TRAVEL | UGANDA | AFRICA | ROAD TRIP
A Short Road Trip Ugandan Style
It’s always an adventure in Africa!
We have now left the last place that we were staying in Uganda for two months, and have headed off to Entebbe where the only international airport is in the country.
We fly to Turkey on Tuesday and we are pretty excited about it!
We had planned to take the bus for the 6–7 hour journey, but our host needed to come to Kampala, which is nearby, on Friday, August 5th. So we were ecstatic to be able to get a ride with her instead.
In fact, it wasn’t just her, it was her brother and son also. The SUV was packed to the hilt already as we started to puzzle piece our large suitcases into it. We stuffed them in the back but the doors wouldn’t close, so we had to rearrange things a little bit.
Martha told us to be ready for 9:00, and we were, but it was 10:15 when we finally got the back door shut and everyone in and ready to go.
Woohoo, we were off!
Rosco turned the key to the engine……….click…….click….click.
“It’s not starting,” he told Martha.
“What? I just had it serviced.” She lamented.
And it was true. She had spent the previous three days without her vehicle because it was at the shop getting tuned up for this road trip in particular.
“That’s not fair.” She said.
The sun was beating down on the vehicle, so we all piled out again while Rosco opened the hood.
“This isn’t even my battery,” she said, “it has somebody else's name on it.”
Oh boy, I rolled my eyes.
TIA, This Is Africa!
We tried to jump it with another small car that was parked there, but it wouldn’t budge, so she called her mechanic.
15 minutes later he showed up on the back of a boda boda (motorbike) with a large battery.
They got it jumped.
We were finally rolling out of there, but not so fast! We had to stop and get some gas plus Martha wanted to purchase some sugar cane juice for the trip. Chris and I purchased a bunch of road trip snacks from the gas station and I took notice that they were much healthier than the ones that we would buy in Canada.
At the next stop, we pulled to the side of the road to purchase some sugar cane juice. Martha has gotten us onto this delicious drink. Not only is it raw sugar cane juice but they add ginseng, lemon, and ginger to it. I have no idea if it is healthy or not, but it certainly is delicious!
Okay, we were finally on our way, or so I thought. The next thing I knew we were pulling into the mechanic shop. We didn’t realize that we were going there to get a better battery. I still don’t think anyone knows where her original battery went.
Sigh……….
As we pulled into the shop, I could see a man standing off to the side.
“That’s Chris!” I exclaimed.
“Holy sh*t,” my Chris stated.
This is a guy that Chris tattooed just a few days ago. They had taken us up to their property to see the house that they are building. He is Ugandan and his wife is Belgian. His wife also cut my hair. What a crazy coincidence to see him again in this way.
ANYWAYS……..we FINALLY got the new battery and were really and truly on our way.
I checked the time as we pulled out of Fort Portal, it was 12:15.
As we zipped off into the greenery of Uganda, I took note of the trees by the road. Because we were high up in elevation, there were numerous pine trees lining the sides of the road. It was such a familiar sight that I could almost imagine that we were driving through Canada, that was, at least, until a Baboon hopped up onto the road from the ditch.
We didn’t get far when Martha told us that we had to stop for the metal Elephant. Her son, Lucas, was excited to see it again also. Sure enough, we stopped and marveled at this massive sculpture. It really was very cool and very large. It made me think of the ridiculous things that some Canadian towns do to attract attention. Like, build the world's largest egg, or teapot, or pancakes.
Okay, fine, I don’t know if giant pancakes are anywhere, but they could be!
This sculpture was truly a very cool work of art!
We wound our way through the Ugandan countryside slowing down whenever we came to any sort of settlement. Even if there just appeared to be 3 houses, the government has installed a speed bump, or 5 or 6. Uganda is FULL of speed bumps and it makes it impossible to get anywhere quickly. Not to mention the road was pretty deplorable in parts. Potholes that could swallow a small car were a common occurrence and Rosco was constantly dodging them. I should also mention that the sides of the asphalt was crumbling into oblivion making it all into some sort of obscure obstacle course. I won’t even get into the cows, goats, bikes, people, cars, chickens, and whatever else is on the road all at once.
I appreciated that Rosco was driving and not one of us!
At some point Martha jumped into the driver's seat and about mid-way through the trip, we came to Mubende, a large crossroads city. As we drove in, the traffic increased and so did the chaos.
“Who wants goat?” Martha asked.
We had no idea what was going on, as usual, but a few seconds later we pulled over to the side of the road and a bunch of food vendors descended on the vehicle.
I was a bit surprised that we didn’t even need to leave the car to buy our lunch. I mean, this has happened to us on the buses where we buy our food through the window, but it didn’t occur to me that they would approach just regular vehicles.
Of course, it makes sense!
Chris and I got a couple of chicken skewers. I wish I had of taken a picture of them because it was basically a stick stuck through the chicken breast and wing and barbequed just like that. The rest of the gang got goat and roasted gonga (plantain).
With our bellies full, we continued on our way.
As we descended from the high elevation of Fort Portal, down to the level of Lake Victoria, we started to feel the warm winds enter the car. We only descended 300m, but the difference in temperature between Kampala/Entebbe is significant from where we were in Fort Portal at 1500m.
As we got lower we started to see more marshlands that housed acres and acres of papyrus grass. The fuzzy tops were swaying in the breeze and they made a nice lush and puffy carpet across the land.
We could feel the pressure of Kampala as we entered the outskirts of the city. More and more vehicles and people were entering the skinny road. It looked like they were in the midst of a road construction project that was widening the highway. It is certainly a welcome improvement to that section of the road, however, Ugandans will tell you that the construction might go on for years.
Dust covered absolutely everything as we rolled past houses and storefronts. But life goes on, they have no choice but to sit and wait and hope that one day it all ends.
Our final destination was actually across the inlet from Entebbe. We are staying in the Plastic Bottles House, and we highly recommend it if you are coming to Uganda. It’s a great place to either start your trip, or stay at the end before you fly out, and our host has been amazing.
Thankfully we were able to pull off the dusty road and entered the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway. A $1.50 toll gets you onto a state-of-the-art highway that takes you swiftly to Entebbe around the chaos of the capital city (see map.) Rosco told us, and I had also heard it before, that this highway was, per kilometer, the most expensive road in the world to build.
But it’s no better than many highways!
The Chinese built it, and nobody knows why so much money disappeared into the country, or where it went, but that is the way it is in Uganda. There is lots of money and resources, but most of it is mismanaged and misspent.
We finally arrived at the point where the ferry would pick us up. It was about 6:00 and the last ferry of the day was at 6:40 pm. We learned that the ferry is free, but if we missed it, we could still pay for a boat taxi to take us across the inlet.
After registering to cross in the tiny office at the dock, we said our goodbyes to Martha, Rosco, and Lucas and thanked them for delivering us safely to our destination. A policeman pointed us to a place where we could wait with our luggage and we sat and watched the lakeside life go on around us.
We could see the small ferry approaching from the opposite side. We watched with anticipation to see how this was all going to play out. There was no concrete landing pad, just a dirt road that led into the water.
As the ferry jostled its way into position, at the last moment, the captain gunned the engine and drove the metal base of the boat up onto the dirt shore.
With a loud screech of metal on rocks and dirt, the ferry landed.
Logs were placed where the edge of the ramp touched the ground to make the driving on and off less jarring, and vehicles and boda bodas filed off the boat. Not to mention an awful lot of people!
We waited until it looked to be empty, then started dragging our suitcases down to the boat. We passed the policeman and other personnel and found a seat onboard.
Nobody told us not to do this, so we figured it was okay.
We sat down and witnessed the antics of the guys who were unloading the goods from the ferry. Massive loads of all types were coming off the boat, and most of them were moved using bicycles. There were about 6 men there with bicycles and they would wheel them on, load up the sacks or crates on the back, then wheel them off.
It took about 15 minutes for this to play out, and we sat happily and watched.
After everything was taken off the boat, the policeman came aboard and told us that we had to get off. As usual, we had no idea why, but we did as we were told. Thankfully we were able to leave our suitcases on board.
We filed off and then watched as the vehicles and motorbikes filed on. Once that was finished, we were able to re-board. I’m sure there is some sort of safety manual that says that the vehicles have to load first. Who knows!?
As usual, we were clueless.
We made our way back on and were able to get the same seats. Little did we know how many others would come on behind us!
It was packed and with standing room only!
It seemed to take forever to get the boat boarded, but the engine closest to the shore finally gunned it and we were off.
The red sun slowly slunk down to the horizon as we puttered our way across the calm inlet. The evening breeze brought but a bristle of goosebumps from my arms. Numerous kingfishers were diving and darting in and out of the shining water looking for their evening catch, and the golden hour glow settled across the landscape and hills that lined the inlet.
As I looked around at my surroundings, I couldn’t help but be thankful for this life experience that we are living.
My blissful state was interrupted when similar to how the ferry arrived on the other side, it gunned the engines and jammed itself up onto the shore. First, the motorbikes got off, then the people walking. Last would be the vehicles.
Since we had our suitcases, we just decided to wait until everyone else got off, before we would. We are never in a hurry these days.
As we slowly made our way off of the boat, a man approached us to see if we needed a boda boda to take us to our accommodation. I asked him the price and it was surprisingly lower than our host said that it would be, so we both loaded up on separate bikes, with a big suitcase on each of our laps, then sped off into the unknown.
We quickly turned off the main road then bumped and jumped up tiny dirt tracks not wide enough for vehicles. I noticed a stunning sunset forming in the western sky, too bad it was too bumpy for photos at this point.
After a 7-minute drive, we arrived at Plastic Bottles House. Unfortunately, the part we are staying in is not made with plastic bottles, but the two structures that he has outside, are.
We were already so impressed with the cleanliness, the owner, and the value for our money, but to top it off, the next morning, we got to meet the adorable geese that patrol the property.
Meet Backy and Jo!
Our host David says that they are only there as pets, and they will live for another 20 years or so. He tells us that they keep the grass trimmed and they fertilize the plants. We have been having fun watching them follow him around the yard, and they even followed him through the village on a shopping trip one day.
We have really enjoyed our time at Plastic Bottle House and I will certainly be writing about our stay here in more depth.
Thank you so much for joining me on our latest Ugandan adventure. Road trips look a little bit different here, but at the end of the day, you still get from point A to point B.
Our next stop is Turkey! Let’s see what adventures we can find there:)
Happy travels,
xo Jill
This post is a response to the August writing prompt over at Globetrotters, “road trips.” A big thank you to Globetrotters for publishing my story!
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