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Howdies! Long time no write - have been moving around a lot and when I do find a connection its been so slow that it's not worth trying to post on here (this website is mega slow).
So yes Kampala, I arrived late Thurs evening after a very long an increasingly stuffy coach journey from Nakuru. Checked into the New City Annex Hotel, who naturally had no record of my booking and had no single rooms available. Get used to it here - incompetence reigns supreme! No worries, took a twin and moved the next day.
Kampala is a good city, sprawling over a number of hills and safe to walk, even at night (with care!). Yesterday I explored a little, including a visit to the BA office where I got another glimpse at african working life - on entering the office i went to ask a free lady but was told to sit in the next chair in the queue. Whilst waiting a dutch couple came in, went to the same lady who was still doing nothing, and again were told to take a seat. Turns out they wanted to pick up a form the'd dropped off previously, which was actually sitting on aforementioned lady's desk. However, lady refused to help them and told them to wait for the other lady, who we were all queuing for. They tried to reason with her but she refused to give them the form, and told them they had to wait. Eventually they just took the form from the lady's desk and started walking off, at which point the other lady (who we are all waiting for) looks up and says "yes the form is ready, you should have mentioned earlier". Then finally it's my turn, I make my enquiry and the lady starts tapping the keyboard. Minutes go by without a word so I say "Do you have the information there?" and she snaps "the system is down, you will have to wait". They just have no idea of customer service and will happily ignore you even when you are clearly waiting for some kind of response! And it always takes 3 or 4 people to do 1 person's job.
So to today, managed to sleep til 9 which is quite an achievement, then opted for a healthy doughnut breakfast. Invested in another Sim card - new country, new number! And arranged to meet up with a friend for dinner - we met on a spice tour in Zanzibar and she teaches here. Was going to wander around the market but the further I got into the local shopping district the more I wanted to return to the safety of my hotel! Again I am surprised by the total lack of foreigners - even though Kampala is a popular destination for volunteers and NGOs its a drop in the ocean and I didn't see a single white person outside the hotel. Did see the taxi park though - hundreds of minivans cramme dinto a tiny square, no sense of order whatsoever!
Then headed to Garden City - a large mall, so hopefully a less stressful shopping experience - foreigners galore! The "food court" is more of a room with 7 food stalls, I opted for Cuban and had an ok s&s chicken dish. Had a view over the golf course though - storks on the green! Wonder if they have to wait for them to move or if they can take a shot at them! Shops were actually ridiculously expensive - even the bookstore was 10 pounds plus for a paperback. Was a Woolworths but assume no relation! Found the cinema though - impressed they had more than 1 screen, let alone 4! Choice was somewhat limited with 17 Again or Inkheart, but as annoying as Zac Efron is the alternative didn't look like much fun so I had no choice! Was a 140 seater, with about 10 people in it, but fully air conditioned and the film quality was good. On the way out I discoverd G-force was also showing, so might come back tomorrow!
That is more or less what I have been up to in the past 48 hours, and I have also got over the inconvenient schnupfen that plagued me across kenya. Hope everyone is well!
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