Weekend in Kampala

I had opportunity to go to Kampala, Uganda’s capital this past weekend. It was a nice break from small town life. 

View on the drive from Hoima to Kampala

We drove from Hoima to Kampala on Friday afternoon after a very busy work week.  It’s about a 3 hour drive, which includes the challenges of navigating Kampala traffic, which is notoriously hairy. At one point, once we were in the city, we were stuck trying to merge onto a road for about 10 minutes, and I saw a man get slapped in the head. What apparently happened was that he was riding his bicycle in between the cars, and then ran into a car’s side view mirror (which was about 4 cars ahead of us) and damaged it. The car’s driver then grabbed the bicyclist’s arm and held onto it while he yelled at him. He then reached up with the other hand and slapped him across the side/back of his head. It was quite startling to see. My colleague explained to me that the driver took the matter into his own hands (no pun intended) because if he were to report it to the police, they wouldn’t do anything about it.

After surviving the drive, I arrived at the hotel at 8 p.m.  The hotel room where I stayed was decent and clean though a bit Spartan given the cold water showers, lack of shower curtain and no toilet seat. But it had a good view of part of the city.

View of one section of Kampala from outside my hotel room

Another view, with some hills in sight. Kampala is known as the City of 7 Hills 

Not sure why there was no toilet seat...

But I am starting to get used to the lack of shower curtains , though still don't really get it 

My boss and his family were kind enough to invite me to join them for dinner that night.  We thought we were going to an Italian restaurant, but it ended up being French. The food was good and a nice change from what I’ve been used to over the past 2 months, though I realized right away that Kampala is a LOT more expensive than the towns I’ve been living in.  That dinner alone was what I typically would spend on a weekend in Hoima, but when opportunities to splurge are few and far between, it’s worth doing it while you can!

I spent the rest of the weekend eating, walking around Kampala, doing a little Christmas shopping, and reading and relaxing. There was a nice coffee shop at a nearby shopping center (by nearby, I mean about a 10-20 minute drive (depending on traffic) or about an hour walk. It was fun to get good coffee, pastries and of course dessert!  

Cappuccino and chocolate croissant 

Lunch one day--veggie burger with avocado salad

Though the burger was more like mashed potatoes fried into a patty, but still delicious! 

And a brownie sundae!!

I also found a great place not too far from my hotel that made awesome pizza.  It was legit too, baked in what looked like a wood-fired oven. It was so good it  essentially became my lunch and dinner on both Saturday and Sunday (it’s the only time I’ve had good pizza—or at least pizza that tastes like pizza—in 2 months, so I had to go big!)

Mmm... Veggie pizza and beer.  Amazing!!

Outdoor pizza oven and chef in action

So good, I came back for more! This time I changed it up with the spicy veggie! 

A refreshing strawberry ice tea at an outdoor cafe 

It was nice to be able to do Christmas shopping at some of the shopping centers, though I then had the challenge of fitting what I had purchased into my already copious and very overstuffed luggage.

Shopping center that I visited a couple times

I felt proud of myself for navigating my way around Kampala on foot--even though on my first walk I had to call my boss twice to consult him on where the only 2 turns were that I had to take to make to get back home (I'm not exactly known for having a good sense of direction...). I probably walked for an hour or two each day.  It was nice that there wasn’t really any catcalling, which I definitely experienced in Kakamega, and a bit in Hoima.  But I did get lots of offers for boda (motorcycle) rides. However, on my first night I arrived in Kampala, I learned 5 people die each day on bodas in the city, so I decided to go on foot.  Unfortunately though, walking was not without its risks, as I wiped out at one point while trucking along and have a raspberry on my knee to show for it, but that was just my own clumsiness. But, given how much I was enjoying Kampala’s culinary delights, I figured the walking was worth it and much needed for the waistline.

View from my daily walk

Where I wiped out

I ended up staying in Kampala through Monday due to transportation coordination logistics. We didn’t end up leaving the city until 5 p.m., which did not bode well for arriving in Soroti at a decent time.  

We crossed the Nile again around dinner time, this time in Jinja, which was cool.

Crossing the Nile at sunset

I believe it’s usually about 7 hours from Kampala to Soroti, but we had to make a stop for a skype call (since one of my colleagues was presenting on the evening call).  It was a rough trip for me and the other driver. Driving in Africa is an adventure, but driving in Africa at night is truly a challenge. However, though it was arduous, it did not seem like as much when compared with my colleague who had caught a ride back with us and was sitting in the back with her 4 month old son who was feverish with malaria. We finally arrived in Soroti at 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. 

All in all, it was a good weekend and a much needed break to rest and rejuvenate in preparation for 2 more months of work in Soroti and Hoima, leading up to Christmas break.