Scents of Uganda and Other Sensations

Scents of Uganda and Other Sensations


Africa bombards ones senses and stimulates the mind. Tuesday night, Carol took us to the night market in the Katoro neighbourhood of Entebbe. Then, on Wednesday and Thursday we made the trek into Kampala. Wednesday, we went with Tracy to pick up supplies for our workshops and shop at the craft markets. Thursday, we visited the Uganda Youth AIDS Alliance and four schools. Wow! Now we're back at JGI tired but happy.


Scents of Uganda
- charcoal smoke lightly scents the Entebbe air from cook stoves in many homes
- thousands of cars in Kampala belch black fuel into the heavy air
- fresh coffee aromas float across the open air dining room at Gately Inn
- clouds of floral perfume waft towards us as we walk along each street


Sights of Uganda
- lantern lights flicker among the goods at the night market, wavering as people pass
- orange, fuschia, red, and yellow flowers explode from the hedge rows
- Marabou storks as tall as children stand on tree tops or soar overhead
- red clay roof-tops cover each hill making a mosaic of patterns between the acacia trees


Sounds of Uganda
- a muezzin sings the Islamic call to prayer at 5:30 his voice ringing out over the city
- the pied kingfishher's call reaches our ears sounding like a kazoo or squeeling firecracker
- calls of "mzungu, mzungu" (white person, white person) follow us wherever we go
- dogs "talk" to each other throughout the night while cricket songs fill the air


Tastes of Uganda
- we savour a "rolex" (rolled cassava flour crepe cooked with egg on top) at the night market
- a local women makes curried rice, pumpkin, sweet potato, ground nut paste and spicy cabbage and bean salad for all of us at JGI each day at lunch
- fresh mango or passionfruit juice greets us each morning
- fried bananas with ice cream is a dessert we are dying to try but have not yet been able to have


Touches of Uganda
- moist air reaches our faces as we walk down the hill to JGI each morning
- our cozy beds envelope us as snuggle down each night under our mosquito nets
- we shake hands with teachers in the traditional three part hand-shake

Our senses delight!

Alie