We arrived into Addis Ababa dead tired. The airport was so packed, anyone who was standing was practically circling around the occupied lounge chairs waiting for someone to depart so they could pounce and lay down until their boarding time. Luckily we scored two lounge chairs and were able to sleep for an hour or so before our next flight.
We arrived into Entebbe around one in the afternoon. It was gorgeous. After being wrapped up in a scarf and fleece for the past two weeks in Morocco, I immediately peeled off layers and dug out my flip-flops from the depths of my backpack. We grabbed a taxi and headed towards Kampala.
Entebbe is something of a UN hub for Africa, therefore, it didn’t feel like we were in Uganda at all. The first twenty minutes of the drive reminded me of Kentucky in the summer, green grass, manicured lawns, brick walls between western style buildings. On the outskirts of Entebbe, things began to change.
We were in Uganda.
Buildings weren’t nearly as ‘western’ looking. If they were made of solid brick or concrete, they were painted over like a giant billboard advertising everything from soap to phone carriers to Mountain Dew. People were everywhere. Walking to the markets with baskets on top of their heads. Sleeping on motorbikes. Dressed in immaculate uniforms walking home from school. Sometimes a child would see us and recognize how different we looked and would wave enthusiastically.
We arrived at Red Chili (our hostel/campgrounds du jour) in the afternoon and attempted to use the wifi before giving up and having dinner and climbing into bed around 8 o’clock.
