Kampala was a noisy, busy, chaotic city
We were having to carefully plan our route wherever we wanted to go as driving through the traffic was a slow and, frankly, nerve-wracking experience
But the city was packed full of interesting buildings and fascinating history and we were enjoying every minute
We had already seen palaces, parliaments and lakes and were busy descending the 320 steps down from the top of the Gadaffi mosque´s minaret.
We had originally planned to visit the Kasubi tombs where the bodies of four Bugandan kings lie but we had met some expats a few days before who told us that it was permanently closed. Apparently Al Shebab burnt it down in 2010 in retribution for the Ugandan army´s peacekeeping presence in Somalia.
So we were excited to hear from our guide at the palace that the tombs had recently been reopened after extensive rebuilding. They weren´t too far away from the mosque – although everywhere seemed a long way through this traffic.
When we arrived we were greeted by Joseph who was not just a guide but also a historian and – as we found out later on in the tour – a member of the royal family
The building itself was similar in construction to the King´s Palace in Rwanda with a huge thatched roof coming down almost to the ground
Each element of the building held a special meaning and the black rings on the ceiling could apparently only be raised into place by the king himself
Work was still being completed on the rebuild and we watched as skilled tradesmen worked on the finishing touches
In this photograph you can see the tombstones of the four kings lying in front of the central wall. However these are simply place-markers for the people to visit and pay their respects. The bodies themselves are actually buried behind the central wall and that area is sacred.
After we had seen inside the tomb Joseph took us to the graveyard behind, where members of the wider royal family are buried
Including his own grandfather making him a cousin of the current king
As the tour came to an end we found ourselves unable to drag ourselves away as Joseph was such an interesting person to talk to
We chatted about the importance of tradition and customs to community cohesion and he told us all about the steps he had had to go through before he was allowed to marry his wife. We also found out that the Bugandan King Daudi studied at Cambridge and trained at Sandhurst. He and his army fought for the UK in the 1st World War and King George gave King Daudi the rank of Captain to show his gratitude.
We talked about the two most important trees in Uganda – the banana tree which is cared for only by women and the fig tree only cared for by men. And we heard that men and women from the same clan are not allowed to marry – you must marry someone from a different clan.
We could have spent days with him and by the time we left it was getting very late. We headed for the nearest shopping mall where we spent an eye-watering £72 on curry and a few bits and bobs at a very posh Carrefour and went back to our AirBnB to fight with a broken washing machine!
That night I lay awake worrying that we had left our washing out on the line. It hadn´t rained for some time but the weather can do anything this close to the equator. So I got up at 3:30am and went outside to get it all back in feeling a bit silly but wanting to be able to finally get some sleep. When we woke up at 6:30am to find the rain lashing down I felt very smug.
We had plans to finish our tour of the city today. The first stop was the Ugandan museum which was so small, gloomy and dated that we vowed to stop going to so many museums from now on.
We pressed on to the Baha´i temple which is open for people of all religions to use for worship. The Baha´i religion was founded in Iran in the 19th century and teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people.
The temple itself was simple but pretty
The grounds were lovely
And it was fascinating talking to the guides who were of the Baha´i religion and seemed very gentle and open people.
Next up was the Uganda Martyrs Shrine dedicated to 45 Christians who were executed on the orders of the King over the course of two years in the late 19th century. It was a strange experience
Our guide stood us in one spot and talked at us for about 20 minutes about Christianity and his book which he had on a USB stick if we wanted to buy it. He pointed to the reflection pool and told us that four Popes had visited the site and that over 1 million people come here to worship once a year (interestingly, this was the public holiday that had delayed us seeing the gorillas)
But he told us little about the martyrs themselves, didn´t show us into the shrine and didn´t even mention the statues around the grounds that are a fundamental part of the experience.
I asked him a couple of times to show us inside the shrine and eventually he got the key and we looked inside
But as for the statues, we were left to seek them out for ourselves!
This was all strange enough but I couldn´t help wondering why the death of 45 people nearly 150 years ago was of such significance to the Ugandan people that a huge shrine was built and so many people – including four Popes – come to worship here. Undoubtably it was a terrible thing for the King to order the executions but far more people have been killed and executed for religious and tribal reasons before and since. It all seems to be caught up in the British attempt to gain wider support for their occupation of the country during colonialism.
It hadn´t been such a successful day today but we had at least done everything we had wanted to do. So we went back to the expensive Carrefour to stock up on food for the next few days and had dinner in a nice café where the lovely waiter recommended I had the cheesecake and was absolutely right.
The drive back to the AirBnB was only 1.2km but it took us nearly an hour. The whole city was gridlocked with heavy lorries and boda boda taxi bikes everywhere
As we sat at the worst junction, with an advert for flour endlessly playing over and over on a big screen in front of us, James started chatting to a group of guys on the pavement to pass the time
Someone in a car on the other side of the road called out to compliment Henry and say how much he loved Landrovers. And then as we slowly made our way across the junction the traffic police started chatting to us, laughing and joking about the traffic
We finally made it back to our temporary home and as I was closing the gates I heard a young girl calling out to me. She was the eldest of a group of kids who lived in the houses opposite. I smiled and said hello so she approached with the rest of the children crowding around behind her.
She asked whether we were explorers like Stanley and when I said yes they all looked at us in awe. She asked why we explored and whether it was to see the animals so I told her about our visits to the gorillas and the Queen Elizabeth national park. I said that their country was beautiful and we loved being there. Their eyes were wide with excitement and they all kept reaching over to touch me. The eldest girl then handed me a piece of paper saying that she had made it for us. As I unfolded it I had a tear in my eye
This city may be busy and loud but it had to be one of the friendliest we had had the privilege of visiting.
As we said our goodbyes James came out with the large bar of chocolate we had just bought from the supermarket. He handed it to them and said it was our present to them. They jumped up and down grinning and went off home happy.
Our next stop was to be the Mabamba swamps to see the famously rare Shoebill bird. But first we had an appointment with the equator. Having had such an anticlimax last time we were determined to do it properly. So we drove an hour west past the road to the swamps to go to the Equator Restaurant.
I had a lot of fun!
Although I´m not sure James was really throwing himself into the whole tourist bit…
We started with the demonstration of how water circles down a sink clockwise in the northern hemisphere
And anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere
The third sink was right on the equator line and a long-time question had been answered – the water really did go straight down
I then jumped across the equator line over and over ´look, I´m in the northern hemisphere…now the southern hemisphere….ooooh, now we´re in different hemispheres….´. James looked on, one raised eyebrow saying everything.
I decided that we would have lunch at a table in the southern hemisphere – the knowledge that our time in this part of the world was becoming increasingly limited starting to enter my mind.
It was less than two hours to the swamps and as we turned off the main road we found ourselves on a slippery, wet dirt road
At one point we saw two men digging on the side of the road. As we slowly drove past, one of the men stopped digging and started throwing muddy water from a bucket at his friend. They were both grinning and laughing as he did it but his friend never stopped digging – the people here seem to find any way they can to brighten their day and pass the time, having fun no matter how hard they are working.
The campsite near the swamps was a bit of a building site but the staff were very welcoming and we were able to organise a guided trip with them into the swamps to search for the Shoebills the next day.
As we settled in, a couple of locals decided to make their home under Henry!
That evening the staff brought us a large plate of fruit which was a lovely gesture. The air was cool and nice but the place was swarming with mosquitoes – as you would expect by the swamps. So we had an early night ready for an early start the next morning.
Our restful night was ruined however by local dogs barking all night in every direction. Music and dogs barking late into the night is common everywhere across Africa and we have become pretty immune to it. But these dogs were so loud and so persistent that they kept waking us up and by the time our alarm went off at 5:30am we felt like we had had no sleep at all.
Some of you may remember me talking about Shoebills when we were in Zambia. We had the option of seeing them at the Bengweulu Swamps, however when we arrived we discovered that there was only one individual there and it would have been a 10 hour hike carrying a canoe on our backs with limited chance of finding it at all. At that point we decided to try and see Shoebills somewhere else and this was now our chance – there were over a dozen here and we would be searching for them whilst sitting in a canoe rather than carrying one!
The swamps were very beautiful
We glided along in our boat
Watching the wildlife go by
Our guide was great, staring out across the water with his eagle-eyes
The captain of the canoe steered us deftly around the swamps and within half an hour we found our first Shoebill
We watched for a long time as he preened and strutted
At one point digging into the wet grasses to try and find food
But then another canoe arrived
He got a little nervous and started flying in short hops to put some space between us
We followed through the grasses for a short while but eventually he had had enough and disappeared into the distance
We pressed on deeper into the swamps and within just a few more minutes we found a second bird
They really are remarkable creatures, looking rather intimidating
Although actually very calm and docile
They are endangered with only between 5,000 and 8,000 individuals remaining, all of whom inhabit the swamps of eastern Africa
Having seen two of the birds we were keen to return to camp as we were literally being eaten alive by mosquitoes. So we were not at all disappointed when our guide suggested we headed back.
We had planned to spend the rest of the day and another night at the same campsite but we needed a good night´s sleep without the barking dogs so I went up to talk to the staff and explain that we were leaving. They were lovely about it and very apologetic for the noise. We felt guilty as it was not their fault at all but we really did have to find somewhere else to stay.
So we headed east to the town of Entebbe, made famous by the hijacking of a passenger aircraft in 1976 and the subsequent rescue by the Israeli military – the subject of more than one film.
To get to Entebbe we either had to drive two hours around the edge of Lake Victoria or cut that time in half and take a ferry. The ferry was free and looked like fun so we set off for the port.
When we arrived we found long queues of people waiting to get their boarding passes. We joined the queue and were happily waiting and chatting when a kind lady gestured to me and offered me a place by her near the front of the queue. I shook my head and said thank you but it wasn´t necessary – but other people around nodded and gestured for us to move forward.
Everyone in this country had been so warm and welcoming to us, it is humbling to be treated with such kindness by so many people.
Having got our boarding passes we returned to Henry to wait for the gates to open. We attracted more than a little attention!
Everyone was fascintated with Henry and wanted a guided tour
James drove Henry onto the ferry but only one person was allowed to stay with each vehicle so I had to queue with the other foot passengers before boarding. Whilst I was in the queue, talking with the only other European visitor, a Ugandan gentleman came up to comment on Henry and start a conversation with me. He introduced himself as Carlos and was clearly very intelligent and well educated. I was enjoying our conversation when he suddenly disappeared – I was a little disappointed until I boarded the ferry and found him and James sitting together putting the world to rights!
We spent the whole crossing with him and found his thoughts and views on things fascinating.
When James had to drive Henry off the ferry without me I had trouble finding them again in the crowds of people on the other side. I spotted the other European couple already in their Landrover and they gestured for me to walk further up the road where they thought they could see Henry parked. I wasn´t so sure and was a little concerned at how I was going to find my boys. Carlos walked with me and refused to leave me until we finally found James and Henry waiting. I shook his hand warmly and thanked him for his help. He doffed his hat to me and wandered away up the street – almost like a spirit disappearing into the crowds with a smile.
It is hard to imagine a town more opposite to Kampala than Entebbe. It was much smaller for a start with wide avenues and hardly any traffic. The whole place exuded affluence and calm.
The only problem I could foresee was finding somewhere to stay. My research had not found much in the way of campsites so we assumed we were going to be in a hotel or guesthouse again.
We couldn´t find the first place we tried so went across town to a lodge that may or may not have allowed camping. I wasn´t hopeful and expected to be spending most of the day going from one place to the next trying to find a home.
But when we arrived we were amazed. The place was wonderful and best of all, it didn´t just allow camping, it actually had a proper campsite in the grounds – with clean, well maintained ablutions very close to our pitch. Our first real campsite since Tanzania. We couldn´t believe our luck and booked in for two nights
With the rest of the day unexpectedly to ourselves I went up to the restaurant area to write some of the blog
Whilst James cleaned Henry – his air filters had got choked with all the dust over the last couple of weeks
With Entebbe being high up again the air was cool and clear with only a few mosquitoes so we had a relaxing evening watching a movie outside and laughing at this little chap who was curious to know who was behind that mirror!
The sweet potato hash browns and full English breakfast in the restaurant the next morning were delicious
After which we headed off to try and find Uganda´s first missionary landing site. Unfortunately the roads didn´t do what the sat nav said and we ended up in the airport trying to negotiate with armed security guards to turn round and get out again! They were very helpful, giving us detailed instructions on how to bypass the airport to get to the landing site but we decided better of it and instead went straight to the Aero Beach.
The Aero Beach is like a film set and is a very curious place. For some reason, someone decided it would be great to bring a load of old aeroplanes to a beach, add a few statues of historical people and let people loose inside
And they were right! It was brilliant
We wandered about for an hour or more with bemused looks on our faces but loving being able to get so close to some weird and wonderful flying machines – some of which we could even climb on
Another claim to fame in Entebbe are the botanical gardens which is where the original Tarzan movie was filmed in 1932
We found a guide who walked us around the gardens telling us all about the trees and flowers
It was beautiful
But there were a lot of spiders sitting on their webs, many of which were stretched right across the path
It was interesting to see so many spiders high up in the trees and across the bushes
I told the guide I wasn´t keen on spiders so along the more dense paths he walked ahead with a stick swinging it back and forth to remove the webs.
Apparently this only happens at specific times of the year when it´s dry – the rain sends them running into hiding
We spent over two hours wandering around the gardens including going into the rainforest area where the Tarzan film was actually set – I´m sure I recognised some of the trees!
As we were nearing the end of the walk, our guide called to us to stop and gestured for James to walk back to where he was standing and look at something. I started walking back as well but he put his hand up and said in a firm voice ´no, mama must stay there, only papa to come´. I was momentarily offended that he should choose to show something to James and exclude me but before I could protest he smiled and said ´mama doesn´t like!´.
The subject of interest became clear and I went from being offended to feeling very touched that he was trying to look after me.
But I did manage to gingerly peer around the tree and see the whole community of enormous spiders that James was standing right in the middle of!
Back at the car park one of the rangers came running up to us and asked if he could have his photograph taken with James and Henry. A group of the staff crowded round to see inside and hear about our travels.
After another fabulous breakfast the next morning and a top up of our food stores at a more reasonably priced Carrefour in a posh mall, we left Entebbe and headed further west to the Ssezibwa waterfalls.
It was a long, slow drive with so much traffic – where was it all going?? But once we arrived a very friendly woman with perfect English welcomed us and asked whether we were sleeping in Henry or a tent. When we told her we slept inside with a pop-up roof she got very excited and started showing us lots of photographs of other visitors who had stayed in roof top tents. We smiled and boasted that Henry was far better than any of those. We promised to let her come round later on and take photos of him for her collection.
As usual in this part of the world, sleeping inside the Landrover meant that we could not camp in the main campsite. We could see the campsite for vehicles just across the river but it meant a long drive to the nearest bridge and back again. It was apparently such a long and complicated route that the lovely lady was concerned we would get lost and called over a security guard to ask him to jump in with us and guide us there.
It took about 20 minutes to do a trip that could have taken 30 seconds had we thought to install water wings on Henry to get him across the river!
We wound our way through tea plantations and a small forest until finally we arrived
The noise of the waterfall was deafening
The facilities were basic but it was very beautiful
James was busy checking Henry over as usual and I was trying unsuccessfully to apply for our travel authorities to enter Kenya – a lack of internet signal was making things very difficult – when a group of three people came over to talk to us. Mark was a CAD designer, Cynthia a pastor and James a local tour guide. They were very chatty and fascinated by Henry and our travels. We talked with them for an hour or more about anything and everything, including Mark throwing us off balance for a moment by asking if we knew Jesus
After they left we had just started to cook dinner when another group of people came over to see us. This time it was the lady from the gate, who was called Fiona and turned out to be the head person here at the falls, along with Titus who was the site manager, Esther who was another member of staff and Ali who was the security guard. Fiona had come to take the photos we promised her and the others had begged to come with her to have a look around and talk to us
We were beginning to feel like film stars! We were also falling completely in love with Uganda and its people
Uganda is a large country and there is so much to do and see here that we could have stayed for months and still not run out of things to keep us excited. From Tanzania to Rwanda to Uganda, the whole of east Africa was proving to be incredible and our journey through it was a period in our travels that was going to stay with us forever. It felt as though our lives were being lived in full three dimensional technicolour. My soul was basking in the beauty, the friendliness, the peace and the calm and I never wanted to leave.
But a big, black shadow was casting an ever-growing spectre over our lives and our future. We had spent almost three years travelling through Africa from Morocco to Cape Town to Uganda. Three years of literally living my dream – the continent that has called to me for thirty years, a Landrover and my soul mate. I could not ever have asked for more.
But we had set out to travel the world and Africa was only supposed to be the first leg of our journey. We had planned to make Christmas 2023 the end of our Africa journey but we had been nowhere near ready to leave by then so extended our plans by another six months. Six months later we still had to finish our exploration of Uganda and do justice to the whole of Kenya. But then we would have run out of excuses to stay and should be shipping out and heading towards Asia.
This fact was playing on my mind now as we had already been away from family and friends in the UK longer than any other leg of our trip – the internal struggle between living the life we want and missing everyone we love getting no easier. We needed to start thinking about our next visit to the UK but we knew that this time, when we left Africa to fly back to Europe, we would not be returning.
Our priorities and our desires were being stretched in all directions. My head and my heart were firmly in Africa but I was missing my family. We had booked flights for a date that we thought would give us plenty of time but that date was coming up on us frighteningly quickly.
So for the first time since we started travelling we were in a rush. And worse still that rush took us not just to a flight to the UK but a flight out of Africa forever. My heart was beginning to show signs of fracturing and my head was being torn in two. We had decided not to buy the farm in Namibia because we wanted to travel the world. Now the world was calling on that deal but would Africa let us go….?
The Sidetracked Sagas 