Uganda Lodge is set on the main road between the capitals of Uganda and Rwanda, so naturally, it is a small dirt road covered in potholes. Cars go by, but not continuously, so it's easy to forget this is Uganda's equivilent of the M1. Apart from this long bumpy ribbon of reddy brown cutting it's way across the land, the countryside is varying shades of lush green. Banana plantations in the valleys, extending to trees (firewood) and then smooth hills which surely must be the origin of the adjective "rolling". If you go for a walk, you are likely yo meet children playing, children carrying jerrycans or water, children running up to you, arms outstrecthed, smiles wide, and children dancing to the rhythm of a stick on a plastic bottle. You may well also see women cooking or weeding and men leading herds of goats. You will hear chickens, goats, birds, children, grasshoppers and frogs and smell the musky tropical smell of matoke plants, heavy rains, sunshine and the unmistakable hint of mango. The plantations here include coffee, cocoa, guava, pineapple, various grains, watermelon, papaya, passion fruit, jackfruit and sugarcane. The coffee beans are harvested, sent to Brazil for processing, sent to Switzerland for distribution and imported to Uganda as Nescafe at an unaffordable price, back to the fields they came from. Nestled amongst the plantations are the houses, some brick, most mud. Geckos make regular appearances, while the snakes tend to stay hidden, lulling me into a false sense of security as I sneak around barefoot trying to catch grasshoppers.

Should you ever need a guide up the hills or up the waterfalls and streams, there'll always be an eager face ready to show off their nimble feet and fitness. A walk may also result in an invitation to visit a home or a gift of an avocado. Cameras, I-phones and mirrors provide endless entertainment. Attempting the local language, Runyankole, also seems to provide endless entertainment...hm.

The kids are incredibly well behaved. To be fair, that is probably because the majority get beaten, but it is not uncommon for a 13 year old boy to be the man of the house, cooking, cleaning and working in the fields. Sometimes parents are ill, or have died or have been kicked out due to a scandal. Some children live with their grandparents. As the average age here is 52, grandparents often need help.

I help where I can, whether that's with weeding, milking, cooking or collecting water. An extra hand after school or at the weekend in return for conversation and the sense of belonging. Another very nice thing to do is make bricks. I will expand on that another day, but building here has become a bit of a favourite of mine.

In the evenings we sit round the fire, play pool, cards or chess, except on Fridays, when we dance round the fire and the place turns into a local disco. Sometimes we go to a club in town, which is great. A free African dance show and the perfect place to let your hair down (literally). The town, Ntungamo, is reached by hitching, whether on a boda-boda, in a matatu or on the back of a truck, and that's where we can get internet and a break from the sometimes slightly suffocating Britishness of the Lodge.

During the day, I work at the school, but that's also a story for another day. For now, I hope I've painted a picture of where I live. A little village that I love, not far from some beautiful lakes, safaris and gorillas. In the middle of nowhere, but the centre of life.