So maybe we should have incited stronger incantations than hope with regards to a smooth journey to Mbarara. We woke in the early hours of the night to a down pour and our poor tent once again being battered by the elements. However the bright white and orange big fat frog stood strong once again. Thankfully a reprieve in the rain gave us the opportunity to pack and take down the tent with an ever watchful eye on the rainstorm sweeping across the lake towards our campsite. Each thunder clap spurred us on! Never mind we’d be on the boat soon.
1130 came and went but no sign of our ride to the ferry...rain or the all night village disco had left our driver unrousable. After a few phone calls the local preacher who sidelines as a taxi ride said he’d sort us out. The battered Toyota corolla, looking seriously like it had just been brought back to life, wasn’t quite what we had imagined but was our only choice. An hour, some pristine driving and a pair of white knuckles later we arrived at the jetty. Having missed the intended departure we stood on the small wooden pier with the locals and their loads of produce staring out over the straight, vainly looking for the shape of a boat on the horizon. An hour later it was clear that the next ferry was a no show. Thoughts started to turn to what we would do if we couldn’t make it to the main land. A look around revealed not a lot with little means of returning to our camp except to try to contact the preacher again – maybe a prayer would be the quickest way to reach him. Our further concern was the thought of driving in the dark – a notoriously treacherous time on the Ugandan roads – but at that moment the ferry rounded the corner and deposited its passengers and vehicles onto the wet red soil.
As the throng surged onto the ferry we quickly found ourselves a place to sit. We soon had a group of children staring at us, nothing new we thought until we realised we had parked ourselves on the children’s bench. Besides providing the on-board entertainment for the kids we had an uneventful journey watching swifts diving along the wash of our boat picking off insects.
Soon, back on the mainland, we were delighted to see Oded waiting for us, so much so he received a huge impromptu hug from Katie much to his surprise. Finally we felt we were on route to our base for the next 3 months. The landscape changed along the way, from reeded marsh land to flat rural farming land. We had our first site of livestock with the slightly intimidating but largely docile Long Horned Anchole cow – they live up to their name! As the light faded we could see the flat lands give way to lush green rolling hills and the eventually the lights of Mbarara glimmered in the distance.
Just as night fall arrived and after a few dead-ends we pulled into the University compound and up to our accommodation block. The 4 floor concrete block left us with a little misplaced jealousy of the cuter bungalows we had passed en-route. We were quickly directed to our flat which we have now converted to our own, but was an initial shock. The flat was dark with very few of the lights working including those on the stairwell leading to the door. The windows were well covered with mesh and metal bars but the lack of glass panes didn’t do much to keep out the noise of trucks thundering down the road bringing supplies to and from the DRC and Rwanda. The bare concrete floor and layer of red dust made it feel hollow and barren and we couldn’t help but feel it had taken on a somewhat cell-like feeling with the bars reflecting on the bedroom wall from the glow of the security light.
We were met by our kindly host Dr Ttendo who cheerfully greeted us, informed us he was leaving for Kampala early the next morning and turning around to a noise behind us exclaimed “ahh Dr these are your country men please come and meet them and look after them!” At that precise moment we had no idea how lucky we were to meet our new neighbours. Not only would they feed us, re-house us in the brighter downstairs flat and provide us bed sheets and pillows but they completely took us under their wing for the next few days.
No matter we were here safely and met some lovely people who had put pasta and beer in our bellies. We are both anxious and excited about starting our work and were ready for bed. Everything is always different in the daylight and tomorrow will bring what it brings.
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