Ready for a math nightmare — every US Dollar is 1,800 Ugandan Shillings! Here’s a test for you: if something costs 51,450 shillings — what is that in US dollars? (No cheating with a calculator…)
Aside from mental mathematics, Uganda is much more affordable than the other countries in East Africa. With the exception of taxis (petrol is a fortune for drivers), everything here is a bit less expensive than Uganda’s neighbors: Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. That’s of course if you don’t go Gorilla Tracking (at least $USD200 per person) or whitewater rafting at the source of the Nile ($USD125 per person). Looks like our schedule will prevent us from the first and bad weather kept us from the latter. But we love this country so much we have no doubt we’ll be back sometime in the future and we’ll try to do both!
People here are also very laid back — I’ve even gone three days without a cup of coffee here and didn’t seem to mind.
You hear the words “Hakuna Matata” everywhere. Literally.
Internet services down nationwide all day? Hakuna Matata…
Flights cancelled? Hakuna Matata…
Two hours in wall-to-wall rush hours in Kampala? Hakuna Matata…
I am just trying to let go and not be that stereotypical American traveler who can’t go with the flow….(and sometimes failing miserably at it)…
We like the money here, no former or current presidents or war generals, just birds and mammals on the bills. And they are all different colors–very pretty.
We also tried the local beer — called Club — which reminded me of Budweiser (no offense to to Dani’s home state of Missouri).They have a darker local beer aptly called “Nile” which we will try before leaving. Oh, and for some reason Smirnoff is not only the vodka of choice — but those little Smirnoff Ice wine coolers are ubiquitous in local hands…
I can’t complain about the toilets (mostly clean, toilet seats almost everywhere in Kampala, but almost nowhere outside the city) — mostly because Uganda offered me my first hot shower since landing in Ethiopia!
Follow us as we visit toilets, drink beer, and spend money across East Africa ;-). Check out Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.
