Uganda

So thus far, Uganda seems to be the real Africa. If I thought I saw hospitality in Tanzania it has been massively surpassed here. Even the two guys that tried to pick our pockets in Kampala apologized profusely when they got caught.

Kampala is well beyond anything I have seen in Africa yet as far as development goes. They have high rise buildings, modern steel and glass construction and many new projects under construction. They even have a western style shopping mall (I don’t know if that is a good things), I saw Avatar there. The city has horrendous traffic, congestion, crowds and pollution but still retains a charm that is unique. English is the national language before Lugandan and even though I am the only white guy for miles, no one gives me a first look, let alone second look and I can cruise around Kampala pretty much at all hours of the day and feel quite safe.

Getting around Kampala is quite an experience as well. We have been using Boda-Boda’s, the local name for 15 yr old on a 200cc Chinese motorcycle who zips around through traffic with no fear. Supposedly about 5 of these guys die per day, I caution them to drive slow and they only get paid if we make it to desired location intact. I’ve had to get off a couple because they are such lousy drivers, the guys in Bangkok are much better as I recall.

the nile

So in the first week here we recovered from travel here and went out to Jinja where Justin got sick and I overpaid to ride 7 sections of rapids on the Nile. I’m glad I did not take overland bus across Africa. My raft companions were all from the same overland trip and it gave me a taste of what the drama would be like had we taken and overland trip. I was in the raft with five girls and one guide, we flipped on about 5 sections of the rapids and with one exception none of the girls had enough upper body strength to get themselves out of the water (Go Australia) so myself and the guide had to pull them up into the boat every time by their life jackets. I think I jacked up my knee in the process and will forever hold a grudge against Australia if that is the case. There were allegedly some crocs around in the water, I figured I would have seen more hustle out of these girls…very disappointing. Anyways it was an interesting way to get a sunburn. A cool way to spend the day but the highlight was giving away my shiska-bobs chapattis to these little guys when we got out of the water. I didn’t see many begging kids in Tanzania, these guys were not really begging per say but they looked hungry and it was an early glimpse into Ugandan village life.

We were worried about Justin’s abdominal pain possibly being appendicitis and found out that a full set of blood tests and ultrasound and follow up in a completely western clinic in Uganda only cost $50. Can you believe this? WTF is the matter with the US heath care system? They would not accept payment for the follow up session. Luckily it was not appendicitis and we celebrated with a big night in Kampala reminiscent of my early twenties, our room sustained only minor damage. Refer to Justin for the details.