Uganda Pictures 2

Photo: Bujagali Falls, Jinja

The Bujagali Falls did not have a steep fall like the Niagara or Victoria Falls (neither of which I have seen personally), but it was incredibly beautiful. Save for a few other people, it was just us and nature when we first arrived. However, within 20 minutes, buses filled with students and other tourists pulled up and suddenly we were no longer alone. It didn't rob from the beauty of the place.

There are boys who make their living by sliding down the falls lying on jerry cans. It looked so dangerous, but one of them mentioned to one my colleagues that they only get hurt when the water level is low.

Uganda Pictures

Photo: Shaded road on the drive to the Bujagali Falls

This is my favourite picture of all. Funny how you can take over a 100 photos, but only really love one. This was on the way to the Bujagali Falls in the Jinja district.



Photo: View of hills on the way to Jinja



Photo: Billboard at the source of the River Nile, Jinja District

We went here after the Bujagali Falls. It was serene, especially after the noise and activity of the Falls.

We had the best fried fish and chips at a shack of a restaurant here. Tilapia is a very popular fish in Uganda (or perhaps the cheapest) and ubiquitous on restaurant selections and the meals at the Speke Resort & Conference Center, where I stayed. I had Tilapia in almost every variation you can think of: fried Tilapia, boiled Tilapia, roasted Tilapia, baked Tilapia, broiled Tilapia. We all got so tired of it, so when I saw that it constituted one half of the menu at the River Nile shack, I sighed with exasperation but I had to hand it to the cook, it was excellent.

Leaving Uganda

I've had a brilliant time here, but it's time to leave. My flight leaves Entebbe at 5.10AM, which means a 3.10AM check-in, which means I have to leave the hotel by 2AM. I was taken aback when I saw the itinerary, because I don't think I have ever taken such an early flight. Well, of course it means that with my late night ways I won't be going to sleep. Thank goodness the internet is finally up (back on the day I leave, like I predicted).

When I first got to Entebbe, one of the airport officials, on hearing that I was Nigerian, told me how much he loved Nigerian home videos. He appeared to be a fan of Genevieve Nnaji's.

Since then, I have discovered just how much Nollywood affects foreigners' perceptions of Nigeria, further tainting our already rather burnished image. My workshop colleagues told me how scared they are of visiting Nigeria in case someone does juju on them. I laughed like crazy, until I realised how serious they were.

Person after person (Kenyans, Ugandans, Zimbabweans, Ghanians) told me how all the Nigerian movies they have seen are about witchcraft or prominently feature witchcraft. I mentioned that there were other types of films, albeit few in comparison. No one had seen any of these.

My Ugandan colleague told me how many people hail each other with Igwe. A couple told me about a film they had seen where a man was trapped by a woman in a bottle and how they didn't want anyone trapping them in a bottle for looking at them in the wrong way (this was a joke, I presumed).

The Hollywood machinery has a strong influence on how the rest of the world views the United States and I am realising what a similar effect Nollywood has. Thankfully, Nigerian film-makers appear to be dealing with a greater variety of topics and production and acting quality is gradually on the rise.

In Uganda

I’m in Munyonyo, Uganda at the moment for a workshop. I was hoping that I would have Internet access in my room and blog, or at least, check my blog everyday but the access in my block has been down since I got here (and it will probably go back up the day I leave).

The workshop has been really interesting so far and focused on building ICT-enabled networks in Africa. Networks could refer to coalitions of organisations all working to achieve shared goals e.g. networks of agricultural or environmental protection organisations. This workshop of course is related to my ICT4D interest and I have to say that I have learnt so much from it, especially in terms of refining my own goals. It has been rewarding to listen to experiences of fellow Africans all working in many different aspects of development. Yes, I worked in an NGO in Boston but the realities of implementing projects in the United States and on the African continent are very different. I have also had the opportunity to meet fellow blogger Gbenga Sesan whose reputation in the ICT4D area - particularly in the Nigerian and African context - precedes him. Talking with him about the work he has been involved with over the years has been an inspiration that if you follow your passions and are vigilant to look out for opportunities along the way, they will surely lead you to some great and unexpected things.

Being here has, in many ways, felt like being in school. We attend various sessions for most of the day, go back to our rooms to rest for a while or type-up notes from the day’s workshops, have dinner in groups and go out dancing all night. I haven’t been dancing all night in a long, long while so I’m severely out of practice. On Saturday night, we went to Ange Noir and about 2.30 AM, I was ready to call it a night. The only thing was that my companions were only getting started. I sat down for a while and by 3.30, got a fresh burst of energy. However, by 4 AM, when my friends were finally ready to leave, I could not have been more glad. I cannot hang like I used to.

On this trip, I have been introduced to the world of the professional conference attendee. They move from one conference to another; one country to another and very often from one continent to another. They know each other fairly well, since they meet at least a few times a year. It sounds like a fun world, with lots of free trips and first-class accommodation. And let’s not mention the interesting people you meet and the bracing feeling of continuous learning and flexing those cerebral intellectual muscles (and let’s face it, many us get intellectually lazy after university). I likes, I likes but perhaps without the back-to-back traveling (I’ll take only 65% of that).

It’s my first trip to Eastern Africa and the parts of Uganda, I’ve seen (from Entebbe to Munyonyo, from Munyonyo to Jinja, and going through Kampala) remind me of parts of Abeokuta – rather provincial with narrow single-lane roads.

On Saturday, I visited the Bujagali Falls and the source of the River Nile. I’ll post pics later.