Uganda: A Journey of the Senses

November 2019

If I were to describe Rwanda as organized and a country that prides itself on structure (people actually follow the speed limit!), I would describe Uganda as pretty much the opposite; a whirlwind and true journey of all of your senses. Where to begin…

I had a week off from my internship and decided to spend it exploring one of Rwanda’s bordering countries. We took a quick 4 hour bus ride across the border and entered into Uganda, and Dorothy, we were not in Kansas anymore. Uganda is a much bigger country than Rwanda and functions very differently. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of East Africa, hello Uganda...way to keep me on my toes!

We had an amazing trip, starting at Lake Bunyoni and continuing to Fort Portal, Kampala and finally Sipi Falls. Lake Bunyoni is a devastatingly beautiful lake with 29 islands to explore including the infamous “punishment island” where pregnant teens were sent as punishment and “zebra island” which actually only consists of 2 zebras that a rich man brought to the island (bougey). The landscape and islands are beyond and we had an amazing weekend taking outdoor showers, dancing on docks, swimming and hiking through villages to incredible lake views.

Feeling pretty spoiled after Bunyoni, we continued north to Fort Portal, known for its nature and beautiful crater lakes. We were told that the bus left at 3am so woke up at 2am to make the dark trek to the bus park. Ugandans love to party and the clubs were BUMPIN, music pouring into the streets as we finally reached the bus park only to discover that the bus really left at 3pm, which in Ugandan time is actually 5pm. Feeling defeated that we lost a day of travel, we danced ourselves back to our hostel beds in shame.

A day later we finally made it to Fort Portal- better late then never! Fort Portal has over 20 crater lakes formed by volcanic craters and it seemed that everywhere we turned was another crater in the distance. People were going about their day as usual, farming, rearing animals, doing laundry in the water of the lakes unfazed by their surroundings as the two muzungos stood jaws to the floor. Amazing that this landscape is someones everyday back yard.

When we finally picked our jaws off the floor, we headed to Kampala, the capitol city of Uganda. Kampala is something else. Unlike any city I've experienced, it’s super hectic and a true journey of all of your senses, you need to be alert and ready to take on the action or you will end up on the side of the road in fetal position. The city is so alive, with motorcycles zooming past you from all angles, people everywhere and massive lively markets selling everything and anything you could want. In one day I was almost hit by 8 motorcycles, had live grasshoppers thrown at me in the market and had a young boy attempt to steal my phone as I was waiting in traffic on my motorcycle. There is so much stimuli and things going on around you, it was an exhilarating day!

As I said before, Ugandans love a good party and the nightlife is really a vibe! In another vein, Uganda also faces a lot of corruption and we witnessed this first hand on our way to a party one night. Our Uber driver was stopped by the police and the cop opened with “many people think police are corrupt but we aren’t” and ended with “in the morning our children still need to drink milk, what can you do about this?” After a back and forth between the policewoman and Uber driver that was a mix of good cop- bad cop, sharp accusations and jokes about the driver never being good enough for the policewoman’s daughter (the convo took a turn!), the driver paid the policewoman off 1,000 shillings (the equivalent of 3 cents), she was satisfied and went on her way. When we finally reached our destination and realized that our ride was x3 the price it was supposed to be due to the police and driver’s interrogation, we couldn’t help but think that the joke was on us. The driver paid 3 cents to get the police off his back but made this up by tripling his Uber ride. A true lesson learned in hustling.

We ended our trip with the magical Sipi Falls. Aside from safaris and national parks, most of Uganda’s natural attractions are unregulated which means they have little restrictions and you can really get up close and personal. Where many tourist sites have rules as to where you can be and how close you can go, Sipi has none of this and by the end of the day, we were on, around and all up in the waterfalls. We climbed down cliffs and stood at the mouth of the powerful falls with masses of water flooding in all directions. I could hardly open my eyes, truly a wet rat, but at the same time felt so connected to nature with the powerful wind, mist and water on my face. We crawled back up the cliff completely soaked but 100% satisfied.

Being in Rwanda for so long, Uganda was the perfect break to wake me up and remind me how big and diverse this continent is. I’m ready to see more!