My goat, Kenneth
This was the part of the trip where I sort of got to relax, hanging with the family, leisurely mornings waking up and enjoying the day outside the city, going for drives, swims, sightseeing. All that stuff you want to take the time to do and are grateful when it actually happens. Then there is that one day that makes the whole trip. Read the rest of this entry »
After two well-spent weeks in Kampala it was time to leave the city and head to Mbarara in the south, but rather than taking the highway directly there we decided to do a road trip to see more of the country. We left early-ish on Wednesday morning in a minivan owned by a friend who also gave us the driver, young Sam, who would provide a bit more of an adventure than anticipated as he drove like a bat out of hell. We definitely got where we were going quickly but acquired some bruises along the way. Read the rest of this entry »
Monkeys on Lake Victoria, Entebbe
In between the road trips to the north and a few free moments of chilling out in the apartment, I also saw a lot of Kampala and neighbouring Entebbe. Too much to write here so the following is just a snapshot of time well spent in a fantastic city.
Everything is congested, the city teems with people, vehicles, and dust. There are usually 12 things heading for the same spot at any given time – cars, bikes, motorbikes, pedestrians; the victor comes out on top in a battle of the wills, but everyone gets to where they’re going eventually. You walk through the covered second-hand market where shoes pile from floor to rafter and people sit in the limited free space they can find. Riding public transit means first finding your taxi among the mass of vehicles then squishing yourself between them to get into the packed one you want. Read the rest of this entry »
Self-explanatory
A little to the north-east of Kampala is the town of Jinja where the source of the White Nile is located. The plan was to head out early in the morning and spend the day there before heading back to the city. Two of my friends from the Murchison Falls trip organized the expedition and picked me up around 8am. After stopping for breakfast we were on Jinja Road which is packed with cars due to all the factories off the highway; it’s also the main road to the Kenyan border. All this combined with the potholes means the 81km journey takes closer to 2-3 hours if you’re able to avoid traffic and it seemed as though we might be lucky this day. Read the rest of this entry »
The White Nile flowing into Lake Albert, Uganda
The third day into the trip was December 31 so for New Years we headed north to Murchison Falls to enjoy a game park and the stunning falls where the White Nile gets compressed into 7m before tumbling down towards Lake Albert. Up early but starting late as per African time, 10 of us took off in 2 vehicles. We left the city and headed towards Masindi, the last town before the cut off to the park. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a long time coming but I finally set off for my ‘first’ trip to Africa to visit Uganda and Rwanda. (Yes, I’ve been to Morocco before but more on that later.) After my flight got cancelled due to the plane having 2 flat tires (no, planes don’t carry spares and oddly airports don’t really either), I finally touched down 14 hours later than planned in Entebbe, a town about 35km south of Kampala. So this is how it goes with Ugandans – you become friends with one of them somewhere else in the world. They tell their friends and family back home about you, and all of a sudden you have all these new friends and family to call your own. When I touched down in Entebbe, I didn’t ‘know’ the people who were picking me up; I knew about them and had communicated with one a few times by email, but had no idea what they looked like or even all their names. And yet, when I came out of the baggage claim after midnight, there they were with flowers and hugs and warm greetings. That’s how it started and that’s how it continued right up to the end, minus the flowers. Read the rest of this entry »
Down a Block 