The last two days have been spent in a Tsetse fly area. They are persistent little buggers and fly up to 30km per hour, so out running them is not an option and on these roads driving is also often not an option either. They are attracted to dark colours and it seems only certain people. Gavin of course got bitten, everything bites him! They occasionally sat on me, but never bit me. I think they didn't like the smell of G&T's!!!
We set off at 8am for Entebbe via Kampala. We are anticipating big delays around Kampala with traffic being diverted and possible Police or army roadblocks after the Bombings on Sunday eve. We already went through a few smaller Police stops, which comprise of a sign in the middle of the road saying 'Police Stop' and 3 or 4 police standing around with AK47's.
There have been very few places where an armed guard is not present. The hotel in Entebbe had 2 guards with AK47's, Jane has an armed guard at her house at night and outside every bank/ATM you will find them. When Jane and I went to the local cafe, there was an armed Guard outside that too.
Military or Police Bakkies pass you on the road with a couple of guys in the back wearing uniform with rifles in full view.
We drove through villages for the first hour of the journey and handed out pens to school children on their way to school. The joy and excitement of receiving a gift as small as a pen was wonderful to watch. The smiles where huge and if one child managed to grab more than one pen, they would run away with a few others in hot pursuit.
We drove through the Budango forest this morning and stopped to get out and listen to the birds (as instructed by Paul). The wonderful sound of hundreds of birds was cut short by Alan yelling that something was on his foot and he could not get it off, as he was in the middle of a bush wee !!! A beetle/tick like insect had crawled between his toes and sunk 2 pincers into the soft skin. When I got hold of it and pulled, it did not come off easily at all. It seemed to have hooked itself into the skin. Africa is not for sissies.
Trucks and buses drive at high speeds, whether the roads are good, bad, dirt or a single track, so it is no surprise when the occasional burnt out bus is seen lying next to the road.
We stopped at Luwero, en route to Kampala for a Rolex from a roadside stall. This was Gavin & Jen's first roadside experience of Chapatti with an omlette inside. Jen thought we were taking her to a restaurant for Chapatti's and coffee. No coffee in sight, but she picked up a pineapple for R3.30 and Lunch for about R2.00
I think it would be hard to starve in this country as everywhere you look there are fruits & Vegetables for sale and if you have no money, there are bananas, melons etc growing wild alongside the road. The Ugandans are a slim nation and you very seldom see a fat person.
Arrived back in Entebbe. Alan & Gavin went off to Paul's workshop to see if they could sort out Gav's vehicle....
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