Lake Bunyonyi
Posted 20 June, 2007 by Janette in Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda
Lake Bunyonyi is a high altitude lake in the Great Lakes region of southern Africal. One of its 29 islands is called Akampene, which translates to “Punishment island.” It earned this name because the local tribe, the Bakiga, used to leave unmarried pregnant girls to die of hunger or while trying to swim to the mainland. This was to serve as an example to the rest, to show them to not get pregnant out of wedlock. It also served as a discount bride center - a man without cows to pay the bridewealth could go to the island and pick up the girl.
We camped at the Bunyoni Overland Resort, which had immaculate gardens and was just a few minutes’ drive from Idi Amin’s bombed out former holiday home.
We had a smooth boatride across the lake, where we met our truck for a very bumpy ride over washed-out, steep roads to Rwanda. We had a rather “Wages of Fear” moment when we met a petrol tanker on a steep, narrow part of the road, and had to squeeze right past it.
The children in this area are adorable. They all chant “How are you? How are you? I am fine. I am fine,” when you pass them on the road. One little boy was so excited to say hello to us that he threw himself to the ground in a fit of giggles.
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Kampala Nights
Posted 19 June, 2007 by Janette in Kampala
There is too much life in the Kampala night for my western head to sleep. The dogs are taken with a midnight madness. The rooster starts up at 4am. Twenty feet away from our tent, a neighbor restarts a smokey fire at 5am. I begin to wonder if the reason everyone moves so slowly here is that they are chronically sleep deprived.
This might be a long trip.
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First day in Africa
Posted 18 June, 2007 by Janette in Kampala
We wake to the sound of lunatic laughter. We assume it belongs to the troupe of vervet monkeys that roam the compound. Later, we find that it comes from a couple of birds the seem to specialize in primate call impressions.
Yesterday, we left a place that is grey, industrious, and often joyless. Today, we begin our 5 weeks in a place where life moves slowly, in technicolor.
Everything about our room is wonky: the mosquito nets are positioned awkwardly for the two tiny beds; the windows are too high to see out of; the door faces the bushes rather than the courtyard. Our $15/night buys us only jail cell chic, but in Kampala, there is no reason to stay indoors.
The streets are delightfully chaotic. A scooter zooms past with twenty chickens tied to its back; another one has pineapples strung across it like christmas lights. Larger, newer 4×4s honk smaller cars out of the way, and giant petrol tankers, in turn, clear them off the road. The are no painted lines, no sidewalks, and only 5 traffic lights in the whole of this capitol city. Bodas (scooters) offer a 700 schilling ride into the center of town, and Matatu conductors hang out of windows, calling out their destinations.
Nearly everyone stares at us, but they will return a smile. Shoe shine boys frown at Graham’s ridiculous shoes. They are amused at our insistence on walking everywhere and eating Ugandan food. They are even understanding when we are 100 shillings (about 5 cents) short for the “African plate,” featuring matoke with groundnut sauce, cassava, pumpkin, Ugali, chapati, Nakati, and stewed chicken.
This is Kampala, the pearl of Africa.
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Red Chili
Posted 17 June, 2007 by Graham in Kampala, Uganda
We’re here! After possibly the most pleasant airport experience in in 6 years (City Airport is great), a lovely flight (KLM airline food is good), we arrived in Kampala.
We’re staying at the Red Chili Hideaway in Bugolobi, a 10 minute cab journey out of Kampala. It has a troupe of monkeys that live in the trees around the compound - some great photos on Janette’s Flickr.
There are also birds I haven’t seen before (some peccaries?), and four varieties of local beer.
As we’re in the suburbs the streets are tarmacked, but it’s hard packed dirt on either side, with lots of people walking. Lots of small motorcycles (pizza bikes in London), carrying insane amounts of chickens / plantains / wood / a car windshield / you name it.
The children all wave and say ‘goodbye’ as they pass, and everyone else seems very friendly.
There are lots of overlanders at the Red Chili: Oasis Overland, Africa Trails, and our Dragoman truck got there this morning. We start the trip on Monday.
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A bit of inspiration
Posted 6 June, 2007 by Janette in Getting ready
“There’s no lock on the cage. You can open the door, go outside, do whatever you want.”
I just came across this video again while cleaning out my inbox at work. It’s about a guy named Matt who, while travelling around Southeast Asia, started doing a silly dance in unlikely places, and filming it. He posted a video of his shenanigans on his site and it made the rounds on blogs and video aggregators. It was so popular that a chewing gum company asked him to go around the world and do it again, this time with his expenses paid.
How I love the silly dance!! Matt’s also got some great things to say about realizing just how much opportunity exists in the world, and how little we take advantage of it.
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