Sippi Falls and Kampala.

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Sippi Falls - July 20, 2008

TASO organized a group troup to Sippi Falls. The falls are located in an area callled Kapchorwa. Kapchorwa is at the base of Mt. Elgon. The day started off okay. The weather was not too hot or cold, though there was some overcast. As we got into the van, there were already 4 people inside the vehicle. We were aware that there were going to be other people joining us but we were not aware of the fact that an additional four people had been invited after the plans were made to go. The van itself can hold five people per bench comfortably. By the time we picked up everyone, the van was holding 17 people. I was not really impressed by this to be honest. The lady who organized it kept telling us that we could, we could fit. We managed it just barely, we had to have one of the girls from DC sit on a guys lap for the entire trip there and back.
The falls themselves were alright. There are three in total. The size of the falls went from smallest to largest, starting at the top of the falls. The size of the falls is determined by the height of waterfalls. The third fall was the most impressive. We were asked if we wanted to hike down to it. Lindsey and I asked how long it was going to take and how hard the climb was. Their reply was, oh its only 15min and its really easy. Needless to say, we were both very skeptical of their estimation. We did hike right up to the second fall though. It is located on a tourist/hotel site. I got to see a wild chameleon that a bunch of local children were showing off. I snapped a picture of it,and was asked to pay 500 shillings for the picture. Should have known that was coming.

Other than that, sippi falls, was pretty uneventufll.

Kampala - July 25-27, 2008

On friday, Kristen, Meiti, Lindsey and I left work around 2pm. We talked down to the taxi (mutatu) park in Mbale. We were ushered into a van that was headed to Kampala. The downside of the van was that it was completely empty and that it took about 35 minutes for it to fill up. As we were sitting in the van, street boys kept coming to our windows and looking at us. They wanted one of three things, water, food or money. They would motion with their hands that they were hungry. It was really hard to sit there and not give them anything. They were filty dirty and obviously malnourished. The van departed Mbale around 3pm and we arrived in Kampala at 6:30pm in the downtown core. We got out and made our way up the street to the Garden City Shopping centre. Walking into the mall was really strange. It looked like any other mall you would find in Vancouver. Here we got some dinner at another indian restaurant and then caught a movie at the cinemaplex inside the mall. We saw the Dark Knight. Before we were allowed to enter the theatre, our bags were checked by an armed guard. Because we had just come from Mbale, we all had cameras inside our bags. But because my camera was inside its own camera bag, I was hassled by the guard who was seriously not impressed. Dont worry though, after I explained that we had just come from Mbale for the weekend he let me pass but with a dire warning not to do it again. The movie was scheduled to start at 9:45pm. It was opening night for the flick and alot of people had come out to see it. Back in Canada, people would line up in a nice orderly line. In Kampala, you pushed, and shoved to keep your place in line. I was rather proud of myself when I mangaged to be in the first ten people to actually enter the theatre. I was able to snag some great seats for the rest of the girls. During the movie however, people cheered and booed. They did not boo or cheer because of how the movie played out but rather they vocalized their happiness or displeasure with the characters or the action in the movie. It was quite entertaining. After the movie was finished, Olivia and Lindsey wanted to go to a local club/bar to see some of their friends. It was a loud/noisy bar, lots of dancing and drinking. No id was needed?? I was a little bit of a party pooper that night because at 2pm I told Olivia and Lindsey that I was tired and wanted to leave. I had basically sat there and watched them dance. I was just not up for it that night.
On Saturday, we got up and went to a place called 1000 cups. Here, we had some great coffee and got to peruse their craft shop. It was a great way to start the day. After we sated ourselves on caffine, we walked across the street to the African Craft Village. This little village was packed with craft shops. I had planned on what to buy my friends and family but as I went from shop to shop, I felt like I was in a daze. There was soo much to buy that I could not make up my mind. I did not end up buying anything. Later, after we left the village, we walked around downtown Kampala in search of lunch. We ended up going to a place called "Steers". This is the African equivalent to McDonalds. I had a burger that was not at all appeasing to my burger craving.In the afternoon, I was left to my own devices. I grabbed a boda and went to the NationalTheatre. Behind the theatre was another craft village. Here I loaded up with gifts. And no, I am not going to say what I bought. Now,here comes the fun part of my trip. Olivia needed to go to the local bus depot to pick up a friend who was coming from Kigali, Rwanda. On the way to the depot, Olivia got pulled over by the police. Apparently, if you enter an intersection and need to make a right handed turn, you must exit the intersection before the light turns reds. Unlike in Canada, when you enter an intersection to turn left on a green light, you may complete the turn after the light has turned red. This is not the case in Kampala. In a city of several million, there is only two stop lights in the entire city. Road traffic laws are selectively enforced. But back to our predicament, say first told us that we would have to pay 80,000 shillings for the violation. We said no and tried to explain why we turned right after the light had turned red. The police officer then told us that they would impound the car for the rest of the weekend, or that they would take Olivia's driving permit but she could keep the car???????????? Again, we said no. The officers went and deiliberated and came back with an offer of giving us a fine but with no receipt. So in other words, a bribe. Again, we said no. Finally, they said that we could go, but that because we were "friends" we should by them pop. But because there was no was no place by where we could go and get pop, they just let us go. Further on our way to the bus depot, Olivia ended doing a Uey on the most crowded highway; almost drove over a lady in the main market, we ended up getting lost.Luckiy enough, we made it to the bus depot in one piece, albiet I was soooo cark sick by that time. We waited about 2 hours for Jobb's bus to arrive.
After we got Jobb, we had to get back into town for dinner at Fang Fangs, a favourite chinese food restaurant here in Kampala. When we arrived at the parking lot outside restaurant, I literally fell out of the car and promplty vomited on the pavement. My arms and back had siezed up in the car because of how hard I tried to keep my stomach in. All in all, this was probably my lowest moment in all the time I have spent in Uganda.I could not enjoy the food at Fang Fangs because my stomach and I were not cooperating with each other.
On Sunday, we went to a coffee shop/ bakery for breakfast. I had a cheese croissant and a cinnamon bun. It was sooooooo delicious. All in all, the trip to Kampala was good except for that one episode. But on the way back to Mbale, we got lost. We were headed in the wrong direction and had to back track. The detour put an extra hour on the trip back.

I was unable to get many photos due to the tight restriction on doing so. But it was a busy, crowded, dirty, polluted place. But it was a nice change from Mbale.

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