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Published: August 6th 2012
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I ended up spending almost a week in Kampala, when I had only planned a couple of days. At first, I had to spend a couple of days running around the cities to get some of my possessions fixed or replaced, as well as make a few purchases to send some stuff back home. None of this was easy. Making your way around Kampala is pretty exhausting. You look at a map and the streets look like they have been arranged in the same way as a plate of spaghetti would be. Down around Luwum St. is your trademark African city street scene. The people seem to multipy each street you pass, as well as the street vendors. The Owino market is close by and is a maze of stalls selling all sorts. It took me 15 minutes to try and find my way out and I must have had
mzungu yelled at me 100 times. It's all a lot of fun though!
I can't really talk about Kampala without mentioning the boda bodas - the main method of transport around the city and why the title is Kampala Kamikaze. These are motorbikes, one step up from mopeds, that you
ride on the back of. Of course helmets are deemed unnecessary for driver or passenger(s). Taking one back to my hostel during evening rush hour was like a moped demolition derby with about 20 others riding in front, behind and alongside. This is alll while you are weaving in between minibuses and mounting footpaths to gain a few yards. It's all a lot of fun though! One night, I was on the back of one with another guy, when a passenger on another beside us reached over offering us a cigarette. This pretty much sums up the boda bodas.
In terms of toursit attractions, Kampala has few. I did visit the Kasubi Tombs, which were quite interesting and located on a hill overlooking the rest of the city. This is where some of Uganda's former kings are buried and their descendants still live on the site. They are housed in these impressive mud huts with specially built straw thatced rooves. Unfortunately, the biggest one was burnt down in 2010 by Al Qaeda, according to our guide. I also visited the National Museum of Uganda, which was pretty disappointing.
The nightlife in Kampala is a lot of fun and
like most African cities goes on until sunrise. It may have taken me a while, but I located my first Irish Pub of the trip, named Bubbles O'Leary. Naturally, I felt it would be wrong not to frequent it. Keeping in line with being an Irish pub, it was, of course, the most expensive place in town I got a beer. I went there on the day of the European Cup Finals - rugby and soccer. I was happy enough to jump on the Leinster bandwagon, especially as I watched it with an Ulsterman Joe, from Donegal. The dramatic end to the Champions League final was also fun to watch with the bar packed, watching the penalites on a big outdoor screen.
In terms of food, Kampala isn't wonderful, even though there are quite a few Western style restaurants. The local food consists of the typical East African carb overload, with a bit of meat, which may or may not have been sitting in a tray all day. There is a strong Indian influence here as well, so finding a decent Indian place was the best bet. Naturally enough, I had one day of not straying far from a
toilet, but once I felt better, I decided to buy my gorilla permit and booked my bus out of Kampala.
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