Time goes fast. It has been almost one month since we arrived. We found a place where to stay, we waited for the elections to pass and we have been trying to reach our goals here in Uganda. One month here... How has it been?
Once you arrive to Kampala there are some things you have to get used to: chaotic traffic, which can be horrible at certain point, pollution, which is far much more than we get in Madrid, rubbish on the streets... All the typical stuff I heard you have to get used when you come to Africa. Oh, I almost forget it, the red dust which is all around.
But there are also some other things which are really easy to get used to here in Uganda, for example the weather. It is just wonderful, Kampala is almost at 1200 metres above the sea level, and that makes the weather quite soft, even if we are almost at the equator; even now when the dry season is getting too long and everybody complains about how hot it is, we might have like 30ºC, and at night it gets fresh. Let's say that we have around 25-27 degrees during the day and around 18 degrees at night.
And something else which really defines Uganda is how nice Ugandans are. Everywhere you go and whoever you talk to, there is always a smile waiting for you. Especially children, you can hear all around children telling you "Hello muzungu!" while waving their hand. That's even more usual if you get out of Kampala, where children are very curious about muzungus.
Right, so we are in Kampala. What should I show you? Where shall we go? Well, that is actually not so important now, the point is not where, but how will we go? Let me explain.
Distances in Kampala are long, you look into the map and it seems that things are just around the corner, and they are, it is just that the corner is a bit too far. If you don't have a car you have two main options in the public transport: matatu and boda-boda.
Matatus, locally called taxis, are a very common means of transport in Africa. Basically they shared taxis, minivans that have a fix destination and once they are full they start the trip while people get on and off all along the route. It is like a minibus, and there are matatus for long distances and short distances. Here in Kampala most of the matatus go to the centre, going from and to Old Taxi Park or New Taxi Park and surroundings.
I am going to introduce you Old Taxi Park. It is a wonder of the transport engineering. Imagine a square, a big one. Now fill it with as many cars as you can. Right? Ok, now do it in a way that they all can enter and get out in order through many different ways... It's complicated, isn't it? OK, that is Old Taxi Park, the organised chaos.
Welcome to Old Taxi Park:
Here you are two pictures so you can see that I am not exagerating about how many cars they can fit there.
What you see in the second pictures is about half of Old Taxi Park. To tell the truth yesterday, when I took the picture, it was not very full, you still can see a lot of the ground. If you want another funny point of view you can take a look at Google Maps (by the way I guess you have noticed that "red dust which is all around").
I have to admit that I really like Old Taxi Park. Sometimes it can be difficult to cross, but even then you find people all around in between the taxis selling everything you can imagine, from water, sodas, chips and ice cream to newspapers, fruit, belts, cotton buds, earrings or anything else you may need.
Matatus are cheap, but they are not always the best option. Sometimes the traffic is too bad, and other times you don't need to pass through the city centre. There are also what we call taxis, here they are called cabs, special hires or just specials, but they are usually far too expensive and we only use them at night. In any other case your option is a boda-boda, or simply boda.
A boda-boda is a motorcycle taxi. They started as bicycle taxis taking people in between the borders of Kenya and Uganda. They offered "border-border" service, shouting "boda-boda!" to people crossing the border, and they ended up being called boda-boda.
Now they are all around and they usually ride a motorbike instead of the bicycle. You can either stop them on the street or get one in one of the many stages which are all around the city. In a matatu most of the times you get the right prices, but with bodas you will have to negotiate. At the beginning it is a bit difficult, but after a while you get to know the normal prices and then everything goes smoothly. You offer the right price and if one doesn't accept it the next one will take you, there are really many of them.
Of course, boda-bodas can take one or two passengers.
Of course, a motorcycle doesn't have to be use only by so few passengers. A motorcycle is a perfect mean of transport for the whole of the family. In Europe, when you have a child, you by an MPV, one of those family vans, because that's the only way to carry your family; here, when you have three children, you buy a motorcycle.
Yes, look closely, there are three children.
Boda-bodas are a very useful way of moving around the city, but let's face it, it is a bit dangerous. So there are some things you should care about when taking a boda. It is not a bad idea wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle, so we have bought helmets that we always take with us when we are going to the city and we know we are taking a boda. And it is also highly recommendable having a boda whom you can trust, so when you know a good one you get his telephone number and call him when you need him. We also have our usual bodas, Henry and Samuel, they drive very carefully and they always give us the right price with no need to bargain.
Once you get to know how to deal with all this, you are ready to live in Kampala, the city where instead of sparrows, as we have in Europe, you have pterodactyls.
They are called marabous and the first time you see one of them flying low over your head not knowing where it is coming from, you think that there is something wrong. Even now that I am used to them, when I see one on a lamppost I think it is going snap.
After one month in Kampala, we have our everyday life, we enjoy the time with our housemates, we made some new friends, we go out from time to time, or we go to the cinema, or to the theatre... We are starting to know the city and, somtimes, little by little, getting out of Kampala.
We will keep on discovering Uganda together.
