Hello Transglobalistas, and warmest greetings from Kampala, Uganda.
I arrived in-country just under three weeks ago, directly from Morocco–working on the first month of a 90-day East Africa Visa. That special document is a cooperative effort between the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya allowing free travel anywhere within their borders. I’ll be spending a month in each, give or take, with Uganda being the starting and ending point of the larger adventure.
As is often the case when I travel nothing was planned beforehand, and nothing researched. There was a vague thought that I might buy a junker bicycle to ride around Kampala (Uganda’s capital, sitting just above the equator), but that idea died almost immediately. Thanks to a chance encounter with a German named Carl, I hatched a plan to rent a motorcycle instead and see a big chunk of this modest-sized nation.
And that’s exactly what I did: a ten-day, 1900-kilometer (1180 miles) looping jaunt which took me along the borders of South Sudan, Kenya, and within about 60km of Lake Albert–which forms a lengthy portion of the border with DRC.
The attached photos are a sampling of the trip, which was full of the kindness, generosity, hospitality, and friendliness which you’re accustomed to whenever I post from a new corner of the planet. (I’m breaking the images into two or three groups. This post covers only Day 1 – Day 3.)
As you would expect, the majority of the ride took place on the smallest roads I could find–and though it’s technically the rainy season I spent an inordinate amount of time inhaling the ubiquitous orange dust that characterizes much of the continent’s backroads. (I’m still hacking these lovely particles from my beleaguered lungs four days later.)
There were two minor on-bike mishaps-one fishtailing, mud-induced, low-speed wipeout on the outskirts of Kidepo National Park and one impossible entrapment in deceptively sucky mud while trying (ill-advisedly) to skirt an innocuous puddle inside Matheniko Game Reserve. The Ugandan Peoples’ Defense Force insisted on helping me after the former, and two cars’ worth of random passersby helped extract me from the latter. Otherwise, just lots of dust, lots of mud, saddle sores, hand cramps, and countless fascinating encounters along the way.
For accommodation, I quickly learned about Ugandan guest houses–local and very basic rooms found in almost any village or town along a well-traveled route. Probably the average cost for me was about $5US/night (which is almost double what a local would pay…but still cheap). Those rooms were also a great way to meet local folks, who simply didn’t believe I was there (or there _on purpose_ at any rate).
I’ll let the photos give you the rest of the story, but it was the greatest and most adventure-y adventure I’ve had in quite a while–so good I intend to repeat the process in both Kenya and Rwanda. We shall see how that goes, eh?
So without further ado, I give you The Ugandan Loop, Part I.
—jim
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