March 30, 2013 - Aero Beach

The Easter holiday is a big deal in Uganda, so we have been treated to a four-day vacation away from the hospital and clinics. Many people leave the city for the holiday (making traffic crazy on Thursday night), but others stay around and just enjoy the time with family and friends. I was a bit bummed out and worried that I would be lonely this weekend, as I had no plans and many of my friends here had either left to go back to the states or were also headed out of town for the holiday weekend. But no worries! Just make new friends! =)

One of my housemates, Jane (a pediatric neurology resident from the UK) invited me to go to a "beach party" in Entebbe with a couple of her friends. I wasn't exactly sure what this would entail, but it sounded like fun and it would get me out of Kampala for a bit, so I took her up on her offer.

The first adventure of the day was just getting to the beach party. We frequently use a "special hire" to get from place to place in Kampala, as the other options are less than ideal. Basically, a "special hire" is a personal driver who you call up to take you to and from places (it's like a taxi except personally owned cars without meters). However, it costs a lot of money to take a "special hire" to Entebbe (about 45-50 minutes by car), so we opted for the local way, which is the matatu. (There is also one other local option, called the boda boda, but this is terrifying. You hire a man on a motorcycle to drive you where you need to go. There are no helmets and no way to hang on. And they drive like crazy, often on the roads and sidewalks. I have committed to never utilizing a boda while I am here...)

A matatu is essentially a van, squished with lots of people, that take certain routes. They are crowded, dirty, and confusing, but very cheap. It's nearly impossible to know which route the matatu is taking, so you just yell out "Entebbe? Entebbe?" until one of the drivers invites you in to their van with anywhere from 12-16 other people.

Similarly to Nepal, the drivers and cashiers work together, with the driver honking their horn, driving like a crazy person, and stopping on a dime while the cashier hangs out the window (at least the van door was actually shut!) shouting and waving at people, and banging the side of the van. Anyone and anything can get on a matatu at any point along the route. Live chickens? Of course. Sacks of potatoes or a huge bunch of plaintains? Definitely. A small desk that someone purchased and needs to get back home? No problem; it can squeeze in here somewhere. Just watch your head when the matatu stops quickly, or you could end up with a huge welt on your forehead from the desk leg smashed in your face...

At one point, we had to switch matatus in downtown Kampala to reach our final destination. We were dropped off at the "taxi park," which was essentially a parking area where there were probably at least 70 matatus. I wish I had taken a picture; it was ridiculous. Luckily, Jane's friends, Anna and Kersten, knew the ropes and were able to get us successfully to Entebbe. Thank goodness...

After a brief stop en-route for delicious pizza, we arrived at our final destination: Aero Beach in Entebbe (which borders Lake Victoria). It became quickly obvious as to where the name came from, as there was a large passenger plane very close to the beach.

It appeared to have crashed there a while back (the beach is very close to the airport), though it wasn't completely destroyed so hopefully there were no casualties in the accident.

The beach was quite nice, though we were unable to take advantage of the cooling effects of the water, as Lake Victoria is swarming with nasty parasites and bacteria who will do a number on a poor tourist's skin and internal organs. But it was nice to look at.

Despite our inability to enjoy the water, it was a very nice day. The weather was wonderful: not too hot, but just enough sun.

There was volleyball, soccer, and sack races. I was encouraged to participate in the sack race by my new friends, but quickly realized that I was not as skilled as I once was as a grade schooler. Still, it was a lot of fun.

At one point, there was even a camel on the beach! Not sure why, but entertaining nonetheless.

As the day was winding to an end, we tested our luck with a matatu back to Kampala. There were many interesting experiences en route, but we made it back to the taxi park without much issue. From there, we walked back to our guest house, stopping for an amazing rolex along the way (no, not the watch - it's a delicious Ugandan food, but I'll describe it a bit later). As we were walking, we noticed increasing lightening. And then the thunder started. And the wind began picking up. But we made it back to the guest house just as the clouds opened. Good ending to a great day!