Week in Kampala – 17 April 2016
Door: Joëlle
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Joëlle
28 April 2016 | Oeganda, Kasese
Dear muzungu,
On the 9th of April, I woke up around half past 7 and had breakfast an hour later. At 10 o’clock I walked from TECC to Kikorongo. As I waited for 2 minutes, a LINK bus arrived to take me to Kampala. As I entered the bus I took a seat on the left side of the bus right next to the window (2 seats left, 3 seats right – every seat will get full). We stopped in the main towns Kasese, Fort Portal, Rubona and Mubende. It stops along the way wherever people need to get off. In the main towns it often stops for 10 minutes or longer. The LINK operators do not tell anything in terms of time. As there is no toilet in the bus, it would be a risk to get off the bus for a toilet stop as the bus might suddenly take off. It is possible to ask the LINK operators for a short call, often this is a 6 minute stop, however they can still drive off and leave you there. Basically, it’s best not to exit the bus till reaching your destination. As the bus stops, there will be a lot of people circling the bus trying to sell meat sticks, bananas, roasted corn, roasted chicken, cassava, lollypops, popcorn, roasted grasshoppers, roasted feather flies (no idea what their true name is) and beverages such as sodas. Most popular are the meat sticks and bananas. As I reached Kampala with a two hour delay, I went straight to the Shine Hotel where I would spend the next week. At arrival I met Felex and had dinner with him. The next morning I would meet him to arrange a few business deals.
The next morning, I woke up rather late before heading to Kampala. As I stayed in the Kasanga district, a taxi cost 1000 shilling (=26 eurocent) to take me to the centre of Kampala. I walked around downtown, where there is an open market and it’s just curious to see all these people trying to sell their stuff as well as see people walk in all kind of directions. It’s an interesting but crowded sight. Surprisingly, it’s difficult to find a restaurant in the downtown area. In the more expensive/classic area of Kampala, it’s much easier to find a restaurant.
All days up till Thursday, I have walked around downtown Kampala and seen some tourist attractions such as the Bhundi temple, a few museums, the house of the president (big, massive and definitely not allowed to take pictures or stop as in less than 2 seconds a guard tells you to continue walking). I have to comment I have not had the chance of meeting/seeing the president at his house. That would have been particular interesting. On the other hand I also visited the chambers of Idi Amin as well as the Gadaffi Mosque.
In terms of the latter, I like to take a few sentences to explain this story. The Gadaffi mosque is built on old Kampala Hill. As Kampala is surrounded by 7 hills, including old Kampala Hill. The Muslim society has received this hill as a gift of the British during their occupancy of Uganda. As of today, the hill belongs to the Muslim society. On top of the hill there is a mosque called the ‘’Gadaffi mosque’’. This mosque is still used by the society as well as open to tourist to see. Basically, the mosque has been donated and built by Gadaffi in support of Museveni’s decision to restore the Muslim community in terms of showing respect and take the religion seriously. The mosque itself is beautiful from the outside. I found the inside not particular impressive. As tourist you pay 10.000 shilling (=2,60 euro) to enter the mosque and climb the minaret to have a view of Kampala. You are accompanied with a English speaking guide. Women will be dressed as women in this society usually dress, covering the hair and wearing a skirt. The men are left untouched. The view of Kampala on top of the minaret was impressive, very beautiful. As the mosque is more or less in the middle of the city, it gave a clear view of the city.
Some of the weekdays I had business to do. On Friday, it was a full business day. In the morning I met Felex to go craft shopping. This was fun as we walked on a crafts market and had the chance of seeing many things. Felex and I bought a few crafts for TECC. In the afternoon, we went to the office of UCOTA where we had a lovely lunch. Then we discussed a few things in terms of business. What have I heard of visitors in both camps, what I noticed myself and above all what have I done so far. On TECC there is a clear distinct sight of what I have done as its more physical while RCC is not physical but more writing information, analysing data etc.
On Saturday I returned to TECC. Overall, seeing Kampala throughout this week has been enjoyable. I had the chance of seeing it as a tourist but also do some business. It was both work and pleasure combined. For a trip, it was a lovely week.
See you next time,
Joëlle
On the 9th of April, I woke up around half past 7 and had breakfast an hour later. At 10 o’clock I walked from TECC to Kikorongo. As I waited for 2 minutes, a LINK bus arrived to take me to Kampala. As I entered the bus I took a seat on the left side of the bus right next to the window (2 seats left, 3 seats right – every seat will get full). We stopped in the main towns Kasese, Fort Portal, Rubona and Mubende. It stops along the way wherever people need to get off. In the main towns it often stops for 10 minutes or longer. The LINK operators do not tell anything in terms of time. As there is no toilet in the bus, it would be a risk to get off the bus for a toilet stop as the bus might suddenly take off. It is possible to ask the LINK operators for a short call, often this is a 6 minute stop, however they can still drive off and leave you there. Basically, it’s best not to exit the bus till reaching your destination. As the bus stops, there will be a lot of people circling the bus trying to sell meat sticks, bananas, roasted corn, roasted chicken, cassava, lollypops, popcorn, roasted grasshoppers, roasted feather flies (no idea what their true name is) and beverages such as sodas. Most popular are the meat sticks and bananas. As I reached Kampala with a two hour delay, I went straight to the Shine Hotel where I would spend the next week. At arrival I met Felex and had dinner with him. The next morning I would meet him to arrange a few business deals.
The next morning, I woke up rather late before heading to Kampala. As I stayed in the Kasanga district, a taxi cost 1000 shilling (=26 eurocent) to take me to the centre of Kampala. I walked around downtown, where there is an open market and it’s just curious to see all these people trying to sell their stuff as well as see people walk in all kind of directions. It’s an interesting but crowded sight. Surprisingly, it’s difficult to find a restaurant in the downtown area. In the more expensive/classic area of Kampala, it’s much easier to find a restaurant.
All days up till Thursday, I have walked around downtown Kampala and seen some tourist attractions such as the Bhundi temple, a few museums, the house of the president (big, massive and definitely not allowed to take pictures or stop as in less than 2 seconds a guard tells you to continue walking). I have to comment I have not had the chance of meeting/seeing the president at his house. That would have been particular interesting. On the other hand I also visited the chambers of Idi Amin as well as the Gadaffi Mosque.
In terms of the latter, I like to take a few sentences to explain this story. The Gadaffi mosque is built on old Kampala Hill. As Kampala is surrounded by 7 hills, including old Kampala Hill. The Muslim society has received this hill as a gift of the British during their occupancy of Uganda. As of today, the hill belongs to the Muslim society. On top of the hill there is a mosque called the ‘’Gadaffi mosque’’. This mosque is still used by the society as well as open to tourist to see. Basically, the mosque has been donated and built by Gadaffi in support of Museveni’s decision to restore the Muslim community in terms of showing respect and take the religion seriously. The mosque itself is beautiful from the outside. I found the inside not particular impressive. As tourist you pay 10.000 shilling (=2,60 euro) to enter the mosque and climb the minaret to have a view of Kampala. You are accompanied with a English speaking guide. Women will be dressed as women in this society usually dress, covering the hair and wearing a skirt. The men are left untouched. The view of Kampala on top of the minaret was impressive, very beautiful. As the mosque is more or less in the middle of the city, it gave a clear view of the city.
Some of the weekdays I had business to do. On Friday, it was a full business day. In the morning I met Felex to go craft shopping. This was fun as we walked on a crafts market and had the chance of seeing many things. Felex and I bought a few crafts for TECC. In the afternoon, we went to the office of UCOTA where we had a lovely lunch. Then we discussed a few things in terms of business. What have I heard of visitors in both camps, what I noticed myself and above all what have I done so far. On TECC there is a clear distinct sight of what I have done as its more physical while RCC is not physical but more writing information, analysing data etc.
On Saturday I returned to TECC. Overall, seeing Kampala throughout this week has been enjoyable. I had the chance of seeing it as a tourist but also do some business. It was both work and pleasure combined. For a trip, it was a lovely week.
See you next time,
Joëlle
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30 April 2016 - 07:21
Corien:
Dear Joëlle,
Such a bus tour without any chance of leaving .... and nice being a researcher and a tourist at the same time :)
<3 Corien
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
