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Going Bananas!
In Uganda they love bananas. I have now managed to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and snack inbetween. They have plantain bananas here that they called matokewhich are surprisingly good. Breakfast was small chewy banana pancakes, given to me by the friendly bus driver, lunch roasted bananas and dinner; mashed bananas with vegetable stew (tasted much better than it sounds!) I have also had them boiled, which again they are surprisingly good!
After the exhausting travel of the last few days, we headed to Lake Bunyonyi, Ugandas most beautiful lake according to the guide books. It truly was, as you round the bend to look down on the view, you are greeted with stunning vistas of the lake and the many islands that dot it. I hit up my perfect style accomodation; an eco resort, complete with compost toilets, solar power and wooden cabin accomdation. It was brilliant. I spent my days paddling dug out canoes, hiking, eating and waiting for my washing to dry. This actually took 3 days as it kept raining. I cant say that I didn't wish for a tumble drier admist this eco haven as by the time it dried it actually stank from being wet for so long. Not the dream when you are faced with more hand washing!
The dug out canoe were definately a challenge. We had been warned by other travellers about the 'mzungu corkscrew' a beginners performance that most novice white canoeists treat the locals to. initially we didn't disappoint but with the help of 2 other travellers who were practiced on the water our canoe set off on its path. Instead of round and round we at least managed a zig zag on our Lake adventure. We paddled out to an island called punishment island which was where unmarried pregnant women were taken to to either starve or drown if they tried to swim. Its a 10m by 10m tiny reed island with just a single tree in the middle. Im sure it probably wasn't totally the woman's fault for getting pregnant but it certainly was a very harsh treatment. I cant imagine they were allowed a good book as they sat and awaited their fate. Fortunately those days are over now.
After a tranquil few days it was time to return to the hectic ways of the big city Kampala. I have decided that most bus drivers secretly have no wish for the bus to survive the journey. They drive at incredible speeds and the cyclists, pedestrians, cows or any other body in the road gets one honk of the horn to move or they get squished. I took the post bus to Kampala which is actually a novel idea. Its technically a postal vehicle but doubles up as a bus. The good thing about them is that they have to leave on time rather than waiting for the bus to fill up for hours like many of the others. A good start I thought, until the driver wanted someone to stand up and pray at the beginning of the journey. Dutifully a young guy stood up and prayed for our safe travels but I think the driver though that meant that God was in charge of our fate rather than him the driver. He hurtled through the trip. His assistant told me it was to get back quickly to fix the winsdscreen which was cracked top to bottom - always reassuring on the pot holed roads! One good thing for me is that the bus staff decided to take me under their wind. This meant food at every stop. I got tasted corn, pancakes, more bananas. I had to politely decline the roasted goat kebab but it was a great experience and testiment to how nice the Ugandans are. I even got asked if I was joing the bus again the next day for its onward trip. With free food in store I certainly considered the offer!
- comments
peter wonderful to read of your great time in uganda. choose your bus driver with care. xxxx