Well we are finally settling into life in Kampala after a stop-start introduction to our African adventure. We were only living here for five weeks before Emma had a six week break, so it was rude not to go off and explore (see our tales from Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa). Then, after a week back I had to return to England to sort out our belongings which were being shipped from Malaysia to the UK. This was a bit tough on Emma, as while I was hanging around in sunny Glossop she had to start the new school year and earn some sheckles. Unfortunately, it took quite a while for the stuff to arrive, then I had to sort it out, store some unnecessary things and air freight some essentials to Uganda. All in all it seemed like a lifetime in England despite some unusually sunny Mancunian days before I was safely back ensconced in the pearl of Africa.
So, eventually we are beginning to feel at home in Kampala, now that we have a few of our bits and bobs - after spending 8 hours in the airport while someone signed a piece of paper to release our 3 boxes! Plus we have raided the excellent craft shop, Banana Boat, for various wall hangings and the like to make the flat feel less like student digs. Therefore, it has come time to explore what Uganda has to offer on day trips outside of the city. After all, there is only so much time one can spend in Just Kicking sports bar, although other people may beg to differ.
So the other Sunday we got off our backsides and headed down to the taxi park in central Kampala with the idea to take a matatu (mini-bus) to Entebbe. Now the taxi park is a tourist attraction in itself. You could and probably will spend a good while just trying to find your intended vehicle. It is a typically African chaotic mess of a public transport hub, but it somehow works. People point you in the vague general direction of your matatu and you turn down all manner of offers of fruit, watches, plastic toys and socks for sale, squeeze through row upon row of hundreds of min vans, ask again, follow the general waft of the hand, jump over muddy puddles, and eventually you will see a sign with the name of your destination (and even the price, so no getting ripped off). Easy really.
An Entebbe bound matatu was just leaving when we located it, but luckily the next one filled up pretty quickly and in Uganda they don’t over fill them aka Malawi. Three to a row is the norm here, in fact, matatu means 3 in Swahili (what an informative blog this is). We bagged the best seats right at the front and we were soon on our way as the Entebbe rank is right next to the exit. If you are stuck in the middle it could take an age just to reach the gate.
We were soon on our way as the Sunday Kampala traffic wasn’t too bad. It was nice to get out of the city, especially for Emma who hadn’t left Kampala for six weeks or so, and we enjoyed watching Ugandan life along the roadside.
We jumped out at the junction for the botanical gardens and Uganda Wildlife Centre and paid the driver all of 3,000 USh each. We strolled down the hill looking for the botanical gardens but missed it somehow and ended up at the wildlife centre. We had been there on a previous trip so were determined to find the gardens. Entebbe is a quiet and peaceful place to wander round and we soon found the entrance to the park (10,000 USh for non-residents). I say park because you could not really call it a botanical gardens. The boys from Kew aren’t likely to be rocking up looking for inspiration any time soon. Never mind, it is a very pleasant park to wander round and it is on the shores of Lake Victoria and has very impressive views. We spotted quite a lot of bird life, kites, pied kingfishers, jacana, spoonbills, ibis etc and Emma was delighted to happen upon a troop of black and white colobus monkeys. We watched them playing in the trees before hunger sent us on our way.
There were a couple of wooden shacks on the shore where you could probably get a drink but food might be pushing it so we headed back to the main road. We plumped for Nicky’s Pizza and weren’t disappointed with the fare on offer. We relaxed there for a couple of hours before flagging a matatu down to take us back to Kampala.
All in all it was a good little excursion from Kampala, and it was nice to get out even if it was only to Entebbe.
