Uganda and Back!

Greetings friends, families, and creepy strangers following my blog! It's a beautiful Friday morning in Nairobi, Kenya and I'd like to take a moment and share with you some recent adventures!

On Wednesday we returned to Nairobi after a 13 hour bus ride from Kampala, Uganda! Uganda was an amazing experience. Upon arrival we found people in the city very friendly and quite helpful. We had some trouble finding an ATM that would accept a VISA card. One bank employee directed us to another bank which would accept our cards. This really set the tone for the rest of my time in Uganda.

We spent the first weekend at the Red Chilli campsite in Kampala while exploring the city. Kampala is very clean and quite cheap. We found a wonderful coffee shop that served delicious Ugandan and Kenyan coffee. After having been in the village for some time we also took advantage of a movie theater and saw Transformers 2, State of Play, and Harry Potter 6. None of these movies were especially good but it was nice to be able to relax and do something a little more "American."

After spending the weekend in Kampala we hopped on a matatu and then a boat and made for Bonda Island on Lake Victoria. The boat was a very long dug out that took 3.5 hours to arrive at the island. Once we got there it was quite apparent from the beginning that we were in a very strange place. In total there were only 9 people staying there and the owner, an eccentric old british man who doesn't believe in equality named Dom, was nowhere to be found. In Dom's absence were Liam and Sam from the UK and Canada respecitively. Within about 20 minutes Joey and I had decided that we may be eaten by cannibals or sacrificed by Brits and may never leave the island.

Fortunately, none of the sort happened and we survived. While on the Island we did very little but read, eat, and play backgammon. I finished reading What is the What which I highly recommend to anyone interested in African affairs. It tells the story of one of the lost boys of Sudan and the struggles and atrocities he witnessed in his journey from Sudan to the United States. Quite touching and surprisingly funny at times.

Although it was a bit creepy, Bonda island did provide some of the best food on the trip. We had fish for almost every meal and quality coffee for breakfast (a rarety). I especially enjoyed the fish samosas so if anyone knows where I can find them in Lincoln let me know!

After 3 days of relaxation we jumped back on the boat and headed back for Kampala and then to Jinja. Jinja is at the source of the Nile river. This is where you would go if you wanted to raft the Nile. We did not raft the Nile. However, we did find a beautiful bluff to camp on which overlooked the river. It was probably the most beautiful place we've stayed on the whole trip. Each day I got up and took a swim in the river and went out to the local village for a rolex (chipate, similar to a tortilla, with egg and other delicious foods wrapped inside.).

After Jinja we jumped back on the overnight bus and rolled back to Nairobi. Over the 11 days we spent in Uganda I was very impressed and I would highly recommend making the trip to anyone traveling in Eastern Africa. The people are nice, the matatus convenient and comfortable, the streets are clean, and it's cheap! I will definitely make Uganda stop on any future trip I make to the region!

Peace,

Jake

p.s. Scam of the trip: When you cross the border from Kenya to Uganda you have to pay $50 for a visa. As you cross the border on the Kenyan side there are money changers which give you a crap rate to convert Kenyan shillings to Ugandan shillings. Once you arrive on the Ugandan side of the border there are signs everywhere telling you that you must pay $50 to enter into Kenya. So of course there are money changers there with crisp $50's waiting to change your Ugandan shillings into dollars. They tell you that you must change them before getting your visa. This is bullshit. We declined and payed with Ugandan shillings without any problems. In fact, the woman in the office told me that they take almost all world currencies! Just a helpful hint if you ever make the journey!

p.p.s. Question to weigh in on: As I mentioned earlier the people in Uganda and Kampala were very friendly. The night before we went to Jinja we stayed in Kampala and while riding a matatu alone I met a very nice and very beautiful young woman who recognized me from a store I was just in. She was very cordial and claimed to have had many friends who had studied in the United States. She then invited me to join her and her friends for a night on the town. I told her I'd have to consult w/ Megan and Joey and would let her know so we exchanged phone numbers. In the end I did not go out with her but since then she's called a number of times. The debate we've been having is whether or not she's a prostitute. If you've been to Nairobi you know that there are many prostitutes in the city who are quite friendly as well. If you have an opinion or any insight that may help us solve this question please let me know. Thanks for playing!