Fia i Rwanda: Trip to Uganda

I’m sitting in my living room with the rain pouring down outside. This seems like as good a time as any to tell the story of my trip to Uganda. My Uganda adventure was plagued with bad luck already from the start. We were supposed to leave on Tuesday the 6th of April, but when we got to the bus station, Kampala Coaches, the company we booked our tickets with said there were no seats for us. We had booked the 5.45 bus and it was a big disappointment after getting up that early to have to go back home again. There was nothing to do really, all the other buses for that day were already full and they couldn’t get us tickets earlier than for the morning bus the day after. That’s Africa, lost reservations is its middle name. We went home. During the day I started to feel bad and discovered that I had a fever. Not very good news since I was planning on leaving the day after. It was a bit uncertain for a while but after careful consideration I decide to go. The problem with getting sick here is that it can be any number of things, both harmless and quite serious so one has to be much more cautious then at home. It turned out going was a good decision to go in the end.

Wednesday
The second try at the bus was more successful. We left Kigali at 5.45 on Wednesday the 7th, Genocide Memorial Day. I have to say that the 10 hour bus ride was more comfortable than I had anticipated. There were plenty of room for the legs and the seats could be tilted back to an almost horizontal position. We brought breakfast and snacks. The first hour of the trip is through the Rwandan mountains to the border where the quality of the road is very good but it is nothing for people who get carsick. I do sometimes but had taken a pill before we left. Not everyone was that well prepared however. The lady sitting in front of us puked all over her fellow passengers. Not a dream situation at the start of a 10 hour journey. The first stop was at the border. Crossing the border requires a whole lot of queuing, since you first have to get an exit stamp at the Rwandan side and then an entry stamp or a visa at the Ugandan side, depending on your nationality. Swedes need to have a visa which costs 50 dollars. One very annoying thing about Rwanda is that queuing works rather differently here. People queue up in perfect lines, no problem, but the principle does not apply to everyone. Ordinary people have to wait in line, the elite just walk right past everyone to the front of the line. The people with a lower social status don’t dare to object and the elite think that they are entitled. It makes me so mad to see people behaving like that.

The rest of the trip was less comfortable. Ugandan roads are in much worse condition and there are speed bumps and huge potholes everywhere. It is mixed tarmac and dirt roads which also makes it a very dusty ride. We noticed that it was Genocide Memorial Day by the behavior of one man on the bus. He was obviously a survivor and seemed to be going through some sort of trauma. He was sitting right next to us and cried and singed as if in a trance all the way to Kampala. Another man joined him for moral support. It was very sad and also quite painful since none of them could sing at all. Despite of this we arrived well in Kampala. Our hotel was very central and quite cheap. Unfortunately, since we arrived one day late, they did not keep our reservation. Surprise surprise! Since it was already late and there was no other hotel close by we had nothing to do but take the only other room available, the most expensive one of course!

Thursday
I left early in the morning to go to Jinja. I left most of my things in the room and only took what I needed for the day with me. My friend stayed in Kampala over the day. First I got a bodaboda (that’s the Ugandan version of the moto) to another hotel where a free bus picked people up who were going to Jinja. My driver of course lied and told me he knew where we were going when he didn’t. In the end we got there after stopping three times on the way to ask for directions. I was already completely filthy since I had put sunscreen on before leaving the hotel and now all the dust from the roads had stuck to me. The bus came and picked us up and the drive to Jinja was about 1,5 hours. I was booked in for horseback riding only since our reservations for rafting had been for the day before. We were all driven to the rafting place and then I had to take a bodaboda to the riding. At least this driver knew where he was going. Jinja is the second largest city in Uganda, but as is the case with most towns in this part of Africa, it felt like a tiny village.

The horseback safari was incredible! It was three hours and it was only me and the guide that day so I had a chance to ask all sorts of stupid and peculiar questions about the surroundings and the wildlife. My guide was a young Kenyan guy who had worked there for less than a year and told me he thought I should have many children. If I start right away I have time to have quite many if I follow the schedule of giving birth to a new one every other year! Anyway we had a good time and he taught me a lot about termites, which we have lot of in our garden. The view was magnificent! We stopped at the highest hill looking over Bujugali Falls which are the first falls and rapids of the Nile, just a few hundred meters from the source of Lake Victoria. The scenery in Uganda is very beautiful and quite different from Rwanda. There are not people everywhere and all the land is not used for farming. There are actually wooded areas and plains and there was a great sense of freedom galloping around in this landscape! Having said that, it was also hard work, the heat was intense and well I have not been on a horseback in five years so I was just not in shape for it. Riding require a lot of leg muscles. It took me a week to recover from these three hours with blisters on my butt and calves and terrible muscle pain in my legs and back. I was definitely worth it though!

After my riding I had several hours to kill before the bus would take me back to Kampala. My bodaboda driver had been waiting for me during my three hour ride and I told him to drive me to Bujugali falls. I had a very nice afternoon there looking at the falls and having a bite to eat while enjoying the spectacular view. I was very tired after my demanding ride and getting up early that morning and was happy when the bus came to take us back to Kampala. Finally there I discovered that my friend had managed to get us a cheaper room and had moved all our stuff over to our new one. The problem was that I had not packed my things before I left for Jinja so she had had to pack for me without knowing really where all my stuff was. This was the start of my passport troubles.

Friday
Today was a bad day. I discovered that some things that I had put in a very secret place in the room were left there when we moved. It was my passport and a small sum of money. My friend cold not have known where I had put these things and as soon as I found out they were missing I asked the staff of the hotel if we could go back to the old room and get it. Unfortunately, the room had already been cleaned and there was new guests staying there at the moment. The cleaning staff said they had not found any of my things and we were also able to go back and look for ourselves but found nothing. I searched my bags over and over again and my passport was just not there. We decided there was not much more we could do for the moment and since it was a very hot day, we decide to take the bus to Entebbe to get out of Kampala.

We had a wonderful day at the shore of Lake Victoria, Entebbe is right at the equator. We sat at a beach bar all day and enjoyed some of the best food I’ve had since I came to Africa. The breeze from the lake was wonderful, a nice contrast to boiling hot Kampala. Entebbe is most famous for its airport and there’s not much to see there really. It’s a small town with some expensive hotels lining the lake and a very beautiful view. For us it was heaven compared to Kampala! Getting back to the hotel we found out the there were no news regarding my passport and I went and talked to the manager. He was a very sweet old man who had once been in Sweden for a conference and therefore had a soft spot for Swedes. He was sad to hear about my passport being missing and promised to investigate it as best as he could. I was hoping that a bit of pressure from him would make the passport turn up eventually.

This is a very interesting phenomenon that we observed in Entebbe. It's a rainbow that circles the sun! Don't know if it has something to do with the equator?

Saturday
The time for going home was coming closer and I still did not have my passport. My friends were leaving on the night bus to Kigali and I had only the day to find my passport or I would have to stay on alone. We had rushed to the Swedish embassy the day before to get there before the weekend but found out they only handle consular issues on Tuesdays-Thursdays. That meant I had to wait until Tuesday to get a new passport at the embassy. I still had not given up hope that it would turn up at the hotel somehow. We couldn’t do much more than wait anyway so we decided to go to a nearby shopping mall and have a nice lunch. We ended up staying there for the rest of the day getting manicures and pedicures. It was lovely!
In the evening the others got on the bus and I had to stay since the passport was still missing. The hotel manager was kind enough to give me a nice room to stay in for free until I was able to leave the country.

Sunday
The muscle pain from the horseback riding was at its worst so I went for a nice massage in the morning. It was lovely and really did wonders for my back! The next item on the agenda was a visit to the central police station to report my passport missing which was necessary if I wanted a new one from the embassy. I had been in contact with the office in Kigali, who had talked to the colleagues at the embassy in Kampala and managed to get me in already on Monday. The visit to the police was interesting. They were very nice to me and everything was done according to the book. I had been warned about the corruption in Uganda so I was surprised they didn’t try to charge me for writing my report. It took quite a long time though. I didn’t do much more than rest for the remainder of the day. It was so hot and sweaty in Kampala I didn’t have any energy at all.

Monday
Finally I could go to the embassy to get my passport! I was told to come at 2 in the afternoon and first I had to get some passport photos and withdraw some money at the bank. I didn’t know what it all would cost but was hoping that it couldn’t be more than 100 dollars. At the bank I found out that you have to pay 25 dollars in charges for every withdrawal, regardless of the amount. Bad news for me who only had 250 dollars on my account, making me pay 10% of the amount in charges. There was nothing to do I had to get the money!

At 2 I was at the embassy with my police report, photos and money hoping I could take the night bus back to Kigali the same day. There were some complications but I did make it in the end. First I found out that the emergency passport that I needed to get was as much as 200 dollars, I was utterly chocked! I also found out that it was a good idea to apply for a new permanent passport while I was here since it is not possible to get one in Kigali. This costs another 150 dollars, money which I did not have at the time. So I started by getting my emergency passport and filled in the application for the new permanent one. I then had to get to an internet café to transfer more money to my account so I could go to the bank and pay another 25 dollars in charges to withdraw enough money to pay for the second passport. The total cost for losing my passport was therefore 400 dollars! In addition, I also need to go back to Uganda to pick up the new passport when it’s ready, since they don’t send it and you have to pick it up in person. That means even more expenses further on. What a day! With my emergency passport in my bag I went straight to buy my bus ticket hoping there were still seats left for the night bus. I was lucky, there was! Finally I could go home.

I had met some very nice and friendly Ugandans earlier during the day who very were sad to hear about my troubles. They offered to drive me to the bus station and stayed there for a whole hour waiting for the bus with me! I was very excited about getting back home. The bus ride was ok and I actually met a lot of nice people. When you’re the only white person in sight you’re quite popular it turns out. It must have been an amusing sight to see all the others on the bus that was shivering in the cool night air and then me next to them who really enjoyed the comfortable temperature after the heat of Kampala. They were wearing thick jackets and scarves, and hats and all that and I had a skirt and a top on! We were back in Kigali at eight in the morning and I shared a taxi home with some of my new found friends. It was great to be back in beautiful and clean Kigali!

I guess I should add that a few days after I got back they called from the hotel in Kampala and told me that they've found my passport! How frustrating since that does not change anything. It's too late. The old passport has been cancelled and I still have to go back and pick up the new one. I just wasted 400 dollars that I don't really have. They told me that they found the passport in my old room, but I don't believe that. We searched that room several times and it was just not there. My theory is that somebody took the passport and the money and when the police came by and made inquiries he/she got scared and put it back in the room so that someone would find it. That way it would not be stealing and nobody would get in trouble. I will call them back and ask more questions. They also found my money which is a nice surprise. Maybe it's possible to get some money back on my insurance...