Day 1: 17th Dec, 2009
Right now I am listening to some of the noisiest insects in the world...It’s 7 pm local time and I feel like it should be midnight...and this is the tale of how I got here...
I have somehow made it to Uganda. Although I only left last night it feels as though I have been on the go for a very long time indeed. My flight out of Gatwick was at 8 o’clock, but I left the parents and brothers in a slightly tearful departure at just after six.
Having moped around the departure lounge and the duty free shops I headed to the gate and eventually boarded the flight. Sitting next to a woman from Melbourne called Jackie we discussed the finer points of how accountancy is a dull job...she was an accountant. I think I have managed to convince her that it will be more fun if she pretends that she is actually something like an assistant to help wallabies cross the road. I’m not sure if she took offence.
I then proceeded to fall asleep and somewhere en route I lost four hours as the plane came tumbling down in Dubai. Stepping off the plane felt like walking into a desert, only without all the sand and camels. One security check later and I was on for another flight. This one to Entebbe, Uganda...via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I had the joy of sitting next to a strong-willed, and rather voluptuous Ugandan lady. The air stewardesses didn’t stand a chance against her such was her strong will.
Eventually we landed in Entebbe airport, Uganda. Here many of queued for several minute...leading on to the best part of an hour to get the visa we needed. US$50 later I was allowed in to the country where I was met by Peter, Dr Mason’s step son, and Solomon, our driver. I can only assume that the flight had left me in some way delirious, that or my body’s confusion over what the weather was doing (I left Gatwick when it was snowing, and I arrived on the Equator to 25 degree Celsius, sunny skies). I had apparently stepped into a land where people who invent colours were being outwitted. The roads into Kampala were awash with every colour that is unimaginable! It was like gay pride had walked through the streets with its rainbow paint at the end of a very large paint brush. It may be illegal to have drab things in Uganda. I’ll look into that.
A quick drive through Kampala and the surrounding area saw a wonderful array of street hawkers selling everything from phone credit to joke shop masks and fake glasses. It was a fantastic sight! I am writing from the inside of a 30 room house which is owned by Mrs Mason/Auntie Dinah (depending on how the mood takes me – under instruction from Peter her son of course!). The most incredible views of Lake Victoria stretch across the back balconies. Of course I have taken a picture or two of that...it would be rude not to.
The eagle eyed local children have wasted no time welcoming me to Uganda by shouting “Hey, Mzungo" (meaning ‘white man’ in Swahili)...and there I was thinking I would blend in. Neverthemind though.
I am still awaiting my host, Mrs Mason/Auntie Dinah, she has had an exam for her MA today so she is expected back quite late. Alas, I smell so I am off to make me all clean and shiny!
Talk soon....
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