Kampala

After leaving Jinja, we said our goodbye's to the Uganda team on the corner of one of the busiest streets in Kampala, which has traffic that would make New York City feel like a stroll through the countryside. Ashley Johnson, a student at Whitworth University, was part of our Uganda team and is studying genocide. Since there really is no better way to learn about it than in the field, she decided to join me to Kigali to see the Genocide Memorial there. Which was great because traveling solo is never quite as much fun.
Kampala, I found, is an extremely busy city. It is how I imagine some of the cities in India and Asia to be, with no traffic lights and what seems to be complete chaos everywhere. However, once you get used to it, it's not to hard to learn how to walk into traffic, stop as a van and moto pass on both sides with about 6 inches to spare, and then calmly continue across the street repeating the process as needed until reaching the other side. The picture is of the taxi park in the center of town and is not far from what the traffic in the streets looks like during rush hour.
Besides serviving the city streets, we also checked out the newly built Mosque, which is the second biggest in Africa and was paid for by the president of Liberia. It is a beautiful building and got a tour of the entire grounds, inside and out. I would say that the Mosque was one of the neat things to see in Kampala, but if I ever go back it will probably only as a stopping point on my way to somewhere else.

If you're ever in Kampala though and looking for a cheap place to stay, the Hotel Fiancee had warm water and good security (an armed guard at the front door). It was about $15/night and not far from a cool little outdoor eating area. Think strip mall, lined with restaurants, and everyone sitting out in the parking lot on plastic chairs and small plastic tables, with waiters giving the options of ordering from any of the establishments. Then add music and "miming" to the mix, and you have a truly unique experience. Miming is basically lipsinking on steroids. This is just a block or two from the central bus station in Kampala.

After 2 nights in Kampala, we were off on the night bus to Kigali. The bus left at 1am. The bus was full size, like a greyhound, except that most of the luggage had to be kept in the aisle or somewhere on the top of the bus since the bottom compartments are used almost entirely for commercial goods. So, if you ever plan to bus travel around Africa, I would recommend keeping luggage to a minimum. I don't have a lot, but I still feel like the bag I have is pretty large. The bus ride was pretty uneventful, except that I got very little sleep and two stops included a roadside bathroom stop..... which meant guys lining up 5 ft from the bus to pee and women going around the corner of the nearby buildings (homes, or shops, I have no idea what they were), and the other stop was for a women and a guy who loaded up into the bus from the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, and then they got off together about 30 minutes down the road. I'm guessing he was protecting her somehow, since as he sat down right in front of me, I noticed the barrel of a shotgun slung around his neck...

10 hours later, we were in Kigali.