The Pearl of Africa

Churchill coined Uganda the 'Pearl of Africa'. The small, somewhat circular shaped country is nestled nicely between Kenya, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Lake Victoria. The country is home to the highest mountain range in Africa, contains the source of the great Nile River and is home to the highest concentration of primates in the world. Essentially it is Africa condensed.

Our time in Uganda is short. Upon receiving an unexpected multiple entry visa into Tanzania we then had the opportunity for some side trips into neighboring countries. We decided to sidetrack into both Uganda and Rwanda by bus via Kenya. Both countries were mysterious to us and the lure of the unknown definitely swayed our decision. Prior to making our decision we did some research and talked to a couple other travelers and discovered that there was actually a lightly treaded 'backpackers' route through the two countries. We also found that both countries were actually extremely safe today following much violence and hardship the past couple decades.

We left Arusha, Tanzania (still never saw Mt Kilimanjaro completely through the clouds) on an afternoon bus. Our 20 hour overnight bus ride had a midnight connection in Nairobi, Kenya and then arrived in the Ugandan Capital of Kampala the following day. The bus ride was relatively comfortable and en route we were treated to a bridge crossing over the Nile River at its source, Lake Victoria. It was pretty amazing to imagine the thousands of miles northward the river winds before eventually empting into the Mediterranean. We arrived in Kampala around noon time and hopped on the back of two motorcycles who taxied us to our backpackers lodging on the edge of town. We decided to spend our first night outside of the town center while we oriented ourselves and did some homework on what we would be seeing and how we would be traveling over the next week.

Following a good nights sleep and some conversation over beers with other travelers we headed into the chaotic city center of Kampala. Kampala is a city of 1.2 million that is known for its crowded streets active nightlife. After exiting our taxi and trudging through the crowded streets we were able to find a centrally located hotel. From there we spent the next 3 days exploring the capital city. Since the war, unrest and strife that plagued the country in the 70s and 80s, Uganda has been on the rebound and is quite impressive. Kampala itself sports multiple universities in addition to primary and secondary schools (more than we have seen anywhere in Africa) as well as supermarkets, banks and many street side cafes. The streets are chaotic but remain safe and we wandered around freely discovering new sites as we went.

On our third day we took a side trip an hour outside of the city to the Uganda Wildlife Education Center. The center is a wildlife refuge for animals that have been recovered from poachers and traffickers. We were able to view native chimpanzees for the first time which was a huge treat and Colleen was able to get her animal fix.

From here we head south on a day long journey to Rwanda and the capital city of Kigali. Again, we are not sure what to expect but know most of our time there will be focused on memorials and sites relating to the 1994 genocide. Rwanda today extremely safe but there is the uneasiness that comes with visiting an area that experienced so much pain and emotion so recently.