Sights from the countryside

This past weekend I went back to my roots visiting as well as sightseeing. By "back to my roots" I mean Moyo and Adjumani districts in the northwestern part of Uganda, known as the West Nile region. The visit was quite interesting for the following reasons:

First, the roads to a large extent were badly damaged by the rains that it made the trip so bumpy. It left me trembling like a leaf in the wind after the trip! Second, the commuter taxi broke down three times on the first leg of the trip, which delayed the trip.

I snapped a few pictures during the trip.

First breakdown: The commuter taxi had a faulty, which caused its engine to overheat. We had to wait for it to cool down and fixed. Er... the pleasures of our public transport system!

                                     

A roadside market in Lefori. A convenient way to shop on-the-go. It is pumpkin season - a variety of pumpkins were on sale. 

Coconut tubers in Lefori: A snack that is seasonal delicacy. The tubers are harvested just after shoot germination and steamed before eating.

A storm brews as I near my destination (somewhere in the mountains seen in the distance). Luckily, it had passed by the time I arrived.

Picturesque: Sunrise in the mountains of Metu in Eremi. This was at about 6:30 a.m.

Hiking in Metu: The area has scenic hiking trails that twist and turn among rocks. Pockets of bamboo forests offer quiet resting spots on a good, hot, sunny day along the trails.

A homestead in the foreground near a scenic rock in the background.

Sunset as seen from high up in Eremi.

The magnificent River Nile (the light blue speck) seen on the climb to Eremi.

Having fun: Children swim in River Nile at the landing site in Omi, Adjumani district.

 A ferry (in the distance) is on its way to the landing site in Omi.

Getting closer: The ferry prepares for docking at the landing site.

Keeping time

What time is it?

Ever heard of the idioms 'time waits for no man' and 'there's no need for hurry in Africa'? Well, I subscribe to the former. 

From my observations, the majority of people, especially here in the beautiful Pearl of Africa, subscribe to the latter, which is quite unfortunate! Irrespective of the occasion (conference proceedings, workshops, meetings, wedding ceremonies or receptions, etc) we tend to turn up late for whatever reason. Amazingly this applies to the organizers as well as the participants. What surprises me is that there is always an excuse! "The traffic jam was too heavy", "I was held up at the office/at home", and my favorite - "this is Africa - it is our nature to be late". These excuses soon become attitudes, which in turn become the norm, and hence an acceptable pattern! However legitimate an excuse is, part of keeping and managing time is to plan in advance for the unforeseen circumstance should they arise. This could be by way of factoring in additional time, say, by setting off early for an appointment.

I attended a workshop not long ago. The workshop's starting time was stated as 8:00 a.m. I arrived on time as usual only to find the venue empty - absolutely no soul in there! I chose a seat, sat down, and turned on my portable electronic device and proceeded to do my own things. Another participant joined me a few minutes later and together, we lamented about the annoying lack of time-keeping culture that exists in our midst. A short while later one of the organizers showed up and to our dismay he didn't know where his colleagues were. Lord Have Mercy! Then he left in search of them. Anyway, long story short... the workshop began an hour and a half late - without apologies of course from neither the organizers nor late participants!

I had ample time on my hands to take in the premises that hosted the workshop.

Many of us (anyway those that I know) go through our day in a planned way. Granted, some unplanned occurrences or activities may permeate our so carefully planned day thereby throwing our schedules off, but I'd say to a large extent that is uncommon. The bottom line is: time is of precious and of the essence, particularly to some of us, and therefore should be treated so!

Part of the garden.

The downside of not keeping time (I must say that I'm not aware of any upside of not keeping time) is that starting an activity/event late has a negative impact on the rest of the day's scheduled activities/events as it will push those activities/events further back by an equal amount of time wasted. If one's livelihood depends on meeting tight deadlines, the odds are that they will be swamped at the end of the day, with the likelihood of their scheduled activities "spilling-over" to the next day. This is bound to cause anxiety and work-related stress!

If we don't keep time, time will surely leave us behind!

Terrace breakfast- Naalya

Cute little restaurant (really tiny) that has the prettiest setup I’ve seen in a long time. Simple yet classy. Small yet sophisticated. Those who live in small apartments and want to create spaces need to check out this elegant restaurant, Chandaz…and the three girls we found there were lovely! Originally posted by The tamarind tree shade

A trip north

I recently took a trip from Kampala to Gulu on a working cum visiting trip to meet colleagues at Gulu University. I was psyched up for the trip since I hadn't been to Gulu in a while.

On the morning of the trip, I found my way to Buganda Bus Park (BBP) to get on a Gulu-bound bus. It was an usually hot and dusty Kampala morning, with the makings of a thunderstorm afternoon written all over it.

I arrived at BBP just before 11:00 a.m. For those who haven't used that bus terminal, it is one chaotic place. Different bus services that are headed to the same destination compete for passengers in a crude way - one is made to feel like a rope in game of 'tug-of-war' so to speak! Anyhow, I found myself being pulled in the direction of a BTC bus, which plies the Kampala-Gulu route daily.

Now, being a stickler for time, I asked the ticket master what time the bus would set off for its destination. His response was "I load strictly for 1 hour". He said this while he looked me straight in the eye without blinking. He gave me my ticket and I boarded... I took a window seat so I could sight see, but most importantly for getting first-rate fresh air (it can get extremely hot and musty in our non-air conditioned buses!). I tentatively estimated our arrival time in Gulu to be at around 5:00 p.m. To my surprise, the bus had only four or five actual passengers even though almost all seats were occupied. It turned out these "other" passenger were only seat-fillers - mostly hawkers who occupy the seats to give the impression that the bus is almost full and ready to depart.

Wildlife to see at Karuma bridge.

The hawkers can be either saviors or an annoyance (aggressively shove whatever good/merchandise it is that they are peddling in one's face). As I sat in the bus willing time to  fly by, one hawker would board after another with their 'stuff' - which ranged from knock-off electronic equipment to food items. One came in selling roasted chicken yelling "tongweno tie, tongweno tie!" Another one came selling men's coats "London coats here for 3,000; pay 3,000, get one London coat!"

Meanwhile, the 1 hour loading period stretched to 2 hours, then 3 hours, then.... "why in heaven's name weren't we setting off?", I wondered. I looked out the window only to notice that the 'original' ticket master had been replaced by another. Looking back I realized that what he meant by 'loading strictly for 1 hour' was perhaps his way of referring to his shift. 

All this time the temperature in the bus kept shooting up as the sun kept getting hotter and hotter. It was so hot that I stewed and sizzled in my own perspiration. Had I been a piece of steak, I would have been well done! Seriously! Being the Ugandans that we are (so docile for my liking), no passenger showed any concern regarding the extended delay despite the heat building up in the bus. I scanned the faces of some passengers for any signs of restlessness until I noticed one. A few seats down the aisle from my seat I saw a passenger clad in an MTN t-shirt visibly agitated. At first I mistook him for a hawker. He would shift restlessly in his seat then get up, look out, and sit back down again.

Time check: 2:15 p.m. A crew member member got on the bus to count how many empty seats remained. Mr. MTN asked the crew member why they were keeping us waiting that long in the park. The crew member's response was that there were still three empty seats available that needed to be occupied. That was when Mr. MTN took him on... yours truly gladly backed him up! Then some of our fellow passengers joined in. The crew member hurriedly exited the bus. Mr. MTN followed him out to continue his argument. A short while later to our relief, the bus driver took his seat and eased us on our way towards our destination. Time check: 2:30 p.m.

The magnificent Karuma Falls... one of the sights to look forward to when traveling north.

The journey began well with the bus slowly inching along the highway. When we were finally out of Kampala, they kept stopping to pick up more passengers. By the time we reached Karuma Falls there was no standing room. Then came the rain! The bus leaked like a faulty faucet. By the time we arrived in Gulu it was already 8:00 p.m. On arrival I heard that that particular bus service often breaks down. Guess I was lucky to survive that one!