Impressions of Africa: Uganda

I get to see a lot of interesting things along the road while we drive.  This is a summary of my favorite observations about Uganda. I was there for about a week.  I don't have pictures of everything. It seems rude to be hanging outside the car flashing my camera in people's faces.

Uganda is very green and lush.  There are banana trees all over the place.  The mountains are gorgeous.  They are very steep and round.  A lot of farming is done on these steep slopes.  There are several fresh water lakes where tilapia inhabit.  I was able to visit several of these: Lake Bunyonyi and Lake Nabugabo.  Lake Bunyonyi is known for its otters that swim in its waters.

The symbol of Uganda are crested cranes.  They are printed on their money and on the country's flag. They are lovely birds with beautiful feather crowns atop their heads.  I've only seen them in pairs, perusing the grass in fields along the sides of the roads.

There are GIGANTIC birds called Maribu storks.  They stand atleast 6 feet high.  I'm sure this is where the story delivering babies myth came about as they could totally carry a baby a far distance.

All the school kids wear uniforms in really bright colors. Hot pink, bright purple, sunny yellow and royal blue.  Everyone, both girls and boys, have shorn heads.  To tell them apart: Girls always wear skirts and boys wear pants.  Apparently it's expensive to maintain hair, so most kids have it shaved.  Braids are present, but not very prevalent.  I'd say only about half of the kids wear shoes.

Troops of baboons are along the side of the road.  I had the window rolled down and one male walked up very purposefully. I quickly rolled it back up. They are very intimidating creatures.

Along the sides of the roads there are markets centers where fruits and veggies are sold.  We pulled up to one to buy some chicken.  A man sold me a piece of chicken on a stick for less than $1. It was delicious and didn't make me sick.  Henry says it is good to support these roadside markets to give the young men the opportunity to make an honest living.  Roasted bananas were also available. We were able to purchase enough fresh veggies for four days for four people for under $5. The venders thought Jordan's toes, which were painted pink, were hilarious.

There is a lot of livestock, goats, cows and chickens.  The cows have horns so big, I'm surprised they can hold their heads up.

It is interesting to watch the people. Closer to the city centers like Kampala you see women in more modern dresses. My favorite was a young women standing next to the dusty road in a black satin evening dress with black heels.  She looked like she would be right at home in a high society cocktail party.  In more rural areas like Kisoro, women wear more traditional clothing, such as skirts with bright colors and patterns.  Women everywhere carry all manner of things on their heads. I've seen teapots, bales of grass, bowls of fruit, bags of potatoes.  It's really amazing the strength the poise these women have.  They walk for miles to get to markets.  It makes me thankful I can move around so easily.

Men treat their bikes like beasts of burden.  They are continuously overloaded with bananas, grass, shoe sand other clothing to sell. When I say overloaded, picture loads that would completely fill up the insid of a 4 door car.  Once I saw one with about 75 2 liter bottles attached to the back.  In many of these cases, the men are pushing the bikes.