January 25-27, 2019; Between Construction Weeks 1 & 2

Robin & I decided to go into Kampala to buy misc. groceries and items for the guesthouse, as well as to escape to a bigger city.

We left mid-day Friday, completed our shopping and relaxed at a cool hostel. We had some gin & tonics and played crib before getting pizza (first cheese we’d eaten in a while!) and seeing Aquaman. It was nice to splurge on some normal activities.

The next morning we went on a walking tour of Kampala. It was a very long tour (4 hours) and quite hot, but worth it! We started at the Makerere University, one of the largest and best in Uganda. We walked all over campus, stopping at the College of Arts to admire sculptures. There were huge birds, the Marabou Stork, all around. Their wingspan is typically 2.2-2.9 meters long and they eat garbage/scavenge. Their necks fill up with food once they’ve eaten, similar to pelicans; very strange birds.

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We then walked through one of the largest slums in Kampala. Around 25k people live on 50acres. It is very compact. We walked into the home of one family, there were 7 people living there. There were many small businesses and shops around. Everyone seemed happy and was very friendly. After we headed towards a craft market and browsed a lot of beautiful local art. (Side story, I got a pair of comfy pants that I was very excited for, tried them on when I got back to the hostel, lifted my leg and the crotch ripped L That’s what I get for pants that are less than $5).

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We continued our tour and walked past the Independence Monument. Uganda’s presidential history is very interesting. After the dictatorship ended in 1979, they elected a president that held office for 2 months, then one for 8 months, then one for 5 years, another for 6 months and now since 1986 President Yoweri Museveni has been in office. After visiting that monument, we stopped by a temple on the way to lunch. We placed or lunch order at a small Ugandan restaurant and the guide took me into a market so I could find some yarn. I’d been looking all over the place for yarn and was finally able to find 1 shop that had limited colors; I was pumped and bought a ton! After lunch, we headed back and relaxed. That evening we met up with our GC, Allan, and his friends (Josh & Jason). We had a nice evening chatting over drinks.

The next morning we went to a nice hotel to relax and swim in their pool. Allan joined us there. We attempted to teach him how to tread water. It was fun, I’m sure we’ll try teaching more later. After swimming, we headed to the taxi park to catch a ride back to Nakaseke.