Kampala! Kampala!

For the record, I was quite nervous to travel to Kampala but the opportunity presented itself and off I went. At the bus station in Kigali, the vendors are constantly calling: "kampala! kampala!" and asking if you want to go there. This time, yes. The trip itself is 10 hours by bus and costs twelve dollars. The border is about 1 and a 1/2 hours from Kigali and you know you're in Uganda because it has a much less cultivated landscape and is much flatter. During the bus ride, we drove through their National Park. I kept imagining that the rocks on boulders were actually lions or wildebeasts.... but they were actually just rocks on boulders. I did see antelopes and some crazy water-buffalo looking things with massive horns. Okay, and the birds of Uganda are massive !! There is a picture on my blog- honestly, they look like they consume small men for breakfast! The terrain out the window is much wilder, whereas in Rwanda, it is a patchwork, quilt pattern of land; every inch of which is being farmed for food. I ate a brochette served up at the bus window and arriving in Kampala, immediately noticed how crowded and busy the streets were. It makes no sense to own a car in Kampala because it's constantly bumper to bumper traffic. There are many more street kids but far less amputees. And no signs depicting memorials or tributes to the genocide. The parliament building is an imposing structure, and I just happened to be reading "The Last King of Scotland" while on my trip. Idi Amin's persona wouldn't fit inside that huge parliament building !
On day one, I decided to hit the markets and the shopping mall. It felt so strange to be inside "Mr. Price" (like a Zellers), trying on clothes after four months of not shopping. I actually didn't buy a thing, I just felt really out of place. I did find a great bookstore, reminiscent of a Chapters. During my four days in Kampala, I had no idea how much a shilling was, but had predetermined a set amount of money when I exchanged it at the forexe. There were Bata shoe stores, but unfortunately my size is in between their 3 and 4 so no shoes for me :( I'm still keen to find a pair of running shoes as mine have worn almost completely through. The local markets in Kampala have much more than Kigali or Gitarama markets and I'm soon shopping happily admist the skirts and dresses.
Altogether, I find that making my way around Kampala (mostly on foot because the motos don't provide helmets) is much easier than expected and other than keeping one hand on my handbag and remembering to look the "other way" before crossing the street, it is far more comfortable than I anticipated and my nervousness dissipates quickly. Among the highlights of my time in Kampala are eating pizza (twice!!), going to the movies (some John Travolta movie) with popcorn, stumbling upon a craft market steps from my guest house on the last day, taking the bus out to Entebbe to see Lake Victoria, hiring a moto to drive me to several churches, mosques and cathedrals and finally the knowledge that I'm capable of travelling by myself.
When I do arrive back in Rwanda, it is like coming home. There is a certain appeal to being somewhere familiar and the culture of Rwandans is such that, if I ever needed anything I wouldn't have to wait long for help from someone. Case in point: arriving back at the Kigali bus station, I have to wait over an hour and a half for a bus back to Gitarama- my final destination. After ten hours of travelling, I am exhausted, in need of a shower and some food and contemplating catching a moto back home because I don't want to wait. The bus attendant, flags down a near-full bus and waves me over. She's found room for me on this one, I only had to wait 15 minutes of the alloted 90 minutes. I gratefully shake her hand and head home.
There are some plans to return to Uganda in a few months to whitewater raft the Nile. I'm sure I'll enjoy that trip too, but there will be something sacred about this little jaunt I did on my own.
Oh yeah, and I found a bag of Lay's potato chips in Kampala's Nakumatt. Cradled that thing all the way home like precious cargo. Salt and vinegar- YUM !