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.
No comments:
Post a Comment