Trekking through East Africa
Its been a pretty crazy last couple of weeks and we didn’t have much time to stop and reflect. So I decided to just wake up early today and do just that, with the gospel music providing nice background music. We traveled a lot the last two weeks. After leaving Gulu to spend a week in Lira, we went to Soroti (in the Teso region) for a few days, then took a bus east to Mbale, and from there, boarded a bus for Eldoret, Kenya. After a few days in Kenya, we boarded a bus to Kampala, and from there, made our way back to Gulu.
Traveling with public transportation in East Africa is always an adventure. Bus schedules don’t seem to exist, so you may board a “9 am” bus and not leave till mid-day. Never board a nearly empty bus because it is going nowhere despite the assurances of the driver. Buses in Uganda also have a tendency of blaring music, especially Celine Dion. There are also no regulations, or if there are there is no implementation of the law, on rules for where people can sit in the bus. We’ve heard that many street kids ride the bus in the luggage compartment. On our bus back to Gulu, there were also at least a dozen people who just stood in the aisle all the way there. Finally, “direct” buses are never as direct as you’d hope. Buses serve a double purpose as the postal service, so they’ll often go out of the way to drop off a bed or some chickens. Of course, there is also always the chance that the bus will fall into a “security check”, which happened to us right outside Kampala and took almost an hour. Despite the problems, buses are much safer than matatus, and unless you have a private vehicle (the vast majority of the population of Uganda could never afford a car), you have no choice but to take buses.
Soroti
So, after a really productive week research-wise in Lira, we left for the Teso region and reached Soroti town. Soroti is a very different place - it has 1920s Indian-type architecture and many parks. Although there are less NGOs, the Teso region has faced its share of conflict. We realized our research would be a lot less relevant in this region because of the more limited impact of the war, especially in comparison with the conflict with the Karamoja cattle rustlers. However, it is an interesting place to study to understand the history of the war. When the LRA reached the Teso region in 2003, they were able to immediately mount a very successful counter-insurgency, through the “Arrow Boys”, and in a few months they sent the LRA out of the region. This is in comparison to the 20 years it took the North and the government of Uganda to push out the LRA. In Soroti, we also had the chance to meet up with a few people from the peace corps. Its nice to spend a few hours with foreigners once in awhile and we even got the chance to eat some pizza!
Moving east to Kenya
From Soroti we started heading east to try to find a direct bus to Eldoret. We decided to stop halfway in Mbale for a few hours. It was amazing to see the level in development between this town in the East of the country, which had not been affected by the war, compared to Northern Uganda. Salvator likes to say that one of the things he likes most about Uganda is how different each part of the country is, and its definitely true. There were big apartment and office buildings, a lot of car-traffic, the best indian food, a chinese supermarket, and even landscaping on the road! We walked around and had some Indian and finally boarded the bus for Kenya.
Border crossings
People say you can learn a lot about a country based on its boarder crossings, and this is definitely true in East Africa. First, as we headed towards the Kenyan border, there was a noticeable lack of traffic considering it is one of the main border crossings. We went through immigration quickly and re-boarded the bus on the other side. As we left the border, now in Kenya, we passed a line at least 5 km long of trucks waiting to cross the border to bring their goods into Kenya. It was a very stark sign at how limited Uganda’s industries are and how little they export. Second, the disorganization and inefficiency of the whole border crossing is also representative of life in Uganda. On our way back from Kenya to Uganda, we of courses hit that long line of trucks waiting to cross the border. Instead of just widening the road near the border to allow more lanes, the boarder crossing is a two-lane road with traffic coming from both directions. However, buses are supposed to by-pass the trucks to reach immigration. This meant that our bus had to drive on the grass and nearly killed a dozen people as it sped around the trucks and oncoming traffic towards the border...finally I just closed my eyes.
Kenya
If you ever come to East Africa, its worth traveling around to different countries, if only to see the differences in development. Kenya, judging by the state of development in Eldoret and the surrounding infrastructure, is 30 years ahead of Uganda. It has good roads with lane markings, many more cars, many more big buildings, more trained individuals, and functioning industries. Of course, it continues to be plagued with problems like corruption, which partly led to the massive bloodshed after the 2008 elections, but it has yet to experience sustained conflict. There are also many more tourists in Kenya, attracted by its relative stability and the beautiful landscape and wildlife in the national parks.
However, the main reason we went to Kenya was so that I could visit my dad. My parents have been developing a training module with other staff at the Toronto General Hospital, and my dad decided to come to Kenya this summer to see whether it would be possible to train nurses and other healthcare practitioners who work in the villages in ultrasound. It was so nice to see him and catch up on things happening with the family. It was also so nice to have a hot shower! We spent a day in Eldoret, visiting the hospital where he had been working and walking around the city.
Early Saturday morning, we left for Lake Nakuru National Park. If you had a chance to look at the pictures on the blog, its a really beautiful place. We saw lions, giraffes, zebras, antellopes, water buffalo, flamingos, pelicans… just so much wildlife and so close. We were 3 feet from a lion at one point! It was a really nice break and so peaceful.
From the park back to Eldoret, we had a bit of an adventure as Salvator got very sick. After 3 very hard hours, we finally got back to the place my dad was staying. While in Eldoret, we also had the opportunity to look around the hospital and volunteer at a children’s care center. Its always great to learn more about what people are doing and try to help out a little.
Kampala
When Salvator got better, we boarded a “noon” bus and finally left Eldoret at 2. It was a very long bus ride, and we didn’t get back to Kampala till 10:30 pm. Thankfully, we found a hotel close to the bus park (with hot water!).
Last time we were in Kampala, we were restricted to visiting the city in a car. This time we decided to walk around, and we got a much nicer time. We started the day by visiting World Vision and the Amnesty Commission to request an interview the next day. After planning a few research meetings, we took the afternoon off to walk around. We saw the indoor malls and walked to the center of town where all the big hotels are located. In the evening, we met someone at Makerere University (the largest university in Uganda). Its a very beautiful campus.
At night, we met up with some people we’d met in Gulu who lived in Uganda and saw how Ugandan millionnaires lived. They took us out for hamburgers and fries and then we moved around town visiting different places. It was pretty incredible to see the huge gap between the majority of Ugandans we’d come to know in the North, and these individuals living in Kampala. There’s also such a knowledge gap between the different regions of the country, and we found ourselves having to explain to some Ugandans what the war was like in the North. Our friends were so nice and kind though and made sure we had a really great night!
We’re now back in Gulu and getting back to our research.
Long post but it had been a while since I updated this. Hope everyone had a nice Canada Day!
- Sima
Traveling with public transportation in East Africa is always an adventure. Bus schedules don’t seem to exist, so you may board a “9 am” bus and not leave till mid-day. Never board a nearly empty bus because it is going nowhere despite the assurances of the driver. Buses in Uganda also have a tendency of blaring music, especially Celine Dion. There are also no regulations, or if there are there is no implementation of the law, on rules for where people can sit in the bus. We’ve heard that many street kids ride the bus in the luggage compartment. On our bus back to Gulu, there were also at least a dozen people who just stood in the aisle all the way there. Finally, “direct” buses are never as direct as you’d hope. Buses serve a double purpose as the postal service, so they’ll often go out of the way to drop off a bed or some chickens. Of course, there is also always the chance that the bus will fall into a “security check”, which happened to us right outside Kampala and took almost an hour. Despite the problems, buses are much safer than matatus, and unless you have a private vehicle (the vast majority of the population of Uganda could never afford a car), you have no choice but to take buses.
Soroti
So, after a really productive week research-wise in Lira, we left for the Teso region and reached Soroti town. Soroti is a very different place - it has 1920s Indian-type architecture and many parks. Although there are less NGOs, the Teso region has faced its share of conflict. We realized our research would be a lot less relevant in this region because of the more limited impact of the war, especially in comparison with the conflict with the Karamoja cattle rustlers. However, it is an interesting place to study to understand the history of the war. When the LRA reached the Teso region in 2003, they were able to immediately mount a very successful counter-insurgency, through the “Arrow Boys”, and in a few months they sent the LRA out of the region. This is in comparison to the 20 years it took the North and the government of Uganda to push out the LRA. In Soroti, we also had the chance to meet up with a few people from the peace corps. Its nice to spend a few hours with foreigners once in awhile and we even got the chance to eat some pizza!
Moving east to Kenya
From Soroti we started heading east to try to find a direct bus to Eldoret. We decided to stop halfway in Mbale for a few hours. It was amazing to see the level in development between this town in the East of the country, which had not been affected by the war, compared to Northern Uganda. Salvator likes to say that one of the things he likes most about Uganda is how different each part of the country is, and its definitely true. There were big apartment and office buildings, a lot of car-traffic, the best indian food, a chinese supermarket, and even landscaping on the road! We walked around and had some Indian and finally boarded the bus for Kenya.
Border crossings
People say you can learn a lot about a country based on its boarder crossings, and this is definitely true in East Africa. First, as we headed towards the Kenyan border, there was a noticeable lack of traffic considering it is one of the main border crossings. We went through immigration quickly and re-boarded the bus on the other side. As we left the border, now in Kenya, we passed a line at least 5 km long of trucks waiting to cross the border to bring their goods into Kenya. It was a very stark sign at how limited Uganda’s industries are and how little they export. Second, the disorganization and inefficiency of the whole border crossing is also representative of life in Uganda. On our way back from Kenya to Uganda, we of courses hit that long line of trucks waiting to cross the border. Instead of just widening the road near the border to allow more lanes, the boarder crossing is a two-lane road with traffic coming from both directions. However, buses are supposed to by-pass the trucks to reach immigration. This meant that our bus had to drive on the grass and nearly killed a dozen people as it sped around the trucks and oncoming traffic towards the border...finally I just closed my eyes.
Kenya
If you ever come to East Africa, its worth traveling around to different countries, if only to see the differences in development. Kenya, judging by the state of development in Eldoret and the surrounding infrastructure, is 30 years ahead of Uganda. It has good roads with lane markings, many more cars, many more big buildings, more trained individuals, and functioning industries. Of course, it continues to be plagued with problems like corruption, which partly led to the massive bloodshed after the 2008 elections, but it has yet to experience sustained conflict. There are also many more tourists in Kenya, attracted by its relative stability and the beautiful landscape and wildlife in the national parks.
However, the main reason we went to Kenya was so that I could visit my dad. My parents have been developing a training module with other staff at the Toronto General Hospital, and my dad decided to come to Kenya this summer to see whether it would be possible to train nurses and other healthcare practitioners who work in the villages in ultrasound. It was so nice to see him and catch up on things happening with the family. It was also so nice to have a hot shower! We spent a day in Eldoret, visiting the hospital where he had been working and walking around the city.
Early Saturday morning, we left for Lake Nakuru National Park. If you had a chance to look at the pictures on the blog, its a really beautiful place. We saw lions, giraffes, zebras, antellopes, water buffalo, flamingos, pelicans… just so much wildlife and so close. We were 3 feet from a lion at one point! It was a really nice break and so peaceful.
From the park back to Eldoret, we had a bit of an adventure as Salvator got very sick. After 3 very hard hours, we finally got back to the place my dad was staying. While in Eldoret, we also had the opportunity to look around the hospital and volunteer at a children’s care center. Its always great to learn more about what people are doing and try to help out a little.
Kampala
When Salvator got better, we boarded a “noon” bus and finally left Eldoret at 2. It was a very long bus ride, and we didn’t get back to Kampala till 10:30 pm. Thankfully, we found a hotel close to the bus park (with hot water!).
Last time we were in Kampala, we were restricted to visiting the city in a car. This time we decided to walk around, and we got a much nicer time. We started the day by visiting World Vision and the Amnesty Commission to request an interview the next day. After planning a few research meetings, we took the afternoon off to walk around. We saw the indoor malls and walked to the center of town where all the big hotels are located. In the evening, we met someone at Makerere University (the largest university in Uganda). Its a very beautiful campus.
At night, we met up with some people we’d met in Gulu who lived in Uganda and saw how Ugandan millionnaires lived. They took us out for hamburgers and fries and then we moved around town visiting different places. It was pretty incredible to see the huge gap between the majority of Ugandans we’d come to know in the North, and these individuals living in Kampala. There’s also such a knowledge gap between the different regions of the country, and we found ourselves having to explain to some Ugandans what the war was like in the North. Our friends were so nice and kind though and made sure we had a really great night!
We’re now back in Gulu and getting back to our research.
Long post but it had been a while since I updated this. Hope everyone had a nice Canada Day!
- Sima
just glad to hear from you. I'll come back and read your post for it looks really interesting. from what I understand when you leave in the the morning you know where you want to go but you don't know when and how you'll get there.
ReplyDeletestay safe and stay away from the chickens in the bus, they know about KFC : )
Wow! I missed out on a lot of interesting outings. All I did was work. Should have met you midway in your stay and you could have shown me the interesting sites of Uganda.
ReplyDeleteWhat memories you will have.
Stay safe.
Love you
Maman