We paid exuberant transit visa prices to briefly enter Kenya, a good way for their government to make a quick buck, we had to sign out of Tanzania and sign in to Kenya (standard) after we completed this time consuming process the sun was going down. The freezing cold of the Western rift valley in Kenya should never, I repeat never be underestimated when traveling overnight. It was unbearable! I wore a tshirt acting as a balaclava over my whole head, the entire night, I borrowed a friends spare leather jacket and wrapped a towel that I had packed in my day bag round my legs, if someone had taken a picture of our desperate, motley crew during these times I'm sure we would be the laughing stock.. the road by now was shaking the bus violently as we travelled at speed, A local on board, wrapped in all sorts of warmth told stories of the lawless state of Kenya, how corrupt even the police are, he happily elaborated to our horror on the hoards of bandits that pick off buses and supply trucks on these highways, so the speed in my eyes was justified. however the speed was causing other issues, hitting the bumpy road at about 120 kmph shook the whole bus which in turn made sure that the faulty bus windows were impossible to close which then guaranteed that our attempts to find any ounce of warmth were worthless. No amount of complaining made it better, we were frozen the whole night long, I couldn't sleep, i kept thinking that the Japanese could have utilised these techniques during WWII. We passed through Nairobi the largest city in East Africa, it was huge, like a western city full of commercial districts and large office buildings, bright lights, clean streets and all the attractions of a big city. My tired state was piling up, I needed sleep and I needed it bad!
By the break of dawn we reached Uganda and again went through the motions, scrabbling to take toilet stops in our hurried time, they charged us to pee, anything to make a dime in these parts, I had a mind to use a nearby bush, but thoughts of a lonely Kenyan/Uganda cell restrained me, you only have so many lives in Africa, i decided to save a few of mine. As we crossed the border the terrain changed dramatically, instantly you notice the green of Uganda, it is a beautiful site. There is produce everywhere. rice fields, corn/maize fields, green, green grass, tropical rain forest, chai/tea, coffee, sugar cane, banana, mango, potatoes etc, etc the land is fertile. Lawrence changed form as well becoming the tour guide he was born to be pointing out this and that, we crossed the Nile which Uganda harnesses for hydro power and were told that the source of the Nile was very close, in 'Livingstone' territory. As we weaved our way towards Kampala, Uganda revealed more of itself in the form of rolling New Zealand-esq hills and forests, I finally fell asleep safe in the knowledge that we were almost 'home' (there).
After 29 hours of travel we reached the bus stop in the arvo, amid the very organised city of Kampala, this city is a welcome change from the chaos of Dar, there is order, it is beautiful, I don't know if I'm a capitalist but it was great to see capitalism thriving. It is amazing how much an hours power sleep can do for you, I felt refreshed and ready, a surprise given the sleep of the last two days, we stacked up on supplies were introduced to Lawrence's flat and a few of his many brothers, had a massive Ugandan style feast and made plans to hit Kampala at night, something everyone you meet raves about.
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