One Month in Uganda! What A Surprise!

Its only been one month in Uganda & it has been very interesting! What we have learned in such a short time has been amazing.

One month plus down in Uganda with two to go so we will be here a bit but I wanted to share some details of our trip so far & a few interesting facts we have learned along the way. We touched down in Entebbe, Uganda which is located on Lake Victoria, but most of our time has been in spent in Kampala. We may return to Entebbe in the near future though! Between the two cities, we’ll share with you some interesting tidbits we have learned from our new Ugandan friends & what we have been up to.

Before I get to far into this post, let me tell you that yes Uganda has roads, houses, apartment complexes, shopping malls, etc. They, as far as I can tell, have the same things – to a degree- that we had back in the States. We have definitely seen some differences but that is to be somewhat expected I think.

A few interesting things about Uganda that we have learned!

Population of Uganda as of 2021 was 45.85 million.

There are 56 tribes in Uganda with the largest group being Buganda who speak a Bantu language, Luganda.

It is said Uganda was named the “Pearl of Africa” by Winston Churchill because of its beauty, wildlife & diversity.

Although English is the official language, Luganda & Swahili are also widely spoken among the h numerous other tribal languages!

Uganda along with Kenya & Tanzania border the beautiful Lake Victoria, the third largest freshwater lake in the world.

Ugandans are quick to smile & very polite. Only a small few have shied or not responded to us.

Because of my fair skin complexion I have been told that some Ugandans refer to me privately as ‘the white’ or Mzungu [A Ugandan term use to describe a fair skinned white person or any light skin/European, etc]. Many people in Uganda believe that all Mzungu’s are wealthy. Does the words used to describe me bother me? No! It does concern me that people think I am wealthy, because I am not!!

We have learned that Traffic is hellacious with major potholes in many of the roads. It is normal for cars, trucks, taxi’s, motorcycles, bicycles & pedestrians to be experienced at avoiding these craters in the roads on a daily basis. Sidewalks are not kind! It is an experience that every newcomer to the city must endure while traveling around Kampala. Ha.

Arriving in Entebbe, Uganda

Our flights from the States to Uganda were very smooth. After researching the requirements to come into the country & getting all the hard copies required, we had to show our Visa Approval letter from the Ugandan Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control before we could obtain our boarding passes at the airport.

I won’t lie, for me it was a culture shock & it took me more than a few days to acclimate to the culture & demographics shock. In the United States I am used to seeing a majority of people that look like me & very few that look like my husband. Upon arrival in Entebbe, Uganda all the demographics were reversed. Everywhere I looked everyone had the same color as my husband & I didn’t see anyone that looked like me.

We spent a few days at a location in Entebbe before we decided to move to Kampala. Wow! Kampala is a very busy city, the streets bustling with cars & motorcycles everywhere! It seems like mass confusion with all the vehicles on the narrow streets, but somehow they seem to manage. Motorcycles seem to out number all other vehicles & with the horrendous traffic you would expect accidents & “road rage” to be rampant, but there isn’t, because of some unwritten rules of courtesy that the drivers abide by thus allowing traffic to more slowly, but free of any major accidents or rage road incidents…..this is Ugandan kindness! (We were told today that there are a lot of accidents but we haven’t seen any…yet.)

We’ve learned so much from everyone we meet. They are eager to share their stories to us, it is to much for my brain to remember. When we can we pull out the phone & record but again I don’t want to chance losing my phone. Here are a few things we have learned thus far.

1. How to trim & water a banana tree & know when bananas are ready! Isaac gave us a demo when he was trimming the banana plant he had planted in front of our AirBnb.

2. If you drink black tea, its because you can’t afford milk!

3. Eggs are taken out of the tray & put in plastic bag when you buy so easy going getting those babies home without cracking them!

4. We have learned that some businesses do not have their prices marked & will charge a higher price to foreigners. We spend a lot of time talking to people that live in the area & usually know the price before we shop in those stores. If they try to charge us a higher price because we are “foreigners” we simply do not buy from those locations. So we have our favorite local stores that we enjoy using based on our customer service experience & knowing that the items are priced as they are put on the shelf.

5. I feel totally comfortable walking to local coffee shop in our neighborhood for a cappuccino or fresh juice! This is BIG for me to feel that comfortable to walk by myself in a new country – to us.

6. We have learned almost Everyone knows Someone if you need a particular product. One person calls another who may have to call another but in the end they will get us what we need.

7. We have learned that getting an visa extension online is not as easy as they may make it sound…seriously …but that is for another day!

8. A lot of the African peoples’ misconceptions about Americans mirror the Americans misconceptions of Africa!

9. Downtown Kampala is crowded with people, motorcycles, autos & motorbikes so it is not my favorite place to visit or spend any amount of time …I’ll stay in our little neighborhood. Ha.

A Word About Guided Tours

GuruWalk – DON’T DO IT!!

Top of my list not to recommend in Kampala – GuruWalk. Booked, confirmed & arrived the morning of our tour. Our driver insisted on calling Guru before she dropped us off. Thank Goodness she did. The tour guide said she was one hour away & we could wait for her…Said we had not confirmed! Our driver asked the tour guide where she lived & when told the village, our driver said that the trip to Kampala from that area could be more than two (2) with traffic. Anyway, our driver provided us with a small tour of downtown Kampala & ended by telling us to only travel to downtown Kampala if it is absolutely necessary, otherwise you will spend hours stuck in traffic jams.

SafeBoda

We did a day tour by SafeBoda & it was a blast though both of us had aching backs by end of the day. For those of you who don’t know – SafeBoda is the regulated motorscooters you will see around town. The great thing is they are recognized by their orange safety vest with their name & number on the back as well as their orange helmets. What we noticed on our tour was that Ezra & Agaba, our drivers, took care to try to avoid mud holes or ruts in the roads. This is an experience you need to try. Its a whole different view hanging onto the back of one of these machines navigating the streets, cars & thousands of other bodas! Awesome! At times, you could easily reach out & touch the person next to you. You do have to be careful of getting your phone snatched from your hand, so there really is not much chance to get a video of the ride.

We took a one day tour of Kampala with Ezra & Agaba to the following sights. We were to go to the Idi Amin Torture Chambers but we were pooped after the three sights below so we cut the day short. It was awesome & well worth the fee charged by SafeBoda!

Baha’i Temple

Easy to get to on SafeBoda & sign in only-no fee. Temple is beautiful but the grounds are awesome!

Uganda National Mosque or Gaddafi Mosque

This was another stop during our Safeboda tour. Commonly called the Gaddafi Mosque, the Uganda National Mosque sits in Old Kampala. Looking out from the top of the minaret you can see that all main roads lead to the mosque. From this vantage point also, you can easily see the 7 Hills that make up Kampala. Small fee but worth it just to be able to climb the minaret to see view of Old Kampala town! The Mosque itself can handle 15,000 on the main level with another 1,000+ in the gallery. Than outside there is room for up to 3,500. This is the largest Islam mosque in East Africa & worth the viewing!

Hand carved ceilings & beautiful hanging lights. The minaret is well worth the climb to see the full view of Kampala.

National Museum

Small fee for entry to the Museum & you can pay a small donation for guide. Our guide was Rose & she was great explaining all the different displays, etc to us.

Out Time is Quickly Coming to an End in Uganda!

Wow, time has flown. We are in the middle of our three month adventure in Uganda & time really is flying by. We are continuing our campaign of friendliness in Uganda & anxiously await our next stop in Africa! I definitely see a return visit to Uganda before we leave Africa down the road.

Stay with us & see where life takes us next!