Kampala, Kampala District, Uganda
Friday, August 14, 2009
This is our final blog from Africa, now in
Kampala as we are leaving for two weeks in England today. Sorry about the numerous typos and spelling errors in the last blog – the computer in Zanzibar was prone to going off and there were a number of power outages - I had to type far too quickly. During the last two weeks in Zanzibar, we all went to some reefs off Mnemba Island where Heather completed her 4 day scuba course (Gavin mentioned to the young instructor that he had completed his scuba course in the summer of '69 – the instructor didn't realize that they had the equipment that far back in time; Gavin muttered something like shark bait!!) We snorkeled while the divers had their check out dive. We were fortunate to see many beautiful fish, some were so close – you could almost touch them. Heather saw some turtles on her dive. The current was strong and we soon found ourselves a fair distance from the anchored dhow which was a bit unnerving. I was assured that the sharks don’t go near the reef so I stayed as close to the reef as possible
. On the road again with Kebab, the taxi driver, we stopped off for an interesting spice tour. Did you know that ‘Vicks’ came from the root of a cinnamon tree? We watched a young boy climb a coconut tree while entertaining us with a very boisterous rendition of the song ‘Jambo’ and he also performed some acrobatics at the top of a 50 foot palm while picking coconuts for us. On his return to ground level, he prepared the coconuts for us, very skillfully with a sharp knife that he draws toward his body! On the drive to the other end of the Island of Zanzibar, we passed through small villages and beautiful forests. Our resort was very luxurious – each house had its own pool, great views of the ocean, quiet location and it was patrolled by Maasai guards. Heather had taken her class there in June and was able to get a very good deal for us. Gavin remarked that he never had experienced a setting like this for his days of outdoor schools! Food was good and varied and during one meal we were entertained by Maasai dancers – wonderful to watch them jump to great heights to impress the Maasai women. Ollie, Heather’s Maasai friend, told us a lot about their traditions and dress. We decided to go on a swim with the dolphins while staying at the resort. It was up early and out we went in a wooden dhow powered by a 40 hp o/b motor with the traditional sail as a back up. This adventure took us 2km off shore in the rough Indian Ocean. After about 2 hours searching for a glimpse of the dolphins, I was ready to hang my head over the side, so we decided to do some snorkeling on a reef in the vicinity
. No sooner were we in the water than dolphins were seen, so a quick scramble out of the water – not easy as we have to remove flippers and get on to a rusty ladder as the waves rock the boat. Off in pursuit – basically you wait until the guide tells you to jump in and swim to the spot where he predicts the dolphins will surface. We did this about 7 times, having to get in and out of the boat again as the dolphins move about. Finally we jumped in at the right time and it was an amazing sight to be so close to these lovely animals and watch them. We feel sorry for them, however, this is not a peaceful act being chased about by 5 or 6 boat loads of snorkeling tourists. Gavin felt like we were in the navy as we were being commanded to jump in and out of the boat so many times. There is no way I would go in water like that back home, fortunately the water was warm and the high salt content made us quite buoyant. It was tiring but another great experience for us as we tried to keep up with Heather’s pace! Stone Town is such an interesting place to visit with its many narrow streets and alleys – quite a maze in fact. Lots of history, too, especially with the slave trade.
I think one of our most memorable experiences here was to visit the Acholi village in
Kampala. More than 10,000 people live in this slum. On a sight they chose 22 years ago, there are mud huts, shared pit toilets, ditches full of rubbish and waste water, little food and many children in rags. These people were displaced by the war in the north. The government doesn’t seem to help them. In the quarry men pick up huge rocks and carry them up for the women and children to break down into gravel. For each large 5 gallon pail they get around 10 cents….lucky to make a dollar/day. We were able to talk to a group of ladies and children and it was humbling to see them laughing and happy to visit with us
. They certainly have a deep Christian faith. They do not have access to any protective eyewear – so there is a safety problem here with flying rock chips and dust. It has prompted Heather to fund raise at her school in order to purchase work glasses and gloves, perhaps we can help from home, too. Our main purpose to visit, was to meet some of the children in their centre and they sang a lovely selection of songs and danced for us. They are so polite, happy and friendly. It was fun to teach them some songs, too, and they are quick learners….so many wonderful children. The ladies get some income by making attractive jewelry out of magazine strips. They were excited to get a soccer ball, some beach balls, frisbee, and art supplies. As we left the children gathered together to sing a farewell song for us. ‘Kleenex’ is doing well out of me! On Sunday we went to a Watoto Church where we enjoyed the music and enthusiastic approach to worship. The service was held in a circus sized tent holding about 1000 people, we were the only mzungus. We have just returned from a couple days at the Munyono hotel on Lake Victoria. We were guests of the owner of Heather’s school, who also owns the hotel and is basically very rich! The hotel is also a conference centre and was holding the African Commonwealth Leaders conference. We wondered why on our arrival we had to go through rigid security checks and why so many guards were patrolling. Needless to say we didn’t recognize anyone but we enjoyed mixing with the hobnobs. We almost got lost in our suite – talk about luxury. The view of the lake was spectacular as was the food –yum! We certainly have experienced extreme standards of living here. It is mind boggling. We have had a most wonderful time in Uganda. It has also been super to spend such a lovely time with Heather and to experience her life here. We have met many of her friends and we are the richer for it. We have exchanged emails with other friends on our travels too and we hope our Danish friends will visit us one day. Uganda is a lovely country and the warmth and friendliness of the people have left a great impact on us, it will be hard to leave here this afternoon, and of course to leave Heather, but she is happy and has a good year ahead of her. We leave for jolly old England this afternoon to visit family and friends for 2 weeks. We will be back home on the 28th.
Much love,
Anne, Gave and Heather xxx
