I’m just going to say it: It’s not easy living in Kampala, and we’ve only been here for 2 days. Fortunately, the list of tiny inconveniences we’ve discovered in a short time is, well, short.
Electricity: Generators and Inverters
Electricity is a feast or famine sort of thing here. We’ve heard that it can go on for 24 hours and off for 48 hrs; sometimes 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Not a big deal though. Lois says the power doesn’t stay off long enough to spoil anything in the fridge. We heard a rumor that the government has some unpaid electricity bills and therefore the power company is retaliating by withholding power. Then we heard that it is a supply/demand issue. In any case, electricity here is very expensive and intermittent.
Yesterday we needed to retrieve a phone number from email. No problem, we’ll find an internet café in the neighborhood, as you can’t walk more than five minutes without seeing one. The first iCafe was, like the rest of the neighborhood, without power. The second iCafe was up and running with a gas fueled generator supplying the juice. The better news is we had just copied down the number from gmail before the generator went dead.
Our little abode has an inverter, a battery operated generator that kicks in when the power goes. It only works for lights, and charging cell phones, so we’ll be fine around the clock. Sadly the inverter doesn’t make cold water into hot water.
Hot Water
It’s the same schedule as the electricity, there is no hot water without electricity. Get it while it’s hot! Good thing for New York hot summers, I’m used to this. Nicole, on the other hand, is not. Speaking of which, Uganda is not as hot as you would think. Days are beautiful, sunny, high 70’s and evenings are comfortably cool.
Taking the “Taxi”
I will be taking two taxis to work every day. A taxi is a minivan that efficiently fits 15 people. Seats pop up from everywhere. These Matatus are littered all over the streets of Kampala. The system is similar to the buses in Nairobi in which there is a driver and “first mate” character that collects the money and drums up business by calling out the route names of the taxi to pedestrians on the street as it drives by, and by banging on the side of the van.
This is a perfect demonstration of efficiency in all measures. As long it is not running with the maximum number of passengers (and sometimes even if it is filled beyond capacity) it will pick up more wherever they may be along the route. At main stages (the local word for stop) it idles until it is near full. Carpooling to the extreme.
Our first matatu/taxi experience at the end of a wonderful romp around Kampala’s Garden shopping mall was almost a complete success, save for the flat tire we sustained oh so close to our stage. We could have hopped on another Matatu for 50 cents but we decided it best to get the exercise since we had a big Chinese dinner to walk off anyway.
Walking
The boda-bodas (mortocycle taxis) are everywhere and they are dangerous, both to ride and to avoid. When not looking in front, behind and beside you for oncoming bodas buzzing by, it is imperative to look down and watch out for holes. It is rare to see a hole that is very deep, but bumps and discontinuity in the pavement is normal. When it gets dark the drainage trench on the side of the road can become a real hazard too. We are really appreciating our headlamps!
Yeah, we have to deal with these sorts of things, but really, the living is easy.
