandans think our dogs are puppies, so on the street this is their name. The neighbourhood is getting used to our walks with the dogs. Every Sunday we take the dogs down to market day, which attracts a lot of attention and requests to buy the dogs.
The flight was quite stressful for the dogs, but they have seemed to forgotten this. Their next shock will be a third dog in the family. A English couple (really Zimbabwean) is returning to the UK. We have bought their car. They are looking for a good home for the 10 year old fox terrier. I know how difficult it is to leave your dog behind. So we have agreed to take the dog and do a trial run. Today we will receive the car and the dog. I hope the dogs get along!