*NOTE: this is a dual blog written by Nicole
Katterjohn and Nicole Ramage*
What started as a calm relaxing day for shopping in Jinja
turned into all but!!!!!!!
9 a.m. Two mzungus
walking through Iganga to board the taxi (bus) headed to Jinja. The capacity of theses taxis is 14 however in
Africa that means more like 20…. The “fee” for this trip should be 2000
shillings which is about .80₵ however the going rate for mzungus is more like
$1.25 which doesn’t sound like much but it’s a total rip off. Nicole and I were seated in the very back
seat of 4 rows and when all of a sudden the back door is opened and we feel
something grasping at our ankles forcing us to shriek with terror!!! As we frantically pulled our legs up on the
seat we hear laughter from the other passengers and loud clucking, turns out
the capacity in our van was 19 people and 4 chickens right under our feet. Needless to say the next 45 minutes was far
from pleasant for us but completely amusing for the African passengers.
10 a.m. We arrive in Jinja completely unsure of exactly where
we had been dropped off, so we walked and walked…. and walked until finally we
stopped and asked for directions (yes women know how to do this).
10:15 finally located Main Street where we shopped and
shopped and ate American food.
12:30 stopped at Amani Baby Cottage to see all the kids and
get some picture with Hope!
1 p.m. – 4 p.m. you will never guess what happened!!! We
shopped and ate more American food
This is where our
story takes a drastic turn…… “insert dramatic music here”
So Nicole K purchased 2 large African drums I wish there
were words to describe just how difficult it is to ride on a boda (motorbike) with
a driver and two passengers let alone carrying such large items and purses and
bags of purchases… Thankfully we managed to make it back to the taxi/bus stand.
4:30 p.m. With only 2 seats available we were forced to sit
separately with our large drums on our laps.
Nicole K sat in the front seat Nicole R in the back… Our 2nd stop to pick up passengers
turned into another chicken fiasco. A
man literally holding 4 large live chickens by the feet sat right behind Nicole
R. (where I asked Nicole K “Do you not
hear the clucking?”) Nicole K found this rather amusing little did she know
what was in store for her….
Dun dun dun dun….
After befriending Pastor Robert who graciously offered to
hold Nicole K’s large drum she was in the middle of receiving free Luganda
lessons when she looks up much to her horror to see a car facing head on with
our taxi. “Surely he is going to get out of the way. Is our driver going to slow down? Um we are getting a little close… Um HELLO!!! STOP!!!”
CRASH BANG BOOM
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
The inevitable had happened thanks to the crazy Ugandan
drivers who follow absolutely no road rules.
CLEARLY our driver had the
right of way! In America this is where
the drivers would get out and exchange insurance information and be on their
merry way BUT NO this is
AFRICA! Although our driver remained
calm the other driver who was CLEARLY at fault was raging mad, screaming waving
his arms and harassing our driver. The
African passengers bailed from the taxi seeking other means of transportation
while the 2 mzungus decided to stay back to defend our drivers honor with our newly
learned Lugandan phrases Vayo, ja, olimulalu and thanks to Nicole R’s
mace… just in case (courtesy of Brian).
After realizing the police most likely were not coming and with
darkness approaching we grabbed our drums and flagged down a boda…. Did we
mention we never got a refund from our “taxi adventure?”
Our boda driver claimed to know where we were going, but
because of our series of misfortunate events such was not the case and we wound
up …. Yes you guessed right …. LOST
Nicole R: “Dear Jesus please help us, he’s taking us
somewhere to shoot us, do you know what they do to women around here, I can’t
reach my mace… Heavenly Father please protect us”
Nicole K: “You worry
too much, or maybe I don’t worry enough”
Nicole R: “You don’t
worry enough!!!!”
Thankfully some school children knew where we lived even
though we didn’t, we arrived home safe, sound and exhausted!
