Already on vacation

Well lots has happened since our last post.  We apologise for falling so far behind and hope that this post should answer most of your questions about what we have been up to over the last month.

It is hard to believe, but when we posted last time it wasn’t even Easter.  We were lucky enough to time our arrival in Kampala with a long weekend right after we arrived.  In our heads, we were thinking that it would be a great time to get organised, tour around the city to orient ourselves, and to have some fun.  Well we ended up doing one of the three.  Uganda is a fairly religious country with almost 85% of the country practicing Christianity.  There is church music playing in the malls, markets and bars.  Needless to say, we overlooked this and learned that everything would be closed on the weekend.  While we could have stayed at home and walked around, we decided instead to have some fun and headed out to Ssese Island with Paul (from Stu’s master’s at Sussex) and Shilpa (an MPH student working in Deb’s department at Old Mulago hospital).

The Ssese Island lie south of Kampala in Lake Victoria.  Ssese Island is doted with small resorts which offer everything from camping space to luxury cabins.  Most places include board with the room.  Having no idea what we were in for, we randomly called up and lucked into a 4-bed cabin.

There are three options to get to the island.  The first is a three hour drive from Kampala followed by a one hour ferry and then a 45 minute drive to our resort.  The second is to get one of the local fisherman to taxi you across to the islands.  However, these boats are notorious for capsizing in rough weather when it rains (almost daily being that it is the rainy season).  Although our guide book does not advise against taking the local boats, it does recommend that “rather than rely on a lifejacket, you should purchase a plastic jerrycan with the top screwed tight and then tie it to your body”.  Needless to say this was out.  We decided to take the third option, a three and a half our ferry from Entebbe (one hour from Kampala).

The ferry departs Kampala in the early afternoon and returns the next morning bright and early.  It is captained by a very interesting Tanzanian man who has worked on boats all over the world following a scholarship to ‘sea school’ in Norway 40 years ago.  The boat is normally filled with freezers of Talapia and Nile Perch (which is also sport fished and get up to 450lbs).  However on weekends (especially long weekends) it is filled with those looking for a relaxing weekend away and sandy beaches.  The boat apparently has a capacity of 180, but as it departs from Entebbe port, it is clear that there were that many people standing in the car area alone.  There was no worry about safety, but it was a gentle reminder that we were no longer in rule abiding England, or polite Canada where the crowding would not be acceptable.

The journey was wonderful.  Although the 3.5 hours seemed to take much longer, it was beautiful slowly making our way across the lake.  We sat on the deck, chatted with several Ugandans and partook in several Ugandan national drinks (AKA beer…they LOVE it).  When we arrived at the other end, we knew that we had made the right choice to forgo the busyness of Kampala and come and relax on the beaches of the Island.

We spent the next couple of days lounging around between meals, walking the beaches and forests, and sitting around the campfire.  The food consisted of typical Ugandan fare.  Lunch consisted of a buffet (always!....yum) of matoke (boiled plantain), rice, potatoes, beans, roasted chicken, goat, stew, liver, sweet potato and vegetable mix.  Dinner was similar but always had an assortment of bbq to accompany (liver, chicken, pork).

Perhaps the most eventful part of our journey was the return boat trip.  We should have known that we were in for a long day when we got woken up by a panicked resort staff member at 6:15 am telling us that we needed to leave immediately because the boat was getting full.  The boat was scheduled to leave at 9:00 but has in the past been known to leave early once it gets to capacity. It was a good thing we got rushed out because by the time we arrived, there was already very little space and no seats left.  Paul and Stu opted to stay outside in the fresh air, while Deb and Shilpa grabbed some seats to try to get some more sleep.  Both groups were soon sorely disappointed.  As soon as we left the port the sky began to darken and a slight drizzle was falling.  Soon after, we were stuck in the torrential downpour.  Unfortunately, no one was comfortable.  Paul and Stu were instantly drenched and freezing (it was incredibly windy and despite the temperature, it chilled to the bone) while Deb and Shilpa were stuck in a sweatbox with people camped all around them.  Needless to say the journey took ages.  However, there were upsides.  Ugandans are so friendly (I am sure we will write this in many of our stories) and we shared our sweaty or freezing misery together.  Stu and Paul worked their way into the captain’s room (which had a heater) and were regaled by stories of northern England (Hull actually) during the early 70s when the captain had a stint up there.  Deb was busy downstairs helping a woman take care of her three children under 2.  She even some how managed to change a baby in the middle of all of the chaos.

Although the boat trip back could have broken our spirits and ruined our weekend away, it in fact did just the opposite.  It showed us what true Uganda and its residents are like and encouraged us to keep exploring.  The Ugandans have showed us that no matter what we are faced with, we will all get through it together.