Day 14 - August 24, 2009

So I know it's only been three days since I last posted from Kigali, but it's definitely been an eventful three days. First things first. We left Kigali on Saturday, and had a great ride north into Uganda. We had a pretty smooth border crossing and parted ways with our fellow biker Mike in Kabale, where he was staying to prep for a couple of weeks in the jungle in northern Uganda. Good luck, Mike!! This is where things began to get interesting.

Let me just say, for the record, that I will never, ever complain about the condition of North American roads again in my life. Uganda has the misfortune of possessing the worst roads known to mankind. All the way to Kampala, Dad and I were riding on narrow strips of tarmac, barely wide enough for an SUV, peppered with myriad potholes that could lay waste to the most robust of suspensions. This was problematic on two counts. Firstly, it necessitates driving slowly enough to allow oneself to circumvent said potholes. Secondly, it causes one to clench one's bum muscles tightly and routinely when oncoming traffic veers wildly onto the wrong side of the road in order to avoid the craters themselves. This wouldn't be as much of a problem as it proved to be if Ugandan drivers didn't consider motorcycles to be as inconsequential to their driving decisions as lawnmowers do to toads. The first time that Dad was forced off the road onto loose dirt at 80km/h provided us with an inkling as to what we could expect for the next 800 kms.

After we stayed the night in Masaka, feeling as fatigued as I've ever felt, we got up early to push on to Entebbe via Kampala, the capitol of Uganda. When I got to my bike, my front tire was completely flat. I managed to get to Entebbe by stopping to reinflate it every 50km or so, and we found a small bike shop in Entebbe that was able to fit a new tube in the tire. It turns out that what I thought would be an entertaining morning ride on the beach in Dar es Salaam gifted me with several dozen small, but robust thorns in my tires. Apparently, it took 2500km and Ugandan roads to finally drive one deep enough into my tire to puncture the tube. Nevertheless, we managed to avoid any major incident and, after 2 days of riding, arrived in Entebbe, which may be the one redeeming aspect of Uganda.

After a relaxing evening near the northern shore of Lake Victoria, we set out for the Kenyan border this morning. Fortunately, the road conditions improved greatly in eastern Uganda, and we were making great time towards the Kenyan border. So good, in fact, that we decided to stop on a bridge over a large river feeding Lake Victoria from the north in order to snap a few pictures. Curiously, this prompted a Ugandan soldier with a very large automatic weapon to storm onto the bridge and demand to know what we were doing. After yelling and gesticulating for a while, he concocted a fable about picture-taking on this bridge being an egregious violation of Ugandan law, and proceeded to attempt to extort money from us. Dad gave him 5,000 Ugandan shillings (approximately $2). Hope you enjoy it, pal.

Uganda is actually kind of sad place. Of the 4 countries that we have visited to this point in out trip, it is certainly the most visually distressed, full of garbage, evident poverty, and unsmiling faces. It elucidates the stark contrasts between the relative affluence and success of a country like Rwanda, which has received so much funding and attention from the West since the genocide. It's a clear reminder that most of Africa is a place full of suffering and hardship.

Finally this afternoon, after riding the final 40 kms through a driving rainstorm, we reached the city of Eldoret here in Kenya. Kenya is incredibly scenic and, of the four countries we've visited, certainly the most familiar with mzungus and Western culture (read: money). This was evidenced by the 8 guys who surrounded us upon our entry into Kenya, offering everything from bogus bike insurance, to help with filling out our customs and immigration forms. Capitalism at its, well, most basic. Anyway, the people are friendly, and we're settled in for the night. Tomorrow we are riding to a small hospital 57km away which, allegedly, takes two and a half hour to reach. Hmmm.

Thanks for stopping in, I'll post again in 2 or 3 days when we get to Nairobi. I'd also like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported Ngondo Childen's Home with donations, and supported this ride with you kind comments and prayers. Only 800km to go!

More pics will be posted in Nairobi. Talk to you soon!

Peace.