The USS Minow and General Lee

Greetings from Kampala, Uganda.

Stage one – ferry from mwanza to bukoba, TZ
A four hour ferry ride is not complete without being yelled at over the intercom. I tried to climb out onto the front deck, and a voice from the sky (ship speaker) told me to get my behind back inside. To the positive it got me invited up to the top deck and I spent a good amount of time talking with the captain. He told me the ferry is much better than the buses as they get hijacked sometimes. Did not remember reading that in the Lonely Planet guide.

The ferry docked in Bukoba around dusk. I did not have much information about the city, only the name of one hotel. Another gentleman was waiting for a taxi and I asked if he wanted to share one. He was extremely kind in helping me drive all over the city looking for a guesthouse – guesthouse means really cheap hotel - that met my needs. He even had the driver stop at the bus stage to see about arranging tickets for my trip the next day. After I found a place then he went off to find his own. Never once asked me for anything, even an email. It was great to see kindness like that.

Stage two- bus from Bukoba TZ – Kampala Uganda
The bus left early. Our driver could easily find a job as a stunt double for the “Dukes of Hazard” tv show. As we were passing out of a small town we passed a sign that said, “Drive Safely”, as if one person could do it all. Well, 300 yards later he slammed on the brakes and drove the bus off the road. To avoid a bus heading towards us that decided to pass a slower car, in plain view of our bus. No mistake, just no thought. We made it clear. The next sign we saw said, “safe journey”. I like that one better.

Final thought for the day. A Ugandan lady made a comment about a few loud mouths that were blabbing about politics. She said “the election is over, they should stop talking about it and start talking about Christmas”, Amen.