Yesterday I got back home to Sweden. Dad and Dog B picked me up at Arlanda. It is so strange to be back! Everything is quiet, the roads are so straight, the cars are so silent. Everywhere I look I only see old white people walking around, old white mzungu people looking comfortable and a little fat, having drinks and food in the summer sun. I tell you, things were definitely not at all like this in Tz or Ug!
Since the trip is now complete, this blog closes now. Hope you've enjoyed it!
2012-07-25
2012-07-23
Mini-tour around Entebbe with Charles
I am at Entebbe waiting for my flight.
Before going here I did a mini-journey around Entebbe with my special-hire driver Charles.
This is how I got to know Charles: last Sunday, brother, Arnab were going out for dinner, our first evening in Kampala. Charles was stationed outside the Mediterranean (sp?) restaurant opposite Mish Mash, where we'd considered having dinner, and he drove the three of us to Garden City shopping mall. He gave us his business card and said that he could drive us again if we called him. But I threw the card away during the week.
However, coincidentally, last night, Arnab and I went to the same restaurant and happened to again get a ride with Charles who was stationed outside. Charles again offered us his card and when I saw it I realised it was the same driver. I asked him if he could take me to the airport the next day and he said he could.
Restless in Kampala, I left early. I had a vague idea of exploring the town of Entebbe on the way to the airport, maybe grabbing a bite to eat. So I asked Charles to take me to Entebbe town. On the way to the airport we began talking, about Ugandan people and Ugandan politics. I told Charles he had driven us last Sunday and he remembered us. So by the time we got to Entebbe wed decided hed drive me on a mini-tour around the town. He showed me the Botanical Gardens, the Zoo (we didnt go in though!), President Museveni's residence, the house of the first catholic missionary in Uganda, and two beaches of Lake Victoria, on which we took a stroll.
Then we went to a restaurant (rather touristy) where it felt silly to eat alone so I offered to buy him lunch. We both had vegetable pilau, and Charles had a Mountain Dew and I had a Mirinda pineapple (sodas).
I asked him loads of questions about Uganda. He was fed up with Musevenis 25-year rule and deplored the corrupt government officials. He said people would eventually get fed up but hoped that there would not be a revolution because revolutions are violent and innocent people lose their lives. I also found out that Charles has a wife and a daughter and a son.
After food, we drove to the airport, both pleased with the unexpectedly pleasant afternoon. Anyway. Going to gate now!
Before going here I did a mini-journey around Entebbe with my special-hire driver Charles.
This is how I got to know Charles: last Sunday, brother, Arnab were going out for dinner, our first evening in Kampala. Charles was stationed outside the Mediterranean (sp?) restaurant opposite Mish Mash, where we'd considered having dinner, and he drove the three of us to Garden City shopping mall. He gave us his business card and said that he could drive us again if we called him. But I threw the card away during the week.
However, coincidentally, last night, Arnab and I went to the same restaurant and happened to again get a ride with Charles who was stationed outside. Charles again offered us his card and when I saw it I realised it was the same driver. I asked him if he could take me to the airport the next day and he said he could.
Restless in Kampala, I left early. I had a vague idea of exploring the town of Entebbe on the way to the airport, maybe grabbing a bite to eat. So I asked Charles to take me to Entebbe town. On the way to the airport we began talking, about Ugandan people and Ugandan politics. I told Charles he had driven us last Sunday and he remembered us. So by the time we got to Entebbe wed decided hed drive me on a mini-tour around the town. He showed me the Botanical Gardens, the Zoo (we didnt go in though!), President Museveni's residence, the house of the first catholic missionary in Uganda, and two beaches of Lake Victoria, on which we took a stroll.
Then we went to a restaurant (rather touristy) where it felt silly to eat alone so I offered to buy him lunch. We both had vegetable pilau, and Charles had a Mountain Dew and I had a Mirinda pineapple (sodas).
I asked him loads of questions about Uganda. He was fed up with Musevenis 25-year rule and deplored the corrupt government officials. He said people would eventually get fed up but hoped that there would not be a revolution because revolutions are violent and innocent people lose their lives. I also found out that Charles has a wife and a daughter and a son.
After food, we drove to the airport, both pleased with the unexpectedly pleasant afternoon. Anyway. Going to gate now!
2012-07-22
Only sis still in Kampala
My little bro left in a taxi last night for the airport and Turkey.
Now hes somewhere between Cairo and Istanbul. Now I have a day and a bit in Uganda before heading off to Stockholm. I have started the day with a pot of "African tea" (milky tea) at Kawa café while waiting for the day to take shape and for my friends to wake up.
Now hes somewhere between Cairo and Istanbul. Now I have a day and a bit in Uganda before heading off to Stockholm. I have started the day with a pot of "African tea" (milky tea) at Kawa café while waiting for the day to take shape and for my friends to wake up.
2012-07-21
Ready to leave!
Bags are packed, passports ready, brother has USD for travelling, taxi booked...ready for Turkey tonight! Now just enjoying the last hours in Kampala trying to make our remaining UGX last.
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| Having rather expensive chips at Mish Mash, Kampala, and using the Wi-fi. Ready to leave for Turkey. |
Politics in Tanzania and Uganda
According to sister, when she was in Tanzania 6 years ago, no one really talked to her about politics. On this trip, however, a lot of people began telling us about Tanzania politics without us even asking.
Chadema, the opposition in Tanzania
Sam, our porter on Mt Meru, had strong political convictions. 'Tanzania has a lot things, we have gold, Tanzanite, Kilimanjaro and the Sarantetti, but the people, they don't see the benefit' (all quotes here are paraphrased). He blamed this on corruption, and was convinced that Chadema, the opposition to the ruling CCM would remedy that.Doctors' strike in Tanzania
Sam also told us that the doctors were on strike and that the leader of 'the doctors own party' (doctors union, we assumed. Others called him 'the doctors strike ringleader') had been beaten almost to death by what everyone assumed was the government. Several other people brought up the same event with us. Our friend Gody told us that him and his wife Christina had been expecting a baby earlier this year, but due to the doctors strike they had been unable to get health care, and the baby had died. Still, Gody told us that he understood the doctors reasons for striking: wages not paid on time, wages too low, no resources in the hospitals. And he too believed that the government was obstructing the doctors union.Same Chadema story
As we continued our travels in Tanzania we found that everyone we talked to about politics delivered an almost identical speech. Chadema has clearly been effective in delivering their message. We learnt to identify the flags for Chadema and they were quite abundant. You could also spot an occasional CCM flag, but they were a minority.It was difficult to find out more specifically what Chadema wants, aside from the people seeing the benefit of Tanzanias resources. We asked everybody who talked to us about Chadema why they thought that the opposition would be less corrupt than CCM if they were voted into power. Our guide in Tengeru said he was convinced Chadema would not also be corrupt because 'If you really want something to be true, and you believe it will be true, it will be true'. Others said 'we have to be aware and stop it if they are'. Others seemed to not understand our question and just repeated the speech about Tanzanias many problems, as a country rich in resources but with a people living on poverty, and how Tanzania 'needs change'. We didn't feel find anyone who was critical of Chadema's politics.
Uganda: the story of the President
In Uganda, we have only had a chance to talk politics with one local, our guide Brian. He was very careful not to give any opinions of his own.'I don't talk about politics, I just decide who is the best, and then I vote when it is time to vote. When people talk about politics, always they are fighting. In Kampala last week, on the streets, they were fighting'.
Brian did mention problems with corruption and tribal favourotism in ugandan politics, and he gave us his take on the history of Ugandan politics:
'This president, he did not come into power by voting, it was by fighting. The reason for the fighting was that the previous leader (Idi Amin), he was very bad for the country, he killed a lot of people, and a lot of people were dying. But after the president now had power, the people said 'why we cannot vote for who we want as our leder?', so the president said 'ok, we will vote', and the president won the election. Then the people said 'why we cannot vote every 5 years who we want as our leader, and the president said 'OK, we will vote every 5 years. He has won every election and had ruled for 25 years, and now some people say for the next election, nobody should be allowed to be president for more than 25 years. The young people, they want change, but the older peopld they remember the old leader and they are afraid that with a new leader, it will be the same. So they say 'let the president rule until he say he is finished', and that is why they vote for him.'
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| The next election is in 2016, better start campaigning. |
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| Vote NRM, vote Museveni. |
2012-07-20
Back in Kampala
Were back at Arnabs house in Kampala after a long busride and what felt like an even longer "special hire" (taxi) ride through Kampala's ridiculous traffic jams. This city badly needs some kind of public transport system. Anyway. Now were enjoying showers, bathrooms, clothes washing, rest and delivery pizza.
2012-07-19
We climbed Karangura Peak, 3012m above sea level, in the Rewenzori Mountains
It was tough! We walked really fast (compared to when we climbed Meru in Tz!) so we were very tired and sweaty. It was fun. We walked through a rainforest and saw black and white colobus monkeys. And blue monkeys swinging in a tree. And trails from chimpanzees. We had a lovely chapati/avocado lunch at the summit and then headed down. Now an early night in Fort Portal to catch the Post Bus to Kampala in the morning. At 7.
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Fortune teller
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The school that got electricity from the generator.
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| Delicious Organic Meal/Herbal Tea Dining Room at the Rwenzori Campsite. |
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Rwenzori Campsite
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Rwenzori campsite dining room, and our guide Brian.
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| The Karangora Peak. The summit was a little lame. It was shaped like an egg, so no view. But rather tiring to get to! |
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| Leaving Fort Portal. |
2012-07-18
Rwenzori Unique Eco-Tourism Association
Rwenzori Unique Eco-Tourism Association. Thats where were spending the night. A little campsite on top of a hill in the Rwenzoris, with a few huts made of straw and mud. And a few huts made of straw and concrete. We have a beautiful view of the peaceful Ugandan countryside. Sounds of children playing, cows mooing roosters doing their thing, and the odd boda boda (motorcycle) echo up from the landscape below. Walking here today we were constantly followed by a children's chorus of "Howayoo!! Howayoo!!" and the odd "How's life?" which seems to be special for the region. We have a guide with us, Brian, who speaks good English, and are well taken care of Elijah, the camp supervisor. Who is very proud of his campsite.
2012-07-17
Trecking the Mountains of the Moon with Karabole Tours
We went to the Kabarole Tours office and said we were interested in doing some hiking. They described a few options and we picked on with a bit of everything; seeing local life, beautiful scenery and scaling a summit. We leave at 8 in the morning.
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| Day 1 |
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| Spending the night in the campsite mentioned at the bottom |
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| Day 2 |
Photos added to old posts
We have wifi so we've uploaded pictures to old posts. Still don't know how to add captions, and the app seems to jumble the order, so we'll just leave you to speculate on the context.
Getting the Postbus from Kampala to Fort Portal
Today we got the Post Bus (Posta Uganda!) to Fort Portal, a town in Southwestern
Uganda near the Rwensori mountains.
We have checked into an amazing little guesthouse called Ruwensori View Guesthouse, where we were
informed that dinner is always eaten communally around the same table. Which sounds great.
We are here to see a little bit of rural Uganda and hopefully do a little bit of hiking in the mountains. Before heading back to Kampala and flying out later this week.
The Post Bus is exactly what it sounds like, a bus that carries post to Post offices in Uganda and at the same time transports people. The post bus had massive speakers that incessantly blasted radio, reggae,
generic pop and country throughout the entire 6-hour busride, over the roaring sound of the wheels against the road. At one stop, a man carrying a bible got on, and walked up and down the isle preaching (shouting) about God and Jesus Christ adding to the noise. And nobody seemed to mind this absurd madness!
Brother found some seatbelts on the bus, but when we were going to use them a massive swarm of mini cockroaches came out and started crawling on our trousers! It was very funny and disgusting. We decided to do what everyone else was doing and not use the seatbelts... to avoid the wrath of the cockroaches...
The Ugandan countryside is very colourful, all green and vibrant with red soil and yellow, pink, red and orange flowers. In general, we've both agreed that Uganda is quite different from Tanzania and feels more modern. Visible differences are that people are wearing more western clothes (not traditional African kangas or kitenges like in Arusha). The women straighten, style and colour their
hair. The cars are also generally more modern, there are more roads that are paved and it also feels like there are more modern houses. Also, people's English has generally been better than in Arusha so we've had fewer misunderstandings. You also hear a lot of Ugandans speaking English with each other. We also haven't been hassled at all. Nobody has followed us or tried to convince us to go on Safari or anything. Generally, people in the streets just ignore us, which is nice. At least in Kampala, you really
feel that tourism is not the main economic activity. So as a tourist you are not in focus in the same way as you are in Arusha. Uganda is cheaper too: food, travel.
Also, it is very warm outside, the climate is actually, like, perfect.
Thankyou for comments on the blog, we love reading them and wish we could reply more but we rarely have good enough internet connections to do so. But we read them! Well, we wanted to blog more now, but the internet cafe we're in offers the slowest internet ever. So, bye for now, until next time...!
Uganda near the Rwensori mountains.
We have checked into an amazing little guesthouse called Ruwensori View Guesthouse, where we were
informed that dinner is always eaten communally around the same table. Which sounds great.
We are here to see a little bit of rural Uganda and hopefully do a little bit of hiking in the mountains. Before heading back to Kampala and flying out later this week.
The Post Bus is exactly what it sounds like, a bus that carries post to Post offices in Uganda and at the same time transports people. The post bus had massive speakers that incessantly blasted radio, reggae,
generic pop and country throughout the entire 6-hour busride, over the roaring sound of the wheels against the road. At one stop, a man carrying a bible got on, and walked up and down the isle preaching (shouting) about God and Jesus Christ adding to the noise. And nobody seemed to mind this absurd madness!
Brother found some seatbelts on the bus, but when we were going to use them a massive swarm of mini cockroaches came out and started crawling on our trousers! It was very funny and disgusting. We decided to do what everyone else was doing and not use the seatbelts... to avoid the wrath of the cockroaches...
The Ugandan countryside is very colourful, all green and vibrant with red soil and yellow, pink, red and orange flowers. In general, we've both agreed that Uganda is quite different from Tanzania and feels more modern. Visible differences are that people are wearing more western clothes (not traditional African kangas or kitenges like in Arusha). The women straighten, style and colour their
hair. The cars are also generally more modern, there are more roads that are paved and it also feels like there are more modern houses. Also, people's English has generally been better than in Arusha so we've had fewer misunderstandings. You also hear a lot of Ugandans speaking English with each other. We also haven't been hassled at all. Nobody has followed us or tried to convince us to go on Safari or anything. Generally, people in the streets just ignore us, which is nice. At least in Kampala, you really
feel that tourism is not the main economic activity. So as a tourist you are not in focus in the same way as you are in Arusha. Uganda is cheaper too: food, travel.
Also, it is very warm outside, the climate is actually, like, perfect.
Thankyou for comments on the blog, we love reading them and wish we could reply more but we rarely have good enough internet connections to do so. But we read them! Well, we wanted to blog more now, but the internet cafe we're in offers the slowest internet ever. So, bye for now, until next time...!
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Breakfast on the Post Bus. Pepsi. Mmm.
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On the Post Bus 2
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| Cow with big horns. |
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| Rwenzori View Guesthouse |
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| Sister walking in Fort Portal |
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| Pizza place in Fort Portal |
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| Pizza meal, Fort Portal |
2012-07-16
Exploring Kampala
Today weve explored Kampala. Pretty much all on foot. After breakfast in a cafe with wi-fi and NGO people, we got a taxi to Garden City, a big shopping mall. There we tried to get a sim-card, which we were unable to do because they needed our passports to register us ("new government regulation"). Instead we bought some water in a supermarket that was indistinguishable from any European supermarket weve been to.
We also visited the Tourist Board to ask for directions. The girl in the office was more present than the staff at the TTB in Arusha. She was present enough to ask us to donate money to a Christian charity and to buy some posters of animals. We politely declined both offers.
Then we walked out into Kampala. Our goal was the Owino market, which we eventually found, but it was claustrophobic and absolutely overwhelmingly mental. There were people and goods everywhere and it was filthy and hot and infinite and we felt like wed never get out! Mental!
Eventually we managed to escape and walk back toward the Garden City area, along Nile Avenue. We stopped by the National Theatre, which is an art gallery apparently, but we were to tired and it felt too uninviting for exploration.
So we got a boda boda to Emina Pasha, a garden/oasis/posh hotel where we waited for Arnab to come and hang with us.
Also, the traffic in Kampala is absolutely Mental.
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Breakfast at Kawa coffee place in Muyenga.
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| Food at Antonio's in Kampala: posho (ugali), beans, spinach, rice. |
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People selling things on the road in Kampala.
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| Meat at Owino Market |
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| It looks charming but ITS REALLY NOT: Owino market is MENTAL. |
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This is how much fun you can have at Owino Market.
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| Owino market |
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| Traffic in Kampala. |
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| Walking in Kampala |
2012-07-15
Finally in Kampala
We're in Kampala and we've met up with Arnab and we're sipping drinks at a hip ex-pat joint called mishmash. We'll be going for food soon. Kampala is much warmer than Arusha. Its also much much bigger than Arusha with a population of almost 2 million. Arnab lives in a big expat house with other NGO people and they have a guard named Lewis.
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| Sis in Kampala |
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| Arnab in Kampala |
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| Brother in Kampala |
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