Now that August is approaching, it has started to rain in Kampala. They tell me that usually July is a dry month but this year there has been a lot of rain in July. The rain is very heavy, nothing like what I have seen back home. And the weather changes very quickly - one minuter it is sunshine and the next minute the clouds come from nowhere and it starts to rain. The thunder is very loud and because of the thick cloud, it gets dark and you can easily see the lightning. Below are two pictures taken from the window of Crane Chambers (the Warid office building); the first one is in the rain and the second after the rain.
I know the locals hate it and I have seen them complain about the rain; but I love it. Although the weather is very nice throughout the day, but when it rains you get a nice breeze which reminds me of home. Now where can I get some Pakoras?
Speaking of Pakoras, do you know who much a vegetable Samosa costs here? 40 rupees! The other day one of our colleagues who has lived in Uganda a couple of yours back told us about a bakery which makes nice samosas. Although the samosas were ok, the price was a bargain - Rs. 20 each!
The price hikes are not just limited to food. Most things are very expensive when compared to back home. For example, fuel is Rs. 80+ per litre; a bar of Mars chocolate is Rs. 50 rupees and a half litre bottle of mineral water is 35 rupees. I wonder what these people eat?
I don't know what they eat as the lunch served in the office was very desi. There was a different menu for locals but since a few of them ate with us, it seems it would not be too different. I am told they eat a lot of bananas!
Another interesting thing is how tea is served in the office. If you ask for Tea or coffee, a tray is brought to your work area with cups, tea bags, sugar & milk and a flask of hot water. Drink as much as you like whenever you like!
Since I am off to Congo in a few hours, this is my last post from Kampala for now. I have a couple of other things to talk about which I will when I get the time.
In the mean time, you can enjoy the Uganda Miscellaneous Album & Warid Office Album on Picasa.
I know the locals hate it and I have seen them complain about the rain; but I love it. Although the weather is very nice throughout the day, but when it rains you get a nice breeze which reminds me of home. Now where can I get some Pakoras?
Speaking of Pakoras, do you know who much a vegetable Samosa costs here? 40 rupees! The other day one of our colleagues who has lived in Uganda a couple of yours back told us about a bakery which makes nice samosas. Although the samosas were ok, the price was a bargain - Rs. 20 each!
The price hikes are not just limited to food. Most things are very expensive when compared to back home. For example, fuel is Rs. 80+ per litre; a bar of Mars chocolate is Rs. 50 rupees and a half litre bottle of mineral water is 35 rupees. I wonder what these people eat?
I don't know what they eat as the lunch served in the office was very desi. There was a different menu for locals but since a few of them ate with us, it seems it would not be too different. I am told they eat a lot of bananas!
Another interesting thing is how tea is served in the office. If you ask for Tea or coffee, a tray is brought to your work area with cups, tea bags, sugar & milk and a flask of hot water. Drink as much as you like whenever you like!
Since I am off to Congo in a few hours, this is my last post from Kampala for now. I have a couple of other things to talk about which I will when I get the time.
In the mean time, you can enjoy the Uganda Miscellaneous Album & Warid Office Album on Picasa.
Some ten kilometres below Lake Victoria, lie the little-known but stunningly beautiful Bujagali Falls. Although lacking a single massive drop of the kind that generally earns waterfalls their fame, the Bujagali are distinctive because of the sheer volume of water cascading over the series of low rapids that would otherwise be unremarkable.
What the falls loose in height; they make up for in speed (only someone with a death wish would dive or swim there). The water is so fast that you can easily see how a few of these falls can move the Nile for the next 6000+ Km to Mediterranean Sea.
Unfortunately, this wonder of nature is about to disappear. To ease the power shortages (yes they have load-shedding in Uganda as well), the government has started the construction of a 250MW hydropower facility. This dam will result in water level rising and the falls disappearing for ever.
I know that since we have a serious power crisis in our country, it is very hard for us to sympathise about destruction of some falls. But in my opinion, if we play with nature too much... it does not like and bites back!
You can see the Bujagali Falls picture album on Picasa.
What the falls loose in height; they make up for in speed (only someone with a death wish would dive or swim there). The water is so fast that you can easily see how a few of these falls can move the Nile for the next 6000+ Km to Mediterranean Sea.
Unfortunately, this wonder of nature is about to disappear. To ease the power shortages (yes they have load-shedding in Uganda as well), the government has started the construction of a 250MW hydropower facility. This dam will result in water level rising and the falls disappearing for ever.
I know that since we have a serious power crisis in our country, it is very hard for us to sympathise about destruction of some falls. But in my opinion, if we play with nature too much... it does not like and bites back!
You can see the Bujagali Falls picture album on Picasa.
Labels: bujagali, falls, jinja, LakeVictoria, uganda
Lake Victoria is not only the largest tropical lake in the world; it is also the Source of River Nile - the longest river in the world. Although Wikipedia disputes the facts that the source of Nile is Lake Victoria, but since it does not offer an alternative locations and the Ugandan government has already developed the tourist spot, I think it would be fair to say that the Nile starts from Lake Victoria.
The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and fertile soil, but the former being the longer of the two. The White Nile starts from Lake Victoria and flows through southern Sudan, while the Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, flowing into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
We saw very few tourists on at this place (maybe because it was late in the evening and it had rained a lot a couple of hours earlier). We would have taken the boat ride in the lake and the river, but we did not have much time; so we took a few pictures and moved on.
Next to the source of the Nile is a statue of Gandhi. According to Ghandi's wish, the majority of his ashes were immersed in some of the world's major rivers. The monument represents the place at the source of Nile where part of theses ashes were immersed. I am told that a lot of Indians visit this place to pay their respects to him.
You can also see the Source of the Nile Trip album at Picasa.
The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and fertile soil, but the former being the longer of the two. The White Nile starts from Lake Victoria and flows through southern Sudan, while the Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, flowing into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
We saw very few tourists on at this place (maybe because it was late in the evening and it had rained a lot a couple of hours earlier). We would have taken the boat ride in the lake and the river, but we did not have much time; so we took a few pictures and moved on.
Next to the source of the Nile is a statue of Gandhi. According to Ghandi's wish, the majority of his ashes were immersed in some of the world's major rivers. The monument represents the place at the source of Nile where part of theses ashes were immersed. I am told that a lot of Indians visit this place to pay their respects to him.
You can also see the Source of the Nile Trip album at Picasa.
Labels: jinja, Lake, LakeVictoria, nile, uganda
I have done it! I have crossed the Equator and stepped into the Southern Hemisphere. This happened at midday on 29th July 2007! I know this may not excite your much but there was a time in nautical history when elaborate rituals were performed onboard ships when they crossed the Equator. The sailor who had crossed the Equator were called Shellbacks and the ones who had not crossed the line before were called Pollywogs. Wikipedia says that in the 19th century and earlier, the line-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating "pollywogs" with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing the victims over the side of the ship, dragging the pollywog in the surf from the stern. In more than one instance, sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in a crossing the line ceremony. A watered-down version of the ceremony, is also sometimes carried out for passengers' entertainment on civilian ocean liners and cruise ships even today.
Thankfully, since I crossed the line on the ground I was able to avoid the drama. I did however feel as if I had opened a new chapter in my life (which is true as I will be in Brazzaville, Congo in a couple of days and the city is in the southern hemisphere).
To mark the memorable moment in the history, I even filled my name in the visitors' book and purchased an "I was here" certificate for 10,000 shillings (US$6). I know it was a rip-off but I am a sucker for these things!For another 10,000 shillings, I could have seen the (fake) science experiment which demonstrates Corialis Effect using three pans marked "Did you Know". Two of these were placed on either sides and one on the equator. The guy would pour water into each pan and show you the spin of the water in different directions. You can read Adam Rasheed's post on GRC Blog to understand why the experiment would have been fake.
There was a big display at the souvenir shop which listed some interesting facts about the Equator. The one I liked most was that your body weight goes down by 3%; beat that Dr. Atkins!
For more pictures, visit the Equator Trip album on Picasa.
On Sunday we had planned on getting up early and visiting a couple of places. Our ride was to first pick Irfan & Sajjad from their guesthouse in Kitintale and then come for Nasar and I around 9:45am. I was ready by 9:15 and decided to check-up on Nasar. I knocked his door - no response, I banged his door - no response, I kicked his door, no response! For a second I was worried. One of the housekeepers came up to check if everything was ok. I told him that I was trying to wake Nasar and there was no response. We went onto the joint balcony from my room and found that the window was open. I saw Nasar sleeping and shouted his name a dozen times to wake him up - NO RESPONSE!The housekeeper had an idea and went to get something long which could reach the bed and poke him. In the mean time I got three apples from the dinning room and threw them at him. Although two of them hit his shoulder, but I missed his head and he did not wake up.
The housekeeper brought back a wiper with expendable pipe. We got close enough to bang the headboard and poke the quilt... but nothing happened.
Somehow the housekeeper managed to open the balcony door to his room and I went into the room and shook the life (or sleep in this case) out of Nasar. After 25 mins of trying we finally managed to wake him up (but only because we got into the room). If you are planning to buy Nasar a birthday present (21st March), have a look at some of these alarm clocks which claim to wake everyone except the dead!
Labels: alarmclock, kampala, nasar, uganda
Since Saturday is a working day here (in the company and not Uganda), we decided to go the Lake Victoria Beach which is near Entebbe. Although the original plan was to leave around 1:30pm after lunch; but you know once you are in the office, getting out on time is not easy. We left for Imperial Beach Resort (a hotel with its own private stretch of beach) around 4-ish and got to the beach an hour later. Since we used the beach entrance to get into the beach area, we ended up paying 2000 Ugandan Shillings ($1.20) at the gates. Had we entered through the hotel gates, we would not need to pay the fee.
Lake Victoria is the largest tropical lake and the second biggest fresh water lake in the world (the picture is taken from space). It is split between Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania. It was named after Queen Victoria by the an British Indian Army office John Hanning Speke who after getting tired of all the fighting in India decided to instead go explore Africa.
Maybe it was a cloudy day or something else, but the beach did not appeal to me. Some of the sand was kinda white, but it did not feel anything like the beaches I had visited.
The resort area was nicely developed with gardens, outdoor food areas and a swimming pool (which you had to pay extra to get into).
Visit the Imperial Beach Resort picture gallery on Picasa.
Lake Victoria is the largest tropical lake and the second biggest fresh water lake in the world (the picture is taken from space). It is split between Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania. It was named after Queen Victoria by the an British Indian Army office John Hanning Speke who after getting tired of all the fighting in India decided to instead go explore Africa.
Maybe it was a cloudy day or something else, but the beach did not appeal to me. Some of the sand was kinda white, but it did not feel anything like the beaches I had visited.
The resort area was nicely developed with gardens, outdoor food areas and a swimming pool (which you had to pay extra to get into).
Visit the Imperial Beach Resort picture gallery on Picasa.
Labels: Beach, Entebbe, Lake, LakeVictoria, uganda
We went out for Friday prayers a earlier today in Kampala. The central mosque is named "New National Mosque" but usually called "Old Kampala Mosque" which is on top of Mengo hill in old Kampala. The mosque opened in June 2007, although it has been completed a year earlier. This delay was due to a dispute between the mufti and the Muslim community who accused him of selling mosque land for commercial use. The construction of the mosque was funded by Libyan President Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and he will also pay the annual utility bills of about US$200,000.
Unfortunately, we were did not get there on time and missed the prayers. Since the gates were jammed with people coming out we decided to find another mosque to say Dhuhr prayers. The one we found is called Wandegeya Mosque and had Indian dome type architecture and was more kinda old and a little run down.
Irfan Khalil, Sajjad Butt, Nasar Shakil, Faisal Nasim
Since I wont be around in Kampala for the next Friday prayers, I will have to go sometime during the week to offer prayers and see the mosque.
Unfortunately, we were did not get there on time and missed the prayers. Since the gates were jammed with people coming out we decided to find another mosque to say Dhuhr prayers. The one we found is called Wandegeya Mosque and had Indian dome type architecture and was more kinda old and a little run down.
Irfan Khalil, Sajjad Butt, Nasar Shakil, Faisal NasimSince I wont be around in Kampala for the next Friday prayers, I will have to go sometime during the week to offer prayers and see the mosque.
I left home at 12:30am on Sunday morning and reached Kampala
As my wife had said that she always visualized
The drive from
I guess that is enough for today; I have a long day tomorrow, see you soon!
Welcome to my new blog "Africa Calling" which I have set-up to share my experiences in Africa with you. I shall be spending a lot of time in Republic of Congo (and some in Uganda) over the next few months and this blog will keep you posted about my adventures (no i will not be running after lions).
This is my first trip to Africa (I went to Cairo many years ago but I count Egypt in Middle East). Most of the stuff I have read on the internet on Congo and Uganda has been written by the western visitors to these countries. My perspective would be more Desi and I and would help you compare our home country with Africa (and maybe appreciate it too).
You can either add this blog to your Blog Reader (I recommend Google Reader) or you can sign-up to receive emails on my posts.
This is my first trip to Africa (I went to Cairo many years ago but I count Egypt in Middle East). Most of the stuff I have read on the internet on Congo and Uganda has been written by the western visitors to these countries. My perspective would be more Desi and I and would help you compare our home country with Africa (and maybe appreciate it too).
You can either add this blog to your Blog Reader (I recommend Google Reader) or you can sign-up to receive emails on my posts.
