Thoughts of a Nomadic One

While our maniac of a driver disagreed, I thought paying 10 000 USh ($6.50 USD) was pretty good for taking out a boda-boda driver. Minutes earlier while stopped beside the Standard Charter bank, I opened the door by 10cm without checking. I didn't check because I was right beside the sidewalk but that didn't stop me from clipping a reckless boda-boda driver. Of course, I got out immediately to check that he hadn't been hurt too badly and that there wasn't too much damage.I was relieved to see he only had some minor scrapes and cuts and that the boda-boda was pretty much fine. This was especially important since our driver ran over his front wheels when he was down in order to unblock traffic. I asked if he was okay and took out my first aid kit. I gave him anti-septic and bandages. It took 3 minutes before the expected "demand" came.

"I need hospital", he said.
I chuckled a bit. Some minor cuts and a scrape, plus it was his own recklessness that caused the accident. Our driver came over and started talking to him in Ugandan dismissively. Meanwhile, the injured boda driver was motioning at his slightly scraped arm.
This was when Thomas asked, "Do you have 5000 USh?"
That's $5 USD, pocketchange I thought. I handed it to him but it wasn't enough to satisfy him though 10 000 USh was. Though I'm sure we could've stayed and dismissed his claims, $6.50 USD okay to pay and less hassle since I had to get to the airport to catch a flight to Kilimanjaro.

Humourously, Thomas told me that a man once swerved his truck to avoid hitting a reckless boda-boda, injuring himself badly in the course of the action. The policeman later told him he shoudl've hit the reckless driver instead of going through so much pain!

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Yesterday, Thomas, the driver and I got back from Mbarra where we had spent the night at his aunt's house. The car ride was very scenic and I got some great shots in the safari-like scenery and another video of me walking left to right of the frame. I look forward to stitching all the walking scenes together.

Of course, when we pulled over, thjere was a man beside the road holding up a live chicken and trying to sell it to us. By the time Thomas and I finished taking photos, the chicken was sitting in the trunk and had laid an egg! By the time we got to Kampala, we had 4 giant chains of plantains (to make matoke), guava, mangos, tomatoes, 3 bags of freshly cleaved pork and a disgruntled chicken.

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Now, as I sit in the shuttle provided by Air Tanzania between Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha, I admire the beautiful land and mountains of Tanzania.

some children notice me looking out and wave while yelling, "Jambo!"
I smile and wave back.
Sijambo Tanzania!

There are many tmies during my trip when I've thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" Other times, I've thought, "What am I gonna do next?" or, "I hope I come out of this alive."
Sitting in the backseat with my left hand firmly clenching the handlebar, bare white knuckles showing, I was definitely dealing with the latter question.

Speeding down the highway(if you call the only 2 lanes of road with bicycles, motorcycles, matatus, buses and cattle) at speeds of 120 km/hr, one felt as safe as being in a tin can traveling at Warp 6. To make matters worse, the driver was honking at any living thing close to the road the whole time to let others know of our (speeding) approach. Instead of taking evasive actions when head-on collisions seems certain, this maniac of a driver simply flashes the headlights and both speeding cars subtly avoid each other. This was the pattern of my 7 hr ride to Kibale/Lake Bunyoni and back to Kampala.

The voyage to the lake was a beautiful one with incredible sceneries ranging from savannas, plantations, rural life and lushous mountains with side cultivations. The area is described as the Switzerland/New Zealand of Africa, the Mother of Pearl. I can understand why.
We took a boat ride to the Bushuro island and around the 900m deep Lake Bunyoni. There was even an island, pointed out by our guide, where pregnant women were left on if they weren't married.

After getting some hassles at the Ugandan/Rwanda border, I reconsidered the benefits of going to Kigali for 2 days rather than going to Tanzania early. While I really wanted to see for myself how much it has recovered from the genocide, I believed it was more important to make my time in Tanzania as valuable as possible rather than splitting it with Rwanda.

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I'm sorry it took so long to write a post. There are no excuses and a lot to cover. After arriving in Entebbe and transferring to Kampala, Thomas and I spent the first full day walking about the city. We went to the market with Grace and each bought a khacki cargo shirt for $5 USD. The place was amazingly cramped with extremely narrow paths(sometimes leading to deadends). Salespeople were also always calling you or taking your harm and hand. It felt a lot like navigating a dungeon. In terms of my impression of an African city; populous, somewhat dirty and organized chaos, thrifty. The hundreds of white matatus(minibuses crammed to the full) at the taxi park was a sign to behold and the bodas-bodas make walking dangerous.

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Day 2: Visited the Bahai temple in Kampala (only one in Africa and each continent!) with 9 doors and a great choral ensemble. After the service, I decided to stay and attend the discussion on Bahai marriages (also because my ride were) and it was real interesting to see their views and process. Had a great lunch at Thomas' Jaja's place and loved Ugandan coffee (like Ugandan tea, made with half hot water, half milk, boiled, then tea/coffee added with optional spices/cinnamon). The typical Ugandan meal is composed of generous portions of matoke (plantains like mashed potatoes), beans, meat (chicken, goat, pork), passionfruit juice, chapoti (naan-like bread). Thomas and I also visited the decrepit Ugandan Museum. We had roasted meats with Grace in the evening (yum, roasted pork and goat!) as well as some Ugandan sodas called Stoney (ginger pop) and Marinda (cough-syrup taste).

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Day 3: Went to Jinja to see the Bajagali falls and the source of the Nile river with Grace and Thomas and our crazy driver. I considered paying someone to perform a Bujagali swim (go over the rapids/falls with nothing but a Jerry can) but decided I didn't like paying someone to risk their life.

Finally, today started with a 6am departure to Kibale passing the equator. Thomas commented that since the car we were in had government plates and since I was sitting in the back while he and the driver were in front, I looked like a Chinese diplomat. I'm sure my dour and humourless expression (due to the maniac driving) contributed to looking like a mainlander.

Other humourous instances include all the slogans on the matatus (minibus) such as:

"In Shaalah" - By God's Will
"Jesus is Lord"
"I (heart) Samona" (Samona is a skin care product)
"Jesus Saves" - (Hope he doesn't need to in order to ride the matatu)
"Never Give Up" - (Until there's a crash of course)
"Bulletproof" - (More metaphorical I believe)
"Essy" - (Hahaha)
"Timekeeper" - (haha prob not very safe then)

Other things I found hilarious:
- Whenever we approach an unofficial rest stop/drive thru, 10-15 people will shove produce or other snacks in your face ranging from roasted plantains, cauliflower, nuts to grilled meats, live chickens/fishes.
-The Ugandan saying, "Only the drunks drive straight" due to the ridiculous amount of potholes on every street
-"Kamwocha", a district of Kampala, literally translated as "It Burns"
-A Kampala school motto is: "Strive Regardless". When there was a newspaper article about a man stalking a woman as his love interest, she was quoted as saying, "He must've been from that school since he kept trying and I kept saying 'No'"

That's all for now.
Until next time!