We arrived into Kampala from Lira mid afternoon and took a boda boda to our hotel downtown where we would stay one night. Kampala is quite busy and exciting. Downtown is situated on rolling hills with skyscrapers and larger buildings that were scarce in Lira and Mbale. Traffic rivaled Nairobi and the boda boda drivers were slightly more aggressive on the roads. It was definitely the type of downtown that made me hold my bag a little tighter as we walked into our hotel.
Our room at Aponye hotel was cheap and comfortable with a restaurant attached and wifi. We consulted lonely planet and lit up when we found that there was a Mexican restaurant, Little Donkey not terribly far... a Mexican restaurant! We boarded a boda boda and headed about 15 mins east (I think) where we found blended margaritas, beans, cheese, taco salad for me and even guacamole. Little taste of home in the middle of our six week adventure. We were stoked. We road through the hilly town that evening in the dark slightly buzzed and grateful to be alive.
The next day we took a free shuttle from the downtown Oasis mall to Red Chilis backpackers for the next two nights on a friend of Corrines's recommendation. Red Chilis is a venture out of town about 20 minutes southeast and is situated on a hill overlooking Lake Victoria. Gorgeous. It was red tiled roof U- shaped building outlining green fields with a saltwater pool we could hardly wait to jump into. Kampala would be the closest town to the equator we would visit and sunscreen was not an option, more of a necessity. I was out with spf 50 for probably 45 mins and still found splattered pink and white bikini lines later that evening. Our room was lovely and spacious with communal hostel style washroom down the hall. Lovely restaurant, friendly staff and they had a local craft woman come and set up shop each evening. I ended up buying some flowy elephant pants that were a little too long and she sweetly offered to take them home and re stitch them and bring them back the following day. Solid purchase, they rock.
I was a little sad to find out I would not be able to meet up with Sherry, the director for Loving One by One Ministries. She sent me an email describing her next few days shuttling surgical patients in and out of town, transporting stroke patients, and having several optometric surgeries lined up that she had to organize. It was simply not going to work and I didn't want to force it. My goal was to learn more about the program and perhaps find a place with them for future volunteer work and it sounds like this will still be an option. Through our travels I've spoken to multiple abroad healthcare providers and volunteers - one specifically, a young nurse Natalie, I got to talking to at the Nairobi airport en route to Diani beach (she struck up a convo as I was being all touristy with my lonely planet book and a colorful Post-it situation). She had been working in Moshi's oncology unit teaching younger nurses how to administer chemotherapy for a few weeks and she again fueled my desire to practice medicine abroad. She had lived in Kenya for 13 months three years back and came across the opportunity to return to East Africa through the hospital she worked at in Michigan. Speaking with her made me more confident I could find connections through future employers, as well as of course Sherry and perhaps even Safari doc Scott I met climbing Kilimanjaro. My biggest worry is doing volunteer work that is not genuine, and instead more of a touristy opportunity where you end up paying a program all this money to have your "'medical experience" ... nuh uh. Not doing that. The dream is to find a more sustainable way to spend a couple weeks to a month annually helping local providers with their workload and perhaps bringing over extra needed supplies and actually make a contribution that may make a difference.
Anyways. Not all was lost and I enjoyed a morning run along Lake Victoria, trying more local foods, and collecting souvenirs at Banana Boat- a beautiful 'made in Uganda' store at the Garden Mall that has everything from local soaps and handmade cards to handcrafted wooden stools. Also had a delicious brunch at a place called Prunes, recommended by Lonely Planet. Outside seating included all sorts of fun garden furniture and they were real big on the coffee... who could really ask for more out of a brunch spot?
I especially enjoyed my run... I departed early morning as fog was still settled over the lake and ran about 20 mins South following roads as close to the lake as I could.
I passed small children in uniform walking to school and a small bustling village with young people waiting for matatus (the small local bus). I passed a white, pristine one level psychiatric hospital with a large field and garden out front. My favorite part though was when a boy about my age carrying a soccer ball in a plastic grocery bag came out
of nowhere and started running with me. We didn't exchange a word. At first I was a little concerned... why was he running with me? What did he want? Would he follow me all the way back to Red Chilis? But I pushed those thoughts aside and just ran realizing I kind of enjoyed the company and I might be over analyzing. I went on a shorter run than my norm so I decided to test myself with a little speedwork and picked it up a notch. He matched my speed. We circled around the road towards the hill getting closer to home and I took it up another two notches. He matched me. At this point I was breathing hard while he, on the other hand, was composed, with a relaxed face that didn't appear to be participating in any sort of labored oxygen
exchange. I maintained. This went on for probably another minute which felt like eight before I reached the driveway toward Red Chilis. He kept running straight and I waved and yelled "byeee!" to my new running buddy and he looked over his right shoulder, waved and nodded and without slowing his stride continued off over the hill. It was awesome. He wasn't trying to sell me something or ask for money or follow me home. Instead it was a fun little connection that made me giddy as I returned to tell Corrine.
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