Day 1 In Uganda

After 3 flights and over 32 hours of travel I arrived at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala at 11AM on Sunday. Unfortunately, my suitcase didn't make it with me.

We had a very short 1 hour 15 minute connection in Nairobi and we had been unable to check our bags all the way through to Entebbe, so we were faced with the prospect of having to wait in line to clear customs in Nairobi, then pick up our luggage at the baggage claim and re-enter the airport to check them back in with Kenya Airway; In short, an impossible task. Enter Kalpesh, our man on the ground at Jomo Kenyatta airport. Lillian had contacted him to meet at as we deplaned and he had already checked us in for the Kenya Air flight and had our boarding passes in hand. He directed us to the Kenya Air desk inside the terminal for help in getting our bags without exiting the terminal. Tom Cunningham went with the KQ rep to pick our bags off the carousel and have them re-directed onto our next flight, but he didn't pick my suitcase. Then, after he let Lillian know my bag didn't make it, she contacted Kalpesh to get my bag on the next flight. Unfortunately, his directions for me to file a lost baggage claim when I arrived in Entebbe never got to me, so now my bag has made it to Uganda, but we can't get it out of the airport. Today, Monday, I will need to ride 1 hour back to the airport to claim my bag personally. A total waste of about 4 hours of my time, I figure. Meanwhile, although I was able to shower and change into the extra clothes I packed in my carry-on, I haven't shaved for about 50 hours, I brushed my hair with my fingers, and without deoderant I run the risk of fitting right in, odor-wise, with the locals by this afternoon.

The rooms here at the Imperial Royale are absolutely huge. I don't know if you can tell from the picture the amout of open floor space in the middle of the room. There is a nice little sitting-area (that I will never use) and a 40 inch LCD TV hanging on the wall opposite the bed, about 20 feet away. Unfortunately, the remote control doesn't work, so I have to get out of bed and walk across the room to turn it on or browse the channels.

The bathroom is also big, over 350 square feet, with dual sinks and a shower stall that is about 3 X 6. The king-size bed has a nice comforter and 6 pillows, which sounds nice. Unfortunately, the pillows and the linens stink of cigarette smoke so badly that I couldn't fall asleep, and the mattress is a wooden plank rapped in stiff foam sitting on another wooden board. You don't realize how much of the softness of a bed comes from the foundation support until you sleep on a hard mattress on a wooden board.

I worked until after 11 last night, a 12 hour day after all my travels, but the room didn't prove too restful and I was awake at 4:30AM. Time to get back to work now.