14. Uganda - Thursday 15th October

Today we went to Jinja and the source of the Nile. We set off at 9 and passed through Luwero and Kampala without any hold ups. As you enter Kampala there is a large outdoor market and behind it a shanty town which looks very basic - narrow muddy lanes between ramshackle houses all crammed together and looking ready to fall down. On the other hand, as we took the road towards Jinja, we passed an area where the smart-looking small houses had wee balconies and gardens - I suppose that in any city there are very different neighbourhoods; it's just more extreme here. When we stopped at s petrol station Gabriel bought everyone samosas and mango juice, which were much appreciated. 

We passed tea plantations and sugar cane fields as the countryside became hillier and greener. Finally we crossed the River Nile by a big bridge and arrived in Jinja at lunch time. It's a low level but sizeable town with lots of shops. It's the first place that I have seen a few white people walking about the streets, presumably tourists. We could see Lake Victoria and went to visit the source of the Nile. This is the place where the Nile starts its long journey to the Mediterranean - it takes 3 months to travel the 4000 miles. We went right down to the river, it was beautiful. Then we had a pleasant lunch in the Cafe Source on one of Jinja's shopping streets, which was nice and cool with ceiling fans. It also had internet access so I took the opportunity to upload some blog posts. 

After a bit of shopping (the souvenirs were very much the same as those in Kampala) we set off back north. This time we took a cross country route to avoid the traffic in Kampala, but my goodness it was very bumpy! None of us minded that but it must have been hard on the bus! We got back to Luwero in a sprightly three and a half hours, and relaxed by playing cards after dinner.