Kampala,
Uganda
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Finally back in Africa. After being pampered for a month in Europe it's nice to be back to the thrill and pace of Africa. Kampala is my first destination for "Africa: Round 2". I'm using the city as a base for trips around the country. There's actually not much to see in Kampala from a sightseeing point of view but there's alot of experiences to have. I'm staying at a camp site 6km out of town so every morning when I want to go into town I walk down to the main road and hop in a matatu (a 10 person mini-bus that is usually filled with 16 people). For about $0.50USD they'll take me all the way into the city center and I can do most everything else on foot. To return to my campsite I've given up trying to take the matatus because its a little confusing. My first attempt put me on the wrong one that took me way out of town in the wrong direction. I've resigned to the more expensive ($2) option of taking boda-bodas back to the camp site. Boda-bodas are little motorcycle taxis. these guys will take you anywhere fast. They weave in an out of traffic and play chicken with just about everything else on the road. The best part is the bikes are tiny. I've ridden on bikes as small as 50cc engines (think lawn mower) and as big as 125cc. The 50cc bikes (mopeds really) have a tough time going up hill with two people on it. Also... there is apparently not a limit as to what you can take with you on these bikes... the other day I was passed by a boda-boda with a passenger on the back that had his three goats in his lap... how they all fit I don't know.
My first 2 days here were mainly spent running errands (buying plane tickets, organizing activities, etc...). On Friday I left to go rafting on the Nile from Jinja and Sunday i left for Kasese as the starting point for a 6 day trek through the Rwenzori mountains. More detail on these to come in other entries...
