Day 3 – Travel to Fort Portal

Today was a travel day from Kampala to Port Fortal in western Uganda.  We traveled in a comfortable 20 person bus from about 9 am until 4 pm, at which time we had a lunch.  I was lucky enough to get the front seat of the bus beside the driver so I got the perfect view for the trip.  Unlike Canada, where we typically have either 2 or 4 lane highways to get us between cities, the highways are quite slow.  This was mainly because you have to slow down every time you pass through a small developed area (which is often) or you pass by a school.  They use a series of small speed bumps instead of a yield sign to slow you down which makes for a very rough ride.  To-date, I have not seen a traffic lights in Uganda and I don’t think they exist, only speed bumps and round-abouts.

Along the way, I took several pictures of the countryside to help me remember this place which is very different from Canada in most ways.   Here is are some of the noticeable differences: people everywhere; bicycles to transport anything (especially green bananas); speed bumps; crazy drivers, lots of motorcycles (sometimes with many passengers); thin cows and goats tied up with ropes along the road side; multiple people in the back of trucks (including big ones); burning grass/brush along the side of the road; and lastly (but most common) is people walking/biking to pick up their daily water.

Typical roadside view in a developed area

Getting water for the day

6 passengers (kids) on a motorcycle (no need for a mini-van)

skinny cow along side of the road

Transporting large bunches of bananas

a truck full of cows & people

Baboon along side of road

The country side itself consists of rolling hills with very little flat land and red soil almost everywhere.  The water supplies are typically shallow wells or springs at the base of the hills.  Most rural properties use the land to host a few animals like goats, chickens and cows and grow crops like potatoes, corn and bananas.  These agricultural activities are very different from Canada as they use no machines (or chemicals) whatsoever.  Things are done at a very small scale, similar to the way it was in Canada many years ago.

As we approached Fort Portal, much of the land was planted with tea plants.  We stopped at a tea factory (premium black tea) and had a tour. 

Large fields of Tea plants

Once we arrived in Fort Portal and had lunch, we visit the office of another one WaterCans’ partner organizations who implement projects.  They are known as JESE which stands for ‘Joint Effort to Save the Environment’.  We did introductions and then JESE staff presented an overview of their work.  Following the meeting, we took a quick look at their new building.

Then we checked in at the Ruwenzori View Guest House which is located just outside of Fort Portal, in a scenic area.  We ate dinner together with some of the JESE staff at the ‘Mountains of the moon’ hotel (quite nice).