Monday 21 January 2013

40 hrs later....

There were some complications with our flights on our way over - a big storm had hit Europe and messed with all of the flight schedules.  We landed in Brussels and had some time to kill so we decided to head out into the airport parking lot for some fresh air.  With sleep depravation setting in and feeling energized by the cool air, someone started a snowball fight.  While others travelers looked on, we ran around, laughed and played.  Boy - did it feel good to get moving after a long flight.

Due to our delays, we were re-routed through Cairo Egypt.  It was very interesting to see Cairo at night from the air - the lights started about 45 minutes before we landed.  They were laid out in a very strange sort of way - a long string of bright lights snaking across the dark landscape with an explosion of lights at the end.

We arrived in Uganda at about 4am on Sunday, Jan 20th.  When I step off the plane, it reminded me of Hawaii - the moist, warm air gives you a giant hug - and then you start to sweat.  As we waited for our luggage, I started to get anxious that my bag wouldn't arrive - this had happened to a coach last year and she had to go for two weeks with little more than the clothes on her back.  Thankfully, all of our luggage arrived!  We let out a cheer as the last bag arrived. 

The Speke Hotel had sent three vans to pick us up.  The drive into Kampala was interesting.  It was about 5:00am and there were many people who were still up.  Motorbikes carrying multiple people without helmets was a common sight.  The road was mainly asphalt (or something like it) but some of the potholes looked like they could easily swallow a small car.  To control motorists speeds, they had some pretty aggressive speedbumps - we had to slow to a crawl to not damage the van.

As we pulled up to the Speke, ladies of the night, lined up along the sidewalk, started to cat call at us while patrons spilled out of the nightclub.  It was quite a scene.  The hotel staff quickly grabbed our bags and checked us in.  The hotel is quite beautiful with nice hardwood floors and leather couches in the lobby. 

Needless to say, I think we were all grateful to have arrived and happy to finally have a place to lay down and stretch out. 



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