Well thank goodness for wifi (and for Caitlin telling us all the
password so we didn't each have to buy it)-- just some of life's little
pleasures in downtown Kampala, Uganda. Between skipping Monday and
getting to bed at 6 am this morning I'm not quite myself, but luckily
the jet lag isn't too bad. Lets do a quick recap of the last few days...
Courtney and I met up with Jade just before boarding the flight to Istanbul (and post my airport sushi and cappuccino induced ramblings) and the three of us sat pretty much together on board. We all tried to sleep as much as possible, but with individualized tv screens and tons of movie/show options we had little success. I ended up watching 'Crazy, Stupid Love' (mmm Ryan Gosling), an episode of 'Lie to Me,' and a documentary about Michael Phelps. Love. I managed to sleep some though, and woke up feeling drowsy and with my hand/wrist numb and weak. I thought it would go away, but so far (and over 24 hours later) no luck. You should see me typing right now. Really. Anybody with medical knowledge and ideas of what it is/what to do...
We had a 2 hour layover in Istanbul, the highlights of which include $5 cups of coffee, $7 fries/coke, and lugging all our stuff gate to gate as they changed where we met our plane. I had a window seat for the flight which made napping much easier, so I was able to get some sleep both before and after our inflight dinner. Turkish Airlines doesnt have the best food- despite having a chef on board complete with white coat and hat. I digress. We got into Kigali airport around 1:15 am and then Entebbe close to 3. We cleared customs, got our visas and went to baggage claim with the rest of the flight. The soon-to-be-very-unhappy rest of the flight.
'Why were they unhappy?' you may ask. Well, because over half of the luggage meant to be on board was left on the runway in Istanbul, and the next flight to Uganda isnt scheduled until Thursday. Luckily my bag was one of the few that DID make the flight, but Jade's was not. We headed to find Caitlin and Paul to figure out what to do next, and were greeted by their smiling faces and a hand drawn Amizade sign right outside. It took a while to figure out the bag situation so we didnt get on the road for our hour long trip to Kampala until about 5 am. I ended up sleeping almost the whole way, but was still plenty ready for bed when we got to the Verona Hotel. I have a single room here, but everyone else is in doubles. After unpacking pajamas and cleaning up the mess that was the result of my face soap opening all in my bag, bed was perfect.
Woke up at 9 but went back to sleep until 11ish when we all met for a breakfast of eggs and toast and... pineapple with carrots? After breakfast we headed out to explore downtown Kampala, which seemed a lot like downtown Hohoe when I was in Ghana. Lots of street shops (including one playing a sing a long video playing- "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!"), muddy roads, and crazy motorcycles and over-stuffed vans called dala dalas. We stopped at a supermarket for water then headed to a 'mall' where we window shopped until lunch at the food court. The mall was right next to a golf course (DAD!) so we watched a little while we waited for our food. It was a little surreal to be eating chicken tiki masala, mango lassi, falafel and steamed dumplings in the middle of an African mall, but leave it to the food court to have a little bit of everything. After lunch we made our way back to the hotel and are resting now before dinner and what is hopefully a calm and early night.
Tomorrow we are set to begin the 8 hour ride down to Karagwe, Tanzania, but that may change based on what we decide about Jade's bag. I'm sure I'll let you know next time I have internet!
Courtney and I met up with Jade just before boarding the flight to Istanbul (and post my airport sushi and cappuccino induced ramblings) and the three of us sat pretty much together on board. We all tried to sleep as much as possible, but with individualized tv screens and tons of movie/show options we had little success. I ended up watching 'Crazy, Stupid Love' (mmm Ryan Gosling), an episode of 'Lie to Me,' and a documentary about Michael Phelps. Love. I managed to sleep some though, and woke up feeling drowsy and with my hand/wrist numb and weak. I thought it would go away, but so far (and over 24 hours later) no luck. You should see me typing right now. Really. Anybody with medical knowledge and ideas of what it is/what to do...
We had a 2 hour layover in Istanbul, the highlights of which include $5 cups of coffee, $7 fries/coke, and lugging all our stuff gate to gate as they changed where we met our plane. I had a window seat for the flight which made napping much easier, so I was able to get some sleep both before and after our inflight dinner. Turkish Airlines doesnt have the best food- despite having a chef on board complete with white coat and hat. I digress. We got into Kigali airport around 1:15 am and then Entebbe close to 3. We cleared customs, got our visas and went to baggage claim with the rest of the flight. The soon-to-be-very-unhappy rest of the flight.
'Why were they unhappy?' you may ask. Well, because over half of the luggage meant to be on board was left on the runway in Istanbul, and the next flight to Uganda isnt scheduled until Thursday. Luckily my bag was one of the few that DID make the flight, but Jade's was not. We headed to find Caitlin and Paul to figure out what to do next, and were greeted by their smiling faces and a hand drawn Amizade sign right outside. It took a while to figure out the bag situation so we didnt get on the road for our hour long trip to Kampala until about 5 am. I ended up sleeping almost the whole way, but was still plenty ready for bed when we got to the Verona Hotel. I have a single room here, but everyone else is in doubles. After unpacking pajamas and cleaning up the mess that was the result of my face soap opening all in my bag, bed was perfect.
Woke up at 9 but went back to sleep until 11ish when we all met for a breakfast of eggs and toast and... pineapple with carrots? After breakfast we headed out to explore downtown Kampala, which seemed a lot like downtown Hohoe when I was in Ghana. Lots of street shops (including one playing a sing a long video playing- "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!"), muddy roads, and crazy motorcycles and over-stuffed vans called dala dalas. We stopped at a supermarket for water then headed to a 'mall' where we window shopped until lunch at the food court. The mall was right next to a golf course (DAD!) so we watched a little while we waited for our food. It was a little surreal to be eating chicken tiki masala, mango lassi, falafel and steamed dumplings in the middle of an African mall, but leave it to the food court to have a little bit of everything. After lunch we made our way back to the hotel and are resting now before dinner and what is hopefully a calm and early night.
Tomorrow we are set to begin the 8 hour ride down to Karagwe, Tanzania, but that may change based on what we decide about Jade's bag. I'm sure I'll let you know next time I have internet!
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