While we were in Kampala, Duncan and I felt that we should explore the city a bit. We also needed to make a few purchases before heading to Semliki, and so we were pointed towards the Garden City shopping centre as a good place to start.
Getting to Garden City was a rather interesting experience. We first got on a small jam-packed minibus, known locally as a matatu, with the promise from the driver that it was heading to where we wanted to go. However, this didn't prove to be the case and we soon realised that we were not going in the direction we had hoped to.
Having persuaded the driver to stop and let us off, and that the price we were offering was more than fair, we decided to put our map-reading skills to the test and walk the rest of the way to the shopping centre.
It turned out that the walk to Garden City proved to test, not just our navigational abilities, but also our boda-boda dodging skills. A boda-boda is essentially a motorbike taxi and it is the fastest (and the most dangerous) way to get around Kampala. Boda-bodas are everywhere in the city and they seem to only stop to let paying customers on and off, otherwise preferring to simply swerve to avoid vehicles and pedestrians alike.
With great care, and having inhaled a large amount of the dust and fumes that blanket Kampala's streets, we finally made it to Garden City. Thankfully getting back to the hostel proved to be a far simpler affair!
Getting to Garden City was a rather interesting experience. We first got on a small jam-packed minibus, known locally as a matatu, with the promise from the driver that it was heading to where we wanted to go. However, this didn't prove to be the case and we soon realised that we were not going in the direction we had hoped to.
Having persuaded the driver to stop and let us off, and that the price we were offering was more than fair, we decided to put our map-reading skills to the test and walk the rest of the way to the shopping centre.
It turned out that the walk to Garden City proved to test, not just our navigational abilities, but also our boda-boda dodging skills. A boda-boda is essentially a motorbike taxi and it is the fastest (and the most dangerous) way to get around Kampala. Boda-bodas are everywhere in the city and they seem to only stop to let paying customers on and off, otherwise preferring to simply swerve to avoid vehicles and pedestrians alike.
With great care, and having inhaled a large amount of the dust and fumes that blanket Kampala's streets, we finally made it to Garden City. Thankfully getting back to the hostel proved to be a far simpler affair!
Written on Tuesday 6th July
Hey Alex!! Just back from Italy and have so enjoyed reading what you've been up to! I miss you already but it sounds like you're having a great time! Had a fab time in Italy, now just back in time to repack for Devon tomorrow. Very proud of my chimpanzee chasing sister and can't wait to keep reading what you're up to. lots of love Libby xxxx
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