I know that I have
not blogged in FOREVER…..so please forgive that this first post in over a month
is going to be me being a “negative Nancy”.
Today was quite the
adventure. Sometimes, well almost always, I am in the mood for a wild time.
Today…not so much and the LAST thing I wanted was a crazy adventure.
We had a late start
leaving Jinja because my bungee pictures were not uploading on my computer and
I had to go back to the place where we jumped to get them reloaded. We had bus
reservations in Kampala at 2:00pm to head to Lira and the bus from Jinja wasn’t
loaded and ready until noon. We were hopeful that we would make it in time….but
then it started down pouring and the traffic once in Kampala was a nightmare.
With the mixture of those two, we thought it would be best to jump off the
coaster and get on some Boda’s(motorcycle taxi’s) to take us to the bus park. Mind you, it is
raining, I have my pink carry-on suitcase, backpack and a couple of sacks….way
too much to travel on boda’s around kampala….but hey, it’s an adventure right?!?
It all sounded fun in the beginning!
I have always said
that I would never take a Boda in downtown Kampala because it is dangerous and
the traffic is crazy. I did it on the day we left for Jinja and survived and in
this moment we had no other choice. Seriously, maybe God has me take these
because my prayer life increases drastically every time J
So we whistle over
some boda’s (still raining) and I load up with my carry-on suitcase in front of
the driver, over the handle bars and me on the back. Ronald and Cord hop on
another. I was told that the bus park we were headed to was “very near”…which
in Ugandan does not mean it is close J We take off and my Boda speeds past Cord and Ronald. We are zipping
in and out of cars, squeezing our way through the tight traffic. Imagine a
parking lot of cars….now picture a motorcycle between parked cars….now picture
all of those vehicles moving….yup, that was me. Pretty sure we even scraped a
few as we passed. I am holding my breath and praying for survival J
We are now down to 5
min left to make it to our bus. These buses leave exactly when they are
supposed to and when my boda finally got me there, I see our bus pulling out. “Mzungu,
Mzungu! Is that your bus you want? Chase it, chase it! Boda, take her!” The
Ugandans were trying to be helpful and my boda took off following the bus. At
this point, I have no idea where Cord and Ronald are at and even if we caught
up to the bus I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do!
The bus was refusing
to pull over to let me on and at this point I was so frustrated, covered in mud
and soaking wet. The Boda continues to follow the bus and then all of the
sudden another motorcycle comes out of nowhere, is parallel to us and then rams
right into us! I grab the driver, thinking “dear God we are going to flip.” I
was trying to brace myself for whatever was going to happen next and how to
handle the fall the best. I was imaging a huge pile up if we crashed and then
all the bodas and cars behind us running over us. The motorcycle is out of control and we are
wobbling and tilting back and forth.
The crazy roads |
I took a deep breath,
pulled up my big girl panties and knew that I had to get back on the boda to
get to Ronald and Cord. I met them safely and then we took off walking to another
bus park. I was told, “it’s just down the road”…Yeah right…..
We start walking in
the muddy, jammed pack streets. I am trying to protect all my stuff and be
aware of someone unzipping my backpack from behind….seriously insane streets at
this moment. So thankful for burly men to help carry my load and a bright pink
suitcase J I looked
at Ronald, half smiling/laughing, half NOT, saying “I do not want adventure
right now. I do not like this at all right now…get me to the bus! J”
Streets we had to walk through |
We finally make it, load up the bus to find out that we still have 2 hours to wait until it fills up and can leave. Cord brings me my beloved Coke Zero (the only diet soda here) and I remember that I had some oreos in my bag. I sit down and for about 3.4 minutes I am relaxed. However, my peaceful moment is disrupted from then on with vendors crowding the aisles of the bus and getting in your face to buy their products….for the NEXT 2 HOURS! I feel claustrophobic often here because Ugandans or Africans in general have no concept of personal space….so needless to say; I had to practice a lot of deep breathing and taking vacations in my mind as I sat on the bus.
Why not have Matooke and Beans while you wait!? |
Once we got moving
(and crammed more people into the aisles for the 5 hour ride) I began to
realize how normal this is becoming. This has been my normal for the past
couple of months and will still be my normal for another month. I am not sure
if I am ready for this all to end….in 30 days.
Bus Park |
I am going to try
REALLY hard to update my blog as frequently as possible throughout this next month.
There is so much in store and even if there are days like today when I really
don’t want an adventure….I will embrace it and remember that I will probably
wake up the next morning itching for some drama J
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