Uganda holiday - part 1

Well, after all that about South Sudan, here is some mini adventures from my holiday in Uganda...
So it took me quite a long time to actually get here from when I went to the airport in Juba around 11am till actually leaving at 4pm and then getting to the place I am staying in Kampala. Thankfully, I met someone on the flight who I had actually met in Malakal very briefly and we shared a very nice taxi so that helped with the smoothness of the travel (and cost!). Having stayed up really late the night before chatting and then up for a meeting in the morning, I was quite tired by the time I got to the backpackers. And I had already decided to go onto the Southwest to a place called Lake Bunyonyi near Kabale the next day. So was up at 5:30am to get on a boda-boda (motorbike), then bus, then minibus, and a boda-boda, finally getting to Lake Bunyonyi at around 5pm! Was desperate for the loo by this stage!!! Plus quite tired and hungry, but the place was beautiful so it was all worth it! Plus, one has to have a little adventure on holiday, doesn't one? And there is nothing quite like African transport for adventure! :) Actually, Uganda reminds me a lot of Ecuador, which is unsurprising because they are both on the Equator, but still, even the way transport works and things is really similar. So I had survived some hair raising journeys and very cramped conditions (the minibus was particularly interesting with each row of 3 seats filled with 5 or more people! - half my bum was quite numb by the time we got there!) and settled into a lovely furnished tent overlooking the lake with a lovely cup of tea! Bliss!
By this stage I was onto my second book (of the 2 novels I have brought with me!).
So the next day, I was up relatively late, enjoyed a relaxed breakfast, a nice long quiet time on the deck of the raised platform that my tent was on, and then hired a dug out canoe. Went out onto the lake and stopped at one of the islands for a walk around. I have to say this lake is very impressive and also quite scarey as it is Uganda's deepest lake at over 1500ft! My imagination was having lots of fun with that! It was ok to canoe, but swimming later was a little bit more scarey! I have to say that when I say I swam, what I mean is that I sat on the side contemplating for a long time before jumping in, swimming about 5m out into the lake and back a couple of times and then thought, right, good. Swam in the deepest lake in Uganda. Tick. Can get out now.
In the late afternoon I went for a walk around and would have lots of spectacular photos to share with you, but camera battery died. Sorry.
I was going to spend 2 full days here, but in the end they didn’t have space for me the 3rd night so I got up the next day to get the bus back to Kampala. This time I left after breakfast, but was still 6pm before getting to Kampala and properly busting for the loo this time! Thankfully, we stopped briefly around 4pm for the loo, so the last 2 hours weren’t so much of a torture. Plus I had learnt from the first journey and had fully charged my ipod for a good tune-filled journey! J
So back in Kampala, I had the most scarey boda-boda experience to date, but thankfully there was a room for me at the same backpackers so that was great!
So today, I had a lovely lazy morning, proper coffee, did my washing (exciting I know!), and then decided to walk into Kampala. I did come across one of the big shopping centres and got in some much needed supplies for going back to Sudan, but the walk did take quite a long time (it is far, not that I am particularly slow!), but that was probably the best way to see Kampala and get a feel for the layout and the atmosphere of the place. It is quite a safe city (at least in the day – I haven’t tried it at night as probably not wise in any new city on your own). Got tired of walking around 6:30pm after a couple of breaks, so decided to get a boda-boda back. And not scarey this time! Must be getting used to it! :)
So another day here in Kampala tomorrow. Think I might try and go to the markets and look for some clothes and shoes, or maybe just look around as, well, I don’t like shopping that much! Then the next day off to Jinja! Yay! Looking forward to that.