Kampala
Our second day in Kampala was one of discoveries. After the breakfast we went to town.
Oh, yes, breakfast: you order at the bar what you like and pay and leave your name. Then, you wait. A bit down the floor is the kitchen. They prepare everything fresh. When your breakfast is ready, they shout your name and you can get your meal at the kitchen counter. The menu they have is amazing. The fruit salad is to kill for! With some vanilla yoghurt even better! They have continental, British, local… whatever you like.
We had our taxi to downtown. First, we (I) wanted to see the Owino market, the oldest one in town/region/country? It’s not like other bazars I know. It reminded me more of the Peruvian markets than the ones in the Arabic countries. Basically, the sell everything. Shows, cloth, fruit, peanut (ground nut by the locals) and a lot of stuff I had no clue about.
Luckily, our driver suggested to wait for us and bring us to the National Mosque of Uganda. With mostly no street signs, a lot of road constructions, and a not clear distinction between streets and other functions, we would have had a hard time to find our way.
Even the instructions at the mosque to find the counter helped a lot. A young guide showed us around. Was surprised how young the mosque is (not much more than 15 years old); and compared to that, in which poor conditions some places already were.
We also were allowed to visit the women’s part – quite unusual. Appreciated that. The best part, probably, was to climb the minaret, about 80m of height. Halfway is the first platform to have a look.
Getting to the top, the view is amazing! From here, you see the ‘7 hills of Kampala’, each and every one with an important building at the top. With the view from up here, the way through and around town became logically. Helped a great deal to orientate.
Back on ground floor we had to go back to the Red Chili to wait for our main contact in Uganda, whom came to pick us up and bring us to Soroti, our base for the next two weeks or so.
When the gentlemen arrived, we had dinner and a short chat before we went to our rooms to prepare ourselves for the trip next day.