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Uganda – The Green Pearl Of Africa!
By Glenda Thompson
Having recently returned from an amazing week in Uganda, hot on the
heels of a splendid ten days in Ireland, one cannot help but compare
the two countries. They’re both so lush, vibrant and GREEN … a
sight for sore eyes after the dust, the dirt and the dying
vegetation that seems to abound in the southern hemisphere at this
time of year. After flying into Entebbe in the early evening and
spending the night at a comfortable little guest house (the Boma)
only a few km’s from the airport our journey took us from Kampala
on Lake Victoria in the East to Ankole in the South West and then in
a northerly direction along the foothills of the Ruwenzori
Mountains. We were never far from the equator
and the weather was always mild and very pleasant. It rained now
and again but usually at night. Another similarity with Ireland
(and in fact Zambia), were the people. Kind, friendly and happy to
help.
There are over 50 tribes and many more dialects, English being the
main language spoken. In fact children learn English from class
one, so there is no stumbling around trying to find the right word
in the local language. English will do perfectly.
An interesting and popular form of transport is the “Bodaboda” or
Honda scooter. Tiny taxis, sometimes taking three or four people,
the odd goat, roofing sheets and a bunch of bananas! “Matoke” is
the staple diet, sort of a green banana that is cooked and looks a
bit like sweet potato but is tasteless and needs large dollops of
chilly and peanut and garlic sauce to rev it up!
 We
saw a good chunk of the country, travelling from Kampala through
President Museveni’s home town, Mbarara, down to Ankole province.
That whole area, incidentally, was hard hit in the late seventies
during the political upheavals. Those years of conflict virtually
wiped out a whole generation of people leaving a huge gap in the
population. The towns are pretty ugly and there are still burnt out
buildings and rusting tanks scattered here and there. No matter how
run down the towns were there was ALWAYS at least one cell phone
shop. Uganda must have the most cell phones per capita than any
other nation! Toothless grannies in the middle of nowhere even have
a cell, mostly used for texting errant children in different corners
of the country no doubt!
We spent the night at a simple, pleasant guest house in Ankole in
the South West and then crossed over the Kazingu Channel, linking
Lake George with Lake Edward and on into Queen Elizabeth National
Park where we saw herds of elephant buffalo and cob, an antelope
that is the image of the impala but they don’t leap! Then we
carried on up north skirting the mountains (not really visible
because of the cloud) past several little gypsum and cobalt mines,
Lakes Edward and George, a few more little game parks and on up to
Fort Portal, the town closest to Mweenge Tea Estate, our
destination for a few days. On our way there we went past Chibali
Forest, famous for chimp trails.
The estate is on the edge of a rain forest and the gardens were
absolutely full of the most amazing bird and butterfly life, with
occasional visits from seriously hairy baboons, collobus monkeys and
Chimps. There is usually a beautiful view of the Ruwenzori
Mountains (always snow capped) but we didn’t see them because of the
cloud.
We travelled back to Kampala, a three hour journey, on an excellent
road that took us through totally different, but still thoroughly
green, cell-phone, banana and palm tree fringed country. On the way
back to the airport, via The Boma, we stopped off for an evening
meal with old mates from Lusaka. They live between Kampala and
Entebbe and love the place so much they have bought their own home;
freehold! They have teenage daughters who have spent most of their
teen years in Kampala and were off for a night on the town after
supper, in a taxi! Crime rate very low.
After a short night’s sleep at the Boma, we were up at 3.00 a.m. to
catch our Kenya Airways flight from Entebbe to Nairobi and then on
back to Lusaka. Flights to Entebbe are fairly pricey from Lusaka as
they all go via Nairobi. There’s a cheaper flight out of Jo’burg
that takes one directly to Entebbe. For more information on Uganda
and holidays in this wonderfully green and pleasant northern
neighbour, email the Eye Magazine: theeye@theprinthouse.co.ug. It’s
Uganda’s equivalent of The Lowdown and is packed full of tourist
information. |
July
2006