Kampala Day 1

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Uganda, DRC and Rwanda. I will separate the posts, although they will all be listed on the same day. I realize that I should have put dates on the previous posts. Oh well.

On June 15, 2010 I flew into Entebbe from Arusha. From Entebbe, we went to Kampala, a large city. The first thing I noticed was the air quality. While I do not have problems with asthma in America, I do in Taiwan, where it is very polluted, and I did again as we rolled into Kampala. The city is growing, and there are too many cars wedged on roads that usually have only one, at most two, lanes. Supposedly they are building a new highway that will help alleviate traffic jams, but for the moment, we often inched along in the cab. Bodas, which are motorcycles, are usually much faster, cheaper, but also more dangerous. I figured since I had ridden motorcycles in Taiwan frequently that I would be fine on a boda. In reality, boda in Uganda is completely different from biking in the US or Taiwan. First of all, there are often no traffic lights, and the bodas will speed in front of cars, weave through traffic, and sometimes cut across a busy intersection while cars are coming at them from the opposite direction. Needless to say, I rode a boda once, and determined to always take a taxi afterwards. The taxi ride however, usually makes me sick because of the heavy stench of gasoline, mixed with the red dust that lines every road.

In Kampala (which is the capital, by the way), we went to a shopping mall. There is a place called New York Pizza in the parking lot, which is just okay, but probably nice if you miss American food. That day, we went to a craft market and a used clothing plaza. The craft market in Kampala is much nicer than the one in Arusha because the people do not heckle you at all. Granted, it is also slightly more expensive. In general however, Uganda is cheaper than Tanzania.

I slept early everyday, mainly because I was still recovering from a stomach infection that struck again (the doctors suspect it was the same one, and that it had never healed, but I think it is just a new infection).

We stayed at a place called Red Chilli Hideaway, which is decent. They have goats and dogs running around, and one huge pig that comes out every now and then. The food is not bad, but it is extremely slow. The waitresses have an attitude, I guess since everyone is always asking them how much longer it will be until their food comes out.