Thursday, June 16, 2011

Africa 2.0

Hello from Kampala, Uganda! Let's see, where did I leave off...

Last summer it was Africa, and well, here's some more. Sadly, this won't be a grand, sweeping, trans-continental journey, but rather some random travels here and there, and this blog is as good a place to post whatever is in my head. And it's Africa, which means guaranteed color.

Starting with the street below my room (count 'em: 107 steps up or down), teeming and steaming masses of humanity swarm around bales and bundles of stuff, plastic jerry cans, recycled clothes, piles of mattresses, tires, mounds of old bus seats. Squads of motorcycles whiz by trucks spewing ungodly fumes (see post below for last year's description of the toxic shroud of pollution that hangs over Kampala). And this is before I reach the main street. One cannot walk in a straight line in this city. One dodges, twists, balances, teeters, ducks, and scoots to get from point A to B. It's a great way to get over a 10-hour jet lag. Um, sure.

Book titles piled over the sidewalks are an endless source of fascination. There are hundreds of books about financial and personal success: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Secrets of Wealth, When Times get Tough, the Tough Get Going, Who Moved My Cheese. Makes me wonder who made this executive decision to unload publishers remainders in Uganda. Do they think the poor wretch selling this on the sidewalk might read this stuff? And my favorite lurid headline of the day: "I Carried Brenda's Body to the Septic Tank" !!

So here's the plan for the next few weeks. Tonight I take the bus to Juba, Southern Sudan (no worries, Juba is fine), and I am told that once you cross the border, there are wonderful sights to see. Then it's back to Uganda, then over to Dakar, Senegal.

A fun travel vignette to share: Upon staggering off the plane in Milan to connect to Cairo and to Entebbe, Uganda, I was told that because of the Eritrean ash cloud, all flights past Cairo were cancelled. I went into the office of Egypt Air's station manager for more information (and to use his Internet connection), and he asked me to compose in proper English the "bad news" sheet to be given the passengers as they arrived for the flight. I typed this with gusto and later watched the sheets being handed out. People did not react well. Better to be stuck in Cairo than Milan. I went anyway, and surprise, surprise, the flight was reinstated, and here I am, excited and happy for a new adventure!



This is my permit for Southern Sudan. They misspelled my name and my hair isn't black, but that's ok.


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