Welcome to Uganda!

Today started early for our friends Gertrude, and Charles who is our driver.  They came to the hotel to tell us they wanted to leave earlier – and the hotel told them that we weren’t there!  They went into Entebbe and waited for an Internet café to open so they could check we hadn’t emailed them with a new hotel. Eventually they came back to the hotel where we were staying and the person on the desk admitted that we were there after all - but failed to tell us our friends had arrived.  Tom bumped into them on his way to the room and we finally set off at 8.30.

The next part of our Ugandan day involved navigating Kampala, trying to park in Kampala, needing to ring home to unlock a bankcard, and eventually finding somewhere that would give us cash.  I should also say that when Gertrude left us at this point (having finally got back the deposit from us that she paid on the car) she was carrying a bag of children’s clothes (thanks Katy) and the various items we’d been sent to take out to pass on to her.

Finally, yippee, we set off at 10.30.   On a not bad road.With a car full of diesel and some bottles of water.  Our phones rang in the car – the house alarm had gone off in Barnsley so there was a bit of texting Pete to get him to go home and switch it off.  We stopped eventually for yours truly to make a ‘short call’ at a concrete box with a drain behind a garage.

No day in Uganda would be complete without an hour or so hanging around a garage.  We eventually reached Mbarara but Charles was a bit concerned about a strange noise coming from the gear box.  After some discussion it was agreed that a new sump nut was needed so we waited while a man had ‘gone for a nut’.  Eventually he reappeared and after a bit of bloke stuff under the car we set off again.

All went smoothly for the next hour or so and we even saw herds of zebra at the side of the road.  We waved at small children who were shouting ‘Mzungu, Mzungu’ when they spotted white faces in the car, we smiled at the huge amounts of furniture people can get on a bike (or people in a car), we gawped at the variety of goods on sale by the roadside – or sometimes the monotony of  piles of tomatoes on every stall… And eventually we came to the favourite of all travellers to Uganda – the potholes. I think Charles is amazing, he negotiates potholes and speed bumps without actually going into the ditch at the side of the road, keeps our backside bruises to a minimum and manages not to kill any pedestrians, cyclists, motorbike riders, or the occupants of cars, taxis and busses – all of which are similarly negotiating potholes in a game of ‘almost dodgems’ where you try and get as near as possible to hitting someone without actually making contact.  And all this while telepathically knowing which way the vehicles over-taking or careering towards us will go round their own potholes.  Impressive!

It all came to a stop when a lorry got stuck in mud in the middle of a set of road works. All the vehicles started stacking up randomly on either side so when the lorry was finally moved (many men standing around shaking their heads followed by a digger coming up behind and pulling it backwards by hooking the bucket on the back of the lorry) the road ahead was blocked by queuing traffic.  Oh how we laughed.

We didn’t laugh quite so hard when we arrived at our Rukungiri accommodation where we’re staying for 10 nights to be told we weren’t booked in and they were full.  Quick call to Moses the local manager and all was resolved – he’d paid a deposit but they didn’t realise it was for us.

So now we’re getting ready for bed having eaten our tilapia.  We still aren’t Internet connected so you’ll get a few blogs all at once.

I thought I’d end this blog with one of Gertrude’s stories – which along with today’s activities, some awesome scenery and the friendliest most helpful girl you could imagine at the hotel – remind us of all the reasons Uganda has welcomed us back. 

Gertrude’s daughter is a paediatrician.  She’s finding it very hard.  Mothers have to stay and look after their children in hospital but if they have no money it’s difficult to find food.  Sometimes the very poor women use their clothes as bed sheets and have to bring their well children with them.  Those (well) children often pick up illnesses at the hospital.  Gertrude keeps  having to get new sheets as her daughter takes hers to the hospital for the children.

Welcome to Uganda….