Kampala is breathtaking. just to walk around the local streets is nothing short of impressive, the rusty colour of the roads and hills, huge ancient looking buildings, banana plantations dotted all over the place, large anthills line the paths, blue sky above without the saturating heat, cows like you've never seen, skinny as anything with horns the size of elephant tusks Lawrence said these were small! friendly smiling people say hello, shout greetings or pass excited comments every second, every turn is worth a photo. Lawrence, Jim and I must have looked an odd combination as we toured around, Jim with his blond, curly masses, Lawrence neatly shaven and dressed impeccably and me scraggly beard and all. We called each other names, laughing as we met everyone we could in a whirlwind of events, Lawrence knew everyone, we were stopped on every corner by a long lost friend. Lawrence has such a good natured way about him, optimistic at every point, any trouble is meet with his laid back reply of, "no worries, man". Jim and I soon found out how infectious the man's sayings are, he has a number phrases that he fits into daily speech, they have suddenly become a part of our vocabulary as well. in Ugandan culture it seems everyone is a brother or sister even when they aren't, I thought I had a large family, but Lawrence's actuall family is huge, I've lost count, it gets confusing as well when he introduces friends and extended family as brothers and sisters, names fly by. This brother takes us there, that brother(friend) takes us here, this sister welcomes us for lunch, this uncle puts on dinner and so it goes on, the African way is share all, such a hospitable bunch.
The ba-ja-jis/tuk-tuks of Tanzania are not to be seen in Uganda, a new species has evolved here, boda-bodas and bicycles. Boda-boda's are motorbikes that can hold one or two passengers, they are found everywhere. in every main destination, groups of these riders compete for attention. Together the three of us managed to fit on two of these motorbikes as we headed toward a landmark on the tourist map of Uganda, a religious monument erected in remembrance of 22 Ugandan Martyrs who were burned alive for there religious beliefs. these motorbikes are meant to be reliable things I'm assured, very sturdy, skilled, competent drivers, insurance pops to mind as we take off, i think that's natural. Lawrence is our guide wrangling cheap prices, taking us anywhere that comes to mind, we go along for the ride, although this is travel for us this is home for Lawrence so he has lots of must do's. When we arrive at the sacred grounds, Lawrence disappears for a while, we are automatically hit by people wanting to charge us to look around etc. when he returns Lawrence shrugs them off as and showed us around the Church, surrounding gardens, monuments and statues. The place had been opened by the pope at the time and a large crowd had come from all across the world to ceremonially celebrate its opening, it was a very sacred, holy place, almost ornamental, you didn't want to step out of line it was that perfect, we met with the ex-choir leader from the opening day who led us in a prayer with his present family, for Lawrence and this man you could see and feel the place meant so much.
The ba-ja-jis/tuk-tuks of Tanzania are not to be seen in Uganda, a new species has evolved here, boda-bodas and bicycles. Boda-boda's are motorbikes that can hold one or two passengers, they are found everywhere. in every main destination, groups of these riders compete for attention. Together the three of us managed to fit on two of these motorbikes as we headed toward a landmark on the tourist map of Uganda, a religious monument erected in remembrance of 22 Ugandan Martyrs who were burned alive for there religious beliefs. these motorbikes are meant to be reliable things I'm assured, very sturdy, skilled, competent drivers, insurance pops to mind as we take off, i think that's natural. Lawrence is our guide wrangling cheap prices, taking us anywhere that comes to mind, we go along for the ride, although this is travel for us this is home for Lawrence so he has lots of must do's. When we arrive at the sacred grounds, Lawrence disappears for a while, we are automatically hit by people wanting to charge us to look around etc. when he returns Lawrence shrugs them off as and showed us around the Church, surrounding gardens, monuments and statues. The place had been opened by the pope at the time and a large crowd had come from all across the world to ceremonially celebrate its opening, it was a very sacred, holy place, almost ornamental, you didn't want to step out of line it was that perfect, we met with the ex-choir leader from the opening day who led us in a prayer with his present family, for Lawrence and this man you could see and feel the place meant so much.
As if in direct contrast to what we had just seen and experienced we were off to meet locals for a beer at the pub, we left the bikes and headed through the markets, shops and main streets of wider Kampala drawing stares all the way, entering the pub felt like a movie scene everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the two white guys come in, soon enough the place came back to life. These friends went to uni with Lawrence, smiles all round as they noticed his company, the enthusiastic chatter began, one of his friends works on the Congolese border with red cross, man, I talked this guy non-stop, asking about the situation, he updated me more extensively then any news paper, DRC is a mess seems like a common trend here. He had seen gory things, inspiring things, said he loved his job, said he could put me in touch if i wanted to volunteer, I passed politely on the offer. Learning more every moment it was time to move on to meet more friends, and more, we meet so many.
To top the day off we had a formalish dinner at Lawrence's Uncles house, the man had clearly done really well for himself in life and was obviously interested in America judging by the way he questioned Jim all night. his family were welcoming as I almost fell asleep eating the mountains of food put in front of me.
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