Week II - Day 1

Ntinda Walking – Monday 7/24

And on the seventh day, we went for a walk. Our stay in Kampala has been in an area called Ntinda. It is located close enough to the city center that it only takes about 10 minutes by Uber…yes, Uganda has Uber too…and far enough away so that we aren’t caught in the worst of the traffic snarls during rush hour; and believe me, the traffic here is just as bad as the Bay Area!

Anyway, we’d been passing some of the same shops daily so, why not go for a walk and check them out. It took a bit of convincing Michael because there are no sidewalks and the boda-boda drivers (men on motorcycles) aren’t the most pedestrian-aware type of guys. Plus, contrary to popular belief (apparently just Saree Mading's), Mister Mading is very protective of his wife. Who knew?! J

We walked the mile down the road, inhaling all sorts of red dust and diesel fumes while at the same time dodging boda-bodas speeding by and we finally made it to the most amazing dress shop – Kyaligonza, Creative African Fashion. They had all the types of clothes, shoes, jewelry, and bags a woman could ever want! Everything inexpensive and full of color but, I’ve been placed on a spending leash so, all I could do was look and salivate. I wish I could buy everything and ship it back to the states so y’all could see how the women here dress. Sharp! Sharp!! Sharp!!! I’ve definitely been aware of my bland and homely style and hence feel the pressure to step up my dress game. But, for now, I’ll just stick with being myself with some lip-gloss.

During the walk, we saw all sorts of other businesses and many Ugandans busy getting their hustle on. One thing we noticed right away about the people in Kampala (and assumed the same goes for the rest of the country) was that they are some seriously hard working people. They take great pride in keeping their streets clean, the shops tidy, and their vehicles washed! I’ve included some pics from our walk down Kiwatule (chi-watt-u-lay) Road.

Enjoy!