Nourish in Uganda

Hello all!

I made it to Uganda in one piece. The flights were very nice save for the food that was made of a substance that inhibited regularity. That aside, arriving in Entebee on the shores of Lake Victoria was like stepping into another world. The first thing I noticed was how lush and mild Uganda is for a country right on the equator. Since the Uganda national airport is under construction we were processed in a small shack by the side of the runway. While I was in line for visas I realized that I had accidently left my book on the airplane. I rushed back up to get it as was greeted by some thouroghly surpised crewmen. The grounds crew came up too to inquire as to what I was doing back on the airplane and it made for quite the tense first encounter in Africa. After realizing I was harmless they directed me to the lost and found where my book was thankfully returned. I was anxious to get by book back because I really wanted to finish reading it. Little did I know that I wouldn’t lay my eyes on another page again.

Uganda is everything I could have hoped for and more. This is not a tounge and cheek statement and it certainly didn’t start off that way. The first night at the Red Chili Inn and the subsequent ride from Kampala to Iganga was uncomfortable at best. I cannot speak for Alex, or Ashley (my most excellent travel companions), but being in a foriegn country, alone, broke, without a cell phone, and so completely out of the loop made me want to scream. The breaking point was almost reached after waiting for 30 minutes in a Forex Exchange branch in Kampala and soon after when we were forced to fork over 131,000 UGX for gas ($1-1687UGX conversion rate). Luckily for my nerves and my happiness everything was about to change.

The ride from Kampala to Iganga was a 120 kilometer 3 hour crash course in African driving. In Uganda there are no traffic lights, there are no lanes, and there are no speed limits. The only thing preventing drivers from careening down the roads are the potholes ::chasmes::, which are everywhere. Despite this chaos it all seems to magically work. The van taxis stuffed to the brim with passangers always narroly avoids the bicycles loaded with banannas which always narroly aviod the pedestrians that cross the street in the middle of busy traffic. To tell you the truth it is like Frogger without the lilypads. The colorful driving coupled with the stunning visuals of vistas and poverty made for a fantastic ride. My spirits were lifited as we arrived at the Naijja Annex where the group was to be staying in Iganga. I was just about take a sigh of relief until we realized that no one was there and we had no way of contacting anyone from our group. We were alone, yet again, in Uganda but luckily it was not for long…

come back tomorrow for the next installment

Chaz