Saturday, May 24, 2014

Arrival in Kampala and Amani Baby Cottage in Jinja

First blog post!

Yesterday we arrived into the whirlwind that is Uganda. After landing in Entebee and finally getting through customs we took the hour drive to Mulago Guest houses in Kampala, Uganda. Along the ride my eyes were opened to the bustling city life that is Kampala.  Boda boda motorbikes, vans full of riders, cars, trucks, bikes and pedestrians all share the road and squeeze by each other by mere inches at most. The roads were a red dirt that was still slightly wet from the morning's rain. Along the ride to Mulago we stopped at a local fruit seller and were served some ripe mangos from the road side stand. We purchased some mangos and bananas and learned about the names of some of the other fruits. After settling into the guest houses we went about errands (grocery shopping, exchanging dollars for Ugandan  shillings and activating some phones). We ate dinner at a local Thai restaurant Tamarai recommended by our amazing driver.

After getting back to the guest houses we unpacked and turned in got the first night under our mosquito nets.  I honestly had one of the best nights of sleep but this is probably because we hadn't really slept for the two days of traveling.

Early the next morning we woke up to breakfast provided at the guest house with fresh squeezed passion fruit juice, tea, eggs and toast with special plum jam. We them headed with our driver on about a two hour drive to Jinja, Uganda. Along the way we saw more busy streets, fields of tea and sugar cane. We arrived in Jinja at the Amani Baby Cottage. We had brought toys and supplies from the US to give to the children of the orphanage. We got to play with the beautiful children which was wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. We also did some yard work and re varnished  a jungle gym as volunteer work. After eating lunch there we departed for Surjio's Guest House in Jinja where we will stay the night. We have a few hours of relaxation by the pool before dinner.

More to come soon!


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