A Trip to Jinja...and a transportation Success!

Yesterday, I caught a minibus taxi to Jinja for a purely sightseeing trip of (it turned out) 18 hours. I had planned to spend Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning in Jinja (a town on Lake Victoria about 80 km from Kampala). However, on the way to Jinja, the person I was supposed to meet Tuesday afternoon called to reschedule for Tuesday morning. He is a very important contact (essentially, he was the leader of the pentecostal movement within the Anglican church here and is an confidant to many a Bishop), and he could only meet at 10:00 AM in Wakiso Town, 20 km the other way out of Kampala. Thus, my time in Jinja was limited to Monday afternoon and I was going to need to put the transportation system of minibus taxis to the test.

Monday, I caught a taxi to Jinja around 11:00 (they depart when full), which only cost 4000 (about $1.80) for the 80 km trip. Once in Jinja, I began sightseeing in the town and then made my way to the Source of the Nile River.

The town is quite interesting: In many ways, it's everything that Kampala is not. It has a standard street layout that includes blocks, has street signs (well, more than Kampala), has generally good roads (and lots of paved roads) and appears clean and orderly. It's a town that was obviously affected quite a lot by the Asian community (mostly Indian) during the colonization years, and that influence still shows. There are monuments to India all over the place! At two schools I saw monuments to India's independence, and there are at least two Gandhi statues in the city (one in town and one at the Source of the Nile park). It's also a very spread out city; I walked through most of the town, and no place had any density like what is seen in Kampala (or even Fort Portal). I enjoyed the town (was able to get some very good local food…which I hadn't had since Fort Portal), and then I walked to the Source of the Nile (which was a bit hard to find…in many ways Jinja is a town hiding from the water).

At the source, there is a local park which, predictably, charges an insanely high fee to foreigners. Ugandans pay 500 shillings (.23 cents) to get in, while non-Ugandans are charged 10000 shillings ($4.50) per the sign. I managed to negotiate the price down to 3000 shillings for me (though it took a while…), but it still amazed me that the 80 km taxi ride cost just a bit more than the entrance to the "park". And it does go to show that EVERYTHING is negotiable around here. For that price, I honestly expected to be disappointed. That expectation couldn't be further from the truth.

I walked down to the foot of the river and found a rock to sit on. On the water's level, I wrote in my journal that "there may have been more beautiful lakes in Wyoming, or more meaningful monuments in DC, but never have I seen a sight more powerful." I can't really describe the beauty and power (and pictures won't do it justice), but sitting in that spot served as a humbling reminder that, just as I was growing quite comfortable in Uganda, I was so far from home (in a good way). I'll show pictures when I get home.

At the Nile, I was approached by a teenage boy offering to play his local instrument, a homemade harp, for a few thousand shillings. When I politely declined, he asked to sit down on the rock with me. I said I didn't mind, and he introduced himself as Robert. He started by apologizing for the interruption, and stated that he really hated bothering students. We proceeded to have a great conversation about his life and mine, about the power of the river, and about his plans to study so hard he gets a scholarship to the US. Unlike many people I've met, who list going to the US as a pipe dream, Robert understood the difficulty of the path. I was impressed and hopeful, however, because of his optimism and dedication.

I can't tell you how many times these kind of interactions (people asking me for my contact information so they can connect to the US) have happened here. For example, I have a list of several relatives of contacts that I'm supposed to call and pass along messages to when I return, since it's so expensive to call from here. I've also met ten or fifteen people in taxis or small, local restaurants that want to talk about the States. Like most, Robert asked for my email address, which I provided, and promised to keep in touch. I really hope he does.

After the Nile, I headed to the hostel I was staying and read a bit before bed. In the morning, I awoke for my test of the minibus taxi system. At 6:20, I caught a boda to the taxi park in Jinja. By 6:30, I was on a taxi headed to Kampala (for 4000shillings again…$1.80!!!). At 8:30, I arrived at the New Taxi Park and found my way to a taxi to Wakiso Town (20 km the other direction). About 9:20, I arrived in Wakiso Town, 30 minutes early for my appointment with Uncle Ben. Needless to say, I was really, really impressed with the ease, speed, and cost of the transportation today. For 5500 shillings ($2.36) and one transfer, I made my way 100 km in about three hours. Oh, and my meeting went really well.

Tomorrow, I'll start with a parish visit to one of the slums of Kampala at 8:00, then visit a second parish (in another slum) at 10:30. In the afternoon, I'm going to try to find someone with a sowing machine to patch up my khaki pants (which ripped on the edge of a seat in the minibus taxi). The good news about the pants is that they cost 10 dollars at Target; the bad news is that I only have two pairs with me.

Until next time,

Will