Saturday 7 November 2009

Kampala, Uganda

The border crossing to Uganda was straightforward - buy visas for USD $50.00 each from the immigration office and pay a Ush38,500 road tax after changing money with the remarkably laid back moneychangers.

The road is terrible, bumpy mired and rutted red mud on the Uganda side. We stopped in the border town to get money and oddly, crossed an airfield on our way out of the town. A little later we passed a UNHCR refugee camp - looked like it was winding down but I'm unclear on who the refugees are. It seems a long time since Rwandan refugees sought safety in Uganda but I wasnt sure if they'd be refugees from DRC as they'd have had to come through the close jungle over the volcanos.

The road improved to graded red mud and we turned off at the tip of Lake Bunyonyi and followed a narrow road/track down its east side. Before long it was pelting with rain and the track turned to bright orange sludge...

We had a peaceful night at the lakeside before setting off for Lake Mburo National Park. En route we discussed whether or not we wanted to pay the considerable national park fee for camping in a dry acacia plain known for its zebra population.

We've seen many many zebras and decided to continue another 300km to Kampala. We passed the Equator, which is marked by two big white painted circles on either side of the road signed 'Uganda Equator' and a dozen craft shops targetting the tourist dollar. We finally reached Kampala safely not long before dark despite the repeated efforts of oncoming trucks to collide with us head on.

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