On the Bus in Uganda

Written 6/25

Currently sitting outside the very comfy Sohpie's Motel, the place we spent our first night in Uganda. The staff was extremely friendly, breakfast delicious and the rooms equivalent to US 3 star standards. Overall a great welcome.
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This morning we met some of the staff from the Uganda Orphans Rural Development Program, the NGO we are working with in Uganda. These few staffers are riding with us from Entebbe to Ramgoi and immedaitely their dedication and passion shines through along with their warm smiles.

We first stop in Kampala in order for the group leaders to buy snacks from the ride and for us to exchange money. The city is very similar to what I imagined in a developing country. Simultaneously signsof growth and moderity along with sings of subsistence. Goats, chickens and cows are seen all over, but so are vehicles (mostly motorbikes carrying 2 or 3 riders) are also abundant. Many Ugandans are on foot while others zoom by alll the stores and billboards. Coca-Cola, unsurprisingly, is as popular here as it is everywhere else in the world.

These signs extend well out of the city. The road we're on is lined with stores, resturants and gathering spaces. It seems every few minutes another building is brightly with colored with ads for Coke, paint, cell phones, cooking oil and even investment banking! Billboards are a constant sight as evident by the GIANT Bell Beer (a local brand) ad in what we could only describe as the middle of nowhere even in Ugandan standards.

About halfway through the drive we pass over the Nile in Jina, not from where it originates from Lake Victoria. After passing a police check and slowing down by some men who try to sell us corn via the windows, the stores slowly become fewer and structures more characteristic of developing communities. We even spot a few baboons in a heavily wooded area along the road!

Finally we turn off in Tooro, the roads degrade into semi-passable conditions and we're definitely no longer on a highway, Entebbe or Kampla. We're clearly in a bustling city nestled in a rural district nonetheless. Apollo, the executive director of UORDP, boards our bus . He is a strong looking man wearing a large glowing smile and a suite. After a quick hello we depart for Ramogi.