WEEKLY WRAP UP | TRAVEL | UGANDA

A Drunken Immigration Officer and a Completed Mural — It’s Been a Busy Week

My week in photos — Week 9— May 12–May 18, 2022

After our debacle with immigration last week, and being told that we had to return on Monday, we decided that it would be best if we wrapped up our mural in Ruboni by the weekend so that we could go and do our visa extension, then move directly to our next location.

Ruboni is not exactly an easy place to get to and we had had enough with riding on the backs of Boda Boda’s (motorcycles) up the bumpy dirt mountain road. We couldn’t face having to do it again, plus we were getting really close to finishing anyway. Of course, there are always things that can be improved upon, but only we can see those things. What we left them with is a pretty complete package and they are pleased with it.

And so are we.

This building will serve as a catch-all tourism location for the community. Here visitors can go to a small local food restaurant, and an adorable gift shop, plus they can book tours or inquire about tourism information in the valley. They have also recently started the Ruboni Tourism Committee, which will be housed in this building as well.

Because the property has a beautiful big grassy field, they also have plans for a large bathroom with showers and tent camping. There is nothing else like this place in the valley, so it will fill a certain demographic budget needs, for sure.

The painting we did is a representation of the valley that we were in, the Mubuku Valley. As the painting came to life, we had great responses from the locals that were walking by.

NOTE: Sacco’s are small scale lending offices whos funding is provided by the government through tourism revenue in the country. These facilities enable farmers to purchase seed for planting, livestock, or any other item they may need to create a viable income for themselves.

We even included a large suspension bridge in the painting, which is a vision that they have for the future of the community.

Having a vision laid out like this is very empowering for people.

We also got around to finishing a sign for them on Sunday/Monday morning, that will be placed out on the only road up there, to attract visitors. I know that with these elements in place, it is inevitable that they will create a better and more stable tourism economy in the valley.

The organization that runs all of this works directly with communities to help integrate the local population with tourism. They train guides, crafters, and any other person who wants to be involved in bringing an economy to the area through tourism. They operate in a sustainable way and make sure to educate people about their impact on the environment, amongst other positive initiatives.

These are the sorts of organizations that we are happy to give our time to because we know that they have a long reach into the communities, and we aren’t just helping to line one person's pocket with more money.

These organizations are truly creating lasting change.

Cutting straight to Monday

We headed back to the immigration office as the man had instructed us to do on the previous Wednesday. We were both in a bit of an indifferent mood. We weren’t nervous or worried about whether or not we would get the renewal, we were leaving it up to the powers that be to decide if we can stay in the country or not.

When we entered the office, the original man we had seen on Wednesday was sitting at the same desk. He remembered us, but when we sat down he asked what we wanted again. We explained the situation and told him that our visa expires on May 17th and we were looking for an extension.

“May 17th!” He exclaimed. “Well, it’s the 19th today!”

“Um, no it’s the 16th,” I said laughing.

“Well, you said you were coming back on Monday.” He said.

“It IS Monday,” I told him.

“Okay, well you can go in then.” He told us as he pointed to the next office door.

We were a bit confused with him as we went into the next office and came face to face with the same man who had denied us our extension last year.

We thought for sure he would recognize us, but he didn’t seem to.

Last year was a bit different, though, as we were trying to extend for a second time, and for more than 6 months. This time we were only extending past the initial 60-day visa that we were given upon entering in March.

He flipped around through our passports.

“Have you ever been to Uganda before?”

“Yes, we have,” I said hesitantly, not giving him any more information.

“Yes, I saw the stamp in your passport from the last time.” He told us.

Now, at this point, he started to get giddy and he seemed to be slurring his words. His eyes were quite glazed and I started to wonder if he was drunk.

“You are HIGHLY welcome to Uganda again!” He told us.

“Thank you, we love it here,” I said, trying to stay on his good side.

He asked us how long we would like to stay. “Ninety days would be great.” We both said.

He started counting months on his fingers. We have only been here for two so far.

“No, I can’t give you that much, you are only allowed here for 6 months in a year.” He said.

“But our first visa was for only 60 days.” We pleaded.

“Sixty days, that is two months,” he slurred.

“Yes!” We agreed.

“Okay, I can give you ninety days. You can only stay for six months.” He repeated himself.

“That is just fine, thank you very much,” I said.

He pulled out his stamp, turned the date dials for a couple of minutes, then finally stamped our passports, writing in the new expiry date of August 15th on each one.

In the meantime, I was counting money. The last time we renewed it was $50USD each, which is the equivalent of 350 000 Ugandan Shillings. I set it on the table.

“How much do we owe you?” I asked.

“How much do you have there?” He wanted to know.

“Well, if the exchange rate is still the same, then we have the equivalent of $100USD.”

“I don’t know, is it?”

He grabbed the cash and counted it out on his desk in 3 separate piles. He slapped down the last bill in earnest and slurred in an overly excited tone, “That is good. Now you can go and see ALL of Uganda!” Knowing what we know about how things operate here, we aren’t convinced that the money will go much farther than his pocket.

“Thank you so much!”

He tossed the passports back to us, and we both just about jumped out of our seats. We said goodbye to both men and basically skipped out the door. We are pretty sure that the first man was intoxicated as well since he had had such a strange line of questioning when we arrived.

We burst out of the stuffy concrete building into the fresh air. Despite feeling indifferent going in, there was a very big weight lifted off of our shoulders and we felt nothing but relief.

“I think that man was drunk!” I said to Chris.

“Oh, I’m very sure he was,” he replied.

We decided to stay in Fort Portal for a night instead of chasing back to our next town, a 3-hour bus ride away.

It actually is the same place that we stayed at last year when we attempted to renew our visas, and were denied. Then, it was my 45th birthday, and despite the stress of what we were going through, we really enjoyed the place.

This time we got to stay in the rosemary cabin and we enjoyed the lovely garden views from our front porch.

On Tuesday we made our way back to Kikorongo. Kikorongo is the village that we stayed in last year for 6 months. Then, we started a few different projects with the villagers, but the big one was a community garden and composting site. Plus, we started a large mural of an elephant that we will be completing while here.

At the tail end of our stay where we stayed last year, they built a platform with a safari tent on it.

This 3x3m tent is where we are staying this time around.

It’s a pretty awesome spot but it doesn’t have its own toilet or shower, and we have to walk 100m (328 ft) to get to one. However, it has an awesome view and it is tucked back in the trees at the back of the property. So it is very quiet and private.

We are going to see about getting a pit toilet, or composting toilet put in in the next couple of weeks. It shouldn’t take much to at least have that comfort. The rest, we can live with.

One thing I should mention, though, is one of our struggles here. There is no way to charge our devices, other than by starting up a generator that powers the plugs.

Of course, this goes against all of our beliefs about sustainability and the environment. Plus, the cost of gas has risen here also, so we will be paying a lot more to charge our devices.

It adds up to a lot over time.

So today we went into the nearby city and looked into getting a solar panel, battery, and inverter that will charge devices. It looks like we should be able to get all set up with what we need for the equivalent of $100. We offered our host to pay half of it, and are requesting that they pay the other half.

It’s a good investment for them and will make a lot of sense moving forward into a future of uncertain gas prices. At least we know, for sure, that we can rely on the sun to keep shining in these parts!

We are now located in the Savannah of Uganda, and it is hot and dry. We can almost throw a stone at the equator from our tent platform, so lots of sun and heat is to be expected. But we are still sitting at 900m (2953 ft) above sea level, so it isn’t too terribly hot. Most days are around 32C (90F).

Now that we are unpacked and a bit organized, we look forward to resting for a couple of days, then we will dig back into our projects. It’s been a fun homecoming of sorts, and we have had lots of visitors coming by here to say hello to us again. We realized today that it’s been 5.5 months since we were here last!

Time is flying!

Hope everyone has had a great week!

xo Jill

Thanks so much for joining me on my week in photos. Dennett started this challenge in her publication Weeds & Wildflowers during the beginnings of the pandemic, and it has since grown to include many authors. Check out the amazing writing and photography of Anne | Erika | Jane | Eileen | Juan | David | Mia | Susan | LensAfield | Kim | Barbara | Diana | Barb | Sandra | Shruthi | Ellie | Pene | Olive | Gustavo | Penny | Scott | Sasha | Tracy | Lisa | June | K. Barrett | and of course our host Dennett.

I have put all of my weeks in photos into their own list:

Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We have now been on the African continent for over 2 years!

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