Tuesday Nov 1, 2011 ENTEBBE, UGANDA
We were ready to leave the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi by 10 am after we had packed 1 bag to leave behind at the Norfolk until we return on Nov 10. The traffic on the taxi ride to the airport was busy but we were checked in well before 10am in lots of time for our 12:55am flight to Entebbe Uganda with Kenya Airways. We joined Lyndsay Harshman (our Rep from Kusini Collection who arranged this tour for us) in the JAVA coffee shop where we enjoyed an almond croissant and an apple danish. There was a power outage at the Nairobi Airport - so it was extremely hot, and all the stores were open but everything was pitch black! Our flight was about 40 minutes late leaving but we arrived in Entebbe Uganda at 2:25pm. Entebbe is just South of the capital Kampala and right on Lake Victoria - you fly in over the Lake as you come in to land. We were soon through Customs and Immigration after buying our $50USD Visa and outside the baggage claim area we met Dennis from Classic Africa Safaris who will be our guide for the next 10 days. The tours in Uganda have a lot of driving, and we will be doing what is usually a 15 day tour in 10 days, so we will be busy and on the go!
As we left the airport in our green Toyota Land Cruiser we were really impressed with what we saw - Uganda is hilly and gets quite a lot of rain - so everything is very lush and well maintained - very different to the hot and dry drive from the airport in Nairobi. Next to the main Entebbe Airport (across the road but using the same control tower) we saw the airstrip used by the United Nations where they had several UN planes and many vehicles there. From here the UN flies to Congo, Somalia and the Sudan. Overhead we saw and heard 2 USA fighter jets take off - apparently the USA is assisting Uganda's Military in refining their operations to track down the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) which has moved into CAR (Central African Republic) from Northern Uganda (Operation US AFRICOM). The LRA also operates in South Sudan and Congo.
After a quick 15 minute drive we arrived at Lake Victoria Hotel and were soon checked in to comfortable rooms overlooking the beautiful green gardens, complete with lots of palm trees and flowering shrubs surrounding a large olympic size swimming pool complete with high diving board! After freshening up we took a slow walk around the gardens, checked out the 2 gift stores in the lobby and by 5pm I was sipping a cold G&T on the terrace and Terry was enjoying Uganda's Heritage Bell lager while overlooking the pool. When I asked Terry what he thought of this beer he said "It's cold, it's wet, and I'm relaxed and enjoying it!". The birds are singing, we can hear the traffic on the roads outside the hotel grounds, and there are many guests enjoying the pool and diving board (actually the young men on the diving board are very hesitant about diving into the pool!)
The temperature was warm and sticky today, but less humid than Nairobi. It's now 7pm and the evening sky is getting dark, the cicadas are getting louder by the minute. There are a few stars to be seen, but a fair bit of cloud around as well. We are still on the terrace overlooking the pool - the swimmers have all left. We ordered a plate of cheese and crackers earlier from the menu. We were given a plate of cheese (all one kind) but after 20 minutes or so I asked Prissy the waitress if we might get the crackers. She came back 10 minutes later to tell us that sorry, but they are all out of crackers. I asked if we might get a couple of buns? She said yes, so we got those about 10 minutes later "sorry for the delay but we were heating the buns up". Tonight we get together with our group of 6 around 8:30pm for dinner! What is on the menu but not available?
Terry told me that he is going back to the room to get out his binoculars and watch TV - yes, you guessed it! The bed is a long way from the TV and the TV is a small one! Mind you, we haven't actually powered on the TV yet to see if it works! Terry did check out the minibar and fridge - there is nothing in it and it's not switched on. This is unlike Vegas where we put sodas into the fridge and then were kept awake all night as each can exploded when it was frozen and burst out of the can!
