Lakes and Lethargy

I arrive on a modern bus that runs to a schedule which does not allow standing, something of a novelty in Africa. I get a moto taxi to the guest house where the driver insists in French that I wear a helmet (elsewhere in Africa your only hope is that the driver hasn't been drinking). On arrival I give him a 500 note (50p) and he is proudly distraught that he has no change for the 400 fare. He reluctantly accepts my 10p tip, I think of what would have happened earlier on my trip in Egypt. The Christian run guest house is huge and perched on a peninsular that offers superb views in 3 directions. I am the only one staying there. My bed costs 2000, my meal costs 6000. This is Rwanda.

I don't actually feel as if I have done a lot since my last update, the last couple of weeks have mainly involved relaxation by a waters edge, eating, drinking, reading, and chilling.

Uganda was every bit as good as I was expecting, had a really good feeling going over the border from Kenya. Suddenly the hassle was gone, travel was easy, the people friendly, and there was a verdant landscape that benefited from the daily rains which only lasted a couple of hours before bright sunshine would resume. Arrived in Jinja to a typical backpacker jaunt, the first one I've really experienced in Africa, lots of 20something travellers lounging about drinking beer, swapping travel stories, and organising white water rafting trips. There were lots of 'overland' organised trips which passed through here where a guide holds the hands of a truckload of 18year old Sloane kids taking a year out before donning their pink puffa jackets at university. Reminded me a bit of Australia. Very well set up for backpackers. A nice change.

Had a very strange experience in Jinja with this local guy I met over lunch. Got chatting in this roadside cafe and by the time we'd finished our Matoke (mashed plantains) he'd invited me up to see his packaging warehouse out of town that wrapped dried fruit. After a surreal tour round his small warehouse he found out that I was an architect, and then came a whole heap of questions. 'How do I keep my warehouse cool?' was the first one, he didn't like my answer stating that he needed insulation citing that it would be too expensive and they didn't have polystyrene in Uganda (his computer packaging was sat by him whilst he was saying this). He wanted to pump water constantly over the roof in order to keep it cool. Nice and cheap! There was no convincing him. Next question was what size timber beams would he need to support a floor? I stupidly went through the beam size tables I found on the net which he duly disregarded and said he'd just cut down some Eucalyptus trees and use them. There were many more. He ended our little day out by taking me to see a plot of land he'd just brought. 'Can you design me a house and some commercial premises please?' was the last question. 'Just roughly'. I smiled wryly and tried to explain this would be quite a job, as he wouldn't take no for an answer he still waits for his plans! My fees for the afternoon's question peppering were 2 bags of of dried bananas and pineapples! An experience if nothing else!

Did some white water rafting on the Nile whilst in Jinja. Some awesome grade 5 rapids and went for a couple of swims! Had a good group of Belgians and a Finn for company which was good. A lot of the rapids were a mass of white foam which was a challenge in the rafts, but even more daring were the local lads who would lob themselves into the rapids with no lifejacket, just clinging onto a sealed plastic jerry can for buoyancy! Madness.

I was quite envious of the kayakers we saw doing the rapids on the way down so decided I'd have a quick lesson the next day with the hope of doing some small rapids by the end of the day. I needed to be able to 'roll' (right myself when flipping over upside down) in order to take on the rapids for obvious reasons. I was confident that I'd be able to master this quickly for some reason. This was not to be. The day turned out to be one of the frustrating days ever. The kayak was too small for my lanky frame and involved cutting off the circulation to various points in my legs. I spent most of the day upside down in the water drinking Nile water through my nose trying in vain to rock myself upright much to the delight of my giggling pot smoking guide. After 6 hours of rubbing my body red raw and trying to drown myself I gave up dejected. It will take a lot to get me in a kayak again! This however was not to be the end of the pain of kayaking....

Later on the same day I caught a bus to the capital, Kampala. I didn't get to the guest house until about 8pm. A nice place with a good crowd. Within 30mins of arriving I had been recruited for a Friday night out on the town with a a group of 10 random in dependant backpackers, Mexican to swedes to Canadians to Germans, a really good group. They were all pretty pissed by the time I arrived though so I was playing catchup. And we all know what happens to people who play catch up... I was mortelled but had a proper good night out, probs the only real one I've had since starting out. A really good vibe in the bars with a 50/50mix of expats and locals dancing the night away. I somehow managed to get a Moto back, the driver seemingly as pissed as me and got soaked in a downpour.

The next day I awoke unable to move for a variety of reasons. A stinking hangover, an aching body from the kayaking, and an unknown fever. I was proper KOed. Unable to do much I wrote the day off thinking it was down to Fridays physical and drinking excess. Worse the next day I went to the doctor with many of the symptoms of malaria. A drop of my blood was smeared on a microscope slide and was told that I was negative but had a bacterial infection. Doctor however said that I had low blood pressure and I could still have malaria but it could be still 'hiding' in my blood. Brilliant no answers there then. After another day I decided to go to a western clinic where I had comprehensive tests. Everything fine malaria wise, no sign of a bacterial infection, blood pressure fine, however it looked like I had caught Bilharzia from my kayaking in the Nile. Not much I can do about this as I have to wait 8 weeks before I can take the medication as you can't kill the adult parasitic blood borne worms having to wait until they've laid their eggs before taking the toxic medication (I'm sure this simpletons medical terminology will be corrected by the doctors that read this!) . Anyhow the immune response waned after a few days and I'm feeling OK now, just weird thinking of myself as a walking sex show for these copulating little worms at the end of my veins! Bit frustrating as I'm quite lethargic now and to coin a Mike phrase I am peeing like Nana D!

A good job therefore that most of my time in Uganda was spent taking it easy! Went over to some gorgeous islands called the Sesse Islands in the the massive Lake Victoria after Kampala, thank you Alan for the tip. A stunning beachy location with a mad German couple looking after the camp where I stayed, although he had just been arrested for dope dealing the day before I got there. This didn't stop the woman from smoking even more gear whilst I was there and cackling like a witch. A very strange woman.

Bunyoni Lake was next in the southwest up in the hills. A bit more chilly and damp here though but stunning highland views of the glassy lake. Stayed in a guest house on a small island there with the most fantastic healthy food which was a welcome break from the super carb diet the Ugandans (and Rwandans) tend to eat. A standard meal is normally Matoke, rice, cassava, beans, chips, and a Smash type mash called Ugali. You can't move after a plate of that! Anyhow, good crack again with a good crowd with some decent hikes around the mountains in Bunyoni.

Uganda is without doubt one of my favourite countries full stop. A superb hassle free experience full of a wide range of things to do and see from relaxing on a lakeshore to doing some wildlife safaris to just marvelling at the immense green landscape. I shall definitely be returning and would urge anyone wanting an Africa holiday to consider it, especially after my negative experience in Kenya and from what I hear from Tanzania. Uganda tourist board speech over.

And so onto Rwanda. Wasn't planning to come here but my work start date in Malawi has been put back a week so gave me an opportunity... It's an amazing place and is one of the success stories to come out of Africa by all accounts. Everything is well ordered with no hassle, fixed prices, safe transport, forward thinking people. Hell knows how they have turned it around so quickly from the genocide of 1 million people in 1994 (population is only 8million). Went to the memorial centre today which was pretty harrowing, especially as its so relatively recent. What makes it worse is that it was the general public who did most of the slaughtering for the then government using machetes and various farm instruments to hack men, women and kids to death. A lot of people with blood on their hands. What brought the recentness and the horror of it home was the clothing that was reclaimed from the mass graves. A lot of brightly coloured child size shellsuits.

Got a bit serious there sorry. The next few days will no doubt hold some amusing stories for you, painful journeys for me. Going into Tanzania tomorrow and apparently the roads and transport are terrible. It looks like it is going to take me 3 or 4 days to get to the coast. No idea what buses I'll get, just see whats available westwards and stop in random towns at sundown...