Further Westwards the Road Continues

I have been on the road again- moving weswards. First to a town called Hoima, then to a smaller town called Kagadi, followed by a visit to the verdant Fort Portal near the Congolese border.

The bus journey to Kagadi resembled more of a rollercoaster ride than a bus ride. Red dust spewing for all sides, sending pedestrians in all directions. A live chicken on the seat in front of me. ‘Shake your Bootie to the Name of Jesus’ playing on the radio. Me, with my fingers crossed, hoping I make it.

I made it, and now know I want to return.

From the window alone I have been learning. Watching how a whole family can squeeze onto a boda boda, or a whole community into a Toyota Corolla. Seeing how bunches of bananas are carried on bicycles. Seeing the transition from wattle and mud housing structures to local brick. Noticing that when tarmac comes, so too do little shops, more residents, more business.

Driving through tea plantations was a novelty. Their green seems to ripen the land. The order of the fields, each squared off into plots of equal size and looking as if they are hovering on the undulating hills, filled me with a sense of calm. Learning that the tea pickers get on average €0.13 per kilo of tea picked however did not.

But whatever the conditions, this place- it’s scenery, greenery and people are nothing short of beautiful; and it is that which shouts ‘return’ to me.

tags: Travel, Uganda, Africa, Social Entrepreneur, Journey, Develoment