Uganda 2013: A Rushed Tour of Kampala

On Thursday night our friends the Henderson’s arrived at the guesthouse. Josie and her son Hayden are staying with us this week and will be traveling with us on our safari (we leave on Friday!). On Saturday we went to the Uganda Museum and learned about the history of Uganda from pre-historic times to the present day. It was really interesting! We had lunch at a local bakery and the Henderson‘s tried Samosas for the first time, which they claimed they enjoyed.

Sunday was a very busy day for us. We hired a van to drive us around the city to all the major sites- most of which we hadn’t seen even though we have been in Kampala for 3 weeks. Working at Molly and Paul during the week and prepping lessons on the weekend has not left us much time to be tourists, so it was nice to get out and see the city.

We started at a large Mosque that sits on a hill overlooking Kampala. We learned that of the seven hills in Kampala five of them are home to religious institutions- a fact that demonstrates the predominance of religion in the city. The staff at the Mosque allowed us to climb the minaret where we were rewarded with a great view of the city. Next we went to the Mango Palace, home of the King of Buganda. The country of Uganda is home to several kingdoms which date back seven hundred years or more and the largest kingdom which encompasses Kampala is called Buganda. The King of Buganda currently has little political authority and his power is mainly symbolic. The palace was very interesting as we learned a lot about the history of Uganda, especially about the reign of Obote and Idi Amin. One of the most interesting parts of the visit was seeing Amin’s torture chambers, where thousands were tortured and killed under multiple dictators.

After the palace we had lunch at a local restaurant and ate the Ugandan staples of Posho, Matoke and beans. We then visited a Bahai’ temple. Only 8 of these temples exist in the entire world and one of them is located on (surprise) a hill in Kampala. The Bahai’ believe that all religions come from God and are therefore all equal and just. They do not have clergy so their meetings consist of discussions and readings. The temple was very beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My father and I visited the Bahai’ temple outside of Chicago in the United States, so now I only have 6 more to go!

We ended the day at an outdoor theater where we watched traditional dance and music be performed by a local group. It was the perfect end to a great day.