The 'Exploring' Part of It

I just came to realize that my blog posts so far have been a bit negative, which was never my intention, save for the last one about the anti-gay law and the anti-miniskirt law, of course. Also, I promised in the beginning that this blog would be about 'my life in Kampala, exploring Africa, and other unrelated topics' - so here it comes, the 'exploring part of it'!

It's a whole new world!

Tips: Listen to either Toto's Africa, Shakira's Waka Waka, or the Lion King soundtrack while reading this for a more 'authentic' African experience. 

Uganda is really a beautiful country, and I would recommend everyone who wants to experience something slightly different from your typical 'tourist destination' places to make the trip down here. Africa has so much to offer, and the nature here is much more 'untouched' than many other places I have been to.

Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Two weeks ago my roommates and I went to a city called Jinja, which is one of the must-see places in Uganda as it is right by Lake Victoria and the source of the river Nile (you know the big river from the Prince of Egypt). We stayed at a really cool backpacking place with camp site a little outside the city-centre and right by the Nile. I was actually really surprised by the number of backpackers who were there, as I (excuse me ignorance) have never really considered Africa to be a part of the typical 'backpacking route'. But I guess South-East Asia and South America got some competition now!

Fun fact: Did you know that the Nile is running from Uganda, 'up to' Egypt, and not the other way around?

Of course we had to try white-water rafting, which was actually not as scary as the picture suggests (and ridiculously expensive)

Unfortunately, we didn't get to go on a safari - which is a must do while in Africa - but we did get to both go swimming, kayaking and rafting on the Nile, which was pretty cool in itself. The first time in the water we were a bit scared of the crocodiles, but after a while we forgot about them (for better or worse), and just enjoyed the chilled temperature (Uganda seems to be getting more hot and humid by the second). Also during the safety drill before going rafting we were told the two things to be most afraid of was hitting our heads on a rock or getting smacked in the face by the person's in front of you paddle, so our fear of the crocodiles's quickly faded.

We found a camel at the beach!

Don't drink and swim

A Hindu tempel we went to on top of a hill

This weekend we actually went to the  beach in Entebbe for the first time (yes, there are beaches in Uganda, even though it is landlocked!). We soon came to realize that this was a bit different than going to the beaches in Southern Europe. If you're expecting beach chairs, umbrellas or a long, white beach by the crystal clear ocean, think again. The beach in itself was really cool, but I can't say it was very clean - neither my Mexican or Indian friend dared to go out in the water as it looked 'lime-puke green' in their words, and also it looked like their had been an oil spill as something weird seemed to be floating on top of the water, although im pretty sure there's no oil riggs on Lake Victoria... Also if you come to the beach to relax, you're at the wrong place, my friend. Right next to where we were sitting were some huge speakers which were blasting music throughout our whole stay, with some Ugandan girls twerking their ass of (believe me, Miley pales in comparison). And as always, privacy is a luxury commodity. I can't count how many guys we had to tell off who were shamelessly staring at the 'muzungus' at the beach. Even the waiter gave me a disapproving look when I was ordering food in my - brace yourself - SHORTS (omg, how promiscious of me).

Here's one for the women - happy belated women's day everyone!

So to round it off, as long as you're not very outspoken gay or feminist - travel to Africa! We still have some more travelling to do, including going gorilla trekking in a national park and maybe hiking in the Rwenzori mountains, so stay tuned for more travelling tips to come!