by Red

79 – Mwanza to Nairobi: Aftermath

Sat 13th Feb, On a bus to Nairobi

From Kahama to Mwanza. I took the TML bus, a four hour trip to Mwanza. I was asleep 80% of the time, but the time i was awake, we passed through town after town. Africans i realise can really balance anything, and i mean anything on their heads. The street vendors come up when the bus stop in town, carrying atop their heads anything from bananas, peanuts, fish and other assortment of stuff. Elsewhere i’ve also seen on their heads firewood, cloth, even a pickaxe!

Reached Mwanza at about 10am. After the events of yesterday i was a bit cautious. Slapped the hand of a pickpocket who halfway unzipped my pouch when i got off the dalla-dalla, i walked around the town centre looking for onward bus travel companies. It wasn’t such a big town, so i decided i might as well get to Nairobi, where all the amenities are there and i can relax. I couldn’t find the Scandanavian Express ticket office so i went for Akamba Coach. The bus leaves at 1pm (30000 TSH, 13 hrs) so i had a couple of hours to walk around and grab some lunch. There is a high concentration of Indians in this town, migrants who have set up businesses here.

From Mwanza to Nairobi. Again, more bus journeys, but this time the route took me pass the western edge of the Serengiti, so i was treated to a free mini safari. The scenery was spectacular as always, and i must declared that Tanzania has the best clouds i’ve ever seen. Oodles of fluffy clouds sitting on top of each other. As for animals, there were baboons, zebras and various birdlife.

At the border crossing, the Kenyan border official asked how long i’d be staying, he must be curious as to why this tourist is criss-crossing so many countries in such a short span of time. I had a lot of Tanzanian shillings on me, but the exchange rate at the border wasn’t good. One money changer guy tried to use sleigh-of-hand to swipe 10000 TSH from me, i just got pissed off by all these conmen, thieves and general jackasses, i shouted at them and stomped off. I’m trying hard not to be pissed at the general east african population, telling myself the actions of a few should not determine how i react to everyone, but it’s really taking some effort at the moment.
There was one guy from Burundi, now an Australian citizen, after he fled there as a refugee and gained citizenship after 3 years. He came back to visit family and his sister in Tanzania, and was on the way back home via Nairobi. Nice guy, and i didn’t have the heart to tell him “Hey you, i got robbed by your countrymen yesterday!” Like i read somewhere, no one is interested to listen to your sob stories. “Half the people in the world don’t care about your problems, and the other half are probably glad you have them.”

I reached Nairobi at 4am, together with Acchi, a Jap guy who was on the bus with me, we decided to stay at the bus office till daylight. The hotel was less than 200m away, but there was no way i was going to walk there in the dark this time.

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 by Red

78 – Mugged

Fri 12th Feb, Brashi Guest House, Kahama, Tanzania

Bother. That’s it, i’ve gone and gotten myself robbed. I was headed towards the Taqwa bus station in the morning at 530am when one of the bandits popped out and walked towards me with a huge rock. “Give me money or i kill you”. This was on the main street, then one after another they seemingly popped out of the shadows. I was overpowered by 8 to 10 of them, pushed onto the ground before they helped themselves to my valuables. I was more indignant than afraid, but i knew it was pointless to retaliate. The mob walked away with my stuff, i went after them and asked for my wallet back and got it, without the money of course. In the end, the list of items lost are as follows: 1 camera, 1 nokia handphone, 1 watch, 21USD, 23000 Burundi Franc. The items weren’t that valuable, besides the camera (i had that out to look at the map on it for directions). I lost about 55 SGD of cash in total. The Nokia hp was those basic cheap army ones with no camera or radio functions. And my Casio watch was those retro ones you wear back in primary school. And most of my money (USD etc) were hidden in my money belt tucked inside my pants. The problem is the inconvenience all this has caused me.

First, i have no way to tell what day and time it is (both watch and phone gone), which is very important for all these bus/flight timings. And i now have no alarm clock (phone gone) to wake up for the early buses. I use my camera (you guys can forget about seeing any more photos on this blog until i find some other way to take pictures) to take photos of maps of all the places so i dont have to keep opening the guidebook on my netbook. Now i’ve to copy the maps on pieces of paper. And i got shit rate just now exchanging USD for Tanzanian shillings since i had the exchange rates captured on my camera.

At least i still have my wallet with all my debit/credit cards as well as my passport. And this laptop.Got to be thankful for that.

Ah #&*@, …trying to not let it affect me right now. Took the bus out to Kahama, where i stop for the night before heading off to Mwanza. The border was wasn’t a major one, at the Tanzanian side, they checked my Yellow Fever Vaccination. Took a bit of time too before they decided Singapore passport did not require the 50 USD visa fee.  Stayed at the Brashi Guest House (8000 TSH), in the main square of the bus station. Immediately went out to look for a new phone, not so much for calling (my M1 sim card is gone!) but just to get an alarm clock, and some way to tell the time, in the process i also got a local prepaid line. Got myself a ZAIN hp and line (30000 TSH and 500 TSH respectively), thats about 30 SGD. Got some cash out of the ATM (VISA again! Sigh).

Expected this to happen sooner or later. I keep hearing from other travelers i meet about them losing their laptops, cameras etc (like the Jap guy and those Polish dudes). Just upset with myself that I wasn’t very wise not to take a taxi down to the bus station early this morning. Anyway tomorrow i’m headed to Mwanza. Got the tickets off the big Trans Mohamad Limited bus company (8000 TSH).

in Africa / Burundi / Tanzania 1 comments
 by Red

77 – Wandering central Buja

Thu 11th Feb, Hotel L’amite, Bujumbura, Burundi

Woke up early and checked for buses out of Buja. There were many options, 1) to go back he way i came, through Kigali, Kampala then Nairobi. (24hrs) 2) To go south to Tanzania in Kigoma. (6hrs) 3) To go east into Tanzania to Mwanza. (12hrs to Kahama + 4 hrs the next day to Mwanza) 4) To go straight to Dar Es Salaam on the eastern coast (at least 24 hrs). 5) To go into Democratic Republic of Congo. I decided against option 5 since i’m stretching myself out too thin here. Plus safety is an issue, the best crossing is at the Rwanda/DRC border, the Burundi/DRC border is a bit of an unknown.

As i was walking around the bus companies, i came across Eugenie, the Rwandan girl from yesterday. She was collecting her materials and selling them to her customer in the central market. I ended up spending the whole day with her. Depositing her materials, having lunch together, later collecting her cash from her customer, and while waiting, taking a bus to the suburbs to visit her Rwandan friend who moved here. The last one was interesting since all the kids in the area was looking at me.

Buja central market area is hectic, crowded and disorganized. There was nothing much of interest, the main points of interest were just outside the city: the beaches of Lake Tanganyika, one monument with the source of the nile, and another with Livingstone’s spot. But i didn’t visit any of these. Instead i was walking around the maze of warehouses in the market and talking to the shopkeepers and locals, who assumed i was some businessman from China. =) All along i get gawked at, with the locals talking to her, which went along the lines of “wow u got yourself a chinese mzungu boyfriend!” hahaha

I decided to loop around Lake Victoria, back into Nairobi, before heading down to Dar Es Salaam. This way, i take up one day extra but get to see inland Tanzania, in the Sukuma region.

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 by Red

76 – Oh man…where am I again?!

Wed 10th Feb, Hotel L’amite, Bujumbura, Burundi

Ok, so i am now in the capital of Burundi, very french, very developed, thus very weird. Where is this place and how come no info online or in guidebooks talks about this place. As it is, hardly anyone comes to this country, there is nothing spectacular to see, yet it is so fascinating how like Kigali or Kampala, it has boulevards, locals in weekend white tennis/golf garb as well as the nicest hotel i’ve been to since Somaliland.

Started the day earlier in Kigali by making my way down to the Nyabugogo station. The bus sets off at 9am, except i was more than an hour early. It was only 730am, and i have been living in the wrong time zone for the past 3 days. Rwanda is GMT+2, and no one (even my guidebook), bothered to tell me that.

The trip. Kampala Coach here decides to pull a fast one on me. While the first trip with them from Nairobi to Kampala was smooth, for this trip they decide to make major stops everywhere. Which meant that my 6 hour bus ride took 8 hours. Events on the trip can be broken down into discrete sections, since they are not chronological.

First, the border proceedings. Unlike elsewhere over the past couple weeks, i need a visa to get into Burundi. It was painless, a transit visa for 3 days cost US20. You get a stamp on your passport, as well as some sort of receipt, which i read online i need to keep for when i leave the country. There was a long stopover once we cross the Burundian border, lunch and something. There were a lot of stops for “something”.

Next, there was the Kenyan man sitting in front of me. He travels from Eldoret in Kenya to Bujumbura to find business opportunities. He has a small plastic crushing machine and heard that in Buj, there is no proper plastic industry. He asks me about extruders and injection moulding machines and whether he can get those in Singapore. I suggest he try the Japanese made machines and tell him there are probably little ones that small businesses like his can get to start up. I promise to send him some info i’ll dig up online. He tells me there are good investment opportunities here. I tell him i don’t have money to invest. He tells me you don’t need money, you just need persistence and balls (well not his exact words) and what you want you will get. Like him, he doesn’t speak French, does not know anyone, yet he makes his way to Burundi, tells his wife he is going somewhere. These kind of people will be successful. Food for thought.

Then there’s the Rwandan lady in the next seat who’s pretty hot and who i chatted up. She’s going to Buj to do business with some supplier. If she gets it done, she goes back to Kigali tomorrow. Otherwise, she’ll stay another day.

Reached Bujumbura before dusk, and unlike previous places, this time i’ve no idea where the bus dropped me off. LP guide isn’t useful at all. Tomorrow morning i shall have to orientate myself properly. In the meantime, i took a cab down to the hotel (Les Petit Bandits hang around after dark, so its a good idea to take a cab and stay safe) but the Hotel Le Doyen was apparently closed. Instead, i ended up at the Hotel L’amite, cheapest rooms at 20 USD (25000 BF) with free wifi. =) I think it is a shared room, it has three beds, but since no one comes here, i got the whole room with attached bathroom to myself.

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 by Red

75 – A Lesson on Genocides

Tue 9th Feb, Belle Vie Logement, Kigali, Rwanda
I spent the first half of the day trying to decide where to go from here. After all, my initial plan was to just do Kenya and maybe Tanzania. Instead, i find myself traipsing through Uganda and now Rwanda as well. From here i could go back into Uganda then Kenya, or i could go south to Burundi. Another option was to detour to DRCongo. I was also contemplating whether to go gorilla tracking. I didn’t want to initially, but it is oh so tempting, since i am already here. In the end, common sense prevailed and I decided that i should respect my budget. I did a bucketload of research though. And found out that besides Uganda and Rwanda (500 USD for either), it was also possible to track the gorillas in DR Congo (400 USD). Additionally, there was also the new possibility of tracking Eastern Lowland gorillas in Kahuzi Biega NP, in DR Congo (400 USD).

For lunch, i headed towards Nile Grill. At 1600 FR (fish and chicken) or 2200 FR (for meat), the buffet spread was a steal. There was rice, spaghetti, cassava, matoke, some bean stuff, coleslaw, my fish fillet in sauce, chips and more to pack my plate. Apparently, Belle Vie restaurant where i was staying did the same lunch buffet as well, since it was packed to the rafters when i went back there after lunch to drop off my laptop.

After lunch i took a taxi motor down to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. Entry is free, though donations are welcomed. The tastefully done centre exhibits from the start the origins of the Hutu/Tutsi conflict, the massacre, the history, impact and effects on the people. It included graphic retellings as well as short films and interviews with victims of the genocide. You can really get emotional reading and listening to their accounts. The other exhibits in the centre had skeletal remains of victims from the mass graves, clothing, and tools used in the killings on display. It reminded me of Tuol Tseng prison in Pnomh Penh.

The excellent memorial centre had a second floor where more murals briefly explored other genocides in the 20th century, including those in Cambodia, Armenia, Bosnia, Poland and Namibia. Outside, the memorial garden provided excellent views of Kigali.

It was almost 6pm when i walked back to the city centre. I was still musing on whether to go up to Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu, when i happened to pass by Kampala Coach’s office. That  settled it then. They had rides to Bujumbura (5000 RF). I will fork out the 40 USD visa at the border and will make my way down to Burundi. The bus sets off from Nyabugogo terminal at 830am.

I did a spot of self-catering by getting myself a baguette and instant mushroom soup. The hotel tonight was again empty. I must have met the manager only once, when he collected the room fees. Tomorrow i head towards Bujumbura. Let’s hope i don’t have to create an entry: Bujumbura drowning. I am still trying to recover my wet things.

On a side note, Ecobank in Kigali has ATMs that accept VISA, contrary to what is said in LP.

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 by Red

74 – Kigali Drowning

Mon 8th Feb, Bellevie Logement, Kigali, Rwanda
Again, i will by the end of the day, and this entry, regret taking the day bus into a new city & country. Today’s plan was to go from Kampala to Kigali, a nine hour bus ride through the Ugandan countryside before emerging into the Rwandan hills.

Kampala Coaches’ 4 seats to a row allowed more room than this one, 5 seats to a row. It was still fairly comfortable though, since the bus was half empty. We passed through some bad roads on the early part of the trip, which delayed the bus by maybe an hour. Include with that the constant traffic police stops, and you have a bus that will reach Kigali after dark.

Clear skies amid rolling hills

The terrain again was lush green leafy trees set against a hillside landscape. Passed by Ntungamo and Kabale, towns which are bases for gorilla tracking. We reached the border at around 5pm. Again, as with all the East African countries so far, border formalities are quick and painless. Visas are available at the border, though i didn’t need one for Rwanda. The money changing touts at the border were all there, but they offered much better rates than the forex back in Kampala. Selling Rwandan francs at 3.4 instead of the forex’s 3.9.

They were showing movies on the bus. However the English movie had been dubbed over with what i think is Kinyarwanda language. They did not dub over each actor’s voice though, instead a narrator said out the whole story. For example: “The big strong guy punched the little guy in the nuts till he keeled over. An action packed movie!”

Darkening skies

The fun started as we got into Rwanda. It started to rain, heavily. The vehicles on the main highway slowed down and by the time we got to Kigali, the town was drowning in rainwater. Ok, i may be exaggerating, but when we got into Kigali, it was dark, pouring and i had no idea where we were. The bus pulled into the bus park at Nyabugogo bus station, 2km away from town. The bus park itself was calf deep in rainwater, and the local passengers were protesting at being dropped off there. I got off, grabbed my bag from the luggage compartment under the bus, and made for shelter, with a horde of other people. The rain didn’t seem to subside, and this was a stupid location in the dark to wait, so i got out my poncho, slipped it over and ran across to the well lighted petrol station.  Here at least there was more room and it’s a better place to ask for directions.

All out assault at the bus station!

My options were to grab a minivan shared taxi to the city centre where all the hotels were, or to take a taxi motor. The latter was out of the question, since most of them were taking cover in the petrol station, not being suited to go out into the heavy rain. So i decided to wait, for a full hour hoping for the rain to subside, before asking for directions to the minivan that goes to town. The problem here was hardly anyone around the bus station spoke English, and even though the signs were in French, no one i asked spoke French either. So i stood  in my poncho in the rain on the side of the road i figured led to the city centre. Do that long enough and someone who could help would come over to help. And that was exactly what happened, true story.

I took the minivan (150 RF) down to somewhere where someone told me to drop off. Actually it was the passenger beside, and the somewhere was in town. I tried to find a landmark with which i can use to orientate myself on my map. I looked for Hotel Gloria, but it had closed down. Instead, a little further down the road was Belle Vie Logement, and across the road from it was the New Modern Guest House. I stayed in the former, a peculiar place behind the restaurant which was closed at night. The place was dark, with only one or two lights, and had 4 rooms in the back corridor of the restaurant. But it was in the centre of town, and at 6000 RF, was probably the cheapest i will get staying in Kigali.

I was too tired and wet to try another place anyway. The rooms were basic but comfortable enough, and since my prerequisite of a working power point was there, i am fine. I set out to boil some hot chocolate and had my last pack of instant noodles for dinner. That one single pack of instant noodles left in my bag from Addis probably saved my life. Warm and contented, i slept.

in Africa / Rwanda / Uganda 0 comments
 by Red

73 – Red Chilli for extra oomph!

Sun 7th Feb, Red Chilli Hideaway, Kampala, Uganda

Early morning at 6.30am, left for Kampala with the nice couple from yesterday’s white water rafting. I had asked them last night whether i could hitch a ride back to Kampala, saving me at least 3 vehicle transfers and a whole load of hassle.

In Kampala, i took a boda-boda down to one of the two backpacker places, located just out of the city centre: Red Chili Hideaway. This place was different from the hotel i stayed 3 nights ago in Kampala. This was a backpacker haven, fully attuned to the western tourist’s needs. Cheap dorm beds (12000 USH) as well as decent food at the bar/restaurant. There were many people to trade travel tips with, most having come from some safari or other. The decor is pretty quirky, with notices that make you feel right at home. There was also a huge amount of info about travel companies, packages that one could find here. It was a Sunday, they were having BBQ sundays. The free wireless Internet gets a bit dodgy though, apparently only 10 users could get connected at any one time.

Just after lunch, I went out to get tickets on the Jaguar Executive Coaches (25 000 USH) to Kigali, Rwanda. The office moved, LP’s location is wrong. It is up on Namirembe Road hitting east, just before the Total Petrol Station at the Y-junction. Buses depart from here as well. There were a few buses leaving each day, one at 1am, one at 3am, one at 9am plus a couple of others that went the longer route. Since i’ll be blitzing through the countries, i decided to take the day bus, thus i’d be able to see the mountainous terrain as get glances of the national parks and lakes.

I got hungry next and had a full meal at 4pm of a tilapia special dish on some restaurant’s menu (8500 USH). I had a conversation yesterday about how freshwater tilapia was really tasty and figured i had to have some. It was good, but i ended up being too full for tonight’s bbq.

Next was to take out some cash from the ATMs. Rwanda and then Burundi both do not have ATMs with VISA or Mastercard, so i’d have to draw some money now. However, i couldn’t find any with Mastercard, and I did not want to, if i could help it, to use my VISA card. The other thing is that my head is spinning from all the currency conversions. Sing Dollar, US Dollar, Kenyan Shilling, Ugandan Shilling, Rwandan Franc, Burundi Franc, Tanzanian Shilling. The rates for Ugandan Shillings to Rwandan franc at the forex companies looks atrocious. They buy at 2.2 USH and sell at 3.9 USH. I decided in the end to not withdraw anymore USH (i had to use VISA card and the conversion rate was bad). I’ll take the risk and spend less in the next couple places. Remember, in Uganda the banks only take VISA or VISA electron (Barclays and Standard Chartered included). One other bank i can’t recall is on the PLUS network as well.

In the end, i just went back to Red Chili. Take the taxi vans from the Old Taxi Park (the Bugolobi / Kintale vans) or hail then along the western end of Kampala Road (about 800 USH). Sat around and talked with the people in the dorm. The dorm was half full, but with 20 beds in the bungalow, so that was still many travelers in one place. Now typing this out, since i have a huge backlog, and too many people connecting online tonight is not allowing me to upload my entries.

Tomorrow, Rwanda. I’m just blitzing through East Africa aren’t i. =P

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 by Red

72 – “The Bad Place” aka rafting the white nile

Sat 6th Feb, Adrift camp, Jinja, Uganda
Today is going to be a busy day. It started off slow, at 9am, there seemed to be only 2 or 3 people geared for rafting. I asked the staff and they said there would be 39! The bus from Kampala was not here yet, and that accounts for the delay.

Instead, i decided to start the day with my bungee jump! The Nile Bungy is a 44m drop down into the White Nile. (65 USD). It looks pretty close to the cliff overlooking the Nile, and it certainly looks as though you could smash yourself into the cliff. The staff reassured me that it was safe, heh. Then it was time to weigh myself, in preparation for the jump. *DRUMROLL!* I weigh 69.7kg, at least 8kg lighter than before. Best weight loss program ever! Got it written in black market on my hand.

Climbed up to the top of the tower, and tried not to think too much of the height as they tied up my feet to the rope. The jump itself was an exhilarating 2 sec drop before my head dipped into the water. Then my shirt got turned inside out, covering my face, leaving me disoriented while i ping-ponged about. Wooooooohoooooo!

That’s me up there!

I was really high on adrenaline after that and was raring to go on the rapids. The main body came along. I got my group, the miscellaneous rafters, 8 of us, collectively known as Team Mix, which wasn’t too imaginative, so later on we became Team Tutu, after our guide. The rapids were grade 3 to 5, with a couple of flippers, ending in Itanda, which means The Bad Place, a grade 6 rapid which we will avoid by going on land and continuing at the end.

Team Mix!

It was excellent, we capsized once. The most dramatic though was probably when we got hit by a big one, and half the people on the dinghy fell off. I was one of them and got swept away before being picked up by a rescue kayak. No photos though, since there was no way i could bring my camera along with me. Pretty much worth the experience and cost (125 USD for white water full day)

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 by Red

71 – And gingerly to Jinja we go

Fri 5th Feb, Adrift camp, Jinja area, Uganda

Woke up, checked out the “coaster” buses at the Old Taxi Park for those going to Jinja, walked around and got some cash from the ATM (VISA only) before picking up my bags. The trip was 1.5 hours (4000 USH) but included a half hour just to get out of the taxi park. Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful.

At Jinja town, i got some lunch before taking a boda-boda (4000 USH) down to Adrift’s white water rafting base. It was a campsite, with safari tents, some dorms, and proper huts, together with a bar. The thing that drew my attention though was the bungee jump, as well as the Nile below, which can be viewed from the bar.

This place is crowded with foreigners. New Zealand run, you have the overland truck groups, the student volunteers, the church group, those working in Kenya or Uganda, and a smattering of independent travelers.

All dorm rooms were full though, so i was stranded, since my bodaboda left. I inquired about accomodation at the other white water rafting place, but rather than lose a potential customer to the competition, the sorted out something else for me. There were some tents coming in for some other group from Kampala overnighting in Jinja, so they had them bring in an extra tent for me. One of the co owners was a nice bloke who set this up for me and threw in 2 nights of free accomodation in the camping grounds (normally USD 5 per night, while dorms were USD 10)

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 by Red

70 – Kampala, the city with one too many hills

Thu 4th Feb, L’Hotel Fiancee, Kampala, Uganda

Kampala Coach office is just beside the New Kenyan Lodge, so i did not have to wake up too early. And off we went on the 12 hour ride. There were frequent toilet stops along the way, with the bus conductor actually announcing “5 minutes” or “10 minutes for lunch.” Impressive, they were in their red uniforms as well, some with matching caps. The passengers were well dressed Kenyans and Ugandans, some with kids in tow.

It was a long ride, albeit comfortable, with plenty of lush landscapes out the window. The terrain is very much like the region back home, with papaya, banana, jackfruit trees, and greens hills, though more grassy.

Reached Kampala city after dark, and this was because of the jam coming into the city centre. I’ve read that the jams are legendary, but this was ridiculous. Cars were waiting upslope and downslope for their turn to pass. We must have spent half hour waiting in queue. Finally dropped off and tried to get my bearings. There were two places of accomodation of note, namely Backpacker Hostel and Red Chill Hideaway, both traveler haunts. However since both are out of the town centre (about 3km and 6km respectively), i needed to get a taxi there. The shared taxis are minivans that load up to 14 people picking up passengers, but it was too dark to figure out which went where. There were also taxi motors. The best way was to get to the taxi park, based on LP, where signs clearly posted the directions of the taxi vans. Unfortunately, i didn’t realise it would be almost impossible to find  either taxi parks in the middle of night. I wandered around around stupidly, with the heavy backpack, till i gave up and found a hotel near the bus station. The Hotel L’Fiancee is 22000 USH with its own toilet, relatively expensive as far as rooms go.

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