Today was a rest day and we enjoyed a lie-in and a more leisurely morning before being taken by Fred, Joseph and David to the source of the Nile at Jinja. It is beautiful and fascinating that this mighty river flows so far - it takes three months for the water to reach Egypt. We were very grateful to be doing this with Ugandans - David talked the boat pilot down from 165,000 Ugandan Shillings to 45,000!
 |
| The team with our wonderful hosts (l-r Sarah, Joseph, Jack, Esther, David, Kathryn, me, Clara, Emily, Fred, Rachel) |
After this we went shopping at a little Jinja craft shop run by Molly - a friend of our hosts. The young people all bought presents for friends and family. Then it was back to the hotel for lunch and to prepare to depart for Mayuge region.
Due to the truck needing repairs, we were delayed in setting off but it was a breathtaking drive through wetland, rice paddies, rocky landscapes and green forest. Uganda is a beautiful country - even with the dryness and dust. As we travelled, towns got smaller, villages poorer and mud huts the more common type of housing. These are made of bricks fired from the very soil of Uganda - the orange earth which forms the roads and cakes our clothes in its dust also becomes the home and shelter of the poorer people here. They truly are people of the earth. Roofs are mostly sticks or some kind of reeds making a teepee shape. These look pretty, but I don't think I would want to have to live in one.
David explained to me that we were now very remote - far from any major towns. This was a chance to see the real, ancient Uganda which is still unspoiled, relatively speaking, and where traditional ways of life still prevail (although it seems that all of Ugandan culture is to a large extent shaped by tradition). Boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis), bikes and cars become less numerous, and we were increasingly the only private cars on the roads. As we rolled into our destination, the village of Nango in Malongo Sub-county, I began to wonder what our accommodation would be like - I hadn't seen a power line for some time! Indeed, on arrival, we found our hotel had no electricity and no running water! A generator from a nearby shop provides occasional power, but as night fell, we were reliant on candles and torches.
The rooms were basic - about 7 feet by 7 feet with bare walls, a corrugated iron roof and a single bed. The beds thankfully are comfortable and include clean bedding, but this is as far from home comforts as we've been. Toilets are standard Ugandan issue (read: a hole in the ground) and there are no showers - just a basic concrete cubicle, 2 jerrycans of well water and a chunk of soap.
 |
| Hotel number 2 - much more basic |
 |
| Yep, this was our toilet for 4 days |
After about 45 minutes organising rooms, putting up mosquito nets and unloading our stuff, it was 9pm before we had our dinner - mercifully a delicious beef stew with rice and potatoes cooked by Florence, the mother of Timothy and Paul, and wife of TAIP director Sam. She came up especially with her friend Linda to cook for the team - a wonderful blessing!
It feels much edgier here, and this, the basic conditions, plus the darkness and a bout of homesickness brought a couple of the girls out in tears, but we all felt more human after dinner. A crazy post-Market Day party near our compound kept us awake quite late, but apart from this and other random Ugandan night noises, we all slept pretty well. We are almost always tired these days, but glad to be here, on the second leg of our Uganda adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment