Driving in Uganda, notice the bike in between the two trucks. this bike is a Taxi and the woman riding side saddle is the customer. Up to three people will ride the bike, no helmets and kids ride for free......
I will NEVER drive in Uganda!!!!
Uganda from the Air
Notice what looks like a soft green river? These are marshes that would have been massive rivers millions of years ago...
I woke up today at 0500 to be at the airport for 0540. It is winter in Khartoum and there is a cool breeze in the air. I almost had to wear a spring jacket!!
The UN flight was delayed by an hour and left at 1000am. I flew on a Spanish MD-87. The plane had 150 seats and there were 47 of us on board. As we left Khartoum I was finally able to see the Anti-Aircraft gun battery that was located right beside the runway. Things like that remind you of what the real situation is here in Sudan. The plane also came quite close to the Sudan gun ships and planes. We are starting to think about what the situation will be like within the next 4 months as the 1st national democratic elections arrive. Yesterday the South Sudan government political leaders and opposition leaders organized a peaceful demonstration in Khartoum. This is considered illegal and the political leaders were arrested and some were injured. This caused a massive demonstration in the south. If this is an indication of how are to be then things will get very interesting over the next months.
Once again as I look out the aircraft I see that there is always a fire somewhere in the Sudan desert. There are several reasons that have been mentioned to me. These include causing new growth, removing the bad animals and insects. The fires are caused by locals, by the sun and there is rumor that there is a type of rock out here that gets very hot in the desert sun and it can cause the start of a fire. No matter which reason it is there is never a week that goes by that you don’t smell the fires of Sudan.
I landed in JUBA, Sudan (another major team site) which has been called the new capital of South Sudan. We were dropping off and picking up passengers before heading out of Sudan to Entebbe Uganda. This is also the place that we get our passport stamped.
Within 10 min of leaving JUBA and heading towards Uganda (which shares the border with Sudan) it was amazing to see the line of green vegetation. I was like someone drew a line that was the border of Sudan and Uganda and north of this line they placed a country of sand and south of this line they placed a tropical country of lush green forests and farms.
I landed in ENTEBBE Uganda “the Pearl of Africa” was posted at the airport.
I was met at the airport by my driver and guide David. David is a father of 3 and lives in KAMPALA. As we drove to my first hotel I had heard sirens and a motorcade came speeding by us. It turns out this was the president of Uganda! I was pleased that David arranged for the president to meet me that day LOL!!
I arrived at my hotel which was an hours drive from the airport. I had landed in Entebbe and would be staying in Kampala. The hotel was nice and my room was basic. The ratio of staff to guests was 14:1…Oh did I mention that I was the ONLY guest!!! Well at least I had great service. My room had a TV and satellite cable which had only one channel. Oh I could change the channel. All I had to do was to go to the reception desk and ask for a new channel. I had my first Ugandan beer that night called BELL beer. It was quite good and came in a 500ml bottle.
That night I set up my mosquito net and went to sleep.
The UN flight was delayed by an hour and left at 1000am. I flew on a Spanish MD-87. The plane had 150 seats and there were 47 of us on board. As we left Khartoum I was finally able to see the Anti-Aircraft gun battery that was located right beside the runway. Things like that remind you of what the real situation is here in Sudan. The plane also came quite close to the Sudan gun ships and planes. We are starting to think about what the situation will be like within the next 4 months as the 1st national democratic elections arrive. Yesterday the South Sudan government political leaders and opposition leaders organized a peaceful demonstration in Khartoum. This is considered illegal and the political leaders were arrested and some were injured. This caused a massive demonstration in the south. If this is an indication of how are to be then things will get very interesting over the next months.
Once again as I look out the aircraft I see that there is always a fire somewhere in the Sudan desert. There are several reasons that have been mentioned to me. These include causing new growth, removing the bad animals and insects. The fires are caused by locals, by the sun and there is rumor that there is a type of rock out here that gets very hot in the desert sun and it can cause the start of a fire. No matter which reason it is there is never a week that goes by that you don’t smell the fires of Sudan.
I landed in JUBA, Sudan (another major team site) which has been called the new capital of South Sudan. We were dropping off and picking up passengers before heading out of Sudan to Entebbe Uganda. This is also the place that we get our passport stamped.
Within 10 min of leaving JUBA and heading towards Uganda (which shares the border with Sudan) it was amazing to see the line of green vegetation. I was like someone drew a line that was the border of Sudan and Uganda and north of this line they placed a country of sand and south of this line they placed a tropical country of lush green forests and farms.
I landed in ENTEBBE Uganda “the Pearl of Africa” was posted at the airport.
I was met at the airport by my driver and guide David. David is a father of 3 and lives in KAMPALA. As we drove to my first hotel I had heard sirens and a motorcade came speeding by us. It turns out this was the president of Uganda! I was pleased that David arranged for the president to meet me that day LOL!!
I arrived at my hotel which was an hours drive from the airport. I had landed in Entebbe and would be staying in Kampala. The hotel was nice and my room was basic. The ratio of staff to guests was 14:1…Oh did I mention that I was the ONLY guest!!! Well at least I had great service. My room had a TV and satellite cable which had only one channel. Oh I could change the channel. All I had to do was to go to the reception desk and ask for a new channel. I had my first Ugandan beer that night called BELL beer. It was quite good and came in a 500ml bottle.
That night I set up my mosquito net and went to sleep.
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