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6 flights, 8 cities, 22 factory visits and 33 business meetings later Im somehow still standing/ smiling. Beautiful to be back in a country that feels like home to me, but also ready to be going back to my home in Uganda ✈️ (at Forbidden City, Beijing) https://www.instagram.com/alice__p__/p/BqUkRMrlPhb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nbzd0g4csnp

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One mango, two mango, three mango, four

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Here's an awesome portrait of a woman from the rural 'IK' community that we went to visit. I was taking some photos of the children and showing them what they looked like. (They don't have mirrors or anything like that) She tapped me on the shoulder and wanted her portrait taken too. I wish I had caught her grin when I showed her the photo of how she looks.

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Found a little chameleon friend

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I met these awesome women in the rural karamoja mountains yesterday. Besides having next to nothing and walking for hours, they were so happy to laugh and jump. (at Kidepo Valley National Park)

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Whenever I come back to London after being away, I love to take a walk through the city, soaking up the beauty in this huge, vibrant, multicultural hub. London - It's good to be home. (at Sloane Square)

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For many Ugandan Children, being in school is an unrealistic aspiration. Their family can barely get by day to day without the added complication of school fees. Selling fruit and vegetables on the road is what they are taught, and may be all that they will know. The shift of climate change is having a direct Impact on growing crops in East Africa and as seasons become more and more unreliable, so do the yield of the crops. I am so thankful to have an education, to have grown up in the West and to have money in my pocket Here is a picture I painted of a child trying to sell me a pumpkin through the car window #watercolour #sunset #pumpkin #fruitseller #masakaroad

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Homemade Pizza Sunday (at Kampala, Uganda)

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Fruit sellers by the road

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Beautiful Sunrise!

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This little guy ran alongside my bicycle for such a long time.... I wish I could have given him some shoes!

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Amazing sunset to finish off my 50k cycle ride through local villages this weekend

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Downtown Kampala

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Initial observations upon my arrival in Kampala, Uganda

It’s interesting, I think, to write about a place when first arriving somewhere. Mostly because initial thoughts tend to be the things that highlight key cultural differences. My 2014 blog about life in China seemed to dwindle, I managed to capture a few photos about my travels in South East asia, but have completely forgotten in the past year or two to write about any other adventures. So to start of 2017 I want to document my thoughts and reflections about living life abroad, this time on a new continent - Africa.

During my first hour in Uganda I was asked about my religion Most people here are religious, a large amount christian. Its been a pleasant surprise to see how respectful people are of each other’s religions and beliefs, although it is uncommon not to be religious and I have found myself explaining a good few times about why I don’t have a faith. People find it astonishing that I don’t believe in anything. It’s not uncommon to have 10 siblings 50% off the population is under 15, so that’s HALF the population consisting of children. This is down to the fact people have extremely large families. Men marry more than one woman, teenagers fall pregnant and furthermore access to contraception is few and far between. The surge of Children has stimulated a heavy number of charities giving support. Children seem to love Westerners - I even had one random kid start holding my hand in a busy marketplace today

Walking to a destination is not by choice People don’t tend to walk anywhere. It’s dangerous and there are no pavements. People walk in the road and this makes it crazy for traffic. The normal way to get around is on a ‘Boda Boda’ (originally named because they used to use the motorbikes to smuggle things from border to border! - interesting fact!) Boda boda’s are essentially motorbike taxis. Pretty much anyone riding a motorbike IS a Boda boda driver and will take you somewhere.

Local produce is hard to find. It has really surprised me how many things here are Chinese made. Trucks, gas ovens, tuppawares, clothing. Everything you buy here is made in China - and not just that - it is the cheap and low quality products. On top of that, because of shipping costs, it is very expensive to buy goods! Meaning that although salaries here are very low, products are very high in price. There are also markets where clothing has been shipped from Europe. That’s right - the clothing that you have donated, is being SOLD here (and I bet someone is making a tidy profit from it too)

Thoughts to be continued…..

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Me and my fave Vietnamese hipster #hipster #vietnam #schoolkid

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#HalongBay is lush

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#Hanoi #Lake #rooftopcafe