Entebee

I think we should fly Emirates home. The food and service were amazing. I had 3 seats to myself on my flight from London to Dubai so I watched The Bucket List and had a great sleep. Dubai was amazin! On the dessent, the desert was visible: dunes dotted with shrubs and straight roads. There were people from all over in the airport. It was insane how many there were! There were families sleeping on the floor and there was no respect for personal space. If I stopped, I felt I would have been run over. We only had time for a quick look around the airport before our flight left.

The flight to Addis Ababa was good. We had a delicous breakfast. The landscape in Ethiopia looked like I expected Africa to look like. There were irregular lots of tilled land, women in long, flowing dresses, and modest homes. The Airport was definately where I realized I was in a developing country. There were a few older planes parked along the runway. We stopped for 1 hour but were not allowed to leave the plane. During the wait, it started to rain. This may sound cliche but I didn't think it rained there.

I was very tired when we started the descent into Uganda and I could hardly keep my eyes open. I saw some of Lake Victoria. The lanscape is green and lush. We disembarked from the plane and walked into the airport. Our visas were easily obtained for $50 US. I spelt Mbarara wrong on the application and the Official teased me. Our bags miraculously made it here! I was so relieved. Even though I had prepared for the worst, it would have been very hard to live without my bag. Moses and Peter from Green Valley hotel had a sign for Viv. Viv went to find out about our flight to Tanzania and left Maria and I with Peter. We were standing by the airport entrace with around 20 men. They are all well-dressed in white shirts and dress pants. They were staring and talking about us (I'm pretty sure), but it wasn't awkward. Maria saw a stork flying overhead. The airport was all decorated with flowers and shrubs. Sorry no pictures for this because the travel guide said it wasn't a good idea. They drove us to the hotel in a white van. This was a fun drive. We passed people walking, riding bikes and driving motorcycles. The roads are RED (think PEI). They drive on the left, like England. It has taken some getting used to because I keep feeling like we're going to crash. Our room is large with a double and single bed complete with mosquito nets. The windows are screened and barred and the patio door has this ginormous lock on it. The bathroom has a tub with shower (but no curtain).

After 36 hours on planes and in airports, I needed a shower. It was glorious. The plan was to go find an internet cafe but as Viv was getting our phone hooked up, I fell asleep in the chair. They woke me up at 6pm so I could get under the mosquito net before dusk (that's when the Malaria bugs come out to play). I tried to stay up reading with my flashlight, but I only lasted another 20 minutes. We slept until 4am local. The birds started to sing and they are very nice. We couldn't watch the sunrise because the malaria risk.

We had breakfast at the hotel (eggs, passion fruit, pineapple, toast, and tea) then walked to downtown Entebee. It is very tropical and warm here. The plants are beautiful. I feel like I am in the jungle (or what I would imagine it to be). We passed by people with motorcycles offering us rides on their Abodas, but we say no to that! So far, my impressions of the people are that they are very polite and nice. They are well-dressed and proper. I'm a little sad we're leaving so soon, but we will be back! We fly to Tanzania this afternoon.

My phone number:
011-256-754-637-411
It doesn't cost us airtime if we recieve the call, so feel free!