Week 1: Uganda

We flew out of Cranbrook one month ago, and out of Toronto one week ago today!

We have added a “track my tour” feature to the top right hand side of the blog. If you click on the link, it will take you to a map showcasing where we are on our journey.

After 18 hours of flying and one stop over in Istanbul, we arrived in Entebbe at 4:00 AM last Thursday. Our AirBnB host had pre-arranged a cab driver for us, and he got us to our place in Ggaba Beach safely and quickly. We love the place we are staying- we have a house to ourselves with a living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms! We also have hot, running water, and an air conditioner in the bedroom. The house is cared for by two groundskeepers, Travese and Kenneth, and one housekeeper, Esther, who are all very kind. Total luxury!

Our Ggaba Beach house

I wasn’t feeling great for the first couple of days, and wasn’t sleeping well either. This combination made me the ideal travel companion. My mom reminded me that the feelings at the beginning of a big trip without a set schedule are similar to how a lot of people feel at the beginning of retirement, going from having lots to fill each moment of the day to “what are we going to do next?”. I am VERY happy to report that I feel MUCH better, and have enjoyed days with energy and excitement again!

First morning's breakfast, all food compliments of our AirBnB host!

Will celebrated his 33^rd birthday on our first full day in Uganda. We decided it was the perfect day to venture into Kampala and explore the city! As two people who have become very comfortable with the peace and quiet that comes from living in a clean, small town, we were quickly overwhelmed with the dusty, bustling streets. It was incredible to see so many people selling the same items, shop after shop. While looking into what we wanted to do in the city, we came across following description of Kampala: “it’s the kind of place you might go in to with 4 friends and come out along and inexplicably missing your left shoe... Nevertheless it is definitely an experience worth having just to appreciate the hecticness of everyday life” (www.livinginkampala.com). We survived every street crossing, and even managed to get a phone plan, groceries and eat a delicious lunch at 2K restaurant. We’ve now been into the city again since and it was a lot easier to navigate the second time around! We’ve been to visit the Canadian Consulate, a few malls, and lots of shops.

Birthday guy!

Streets of Kampala

We’ve had several warnings not to take boda boda’s (motorcycle taxis) in the city, and within a few minutes of watching the roads, we could see why! Instead, we’ve been taking minibuses into the city (which cost the equivalent to $1.75 round trip for both of us) and walking everywhere else.

There is a large market set up in Ggaba Beach, and we’ve enjoyed exploring the stalls. There’s tons of fruit, veggies, beans, fish, used clothing and shoes, and cookware. We also have a number of small supermarkets near our place, and have been able to get a few ‘comfort foods’, as well as new foods to try. Our great friend Sarah gave us the suggestion to try cooking some local dishes, so Travese took us to the market to help us buy local foods, and Esther gave us a cooking lesson. Together we made g. nuts, cassava, posho, and cowpeas, and then enjoyed a lovely meal with both of them (serving dishes aren't the best for presentation, but you get the point!).

Dinner!

Our great friend Brent gave us a great idea to post a list of ten things we’ve learned each week. So, to kick things off…
1.   The people we have met are extremely kind and welcoming, and are all willing to try speaking English to us

2.    Will is the center of attention: people love staring at him and kids love saying hi to him

3.    There is not a mosquito in sight

4.    The weather has been hotter at home than in Kampala all week

5.    Almost everyone we have seen here has a cell phone, and there are booths set up everywhere to add prepaid cards to your phone

6.    Credit cards are basically useless in this part of the world. We have not had a single opportunity to use one, so we’re very glad we brought US cash

7.    Observations about babies: we haven’t seen any in a diaper, but we have seen individual diapers being sold at the market; we have only seen 1 stroller; we have seen toddlers sitting in front of a parent on a boda boda, holding on to the handlebars without the parent holding them at all

8.    Uganda loves Kindergarten… we have seen so many preschools and Kindergartens, and are hoping to get into a school or two soon!

9.    Ugandan sunscreen is not nearly as effective as Canadian sunscreen

10. Exchanging $600 US made Will and I both independent millionaires (2.2 million Ugandan shillings!)

 

Unexpected kindness: Esther spent four hours cooking with us, teaching us how to create four delicious dishes!

Exploring the streets (and waters!) of Ggaba Beach...