On four occassions I thought I was going to die today

---

Off I went on my Jinja tour today which apparently included the source of the Nile however I had to pay my entrance fee seperately when I got there hmmmmm. not to worry I got refunded when I got back - I was sure of it!

Jinja, the second largest town and industrial heart of Uganda is 80km from Kampala, here is found the source of the Nile! so Levi (my very friendly tour guide) and Silent Bob (my driver) took me on my trip to Jinja, first we headed over the Owen falls Dam which was my first ever glimpse of the Nile and it looked beautiful, I was really excited about visiting the source now.

We drove through Jinja which looked like a mix of the wildwest and the Australian outback - it was really bizzare there was red dust everywhere, we drove for a long time and then silent Bob stopped on several occassions to speak to locals, it soon occured to me - WE ARE LOST - and a friendly (ish) local offers to show us the way if we follow him ( OMG I am going to die 1) but no we arrive safely at Bujagalli Falls where I am allocated a local guide who will tell me all about the area, the guide is keen to sell me the idea of canoeing and water rafting but I decline. He then tells me that this will probably be the last time I will be able to see Bujagalli falls as it is because the government is building a dam to supply electricity to kenya and many people are losing their homes with no compensation. All the local tour businessmen are having to go upstream for work. The bujagalli falls are beautiful and I feel privelidged to have seen then, these falls form part of the Nile.

We then drive on to the source of the Nile, well, not Joanna Lumley style, unfortunately they do not take people up into the North to the forest, they can only show tourists the area where the Nile becomes the widest however it was really cool to finally see the Nile and be able to place my hands in it, the water was so clean, locals wash their clothes in it and collect water in cartons to take to their homes for drinking, cooking and washing - we really do take turning the tap on for granted. They however feel blessed to be able to take water from the Nile.

Lunchtime, Levi explains that he knows a great place in Jinja for lunch, he pulls up outside and I said are you coming in? he explains that due to policies he is not allowed to eat with me! OK - when did Africans become sticklers for rules? so off I walked into this cafe on my own that made the kebab van in Slough high street look like a five star restaurant! it was dark, dingy and the mossie net had flies on top of flies. An African woman walks up to me and says "yes? you want what???"(OMG I am going to die 2) Table for 1 please I heard myself say like a meek little mouse "WHAT???" she shouted "errr food" I said pointing to my mouth she said yes thrusting a menu at me saying these prices have gone up and I really should learn to keep my mouth shut as I said I bet they have "WHAT??" is what I got back oh er nothing I replied, I opening the menu and a mosquito flew out, I decided quick a cola and chips - my thinking is you cant get food poisoning from chips - can you?

she charged me 3 times the price which worked out to be only a few quid so I am not going to moan and then I ate the chips and got out of there quick, Levi asked how my lunch was - I said mmmm lovely and he said Really? like it should have been bad? did he expect me to have a bad lunch?

After lunch we were to go on a forest walk, I thought this would be nice, we arrived at the forest entrance and he said - we are going to drive through the forest as it is not safe to walk, I asked why and he said because of the loggers....

we drove through and recieved quite a few evil glares, I decided to put the camera away and stick my handbag under the seat, we saw a truck of people and he said these are the workers - I looked and they were all children, I locked my door (OMG I am going to die 3) we came through to the other side and a man ran up to the the car yelling NO TV CREW - LEAVE!!! I requested that we head back to the road and we did.

We started to drive back towards Kampala, Levi pointed out the Tea plantations and Sugar canes and then it all went quiet, he had fallen asleep, I had a question about something I had seen, I asked silent Bob but he just looked at me scared, so I enjoed the scenery until we got back to the hotel.

I was sat out on the veranda having a pineapple juice and I saw Mike coming out from his massage, he didnt see me as he walked off to chill out somewhere and I thought, I am going to get my toenails done - so off I went.

The lovely lady in the parlour plugged the foot bath in using a pen my thoughts here were if I put my feet in the water am I going to be electricuted? (OMG I am going to die 4)

During dinner tonight I chose to try a vegetable called Bugga and celebrated still being alive by eating chocolate pudding - but apparently according to the Jesus freak americans sitting on the table next to us I should have tried the Rice and Pea soup because "Jesus Christ himself would have loved this soup"

I will leave you with some pictures of my day

L
xxx

---

Comments

[Richard Noyce]

Wonderful - what a hoot of a day you have had! Never mind the OMGIND's - you didn't... nice piece of writing, Lisa, R.