It’s a year
since we were last here, and we’ve noticed significant changes already. The new
Kampala – Entebbe expressway (motorway) was something of a revelation. It’s
hard to remember the awful roads we bumped over 10 years ago on our first
visit. The journey is still full of hazards as Charles tries to avoid
motorbikes, lorries and taxis (the annoying matata drivers who pull out into
the road without warning). The towns haven’t changed… full of jostling
vehicles, people and animals all fighting for space on any available piece of
ground. If a bus, taxi or car is
stationary, its swamped by street sellers thrusting baskets of corn, bananas,
peanuts, sodas, passionfruit and kebabs at every open window. No ‘hakuna
matata’ here (the mantra of the Zanzibari).
We crossed the equator (for the second time in a day) and the road stretched ahead through miles and miles of flat scrubland with sparse bushes and trees. Occasionally I’d spot someone walking towards
us, drawing attention to the dust paths criss-crossing away from the main road
leading to small communities or individual homes deep in the bush. In front of us bicycles tried to avoid the
heavy traffic, some precariously laden with an impossible number of full yellow
jerry-cans. In Uganda there are still
many people without access to water, electricity and sanitation.
As the sun
began to set and we arrived at our hotel for the night, we began to register
familiar smells of burning charcoal and hot earth. We watched the sun set over
the city – marvelling at the intensity and speed as the luminous red ball slid
under the horizon. As we walked out of
our ‘banda’ this morning, Tom remarked, ‘Ah, this is familiar - how Uganda
looks and smells!’
Today we
continued our journey down the Kampala – Kabale highway for another 3½
hours. The monotony of scrubland and
roadside villages was broken by a herd of zebra, and the further south we
travelled, we saw more livestock – cows and goats, sometimes herded by small
children with sticks! Another change is the abundant supplies on the roadside
stalls. There are piles of fruit and
vegetables – with plenty of variety. Whole
carcasses hang outside butcher’s shops (yes - in the hot sun and delighting
flies). Last year the stalls were empty,
and drought eventually led to serious food shortages. Global Care were able to help with emergency
feeding in the worse hit areas where we work.
Eventually
we turn off on the road to Rukungiri, and very quickly the landscape changes. The trees are taller, the vegetation is lush,
little farms are dotted on hillsides and small houses shelter in banana plantations
in the valleys. We see groups of Ankole
cattle with their monstrous horns. The
mountains of Bwindi loom ahead out of the cloud and mist (fantastic driving
weather) as the terrain becomes hillier. How strong must people be to carry all
those jerry-cans up a steep incline every day? Occasionally we spot a huge
fancy house with brightly painted walls surrounding ornamental gardens – we
smile knowingly, must be a government official’s ‘village home’. He’ll use it
for funerals and major events but lives in Kampala most of the time.
Finally we
arrive at our familiar hotel. There’s
electricity and water – but no Internet as they haven’t got the money to pay
for data. Someone is coming from Kampala with money tomorrow... maybe! There is
one member of staff and a chef. There are no other guests. Its pouring with
rain. We can hear a loud church service
– shouting and singing compete with birdsong outside our room. Our Uganda sim
isn’t working so we resorted to expensive SMS on UK data. Our Global Care contact has gone to church
and turned his phone off – he will be gone for several hours. We have arrived indeed!
PS Moses arrived and totally redeemed himself with the words, 'You look so young, I was expecting an old lady!'
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