http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/William-Driscoll/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from William Driscoll en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:08:01 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:08:01 +0000 I woke at 4am to make the first Kalita bus at 5. After finishing some last minute packing making a final sweep and then taking a second to soak in one last look at the place that had been home for the last three months I rushed to the first roundabout in town. The spot being the designated location of departures for the Kalitas. Of course I wasnrsquot surprised to find that no one else had d http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Eastern-Region/Jinja/blog-355581.html We arrived at the gates to find the place seemingly deserted. Looking at our watches we concluded that the memorial center would probably open soon enough. We walked up the long entranceway to the main building looking for anyone who might know when the center opened. I gazed around the grounds thinking how normal the school looked. Essentially it looks the same as it did back in April of 1994. H http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Province-du-Sud/Gikongoro/blog-355570.html Janis and I met in KLA. We spent the night there before trying to find the Jaguar bus service to Kigali the next morning. Hoping to catch the 8 am departure we set out early but were dismayed to see the bus pulling out of the parking lot early as we arrived. This turned out to be good thing when I started feeling incredibly nauseous from taking my Malaria pills on an empty stomach. Janis walked a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Ville-de-Kigali/Kigali/blog-355564.html Study on Ugandan TransportationAn Outsiderrsquos PerspectiveThe following is a look into the different means of getting oneself from one location to another in Uganda. Some of these options are unique to the country some to East Africa. While other options are a bit more familiar. The purpose of this essay is to give the reader a perspective into Ugandans daily lives through their use of trans http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-348526.html Whether due to language barriers or cultural differences the randomness of some conversations with Fort Portalhellip ites Fort Portalans is always perplexing but often times downright amusing. I had just spent the evening at Farrah and Emeraldrsquos house all three of us crowded around a small laptop trying to hold our breaths straining to hear the pirated DVD through the computer spea http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-346269.html I had been waiting for this day for two years. No I have been weighed down under complete anticipation of this momentous day for eight long years It was finally here and I had reached the culmination of my East African vacation Election Day in Nairobi Kenya. We started the day off taking a matatu from Moshi to Arusha Tanzania. The previous night was spent at a school Emerald had worked at two y http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-343631.html Trying to describe the beauty that is Zanzibar is a fruitless exercise in wasted energy. So I will have to refer you to the pictureshellipWe flew directly from Entebbe Uganda to Zanzibar on Air Uganda. Overall the flight experience was extremely positive and I would recommend taking this route rather then overland by bus. Especially considering the fact that at the same time my friend Emera http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/blog-343616.html Finishing off a wonderful weekend I traveled up north with my roommates to the Semuliki National Park. Now Amanda and Janis are two of the best and prettiest housemates one could ever hope to find in the FP greater area if not the whole of Africa. I say this because itrsquos true but more to the point I say this because they bribe me with amazing dinners and even better deserts. They have http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Bundibugyo/blog-334680.html To me the real enjoyment of traveling is getting to know a place not just superficially but really getting to know a place. Itrsquos about the relationships one builds the ordinary daily occurrence one sees and pulse of the community one feels. Ironically enough no matter where you are in the world there are a few human experiences that afford an outsider a unique cultural perspective a w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-334215.html Emerald and I were enjoying lunch at a local restaurant deep in conversation when a smart well dressed looking gentleman walked over from his table to politely introduce himself. A bit jaded from cute children demanding that I give them ldquotheirrdquo money or the shifty characters continually proposing obvious scams that promise to make us both rich I waited for the next lessthenenter http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/blog-334208.html ldquoKAMPALAKAMPALAKAMPALArdquo yelled the Kalita bus attended. At seven A.M. the last thing I needed was an overzealous man in his vest uniform shouting in my ear. I didnrsquot have time to grab breakfast inbetween throwing clothes in a bag for the weekend and I was beginning to seriously regret the oversight before my fourhour ride. I meet up with Ruth and Emerald and we find the last http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Central-Region/Kampala/blog-331483.html 92108What is happiness Right now happiness is finding the perfect pillow and having a western toilet.My living situation was getting a little worrisome I didnrsquot want to be living in the Hostel my whole time in Uganda nor did I want to be spending that kind of cash. So when I found out two Mizunga girls were willing to share their house I was absolutely thrilled to say the least. Appa http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-326796.html 91908It is passed my bedtime and I am exhausted but here we go anywayhellip As I am sure you can tell because of the lack of internet access these are probably not written at the same time they are posted. I am only able to write entries when I have time at night and then upload them when I get a chance to drop into a internet caf. For the last few days we have had a group from the states http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-326793.html My first day in Fort Portal from hereon FP washellip interesting. After arriving from Kampala late the night before I quickly found an empty room in the Y.E.S. hostel It is used to house groups of volunteers or welcome weary travelers providing another revenue stream for the organization. I dropped my oversized pack threw my camera case and day pack under the bed wrestled with my mosquito http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-324935.html Hey everyoneI am in Fort Portal alive and well. The power is out and i am running out of batteries so i will have to make this quick.The travel was long and hard but everything worked out well. I will expand on this more once i have stable internet and power. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Fort-Portal/blog-324265.html Really tiki themes and Africa have little in common and yet oddly enough the Kona Tiki Lounge in Oakland seemed like the perfect place to throw a goingaway party. And it was. Leanne my close friend was kind enough to put this wonderful shindig together complete with a chocolatechocolatechocolate cake from Merritt Restaurant a favorite place of ours. Also tasty were the Macadamia ChiChi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Heathrow-Airport/blog-323515.html I write this from the Heathrow Airport where I am three and a half hours deep into my layover. My travels started out at SFO before the 10hour flight to London. After seven hours here I will finally be off to Uganda on a 13hour flight to Entebbe which is twenty minutes outside of the capital Kampala. Unfortunately I wont be done yet. I will then catch a ride for fiveandahalf hours to Fort http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Heathrow-Airport/blog-323516.html I would like to start my travel blog with a favorite quote.Travel is fatal to prejudice bigotry and narrowmindedness all foes to true understanding. Likewise tolerance or broad wholesome charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in our little corner of the earth all one's lifetime... Mark Twain...And it begins.With a little less then a month from departur http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Berkeley/blog-314271.html