At the moment I am in Kampala the capital of Uganda. A eight hours ride
from our place in Ococia. I always welcome the opportunity to sample the luxury
of a large city away from the bush.
But this is a city full of contradictions. Next to the big luxury shopping
centres, there are small stalls where people wait for customers. Large and
small markets selling all sorts of things.
There are slum areas where you also find luxury houses. It is special to
see the contrast. I ask myself how that would go down in Europe where we would
talk about the devaluation of the smart houses. I drove on my own to quite a
luxury Keke Beach restaurant on a lake next to a slum area. Here, there were no
luxury houses. This surprised me but I heard that the land belongs to the King
and cannot be used for building.
The traffic demands its own attention. Next to the boda-boda riders are
moped taxis and small taxi buses. They all have their own traffic rules and
think they always have right of way. In Mulago hospital there is a special
department for boda traffic accidents. For me the rules are very unclear apart
from that the right of way belongs to the biggest most powerful vehicles.
However there is tolerance and if I have to turn around or overtake, people
wait patiently.
There is so much to see on the streets. Everything is moving or standing
still (traffic jam) but then the street vendors come, selling chewing gum or
newspapers or toilet paper. They want to use this time effectively. There are
street preachers who do their best to convert the passerby. They cry
“Hallelujah! Jesus saves,”and wave their Bibles. I understand that this is a
real job. Mostly they are young men but yesterday I saw a young woman.
Sometimes they read from the Bible. Yes, religion is highly represented in
Uganda.
You must be aware that if a convoy with a high official comes along, you
must stand aside. If you don’t, you will receive a fine. I didn’t know this
before and carried on as usual. Police cars and sometimes a whole escort of
cars can make up a convoy. The more important the person the more cars.
Yesterday I came upon an escort for the king with his royal standard. This week
I saw a remarkable jeep. Someone told me that it belonged to Idi Amin’s son. He
and his son hold high positions. Idi Amin is buried in Jedda and in Uganda that
is a real disgrace and punishment because you are supposed to be buried in the
place where you were born. (I was very surprised and asked myself is this
tolerance?)
But after one week of City life, hectic, traffic jam and car pollution I am
longing for the luxury of our simple bush life in Ococia: Peace,
Clean air, Clean water, Slowliness,
Chatting without time pressure. True luxury!
Greetings from Kampala
Your Truus
