Hotel Diplomate Kampala

... kwanjula’ed (spelling, of course, is another matter) last month.’ is really no biggie! In fact, quite a few Luganda words have crept into the English language (theirs as well as mine): anti, meaning ‘so’; kakati, meaning ‘now’; kawa, meaning ‘cool’, ‘great’, ‘fantastic’; oba, space filler when one is not sure, often followed by an interrogative pronoun; gundi, meaning ‘thing’, when one ...

... giving him even a slight chance of replying: ‘Why have you not fastened your seat belt? There must be a reason! I am only asking you to give me one reason, because you must have a reason!’ So, when he told her that he had just bought the car and wanted to go for a service on Monday, she of course asked for his driver’s permit. And that proved to be a problem…it had run out. So now, the police officer told him: ‘I will charge you to court ...

... to be driven into Bwindi Imprenetrable National Park for our chance to track mountain gorillas. The drive to the campsite offers some fantastic views across the hills and showing how much of the forest is slowly being destroyed for farming and charcoal use. Had to wait awhile beside a barrier as the guy with the key wanted a bribe, which he didn't get.<br><br>Staying at the Bwindi View Camp, but Nick, Christine and myself had wake up at 5am the next morning ...

... were set on fire, property was destroyed and looting was widespread. Buses were stopped and passengers were forced out and robbed. For some funny reason, white people were allowed to go on, yet the Ugandans were kept and beaten. (I discussed with Ruth how I would not have left anyone I was with and she said that after the beating we would have received together, she&#8217;d have beaten me for staying! But seriously, if I had travelled with Gore that day and not Monday ...

... not ruining the dress, at least until I was back in my seat where people can pull and push and correct. I managed. I got 600 Ug Sh, which is about 2 DKK. But it pays for a coke here, so&#8230;SKÅL!<br><br>Mayega also asked me to give a speech as it would be &#8216;soo very nice&#8217;, as he put it. With the help of sweet Goretti I created a small speech in Luganda with the few words and phrases I know. It amused people so much. I was of course so very nervous ...

... Anyways, I quickly told the man that we needed the requirements for regist**ing our school and he gave me a pap**. While I looked at it, without giving me time to tell him wheth** or not this was indeed what we w**e looking for, he disappeared. Okay then, but thanks for the oth** people in line waiting for this woman to come to h** office, we actually got all the info we needed. Th**e was a man, Ibrahim, who was actually finished collecting all the files and all ...

... this boxy-tent vibe&#8212;think a square over your bed, while others have this lovely princess-canopy feel to them, as they hang from the ceiling above the center of the bed and then cascade down around you. When choosing a net, it&#8217;s really best to go with brains over beauty here. The canopy, while lovely, also places the net inches, if not centimeters, from your face. Throughout most of the first night I was paranoid that the net would touch my forehead and I ...

... people, buying gorilla souvenirs and then stopped at an orphanage to watch their daily performance. The orphanage started after HIV/AIDS had claimed the lives of many parents, leaving many homeless children to fend for themselves. Now the children have homes, meals, education, and a place to play and showcase their talents. They dance, sing, play drums and display their homemade handicrafts for tourists every night to raise money for the orphanage. Their ...

... the tourist trail so the people here were pretty surprised to see us turn up. A lady said we could come into the compound as long as we promised not to use our cameras. The reason for this was that the rituals performed are part of the traditional belief sets of the Buganda and a lot of people who come claim to be Christians so don't want to be photographed taking part in these customs. The rituals themselves are ...