Kampala, our new home!

Well, I am disappointed to report that my blogging has fallen away in recent weeks, but the good news is, it is not due to the fact that I have nothing to report but as a result of the last month or so being sooo action packed! Yes, Kampala has certainly brought many new experiences, both on the wards of Mulago hospital and in our spare time. I can't believe that my time here is nearly at an end, and because of this, I am going to try my best to write a blog per night for the next 4 nights to make up for all the recent weeks I have missed!

So, to get things started, after my amazing 4 weeks in Entebbe, the town that we fell in love with due to its relaxed atmosphere, lovely people and surprisingly good nightlife, we finally arrived in Kampala on August 1st. The thing that probably greets every new visitor to Kampala on their arrival, and which also seems to sum up the city perfectly, is the crazy crazy traffic. Turn off the engine, sit back and relax a while because you certainly are not going anywhere fast and if it weren't for Ugandans being on the whole such relaxed and patient people, I am not sure how the city would survive with such potential for road rage! Other obvious differences that I couldn't fail to notice immediately were the smog that sits calmly over the city giving it a lovely dusk type feeling 24 hours a day not to mention the vast number of people that live here and the chaotic neighbourhoods as you drive through. It definitely has that huge city feel and with that comes the promise of much new excitement!

Ibby with a hilariously small
shopping trolley at Garden City!

On arriving to our new guesthouse and settling into our slightly smaller than expected rooms, we went on to meet the land lady of the house, Rosette, a lovely woman with the most hilarious laugh which also doubles as our daily alarm clock as somehow, she always manages to be standing outside having some sort of amusing conversation at 7 in the morning. The great thing about Rosette is that she also takes the role of  everybody's surrogate mum and never ceases to check in on us to make sure we are all ok. So, after our few words of warning about how to not get robbed at night, Ibby and I headed off to the place that was to be our trusty social mecca for the next few months - Garden City Mall! After a trip to the cinemas and dinner and a drink at the trendy bar called Boda Boda (which would have been at home in any street in Soho), it was clear to us that Kampala was going to be nothing like the sleepy little town of Entebbe. Yes, definitely a little intimidating and not least because we were too scared to even hop on the back of a Boda to make the 1km journey home. As, with most things however, survival instincts soon gave way to convenience and even the death defying Bodas soon became part of our daily routine.

Crystal and I getting ready to hit the Kampala night scene!

If our first night was anything to go by, we new there would be plenty of fun bars to check out in Kampala however I wasn't quite prepared for the true extent of the social scene here. It seems that no matter what day of the week it is, be it a Saturday night or a Tuesday night, there will be a party going on somewhere with masses of Ugandans letting loose. Our first weekend was probably the best one we have had here, with Crystal, Vivienne and co showing us the best night spots Kampala had to offer. BBQ Lounge was this cool outdoor affair with hut-like bar and dance areas followed by Bubbles O'Learys, an Irish bar where the Ugandans seemed to love dancing to cheesy Brian Adams classics more than the foreigners did, and lastly Iguanas, probably my favourite drinking spot here and definitely the place to be at 4 in the morning, plus it has the added bonus of selling the best pork sticks (skewers) we have tasted, just ask Crystal, who could probably live on them she loves them so much!

Buying straight from the artist at the craft markets!

The rest of our first weekend here was spend wandering around town and getting our bearings. After numerous trips in from Entebbe to visit the hospital, I originally wondered how I would ever get to know this city, as it constantly felt like just a huge maze of dirt streets and unrecognisable buildings. After a few hours exploring however, it became clear that there was some method to the chaos, and that in time, I would eventually get to know my new home.