Carina’s Blog

1st Impression

The moment I arrive in Entebbe … it was muggy, hot, sweaty.  But it was dark and couldn’t see anything.  Only saw lots of people crowded waiting for arrivals and boda-boda (small motorcycle) on the roads.  The roads are dark and there are no streelights.  I can totally imagine me walking at night and unknowingly step into pot holes.  Loads of fun with me being clumsy.

The 1st 2 days were the weekend so I tried to get myself oriented and get some necessities like food.  The other girls at the guest house I’m at helped a lot in transportation and showing me some of Kampala.  Taxi or matatus here is a minibus with 14 passengers + driver and conductor, Special hire is our taxi and boda-bodas are motobikes to get around where matatus can’t.

The guesthouse I’m staying at is very much like a European villa that I have seen on movies.  Lots of garden space with windows and doors open to it and a terrace that overlook the city and the garden.  There are 8 lodgers there now but the owner and her daughter are on vacay so it’s not quite the full house but it will be when they come back.  There are lots of wildlife here, particularly the birds.  The 1st night I arrived, I was exhausted and was hoping to sleep in a little before heading out.  I woke up at 5:30 am because of the crazy birds singing, rooster and the car horns.  That’s when I realized that sunrise is at 6:30am and being so close to the equator, day time is longer and people start their days much earlier.  I hope soon I’ll be able to sleep in a little.

Kampala is a very crowded city with garbage on some sidewalk and very dusty.  It’s all the red dirt so my shoes now have a layer of red dirt on them. Traffic law is pretty much non existent.  Drivers here use them as guide and it causes massive jams.  Kampala has everything basic that we have back home so I’m not feeling too out of place.  Streets are not labeled so it will be fun trying to find my way around.  The street corners are lined with bodas keeping calling me muzungu, meaning “white person” or “foreigner”.  Definitely need to learn the iconic buildings to find my way around.