Kampala

Last weekend, I went up to Kampala, Uganda. I needed an injection of big city life - Kigali is a lovely place, full of wonderful people, but it is about as exciting as a small town in Kansas after you've been here for a while. So, I headed north, on a 30-minute Rwandair flight to Entebbe. Rwandair has a reputation for being unreliable so I was concerned that I'd be sitting in the airport for hours, but the flight left on time and was quite pleasant in the end.

There were numerous UN helicopters and cargo planes on the ground at Entebbe airport. Most are supporting work in DR Congo, others are bringing supplies to go up to northern Uganda to support work there and in southern Sudan.

Here are some views (from the plane) of Lake Victoria and the verdant land in southern Uganda.

View of Lake Victoria from the airport

I went to visit my friend and Brian's business partner, Langdon, who just started working on a project for UNICEF based out of Kampala. It was a nice happenstance that he is in Uganda since I was planning to go anyway and I hadn't seen him in nearly a year. I stayed in an apartment that was empty because one of their staff working on the UNICEF project had left earlier that week and the next person wasn't coming until this week. He was an excellent host and even arranged for his driver to pick me up at the airport. Here's the view from my apartment balcony.

The Entebbe-Kampala area is infamous for terrible traffic so I was expecting the worst for the 37km trip up to Kampala. It turned out to be ok except that we were forced off of the twice by two motorcades, which I found out were African heads of state leaving a big African refugee conference in Kampala where they signed an important agreement on treatment of displaced people. The Ugandan drivers are a bit wild but certainly nothing like Kenyans...and the traffic doesn't even approach the levels in Nairobi.

Here are some pictures of the view out of the window on the road to Kampala.

Kampala is built on seven hills. The topography and road structure are very similar to that of Kigali, except that its bigger and a lot more built-up. The city plan makes it nearly impossible to figure out the lay of the land and where you are.

The theme of the weekend was good food - something I was in desperate need of. Friday night we went to a lovely restaurant on one of the hills with a beautiful view of the twinkling lights in the valley below. Food was excellent and there was good live music.

Saturday, we decided to get in a little culture. We headed to the Kasubi Tombs, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site contains the tombs of four Buganda kings. To understand who these people were, I'll give a little history lesson (you knew it was coming)

The Buganda people are Uganda's largest tribal group. Historically, they were one of the most highly organized East Africa tribes, with absolute ruling power given to the kabaka (king). He ruled through district chiefs. When the Brits colonized Uganda, they favored the Buganda people and installed them in most civil service jobs. Post-independence (in the early 1960s), tribal clashes began to worsen in Uganda. A coalition headed by Milton Obote pushed the first independent government and installed the Buganda king at the time, Edward Mutesa II, as president and himself as Prime Minister. That bliss didn't last long, however; in 1966, Obote had several cabinet ministers arrested and ordered his Army chief of staff, Idi Amin, to get the king (the king fled to London and lived in exile until he died). Obote installed himself in the presidency and promptly began a little rein of terror. He was a really bad guy - shutting down political activities, cutting off media, raiding the national treasury for his own benefit, indiscriminately torturing and killing people who were identified as possibly loyal to the "opposition", etc. Over 8 years, more than 300,000 Ugandans were killed at his direction. He got his, though (at least temporarily). When he was out of the country for a meeting, Idi Amin staged a coup and decided he should be president. Unfortunately, the international community was ok with this because they were so appalled by Obote's behavior. Obote was a saint compared to Amin, who bankrupted the country, killed more people, forced out the entire Asian community and took the property that they left, and generally caused the entire society to spiral down into hell. He even became a Muslim late in his rule in a desperate move to get Libya to provide money to bail him out of the situation he gotten the country into. There is a large mosque in Kampala that Amin had built after his conversion. There are numerous streets named after Colonel Gaddafi. It was strange to see.

So, Idi Amin ensured his downfall by invading Tanzania in the late 1970s. It took the Tanzanians a while, but they final pushed his army back and took Kampala. Amin fled to Libya, then to Saudi Arabia when the Libyans kicked him out. Unfortunately, this was not the end of Uganda's troubles. They stupidly re-installed Obote as their president when he came back from exile. You can imagine what happened under his rule. Finally, after a series of military coups, the current president, Yoweri Museveni, came to power.

You may recognize his name from my Rwanda history lesson. Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda and the leader of the resistance movement that stopped the genocide, was a friend of Museveni's and senior leader in his guerrilla army. Under Museveni, society started to function again. He invited the Asians back in and agreed to give them their land back, started factories back up, professionalized the national army, provided free primary education to all children. Overall, he has overseen a dramatic transformation and stabilization in Uganda. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of corruption while he has been in office, even though his hands have stayed clean supposedly. Also, he forced a constitution change to abolish term-limits so that he could be re-elected and currently does not allow for political parties to operate. The international community is still concerned about what will happen next under his leadership. Oh, right - so you're wondering about how this is connected with the Buganda kings. Museveni restored the Buganda monarchy in 1993, even though they have no political power.

So, back to the tombs. The site is the actual house and grounds of the first of the four kings. All four are buried within the first king's home, built in the late 1800s. It is the largest structure of its kind in Africa and probably the world.

You come in to the site through the guard house, pictured below.

In the middle of the large courtyard is the smoke stack. This is always burning when the king is alive.

Encircling the courtyard are a large number of queen's huts. Each queen was responsible for some aspect of the king's life. So, one queen was responsible for the beer, another for the milk, etc. Descendants of these queens still live in these huts today.

The responsibility I was most interested in was for the umbilical cords. I just had to ask... So, when a royal woman gave birth, the umbilical cord was dried and tied up. A ceremony occurred later during which the umbilical cord was placed in water or milk. If it floated the child was a royal, if it did not, the child was questionable. However, this was not so straightforward. Apparently, sisters- and mothers-in-law would put butter or another substance on the umbilical cord to make it sink if they did not like the woman. Some women asked to delay these ceremonies if they were not on good terms with the in-laws in hopes of improving the relationship and avoiding a disaster.

So, the inside of the king's house is a shrine to the four kings who are buried behind the large curtain. The ceiling of the building has 32 rings and the first three were soaked in the blood of 9 men who were sacrificed for the building. For each building, the first three rings were dipped in their blood. When the buildings were disassembled several years ago in order to put concrete foundations underneath, these rings were carefully handled because if they had touched the ground, they would need to be "re-dipped" meaning 9 men would have to die.

Here is the altar with the spears, pictures, and shields of the four kings. Their tombs are behind the curtain. Also in the house is the stuffed leopard that was the pet of the king. After he died, the leopard went a bit mad, so the tribe poisoned it and stuffed it to keep in the house.

Here I am inside the house. I had on pants so they made me wear this wrap-around skirt. Cute. Langdon is also below doing his best tourist pose.

After the tombs, we explored downtown Kampala and stopped by this very famous taxi park. Neither of us could figure out how these minibuses could actually get out but I guess they do.

We stopped by this little Mexican Asian fusion restaurant for lunch. It was a beautiful day and margaritas on the patio sounded like a grand plan. The food was actually good but I couldn't resist taking pictures of the menu because it was so odd. Chicken Enchiladas and Pad Thai??????

The other really odd thing about this place was that it had rabbits. Here's Langdon playing with them and a couple of shots of the babies.

After lunch and exploring, I decided to spend the rest of the day at the pool - wouldn't want to do too much on a Saturday.

Saturday night, we had great Thai food and then polished off the evening at this strange Latin club/bar, where we played pool and drank beer. We thought we were being taken to an Irish pub so the latin theme was a little surprising. When we were leaving, we finally saw the sign for the Irish pub - - we had just been dropped off at the wrong entrance. Oh well!

Unfortunately, Sunday's plan for going to the markets was spoiled by the torrential rain. So, I slept in and then we made omelets before I had to head off to the airport.

I really like Kampala and would love to spend more time there and in the rest of Uganda. Of the three capital cities I've been to while here - Kigali, Nairobi, and Kampala, Kampala definitely suits me the best.

Celebrating at the Beach

I took advantage of the 3-day holiday weekend to head to Mombasa, which is on the coast of Kenya. When I booked, I was hoping that I would be able to use it as a celebration of completing my PhD. Fortunately, I finished up just in time!

Mombasa has beautiful beaches and a rich cultural history. It also happens to be the largest coastal port in East Africa. Landlocked countries, such as Uganda, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo get much of their food and other goods via cargo trucks starting in Mombasa.

So, back to the rich history. Persian and Arab merchants established trading posts along the East African shore very early on. Places like Mombasa and Zanzibar were fully settled by the 9^th century and Arabs and Africans started to intermarry, creating the Swahili race. Mombasa was run by the Omani Arabs until the Portuguese swooped in. They had control from the late 1500s until the late 1600s when the Omani Arabs finally defeated them and took it back (there were, of course, many bloody skirmishes in between). By then the Portuguese had built a large fortress, called Fort Jesus, at the mouth of the port, to assure their protection from likely invaders. Its not in great shape now because it was raided and bombed many times, but it is impressive to see the 3-foot thick coral walls and the cannons still standing. In the late 1800s the British were invited in to “protect” Mombasa, which was certainly in their interest since they were colonizing Kenya. Indian traders have also had a significant influence on the food, culture, and architecture of Mombasa. There is also some ugly history about the slave trade and British intervention but we’ll save that history lesson for another day.

Below are some pictures of the Fort.

Saturday, it was raining when I woke up so I decided not to go into Mombasa Town, which is about 30 minutes back down the coast from my hotel. Instead, I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and waited for the sky to clear. I was rewarded with a beautiful afternoon at the pool and beach. Below are some pictures of the grounds and resort, which was built to resemble a traditional Swahili village – a really swank one at that.

The lobby of the Serena Hotel.

The view from the upper part of the lobby, looking toward the pool and the Indian Ocean.

This is a typical guest room building with two rooms on the upper floor and two rooms on the bottom.

The dhow just needs a taker...

Saturday evening, I had a massage at the really nice spa at the Serena. After, I sat in the open air Jacuzzi and then made my way to dinner. There was a good band and dancing in the plaza after dinner. I stayed just long enough to not feel old and then had to go to bed.

Sunday, I spent the morning and early afternoon on a private tour of Mombasa Town. I went inside an Indian temple, visited Fort Jesus, walked around the Old Town, spent time going through the markets, and wandered the narrow winding streets, watching children playing and adults enjoying their afternoon.

Before all that, though, I took a drive along the shore near the old harbor, where there is a park overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was a beautiful day so a lot of people were out playing sports, walking, sitting and watching the view, and relaxing.

From a street vendor, I got this weird coconut water out of what was described to me as an unripe coconut. The guy peeled the top portion, cut off the top, and stuck a straw in for me. When I was done drinking, he cut a piece off the side and scraped a thin layer of white gelatinous goo from the middle and stuck the side piece in to use as a spoon. This was certainly not “delicious” but hey, when in Rome. The water is supposed to be good for the kidneys. As I drank it, I just hoped that it wouldn’t be a colon cleanser for me!

I also happened upon two guys who were slicing and frying cassava chips. This was more like it. They are kind of like potato chips, except sweeter. I got a bag of chips with dried chili sprinkled on top and a squirt of lemon for lunch.

A local guide named Fami showed me all around the Old Town and the Fort. This is definitely the way to see Mombasa. He seemed to know everybody in and everything about the Old Town. I loved the mixed of Arab, Indian, and European architecture. The carved wood doors were extraordinary – I took pictures of as many as I could. Most of the buildings here, even the new ones, are built from coral bricks. Some are finished with stucco and others are left with the brick finish. These brick ones are very pretty in the late afternoon sun as the light reflects off the light pink-hued buildings.

This is at the center of a roundabout entering the Old Town. The big gold thing is a coffee pot and turkish-style cups to welcome people - in front of it is a replica of the rail tracks that were built by the Germans. The combination was a little odd, but interesting.

The Indian Temple in the new town.

If this is true, most of us are in serious trouble...

The architecture...

The streets of Mombasa...

A typical Mombasa taxi

The Markets - selling produce, spices, meats (including camel, which is supposedly very lean and tastes like beef), secondhand clothing, and more.

So after my 1/2 day spin around Mombasa, it was back to the beach. The afternoon was gorgeous, the water perfect. I knew I was craving a trip to the shore after being landlocked for two months, but I didn’t know quite how much until I saw the Indian Ocean on Friday. I am definitely a girl who needs to see some water regularly, even if its only the Potomac River. In the evening I was back to the spa for a facial and then off for a nice dinner. Unfortunately, reality set in just after as I had to start packing for the trip home this morning.

I definitely want to go back to Mombasa, spend some more time wandering down the winding streets of the Old Town, and eat at some of the traditional swahili and kenyan restaurants. Up and down the coast, there are so many things to do... I could easily spend a week if not more.