Thoughts on Kampala

Kampala reminded me a lot more of China than the Philippines, Kigali, or Goma. There are lots of tall buildings that look really good on the outside, and then you go inside and realize the tender love and care the outside of the building received died at the door. The insides of the buildings were usually dirty and cheaply done with cheap materials that showed the wear. Almost every stair on the way down from the 8th floor of the building my test was in for instance was broke off on the edge. The lobby itself was really small, dark, and dingy. Some other buildings that looked very nice and new on the outside looked 30 years old on the inside, and also looked like not one maintenance person even looked at the building in 30 years. Also, the niceness of some of the buildings was set in sharp contrast to the people selling things outside the buildings. These people would sell books, news papers, shoes, and anything else they might be able to make a shilling on. They spread a piece of card board, or a blanket down on the sidewalk and then set their wares on top of them. That is their spot and it feels like a huge flea market wherever you walk.

Walking is probably the fastest way to get somewhere in one piece. The motos would be faster, but possibly deadly. The sidewalks are crowded with people, and are even more crowded because of the sidewalk sales everywhere, but they are not nearly as crowded as the streets at times. The traffic in Kampala usually averages speeds seen in Milwaukee only when there has been an accident and people are stopping to look at it, like the little kids are stopping to look at me right now outside the internet cafe's door. When traffic is at a stand still, that is your best bet for crossing the street. Weaving in and out of the cars, you really only have to watch out for the motos who are doing the same thing, trying to get to the front of the traffic column. Usually they are going slow enough to stop instantly if you step out in front of them, but I wouldn't put my life in their hands if I could avoid it. I'll just be more careful while crossing the street and not leave it up to some possessed moto driver to decide if I live or die. And that is only the danger while walking across the street, and then you try and take a moto?

I took one Sunday when I arrived in Kampala and it wasn't too bad because it was Sunday and there wasn't much traffic. The rest of my time I decided I was done with motos. They are crazy and I really think they should have you sign a will before you ride them during the week. They are much more crazy than the drivers in Goma or Kigali and really, I'm staying away from them if possible.

One good thing about Kampala is there are guards everywhere. Because every building, and sometimes even every floor of a building has guards, there are enough people with authority and with guns that it feels pretty safe, and really is safe. Especially on the main roads, it's no problem to walk around at 11pm (that's the latest I was ever out at least). When you're walking down the road at night, about every 100 feet there is a guard or two.

Kampala also has a place called Steers that had decent burgers. I ate there the first night I was in Kampala and actually went back the next two days I was there too. Three days of decent burgers was greatly appreciated by my burger deprived self. The bun wasn't amazing, but the burger itself and the other things on the burger were actually really good, and the fries were good too. They had a bit more flavor than most do here and it was a good change of pace since burgers and fries are some of my favorite foods ever.