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The hell came to the fore under Idi Amin. Greed defines much of African politics and it was under him that Uganda rapidly deteriorated into chaos; a situation that is still mirrored today in many African countries. Uganda had just been on the verge of a civil war, when Dr Obote, Prime Minister of Uganda in the 1960s, carried out a coup to abolish the Bugandan monarchy, before setting about gaining absolute rule a few years later. Amin, then the Army Chief of Start, started to show himself for who he was when, accused by a Colonol Okoya of stealing government funds, this colonel was mysteriously shot dead with his wife. Amin bided his time, and when Obote went to Singapore, another coup was arranged, leaving Amin in power, a move ironically endorsed by the naïve British Government. The reign of terror began.

There's something about Uganda

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 10:43:49

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no more death-defying stunts, besides taking public transport. Well, this was definitely the case on returning to Kampala, hitching a two-hour ride on the back on an open truck which proceeded to drive at 80kph on a narrow dirt track. My bruised bum and headache were the least of my worries, as I was in fear of the truck seemingly trying to knock down the children and cyclists, like bowling pins at the roadside, or drown them in a spray of dust. Even at this speed however, and with my hat and shades on, the children still managed to spot that I was mzungu, and shouted and waved accordingly, apparently not caring that their faces were now red with dust.

Back in Kampala once more, I spent my second and final weekend in Uganda in the company of the rafting ladies Caroline and Laura, and their friends Abby and Sophie, who kindly let me stay at their ‘Save the Children’ mansion for another couple of nights on the two-seater sofa, which fitted perfectly for the impish height that I am.

Among other things, we chilled out at a local hotel pool, ate like kings at an Indian restaurant, watched the sun setting on my final night over all of Kampala from a hilltop café (followed by watching all the lights go *poof* at exactly 7:30pm on two of the hills, for their turn at the power-free 24hours), and danced to some live music til the early hours at a cool venue, filled mostly (and pleasantly) with Ugandans rather than Westerners, where they strangely kept giving out newspapers as prizes (?).

I also misplaced my books in Caroline, Sophie, Abby, Laura, Bill and Moia taxi, only to luckily discover that the taxi driver was a resident at the pool hotel, so I got them back. However, these things always come in threes and has led to the loss of a decent pair of sunglasses (well…decent by Indian standards at $10), and culminating in $108 stolen. Gahh! I was so close to the end without a single crime against me. And the worst thing about it? It wasn’t any impoverished Africans, but four American 17-year olds sitting behind me at a noisy restaurant, who must have sneaked (snuck?) into my bag when I was too busy engrossed in eating yet another Indian meal. Why? Meh, these things happen, and still, if this is all that happens on my travels, then I’ve been very lucky, especially as I’ve heard of plenty of worse stories!

Just a small downer adding to the weariness I’m now starting to feel with only two weeks left, and wanting to go home. But I’m in the last country now, Tanzania, at the foot of Kilimanjaro as it happens (though I’m still waiting to see the summit through the cloud), so with a little exploration through the Usambara Mountains, then
plus electricity cableson to Zanzibar, I’ll be back at Heathrow before you can say “fish n chips”. But these potential adventures, misfortunes and stories can wait until the next blog. Lots of love - the small bearded one. x