A Walk Through Kampala, Uganda

Yesterday after we finished taping, instead of going to the Fitness Centre here at the hotel I asked John Sibi-Okumu (JSO, the host of our show) if he would take a walk with me through the city. Click on the slide show, below, to go directly to my Google Picasa web album.



In two weeks here this was my first, and possibly my only chance to get outside of the hotel where I live and work. It was a warm and humid afternoon when JSO and I started on our walk at about 5pm.

We started off walking down towards the Sheraton and after walking through the beautiful lobby of that hotel we walked into their gardens, which also serves as something of a public park. Exiting the gardens on the opposite side we walked along the busy streets. The traffic in Kampala, like much of Africa, is incredible. The cars and trucks are packed closely together, and boda-boda motorcycle taxis weave in and out of any open space. Trucks with 20 men standing in the back drove by, but we were unable to grab photos of that. I needed to be careful in openly taking pictures on the streets as some people might be offended, so we took our pictures of street scenes by pretending to take pictures of each other and then shifting the focus of our camera at the last minute.

Our walk took us to the famous Nakasero Market, a large public market not for tourists but for those who live here. Hundreds and hundreds of small stalls crammed under a shelter where you could buy produce, spices and other food stuffs, and household goods of all kinds. It was a wild scene with the shoppers packed almost as closely as the vendor's stalls. It was my favorite thing I've seen on this trip, by far.

Our walk took us along the busy streets and many times we had to cross them. You take your life in your hands crossing the street; The cars and boda-boda don't slow at all and sometimes drive so close to the side walk that you are nearly swiped by their side mirrors. Plus, they drive on the wrong side of the street here, so I'm always looking the wrong way when I want to cross.

JSO took me to a nice little curio shop hidden under a street in a subterranean shopping area and I had my first and only chance to add some money to the Ugandan economy.

It was a wonderful time and a very different view of Kampala than that which I see from the hotel balcony.