Goodbye Nairobi, Hello Kampala. 12/19/2018

Greetings –

Somehow packing and unpacking just ruins travel! But we got it all done and left the hotel to get our flight to Kampala.

Took taxi (by the way, many taxis in Nairobi have wifi – so they ask if you want the password. Amazing. I don’t think we have that in the states.) The drive to the airport was quicker than predicted, but a bit of a mess in that the security system is quite complicated:

About two miles before you approach the airport, all vehicles are stopped; passengers must exit the vehicle; drivers move very slowly and then stand by the vehicle. Everything and everyone is searched. Passengers go through a little building with a scanning device.. Vehicles move through some kind of scanner as well. Drivers meet passengers on the other side. No vehicles (not even taxis or buses) can get within about a half block of the actual terminal. So we said goodbye to the driver and to Nairobi and entered the airport.

There our bags were screened at the entrance; we proceeded to get our boarding passes and yes, to actually check one bag each. We weren’t in any priority section and the plane was small so we decided doing all carry-on wouldn’t make sense; also no jetways. Got boarding passes, checked the bags and then went through screening..  computers out, shoes off, nothing at all in pockets, not even paper. Full screening. Then we headed to the gate. Another screening. And finally we wait for the plane which was naturally late. Boarding was a bit chaotic, but once on the plane it was fine. They didn’t have any air conditioning turned on in terminal, nor on the plane until we actually started going. So it was pretty hot and sticky.

The flight was fine, a little bumpy. Landed in Kampala, bags were searched again; got money from the ATM, picked up the bags, and headed to a taxi stand. Then the fun began. We would be staying at a small (24-room) hotel (Humura Hotel) which is locally owned (we tried to keep the money flowing within each country, but we also knew that meant a bit of a drop in luxury). It is just 25 miles from the airport (which is actually in Entebbe, a totally separate city from Kampala). A quick check on the phone showed traffic and that it would take 55 minutes. Fortunately the taxi was a comfortable four-wheel drive and the air conditioning worked. Only problem was that it had tinted windows so I had my side window open the whole time. It was also clear that rain was imminent. The drive actually took 2.25 hours! And the poor driver had to return to the airport after dropping us off. And wifi in the taxis here too.

There is a new road that is under construction; a fast highway from Kampala to Entebbe. But it is only about 30% complete. Thus, for most of the drive we were stopped dead in traffic until several enterprising drivers sort of made a new road in the mud – a sort of service road – and our driver opted for that. It brought us closer to the little shops along the roadside, which enabled me to photograph along the very slow and winding drive. It started to rain – a lot – so we were really just coasting on mud that was draining from the other real road. Eventually he had to drive up some mud to join back in with the main road.. Rain just kept coming.. really strong at some points and then more drizzly at other points. And then suddenly we were on the new road/highway which was obviously so new that the toll booths weren’t even installed yet.

We arrived at Humura and were warmly greeted and shown to our room.. It is a small little complex (of course we have our own guard on the property, but he seems pretty low-keyed and hangs out near the parking area. Our room is sweet, a bit basic, and not everything works 100%.

In the first hour or so as we were settling in and deciding where to go for dinner (and hoping the rain would stop), the power went off about three times (fortunately only briefly each time – 15 minutes or so). The wifi connection also went down, but we were told that is because Kampala is laying fiber and it’s not done yet (??). The sliding closet doors are wood so they don’t really move too well and there’s only one hanger… But all is good. I went to the reception area to discuss options for dinner. They kept suggesting Italian restaurants. I said we’d really rather have some African food. They eventually suggested a Ugandan home cooking place in the downtown but suggested we go for lunch rather than dinner for “safety reasons”… We said we’d be fine, but decided to head to a game restaurant last night because it was closer to Humura. I think we may be the only guests. We taxied to The Lawns which would be easily walkable if there were direct roads and if it wasn’t so hilly. The Lawns is a meandering restaurant (not so many tables, but on many levels) – all outside. We opted for a middle level table (only about four tables per level). The menu was a bit eclectic, but we had a great Moroccan stew and an order of assorted game (crocodile, ostrich, wildebeast, kudu). Lots of potatoes come with everything. We had drinks and good Ugandan beer. Taxi returned to get us and we settled in for the night.

One quick impression – the roads actually seem to be in better shape than in Nairobi and lots of traffic lights. But traffic is as horrendous as it was in Nairobi. We’ll know and see more tomorrow. We are meeting up with a local architect who went to college with our godson. Should be interesting.

Fern