Kampala, Uganda

I flew to Kampala, Uganda for a business trip. It was a short trip, but interesting. We left Mombasa at 0600 and arrived around noon.

The first thing that I noticed while flying in was that the dirt, roads, and everything else was red. Even the asphalt was red from the dirt.

We landed at Entebbe Airport which is the same airport that the Israeli hostages were rescued from back in the '70s. The airport borders Lake Victoria which is the largest lake in Africa.

The trip from Entebbe to Kampala is about 40 km long on a two lane road. There are shops and houses along most of the route.

Uganda was different. There was a lot of evidence of Christian works such as schools and churches. Many of the businessmen that I met were Indian. Uganda has no seaport, nor access to the sea. Everything is shipped in through Mombasa, Kenya and then goes by truck to Kampala. Gasoline cost about $5 a gallon.

One of the most popular forms of transportation was on motorcycles. There would be 5-10 motorcycles parked at strategic locations. A passenger(s) would get on the back and ride to their destination.

The food was good, but most of what we ate was European.

It was interesting, but I was glad to get back to Mombasa.

Tamarind Dhow

Mombasa is nice at this time of year. The temperature gets up to 93 degrees F and the low is in the upper 70's. It's raining lightly today. The rainy season is supposed to be starting soon. They need it here. It has been dry for the last couple of years.

Went for a dinner cruise on the Tamarind Dhow last night.http://www.tamarinddhow.com/ It was an excellent meal in a unique atmosphere. The only way that it would have been better is for Natalie to have been with me. The Dhow did not have the tarp during the cruise. The food was great and the service was top notch.

I had an excellent steak and for desert we had (I saw this in the Chronicles of Narnia movie)........Turkish Delight. It was very unique. It was a jellied candy with hints of mint, orange peel, strawberry, and I don't know what else.

The rain has stopped. I've been told that the rains like to occur at night and in the early morning. We'll see. That would be nice.

There is a rainbow in the south this morning.

I moved to a large, one bedroom apartment with a beautiful view and a large balcony. It sure is nice to be able to fix breakfast as I want it.

I hope to make it to a wildlife preserve next Sunday. Kenya does not allow hunting because they want the wildlife to prosper and the tourists to see it. They are very serious about keeping their wildlife.

Tune in next week for another adventure. I expect to make a field trip to another country and will keep you posted.

Mombasa and the Resort

I am in Mombasa, Kenya at a resort and I must say that it is nice. The Brits knew how to live in Africa. The resort appears to have been built in the 1940's. It's clean and neat, just not new. We are on the Indian Ocean and there are not too many people on the beach. That, I must say, makes it even nicer.

The Kenyans are friendly and most people speak English. Some of them have a hard time understanding it. They smile when you say, "Jambo", which is Swahili for "Hello". "Asani santo" is thank you very much. Most people in the world are pleased when you learn some of their native language. I would like to learn more.

The project at the port is a large one. We seem to have competent contractors. Jon is a young 24 year old engineer and is in charge of the project for the local contractor. He spent the last year in southern Sudan building a road through a country that is in civil war. He seems quite competent.

Africa is better than I thought. Mombasa is a third world port city and it appears to have better than normal accessibility to consumer goods for the third world. You do need to be aware and careful about crime. It is safe during the day time for the most part, but you do need to be wary at night outside of the compound. It is not recommended to travel at night.

The weather is warm and muggy, but not excessively hot. The overnight low is in the upper 70's and the high around 90 degrees. We just had a rain pass through which cooled things down. It's decent weather as long as you can stay out of the tropical sun.

The food is quite good. The fruit available at breakfast is fresh...passion fruit, pineapple, mango (about the end of the season for mangoes), melon. The coffee is excellent....Starbucks can take a back seat to this coffee. The ratatouille is excellent....It's a mixture of cooked tomatoes, green peppers, vegetables and spices that is perfect with an omelette.

I'll try to keep this blog going with weekly posts.

Leaving Tomorrow

I just dropped the kids off at Joe and Ruth's house. It's Monday night and I'll be headed to the airport early in the morning. The plane leaves Nashville in the morning. Next stop, Atlanta and then to Amsterdam and Nairobi.

I'll keep you posted on what's going on (as long as there is internet in Mombassa).