A quest for fitness

After what seemed like an eternity, an invitation to take part in the walk finally came through. True, I had taken some time without working out. This was an opportunity I would not miss. I had miserably failed to schedule an appropriate slot for this.  Up to now I can neither pin it on my attitude nor hectic schedule. But I get more convinced that it could have been a combination of both.

A group of friends, out of a need to socialize, came up with an idea of meeting up once in a while. For old times’ sake to reminisce about our school days and link up with one another. The idea came in mid-week and a few of us at least intended to participate.

We planned to walk the first section, from Busega  to Kajjansi along the Kampala - Entebbe Expressway. Actually one of us had developed a habit of riding this route alone. The Kampala – Entebbe Expressway, is a new four - lane dual carriage express way under construction by China Communication Construction Company (CCCC). It starts from Busega through to Akright City Kajjansi and Abayita Ababiri. Construction was commissioned in 2012 and is still work in progress.

Kampala-Entebbe Expressway highlited in blue 

So I prepared for the walk earlier on in the week. I opted for the lighter shorts other than the slacks because I wanted my body to sweat and breath. My daughter got wind of the walk and had expressed kin interest. I later decided against taking her along because I was not sure if she could cope with the brisk walk of the team.

On that day, as my family enjoyed the morning sleep, I left home at 6 am to rendevour with the team at Shell Busega. This is where the six of us parked our vehicles and set off at precisely 7 am. The actual distance to the Kajjansi interchange, we later came to learn, was precisely 13 km.

The Expressway, being still under construction, did not have a lot of traffic apart from a few construction pickups that passed us once in a while.

I for one wanted to jog bits of the stretch but a doctor among us advised that walks had far better health benefits than jogging. In addition to the ligament damage usually caused by jogging.

During that walk we did away with the urban noise pollution, relaxed and enjoyed the fresh air of the swamps. We also delighted in the beautiful scenery of the country side. We met a few pedestrians, some of whom were actually going to their gardens. That day, by a mere stroke of luck, the sun had a covering cloud that blocked its fierce scorching rays for the most part of the morning.

One really good site, was this rock which the express way passes by. It is as huge as it looks and should I mention that it looks awesome. We later learnt it is called Mugalasi Rock. Looked so awesome. It had some heavy earth moving caterpillars working the site. 

The machines .....

The sweat ....

 The rocks ...

CCCC at work along the Kampala - Entebbe Highway

Unlike jogging, walking does not stress the muscles much. Actually the pleasant steps didn’t strain as much as a light jog would. We sweated hard most likely due to lack of exercise. By the time we reached our destination I was more aware of most of my joints, knees, pelvis, shoulder blades and abdominal muscles. We reached the Kajjansi interchange, I should say, after 2 and a half hours. We had a break and used Uber to get back to Busega.

The following week I felt rejuvenated and relaxed. I learnt a very valuable lesson. Good health does not just happen. Everyone has to work towards it. This is what I really want to share with you. I resolved to watch what I eat and to exercise more often. Actually I had to change my lifestyle. As I write this piece, I should say, am still struggling with some of my resolutions. Whereas I have been successful in some areas, I have miserably failed in others. That will be a story for another day.

There is this saying in my language that says “ Oyoza olugweye, atte nolwanika mutaka! ” literally meaning “ You wash your cloth, and then spread it out in the dirt to dry”. Just as that saying goes, please after the your workout do not go to your hangout, and  in a bid to celebrate your achievement order 2kgs of roast goat meat and a pint of your favorite drink or like wise keep away from exercise for a long time because you will  have “spread out our cloth in the dirt”

 

 

The tribes of West Nile, Uganda

Arua the capital of west nile is located 440km from Kampala. It is bordered with South Sudan to the north and Congo to the west. West Nile is made up of eight districts. Nebbi, Zombo, Arua, Maracha, Koboko, Yumbe, Moyo and Adjumani.
The predominant tribes of West Nile are Alur, Lugbara, Kakwa and Aringa
The Alur are mainly in Nebbi, Zombo and Arua districts.But on a larger level the Alur live in Northwest Uganda, North Eastern DRC and are part of the Luo group.
The Ma'di people are found in Magwi County in the Sudan, and in Adjumani and Moyo districts in Uganda.
The Kakwa are an ethnic group of Nilotic origin residing in northwestern Uganda, south western South Sudan, and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are part of the Karo people (East Africa), who also include the Bari, Pojulu, Mundari, Kuku and Nyangwara.
The Third President of Uganda was born into the Kakwa ethnic group.
Aringa is an ethnic group in the northwestern corner of Uganda, north of Lake Albert. The majority live in the rural areas of Yumbe District just south of the Sudanese border, and to a lesser extent in other areas of West Nile sub-region. They are considered the indigenous people of their lands, which was later settled by so-called "Nubians". They speak Aringa language, a Central Sudanic language.
Aringa, like the neighboring Kakwa people were blamed by other groups in Uganda for doing Idi Amin's "dirty work" in the 1970s. Idi Amin was a Kakwa and his vice president Mustafa Adrisi an Aringa.
The aringa predominantly occupy Yumbe district. The community is predominantly Moslem.
The tribes of West Nile are friendly and social. This also contributes positively to the commerce of the region. Vibrant commerce mainly attributed to the Sudan and Congolese borders.
This is a region every body should visit.

The Protector Super Series Finals

On 11th April 2014 I received my ticket to attend the  the Rugby Protector Series final at Kyadondo rugby grounds.
This final  was between the Protectors and the Crocodiles. The curtain raiser at 2:00pm was between Hanah and Kololo. Which ended at around 4:30pm.

Uganda's population has more than 70% of its population under the age of 30years. Goodness! The reason being either the wars, AIDS or Ugandans do not have enough education on the consequences of poor birth control.

The most likely consequence would then be a poor quality population. Reasons being among others a high drop out of school, early marriage, high fertility rate like in oyam, kabale, mubende, karamoja, ignorance of safe family planing methods, peer pressure, sexual network , poverty etc. Some people can not afford the safe sex methods.

In an effort to reach the youth a rugby tournament was arranged. KMCC did the plays.

The theme was "If it is not on it is not safe".  The the majority of the turn up was in the age group below 35 years.

Protector Super Series underway at Kyadondo Hanah vs Kololo with the Smartplay logo

And true to that effect youth were asked to take care of their sexual lives.

The Protectors just before the final game. Rugby super series. Kyadondo grounds

 Though the protectors lost to the crocodiles, the key message was passed on to the youth. Take charge of your life. Do all you can. Act smart and use a condom.

Go get them .....

This was the gem of the night. Which went to the crocodiles....

The Recreation Project

The month of January in Uganda is a hot month. So when I got up this morning, the air carried a deceptive mist. A clear signal that the scorching sun would hit us all day.  As I went to work I  reminisced the Gulu visit.
As I rode at the back of my boda boda, the cool morning mist hit my face. The feeling evoked my earlier visit to Gulu the previous week. The heat and dust that was typical of the northern Uganda region.

The weather in Gulu had been no exception. Fortunately this time the "kangaroo" was in good condition. We filled up the fuel  tank, checked and balanced the tyre pressure and off we went.

The Kampala traffic jam at 5pm is always hell. Case in point is the Bwaise spot along the northern by pass. This is usually a 6hrs trip by road. We stopped at River Kafu for a late supper though I suspect I was served game meat. Yes it tasted differrently. At around midnight we arrived in Gulu. We checked into Bomah Hotel Gulu This is when you become glad that an earlier reservation had been made.

The Recreation Project in Gulu is a place that was set up to help the kids in northern Uganda overcome  psychological trauma and the huge loss of childhood.

Its shadowed by a canopy of eucalyptus trees. And managed by around 6 staff members.

We had been offered a package that would keep us busy the whole day. The activities included river crossing, the spiders web, Milk tea river, ostrich eggs, the zip line (my best), wall climbing and the lip of faith.

The zip line

My turn at the zip line. Just managed to take this one snap before I took the lip.

Wall climbing

The whole set of games encouraged team work, planning, leadership, courage, trust  and above all fun.
The only snag I got was that my attire was not best suited for the later activities.
At the beginning we were adamant at trying out some activities. But as the day progressed people became even more outgoing. By evening almost every body had opened up.

Hope to visit  one more time.

 

The Ssese Islands of Lake Victoria

On the 4th of June 2013 I and a few friends set off from Kampala to visit just a few of the 84 Islands of Kalangala. The main purpose of this trip was to break away from our daily routine.

I looked forward to tasting that Nile Perch and taking an evening swim in the lake. We had two routes to choose from. To get the ferry from either Nakiwogo landing site in Entebbe or Bukakata landing site in Masaka. We opted for the latter because it was a longer distance. The catch was to make it to Bukakata landing site by 2 O'clock or else we could miss the ferry.

So we had to take the murram road from Lukaya trading centre on the Masaka road to Bukakata landing site.

That day, the queue was not so long. It consisted of a few loaded trucks loaded with matooke and soda. The ferry ride took 30 minutes. By 1:30pm we had landed at Luuku,Bugoma landing site on Bugala Island.

Site of Bukakata landing site as ferry leaves for Kalangala.

Destination .... Luuku landing site Kalangala.

Luuku landing site on Kalangala Island.

 Bugala_Island is the largest Island of the chain of 84 Islands and its largest town is Kalangala.

The only oversight we had was that the 5th of June 2013 was "The National Enviroment Day". This day in particular has always been celebrated in Kalangala District. As a result most reservations were fully booked. Ssese Hub was fully booked. So we settled for Mirembe Resort Beach.

Sunset on Lake Victoria from Mirembe Resort Beach in Kalangala.

The month of June is a month in which the lake experiences the most turbulent tides. As a result many fishermen die in this month. So the trick is to move either very early in the morning or late in the evening.

The landing sites of interest were Mawala, Kirugu, Butulume, Kyeserwa, Ngabo and Mazinga.

The idea was to start with the furthest landing site Butulume and then move backwards to Kalangala. The order would be Butulume, Kirugu, Kyeserwa, Mazinga, Ngabo, Mawala and back to Kalangala.

So we informed Mirembe Resort Beach that we would be back on Thursday night.

We prefered a big heavy wooden boat to the fibre one bearing in mind the high tide we were to meet that day.

On Wednesday 5th of June 2013 we set off at 0745HRS. It was a 4hr boatride to Butulume. We were advised to keep off the water in the afternoon. So in the evening we proceeded to Kyeserwa were we spent the night.

Mawala landing site.

Silver fish (Mukene) out in the sun for drying.

The hauling of the boat onto dry land at Kyeserwa landing site.

At Kyeserwa I got a suprise. All the structures were temporary wooden structures. Believe me. The eating joints, lodges, shops, videos halls just name it. Nothing permanent. I won't forget the movie that showed that night... Jeepers creeperz. Source of power .... generator. We spent the night here.

There was a storm that night and could hear the lake waves right at my door. I didn't sleep much.

The beauty, sights and sounds of this trip can not be aptly recuptured on paper. But one thing am sure of is that it was a trip worth taking.

Fishermen laying their nets in the evening.

You only get one shot at this .....

 

And finally the moon gets us on Lake Victoria

Next time we are looking forward to visiting Kyamuswa ...

The Kampala Heat

This Kampala heat is something that is not to go away soon. I really don't know what happenned to these weather forecast stations. In the beginning their forecasts were way too random and disappointing I should say.
What comforts me though is that this place is not as hot as the coast.
At 5 am it is very easy to be fooled by the cool morning breeze.

This is a view of Bugolobi under the 11 am sun.
By 11 am the heat has built up and you realise you have no option but brace yourself for the days heat. If only we could borrow a leaf from the Tuareg people of the Sahara. Instead of taking cold drinks, we could take hot tea. Or in my opinion, if you have the time, look for a swimming pool ... and dive into one. But most likely the water will be equally warm.

A view of Mbuya hill under this sun.
By 1 pm time the whole heat wave is on. Because heat effects appetite, you won't enjoy your lunch meal as much.
The night isn't even better. The early night is as hot as the day.
Its at times like this, that I miss the  rains.