Saturday, March 05, 2005
Day 3
Brrrrrrrrr. Cold shower!! Woke me right up. Malaria tablet – or was it the tea – made me throw up! But it gave me an excuse to go in Andrew’s nice spacious 4x4 rather than the minibus. I felt very hungry later though, cos of the lack of breakfast.
Maybe it was the boiled egg?
Anyway. Went into Kampala and paid for our safari. Pretty mzungu at the booking shop took our cash but not after Maz had been laughing about me throwing up earlier. We got all the malaria tablets we needed for £2. Probs would have been about £300 at home! We then had a while to walk around the city. People stare at us. I see bartering for the first time when Sat haggles for some towels. Paths between shops were terrible. It was like they built on a hill and never flattened it.
Next we travelled to a very nice hotel where we booked the white water rafting. This place was sweet. Swimming pool, sun beds, bar. The works. Crisps for 60p though! Went to lunch at Garden City (the mall they built for tourists). The spag bol was gooood. Used email to mail home.
Time to go to Banda! i.e.: toilet = hole in ground, bowl to bathe etc. Squeezed into the minibus for the remainder of the journey as Andrew had to head back to Luwero. Arrived in Banda after a few more nutters had cut us up. Go straight to a small school called central school or centre school and met Moses. Brilliant, humble guy. We also meet the teachers: Esther, Juliet and John.
These roads are well bumpy! It’s worse than being in a bumper car. More shouts of mzungu and bzungu as we get to where we were stayed – Canaan Hostel. Few. This place was much nicer than outside. That’s not saying much though. Hole in ground. Bowl to bathe. Just like Sat promised.
Met another family. Jeninah and her children. Her husband, Ben, had unfortunately passed away in January due to a car crash. He was a fantastic minister in the area. She is very strong in character and her faith though – a fantastic example to anyone. Her two youngest, Canaan & Garland are brill. They came up to us and gave us hugs. Benson, who by a miracle, walked away from the same car crash as his dad, greeted us and so did Marion.
Finally, we got a chance to put up our mozzie nets and settle in. And explore. I went and looked at our loo. I hoped everyone had a good aim! It’s not what I thought it’d be like though. I didn’t realise it was all concreted.
Anyway. In the evening we explored more of Banda. It was actually alive with activity and you could feel the community spirit as we walked through. Lots and lots of lights. Greens, reds, blues. It came alive at night because it’s much cooler and so people aren’t just lazing about. We eventually got to Moses’ school and put on the Jesus vid. People simple gathered around to watch. This was weird. In England the police would gather around to arrest us! After the video, we made an appeal (or at least Sat did) and we split into pairs. Maz and Me had the pleasure of being invited back to somebody’s house. Unfortunately, he was just a little bit drunk. We also got to meet some of the kids we will see tomorrow. It was really nice.
We walked back to the hostel and I got a greeting from an unwelcome visitor! The fattest roach ever! I wasn’t sleeping with that. It was on my net. The good thing is I knew where it was… until Christine tried to catch it and sent it into the shadows… Cheers! It mightn’t have been able to get through my net, but it could definitely get under! Luckily, I found it later and chased it into a hole. Everyone laughed at me. It was massive but I’d laugh if it was in their room!
Christine tried to convert Jimmy and Geoffrey into honorary Scots by giving them some Scottish lessons (See you Jimmy – hilarious) and later we taught Jimmy some Bristolian (Gert lush). Jimmy’s catchphrase for the rest of his life is now ‘See you Jimmy’! Eventually I go to sleep a bit worried that more roaches want to share a bed.
Maybe it was the boiled egg?
Anyway. Went into Kampala and paid for our safari. Pretty mzungu at the booking shop took our cash but not after Maz had been laughing about me throwing up earlier. We got all the malaria tablets we needed for £2. Probs would have been about £300 at home! We then had a while to walk around the city. People stare at us. I see bartering for the first time when Sat haggles for some towels. Paths between shops were terrible. It was like they built on a hill and never flattened it.
Next we travelled to a very nice hotel where we booked the white water rafting. This place was sweet. Swimming pool, sun beds, bar. The works. Crisps for 60p though! Went to lunch at Garden City (the mall they built for tourists). The spag bol was gooood. Used email to mail home.
Time to go to Banda! i.e.: toilet = hole in ground, bowl to bathe etc. Squeezed into the minibus for the remainder of the journey as Andrew had to head back to Luwero. Arrived in Banda after a few more nutters had cut us up. Go straight to a small school called central school or centre school and met Moses. Brilliant, humble guy. We also meet the teachers: Esther, Juliet and John.
These roads are well bumpy! It’s worse than being in a bumper car. More shouts of mzungu and bzungu as we get to where we were stayed – Canaan Hostel. Few. This place was much nicer than outside. That’s not saying much though. Hole in ground. Bowl to bathe. Just like Sat promised.
Met another family. Jeninah and her children. Her husband, Ben, had unfortunately passed away in January due to a car crash. He was a fantastic minister in the area. She is very strong in character and her faith though – a fantastic example to anyone. Her two youngest, Canaan & Garland are brill. They came up to us and gave us hugs. Benson, who by a miracle, walked away from the same car crash as his dad, greeted us and so did Marion.
Finally, we got a chance to put up our mozzie nets and settle in. And explore. I went and looked at our loo. I hoped everyone had a good aim! It’s not what I thought it’d be like though. I didn’t realise it was all concreted.
Anyway. In the evening we explored more of Banda. It was actually alive with activity and you could feel the community spirit as we walked through. Lots and lots of lights. Greens, reds, blues. It came alive at night because it’s much cooler and so people aren’t just lazing about. We eventually got to Moses’ school and put on the Jesus vid. People simple gathered around to watch. This was weird. In England the police would gather around to arrest us! After the video, we made an appeal (or at least Sat did) and we split into pairs. Maz and Me had the pleasure of being invited back to somebody’s house. Unfortunately, he was just a little bit drunk. We also got to meet some of the kids we will see tomorrow. It was really nice.
We walked back to the hostel and I got a greeting from an unwelcome visitor! The fattest roach ever! I wasn’t sleeping with that. It was on my net. The good thing is I knew where it was… until Christine tried to catch it and sent it into the shadows… Cheers! It mightn’t have been able to get through my net, but it could definitely get under! Luckily, I found it later and chased it into a hole. Everyone laughed at me. It was massive but I’d laugh if it was in their room!
Christine tried to convert Jimmy and Geoffrey into honorary Scots by giving them some Scottish lessons (See you Jimmy – hilarious) and later we taught Jimmy some Bristolian (Gert lush). Jimmy’s catchphrase for the rest of his life is now ‘See you Jimmy’! Eventually I go to sleep a bit worried that more roaches want to share a bed.
# posted by TommyDB @ 10:20 a.m. 
