Into Uganda

Greetings from Uganda!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!!! All I can say is that so far this entire experience has been mind blowing. Yesterday we flew from Nairobi to Entebbe Uganda - right over Lake Victoria, the biigest lake in Africa!!

We found a taxi from Entebbe to the capital city, Kampala. On our way there (50 kilometers) it was one of the most beautiful regions I have ever seen in my life. The forest is SOO green, and we drove along the coastal lake side, which is the same as an ocean coast beause the lake is so big. The tropical biodiversity was just astounding :0

As we drove, our taxi driver o\pointed out a very nice looking estate...perhaps some of you have heard of the Dictator named AMIN (from the movie LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) he was a cruel man, but wow, his palace was quite beautiful. It was so strange to be at its footsteps.

The city of Kampala really is small, definately smaller than wichita in size, much much smaller. However, there are 6-7 MILLION people there, it is the most congested city Ihave ever been in. There are small peddlers and shops every inch of the sidewalks and millions of little buses the size of minivans and a gazillion little mini motorcycles. The motocyles are personal taxis, for a small charge you hop on the back of one he'll speed you through town.

I DO NOT LIE....there are NO, NONE, ZILCH traffic rules in the city. No lights, no signs, NOTHING!!! No street POLICE!! So imagine how the driving is with a million people crossing the streets at every part, and the cars not even slowing down....its crazy.

Last night we witnessed a lady crossing the street and a motocycle taxi mowed her down, in a busy city square (in a very poor part of the city) the driver continued on, and only a few old ladies ran out on to the streets to help move the woman, who was hurt badly. There were literally thousands of onlookers.....it must be a common thing. This was the first time I have ever witnessed a traffic accident like that.

We found a small hotel called the Le Hotel Fiancee. It was very cheap and ratty, just the way I like it :) In probably the worst part of town, as well. I find it much more of an experience to avoid all the expensive parts of town and really throw myself as much as I can into the REAL culture of the city.

To give you an idea of the exchange rate here in Uganda, 1600 Ugandan shillings equals 1 US dollar.

Prices:

Single bed hotel room: 20,000 shillings

Single Beer : 1,000 shillings

Dinner of Chicken Curry and Rice: 3,500 shillings

A cell phone (I got one for emergencies - u cant call me tho) : 39,000

A nice back pack from a street vendor: 4000 shillings.

So yeah things are quite cheap here. the taxi from entebbe to Kamapala ran us 48,000 shillings (which was too high) that has been our biggest expense.

However, as you all know, I travel on an EXTREMELY cheap budget, and other than the initial VISA (50 bucks) and that long taxi, I will try to stay under 10 US bucks a day...

For food, the best thing to do is stop at a street vendor and purchase a mango or avocado and some bread, maybe a fresh tomato. Quite cheap and you can eat them throughout the day.

Last night, Ty, Amanda, and I (for those who dont know by the way, Ty and Amanda are videographers from Seattle accompanying me on this trip, they are both very nice) went on a long walk across almost the whole city. I feel safe other than crossing the street, but still I have to always be on my guard because there are a lot of thieves and thugs here, and very little police. Not to mention the police are quite corrupt. However, my personality is give EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt and treat strangers as kindly as I can. To get the most of my experience here, I often stop and talk to strangers on the street, vendors, security guards, random passerby's, etc. Just to ask questions and become as familiar with my environment as I can. I feel like Ireally want to avoid being the "tourist" person. I want to blend in and fell at one withthe community. However, we have some serious camera gear, and hauling that around does bring attention to ourselves.

In Kenya most people spoke Swahili, that is not the case here in Uganda, the languages are various Tribal languages, all different and much harder to speak than Swahili. It's funny, all the signs and EVERYTHING in the city is written in English, but the people actually have a very hard time speaking English wqith us, its apparent they usually speak to each other in their common tongue.

As for our plans -

We are on our way to the Mulago Hospital to meet with a lady named Ericea Sessele, who I actually met while I was in Seattle. I told here my plans and she graciously invited the crew and I out to her hospital (a Cancer Clinic) to meet and film and interview and really get a good grasp on the situation here. The hospital is on the outskirts of the city. In the nex \t week we will be traveling to rural jungle areas for more footage of pediatric health problems (there will be no internet out there, and that is where we will be in the most danger)

Just so everyone knows, we are filming and following 3 main storylines

1.) Pediatric Health Crisis

2.) The refugee influx along the Rwandan Tanzania Border

3.) The development of a soda ash plant on Lake Natron, Tanzania, which is where 80 percent of the Lesser flamingos in the entire world breed, and if the plant is built, all the flamingos will disappear from there. 80 PERCENT!!!!!!

So this has been great so far.

In the next week we plan to take a one day break from filming and go to a small village called Jinja, and there we will hike to the SOURCE OF THE NILE RIVER. (Dad I wish you here for that trek.....)

I love you all and miss you all and know I am doing everything to stay safe, but, at the same time, my adventurous spirit is always looking for a crazy adventure.......thats just me though.

PS - Josh Moore - I get back in the states around June 1st so if you have already left for Morrocco - good luck man.

Good bye!!!!!

-Ben