MASH-tastic! The muzungu’s bus tips from Kampala to Nairobi [UPDATED]
Taking the bus between Kampala and Nairobi? Try MASH! Bus travel tips and visa info.
The brilliant East Africa Tourist Visa and Interstate Pass mean that travel between Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda is easier than ever for nationals and has become easier and cheaper for tourists and expats too. Cue: a lot more travel around the three countries for this Muzungu! I’ve taken the MASH bus between Kampala and Nairobi a few times now, and can recommend it. [NOTE this blog post was updated in February 2023. We tried calling various advertised numbers, but failed to get through].
Overall, the Kampala / Nairobi MASH bus service has been excellent. I hardly felt the dreaded bump, bump, bump of the ‘rumble strips’ and managed to sleep most of the journey. Or shall I say, I fell asleep / woke up / fell asleep / woke up… over and over again.
We liked the idea of having a toilet on the bus. If it had been working, that would have been even better! According to the driver, “it is women’s fault that the toilets do not work.” Hmmm… surely they could have fixed it though?
The MASH system is well organised and departs – on time – from the relative calm of the National Theatre, making it a far less hectic experience than going to downtown Kampala bus parks with all their congestion and pickpockets. In Nairobi, however, the bus departs from the equally crazy River Road. Have your wits about you here, as lots of guys will come running at you trying to sell you a cab fair / give you unwanted directions, etc. It can be a bit overwhelming if you’ve just woken up! Don’t rush to get off the bus; pace yourself and check you have all your belongings first.
Back outside the National Theatre in Kampala, an hour before the agreed departure time, a lady called us over to a table in front of our bus where she checked our tickets and passports. Next to her, a very friendly guy checked the contents of all our bags. Another three men in bright orange overalls loaded bags and boxes into the bus. I was asked to remove the padlock from my bag, which obviously I did not want to do. I was told that it was necessary for the security check at the border. I removed a couple of valuables that I’d put in my big bag, and just hoped that everything else would be safe. It was.
The MASH bus was clean. The seatbelt worked, as did the single power socket on the wall next to me. I chose to sit in the second class ‘executive’ section, just a few seats from the front. It had a decent amount of legroom and a reclining seat. My friends in the VIP seats, directly behind the driver, had even more legroom, plus they were allowed to have their big bags with them.
Every bus passenger was handed a small packet of biscuits and a packet of sugary ‘juice.’ My experience of cross-border bus journeys in East Africa is to avoid drinking at all costs, as you can never be sure the driver will stop when you need him to! However, on the MASH bus, we had three ‘comfort breaks’ before we arrived in Nairobi. It’s a “short break for a short call” and these guys do not hang around, believe me.
The driver put on some loud music for our uneventful drive to the border.
Entering Kenya later that night, one of the immigration officials growled a demand to see my Yellow Fever certificate. Luckily I had a photograph of it on my phone.
My friend Julia complained that she hardly slept for the whole journey between Kampala and Nairobi. She only fell asleep for the most interesting part: passing through a private wildlife reserve, where I spotted zebra and antelope from my window seat! “You snooze, you lose” as she likes to tell me… Lol.
According to Wikipedia, “Elmenteita is derived from the Masaai word muteita, meaning “dust place”, a reference to the dryness and dustiness of the area, especially between January and March. In the south-to-north sequence of Rift Valley lakes, Elmenteita is between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru. The major Nairobi – Nakuru highway (A104 road) runs along the nearby escarpment affording motorists a spectacular vista towards the lake. Today the lake is a protected area due to its birdlife. Elementeita – together with Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria – has been named a heritage site by UNESCO.” (In 2019 I finally went on safari in Lake Elmenteita – I am still thrilled at the large numbers of flamingos I saw that weekend! The horse ride along the lakeshore was spectacular).
Travel tips for taking the bus between Kampala and Nairobi
NOTE: I don’t guarantee all info is correct. You should check prices, departure times yourself. This is a personal account based on my own experience.
- MASH buses leave on time.
- The MASH booking office in Kampala is in Dewinton Road opposite the National Theatre.
- In Uganda, you can use MTN mobile money to purchase your ticket. Tel +256 (0)774 082853 is the MTN Mobile Money number registered to Mash Bus Services. I used this myself. I first called the booking office to reserve my seat numbers; confirmed my payment using mobile money; then made a second phone call to check they had seen my payment.
- The MASH booking office in Nairobi is in River Road. Their official number is +254 733 623260. In Kenya, you can also book your bus tickets and reserve your seat online and pay by Safaricom’s M-Pesa. (Paybill number 857988). This worked well too.
- To double check ticket prices and times, check out the MASH East Africa website or visit one of their offices.
- Please don’t message me – I don’t work for Mash, I’m just a customer like you 😎
Bus departure times from Kampala and Nairobi
(Please get there early: we’ve called several times to check timings and prices and the info given is inconsistent). Ticket classes are: VIP, business class and ordinary (availability depends on whether you get MASH POA or MASH COOL).
Kampala to Nairobi
At 4 pm and 6 pm MASH bus departs from the National Theatre.
Nairobi to Kampala
At 4 pm and 6 pm MASH bus departs from the MASH office in River Road.
MASH Cool is the air-conditioned bus. (MASH POA can get a bit sweaty!) I liked MASH Cool but you will need a blanket (or shuka) if you take the overnight bus. The MASH Cool bus has curtains too.
- Make sure you have your Yellow Fever and COVID-19 vaccination certificates (or a negative PCR test).
- Keep photographs of your passport and other important travel documents (bus ticket and Yellow Fever Certificate) on your phone.
- Although the bus does have power sockets, in my experience, they don’t always work. Take a spare battery pack for long journeys so you can access digital documents any time.
- Nationals of Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya just have to show a passport or national ID and are given a temporary Interstate Pass. Ugandans who do not have passports are advised to get a temporary travel document. Cost 10k UGX. If you’re in Kampala, you can get one issued at Port Bell (or you can buy it at the border).
- Expats with work permits can get an Interstate Pass at the border as well. There is no form to fill in (just the standard arrivals form) and there is no cost. Yay!
- If you need a visa, you are supposed to apply online in advance, whether it’s for a single country visa or an East Africa Tourist Visa. However, all visas appear to be available in person at a border (except EATV, you’ll need to read my blog about that one).
Check out the blogs I’ve written about tourist visas
- Uganda – NOW LIVE: apply for Ugandan tourist visas online
- East Africa – What is the East Africa Tourist Visa? A definitive guide
- Rwanda – Rwanda announces all travelers can get #VisaOnArrival
- The set-up at the Kenya / Uganda border has changed and you now leave one country / enter another within the same building. Previously, you had to get your exit visa from one country and then walk across the border before getting your entry visa into the next country. I found the new system confusing and had apparently entered Kenya illegally! Apparently I did not have one of the required passport stamps, even though I had been processed by three different people at immigration.
- The MASH ticket says “Smoking, alcohol, chewing miraa is prohibited. Maximum luggage limit is 15 KG, any extra weight will be charged. Passengers are warned not to take any foodstuff offered by stranger.” In the past there were incidences of bus passengers being drugged and robbed (not on any particular route or with any particular bus company).
- In addition to the Uganda / Kenya route, MASH also operate to major towns across Kenya.
- Dreamline have also been recommended to me.
Have you taken the bus between Kampala and Nairobi? Which operator do you recommend?
Rwanda Uganda land border reopens after 3 years [UPDATED]
Diary of a Muzungu has crossed from Uganda into Rwanda by road.
UPDATE. May 14th 2022. Hooray! I have crossed the Katuna / Gatuna border; it was very easy.
People entering Rwanda may still be subject to random COVID-19 testing by the Ministry of Health upon entry. However, I didn’t even have to show my vaccination certificates or wear a mask either. Very few people were wearing masks at Gatuna. You don’t have contact tracing if you cross by land borders (no need to fill in a Passenger Locator Form).
Key info: anyone traveling through Kigali International Airport must have a negative PCR test result 72 hours before travelling (no change). This applies even if you are in transit. You also need to fill in a Passenger Locator Form to land in Rwanda. All departing Rwandans must be vaccinated.
Curfew is well and truly lifted. Citizens and Rwandan citizens must be fully vaccinated to access public places (including public transport, but are they checking?) You don’t need to wear a mask in public anymore.
On Monday 30th of January 2022, Rwanda reopened the land border with Uganda at Gatuna / Katuna after a 3-year closure. Other Rwanda land borders reopened on March 7th. I’ve missed my cross-border bus journeys! However, very few people have travelled between Uganda and Rwanda yet this year. Initially it appeared that the Gatuna border only reopened for trade and for nationals of the two countries. The video “advises against non-essential travel.” Unfortunately, tourism must fall into that category. Rwanda Uganda border reopens after three years.
UPDATE: March 5th I met an American passport-holder who travelled by bus from Kigali to Gatuna. She was one of only five people who crossed. She took the bus from Kigali, crossed by foot and then caught a private hire taxi to Kabale.
In recent years it’s been common for international tourists to travel to Uganda and Rwanda on one safari itinerary. During the last three years, few people have been able to do this, unless they have flown into Entebbe (Uganda) and Kigali (Rwanda) International Airports (lockdown measures not withstanding!) Many Ugandans and Rwandans have family both sides of the border.
I am monitoring the situation and updating this blog regularly.
#ExploreUganda #VisitRwanda
“I have liked you”
Gonja and roasted goat: bus travel from Kampala to Fort Portal
The bus from Kampala to Fort Portal leaves at 7 o’clock in the morning and I am told to be there an hour beforehand. I catch a boda boda across the city as the early morning traffic gathers. It’s refreshing to be driving through the cool early morning air with my bag packed for five days on the edge of Kibale Forest – away from the laptop.
Our boda heads downtown – avoiding a certain saloooon – where we are surrounded by thousands of people all jostling to get to work, to sell their wares, gearing up for the day ahead.
As we turn a corner, a tall man in bright green overalls shouts “Link? Link?”
I wasn’t sure where to find the Link bus park but there’s no mistaking the man in green who runs up the street to a yard filled with buses of the same bright green. The word LINK is written in large yellow letters.
I don’t have change (balance) so the man in green offers to take my money and buy a ticket for me and come back with the change for my boda boda. No thank you. He seems legitimate enough but I’m wary. (Once-upon-a-boyfriend-ago, a similar move in Cairo by a very helpful stranger separated us from all our money – on the first day of our holiday). Alert for similar tricks, I walk to a shop opposite the Link bus station, buy two bottles of water and have the change I need to pay for my boda boda and my bus ticket without using an intermediary.
On board I squash myself in near the back of the bus. I choose to sit near a lady and her baby. She beams at me as I sit down.
“But I need some water,” she says very loudly (to me?)
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to make of this so I choose to ignore her.
Before the bus departs for Fort Portal, a man walks up and down the aisle selling cakes. A small round cake is 500 Uganda shillings; a big square slab of cake is 1000 shillings. I opt for the smaller cake to accompany my breakfast apple.
The bus leaves on time.
I check WhatsApp while we are still in town. The guy next to me seems very interested in everything on my phone screen. “Ooo Facebook!” He exclaims. I try and ignore him and shield my screen from his interested eyes. His gaze keeps coming back to my phone. I glare at him. Out of the corner of my eye I see his ‘Nokia’ phone. I guess he is envious of my Smartphone. I feel bad for thinking mean thoughts.
We are seated one row in front of the back row. In my rush to get a seat I have (again) forgotten how I will regret sitting over the back wheel of the bus.
As the bus hits the open road to Fort Portal, phone networks go off and everyone settles down for a snooze. There’s a blast of cold wet air. Every time we slide the window shut, the juddering and shaking of the vehicle reopens it. The lady pulls the blanket over her child’s head. I try and keep myself warm by putting my bag on my lap.
The lady is trying to keep the window closed to keep her baby warm. The man sitting between us has fallen asleep. “Typical husband,” I think. “He’s asleep while she’s worrying about the baby.” I’m worried the baby is as cold as I am, so I fold a small piece of paper and pass it to her, thinking she may be able to use it to wedge the window shut. “Do you want me to put it out of the window?” She motions.
No!
I doze and am woken by the ringing of a phone. This lady does love to chat. I hear her cough and I get up to retrieve the second bottle of water from my bag. If she’s breast-feeding, she must need water.
We are halfway to Mubende before I buy my ticket. The ticket seller slowly works down the aisle, writing out each ticket by hand. The guy next to me peers into the pocket of my bag. I try and retrieve my money without showing him exactly how much I am carrying. He’s craning his neck to have a good look. The guy selling tickets doesn’t have enough change so he writes 5,000 UGX and his signature on the back of the ticket to denote that he has to pay me my balance.
At Mubende, plastic bowls full of roasted gonja and cardboard boxes of water and sodas are pushed up to the bus window. Someone waves roasted meat at us through the gap. I opt for a chapati. “Roasted or dry?” The young man asks me helpfully. I understand enough of the lady’s Luganda to know that she is complaining about the prices. She sends the young man to the shop with her order for orange squash and goat.
“I have liked you,” she said. “You can give me your number so I can call you.”
She tells me that she is going to Kasese (the stop after Fort Portal) to visit her parents for a few days and that she will go back to Kampala to see her husband.
“I thought this one was your husband?” I ask.
“No. This one I just met him on the bus.”
The young man jumps back on the bus brandishing wooden skewers of glistening roasted goat. He offers me one. It’s kind of him but I’m not in the mood for roasted goat. (I also recall the advice not to accept food or drink offered by strangers on public transport). This pair seem kind enough though.
He removes the flimsy bag (polythene paper in Uglish) from around the meat and screws into a small ball. He passes it to the woman who knows exactly what he wants her to do with it: she forces it out of the window.
He sits next to me, tearing at the meat with his teeth. His teeth hit a bone which he spits at his feet. A small heap of goat bones accumulate on the floor between us. The smell of roasted meat fills the air.
The chat chat chat starts again. I like this couple. She and her baby remind me of my niece and her baby. She is loud but friendly. He reminds me of someone from the village. He appears uneducated but innocent.
More passengers squeeze onto the bus. A lady passenger places her big bag on the aisle and sits on it and we’re off again. I am still standing up when the driver slams on the brakes. The guy next to me grimaces; I hang onto the side of the seat. There’s never a dull moment on the bus to Fort Portal.
On the other side of the aisle is a Muslim lady wearing a bright yellow headscarf and pink lipstick. She wears a bold kitenge print dress and an eyeful of cleavage.
I pull out a large tourist map of Kampala, fully expecting the young man to ogle at it and start asking questions. I’m rather pleased with my new map: KCCA have launched a tourism map of the city and I’m interested to see which places feature on it.
Nothing! The young man doesn’t even glimpse over. I read the map, unfold it, turn it over, fold again. I’m amazed – the guy doesn’t register interest even once! Is tourism just ‘a white people thing’ I ask myself?
I ask myself: I wonder if he can read? Or perhaps it’s only money and phones that make him tick?
The ticket inspector returns to check our tickets and I politely remind “sebo (sir)” whether he has my balance yet. He doesn’t seem to hear me.
“*Gwe!” Yells the young man, trying to back me up.
*It’s a little rude considering “Gwe” is old enough to be the young boy’s father!
Road travel from Kampala to Fort Portal via Mubende – tips for travelers
- There’s a universal price of 300 ugx for a short call whether at Kampala Link bus station, en route at Mubende or at the bus station in Fort Portal.
- For the best HOT gonja and chicken, buy directly from the women who are grilling (on the way back from the toilet!)
- If you take the afternoon bus from Fort Portal, you may be lucky enough to see the sun set over Lake Wamala. What a wonderful, unexpected sight that was.
- Link have made a lot of investment over the past few years: new buses, redesigned depots and generally helpful staff. The CCTV security system at the Kampala depot is another positive development too.
- Buying bus tickets is a lot easier and more secure since Link introduced a new digital ticketing solution with the KaCyber app. It’s great because it promotes social distancing (avoid the scrum at the booking office!) Book your ticket in advance and pay using mobile money or PayPal. The KaCyber Go App is free to download but not available on all Link bus routes yet. The app is particularly useful now since it is a ‘contactless’ solution (no need to touch money or paper tickets so no need to sanitise your hands!)
- I wrote this story before COVID-19 disorganised us.
- Diary of a Muzungu readers know I regularly take the bus from Kampala to Fort Portal and in October 2020 I took my first bus journey of the pandemic. All travellers have to wear facemasks and everyone’s hands are sprayed with disinfectant. I sat between one empty seat and the aisle. For social distancing purposes, the pattern of vacant seats was repeated throughout the bus.
Do you travel by bus? What are your travel tips? If you enjoy my bus journey stories, I have plenty more 😎
The land of 1000 … surprises! A solo exploration of Rwanda
Want to explore Rwanda? An ABC of Rwanda’s tourist accommodation – AirBnB, boutique hotels, camping and luxury lodges
A recent trip to Rwanda revealed such a wide variety of places to stay that I thought I must share them with you. Although Rwanda pitches itself as a high-end destination now – and has some wonderful luxury lodges like the remarkable Virunga Lodge – the country has a wide variety of accommodation for all budgets. It’s a very easy country to travel around too (although Ugandan friends did freak out when our vehicle started driving on the right side of the road!)
I seem to have developed this habit of leaving home for three days and returning after three weeks. It’s hard to resist the invitation to visit new places, especially when you’re already far from home (and your toothbrush is packed!)
The early morning bus from Kampala to Kigali is so much more pleasant than the night bus. (Why on earth did I take all those night buses?) I used to think I could kill a night by sleeping on the bus but sitting on the bus is no recompense for lack of a bed. I love Jaguar’s new wide ‘VIP only’ seats. There’s plenty of legroom and – hooray! – working seat belts. I’ve been using Jaguar Executive Coaches between Kampala and Kigali since 2011.
Despite rumours of bad politics between Uganda and Rwanda, I couldn’t tell whether anything was different at the border. Rwanda immigration’s new building is just having its last coat of paint. Those immigration officials must be relieved. If you cross the border late at night, they sit there in open-sided shipping containers, wearing thick jackets and suffering the cold of the damp river crossing.
At Nyabugogo bus park in Kigali, I met my new friend and kindred spirit Denis Senechal, a French-Canadian who has relocated to Rwanda’s capital with his Rwandan wife. Read my story about the cobbler of Nyabugogo bus park that I wrote while looking out of the bus window.
Denis and I swapped stories about their former life in Kampala as he drove me to the cosy and colourful Umusambi Bed and Breakfast in Kibagabaga, my home for the next few days.
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning – “don’t rush me, I’ve only been sitting at the breakfast table for an hour and a half” – I got chatting to an Australian couple who invited me to tour Inema Arts Gallery and the Caplaki craft market. I’ve managed to finance my nomad lifestyle by not visiting craft shops (so it was rather weird to be seen as a tourist).
Rwandan arts and crafts: Inema Arts Gallery and Caplaki Craft Market, Kigali
Caplaki Craft Market has excellent quality crafts – and divergent prices! Luckily we had the lovely Tony from Burundi to negotiate and whisper “don’t pay more than that” under his breath as we wandered from shop to shop.
We’d established that I could buy a snake (made from recycled bottle tops) for around 8,000 RWF (around $8). The shop next door asked for 15,000 RWF. At shop number three, the man with boozy breath said “I give you good price” and then asked me for 25,000 RWF for the same item! (He was the reminder to not buy the first thing you set your heart on).
In the afternoon, Greg Bakunzi from Red Rocks in Musanze introduced me to the Inzora Rooftop Café at Ikirezi Bookshop / Librairie Ikirezi. This stylish – bookish – café is definitely my kind of place and one I plan to revisit.
A highlight of my time in Kigali was feeling free to walk wherever I wanted. Wide (motorbike-free!) pavements and street lights make walking a pleasure. From Ikirezi Bookshop, I walked to the famous ‘peace basket’ structure that is Kigali Convention Centre. It can be seen from all corners of the city, particularly at night when it is lit in a variety of mesmerising colours. Radisson Blu Hotel forms part of the Convention Centre complex. The presidential convoy of Range Rovers with black-tinted windows sped past me as I left the hotel.
Photo highlights from Kigali and Musanze – click on the photos to reveal their location!
Did you know that Google Maps continues to work even when you’re not on Wi-Fi? (You can see who failed physics, can’t you?) To start, I logged onto the free Wi-Fi at Radisson Blu and typed my destination into the app. Google Maps traced the route and the arrow kept moving, even as I left the WiFi zone behind me to walk 5.5 km uphill and down towards Umusambi Guesthouse. Rwandans are generally polite people, and some greeted me as I walked. Walking the streets of Kigali was a wonderful experience (although not everywhere is as developed as the route between the Convention Centre and Kibagabaga, as I found out the following week when I stayed in a residential back street). First the muzungu got lost, then the moto got lost and later Google Maps dumped me in a field of maize! (But tell me, what is a travel blog without the occasional detour?)
I felt so relaxed at Umusambi Guesthouse, that it was an effort to haul myself off the sofa! I chatted in French with the guesthouse’s Belgian owner and had an eye-opening conversation with an Italian lady who is vaccinating frontline staff against Ebola. “Prevention is better than cure” and we are thankful to see numerous interventions in place across the region.
I’ve travelled by bus from Kigali to Musanze many times and it couldn’t be easier. The Virunga Express from Nyabugogo takes a couple of hours from the city as it winds upwards through some of Rwanda’s one thousand hills.
From Musanze, I took a 7 km moto(rbike) ride to the Red Rocks campsite. Here at high altitude, evenings can be cold. I was glad to have a friendly dog lying on my feet as I warmed myself at the campfire while chatting to two very cool trail-blazing chicks: Harriet, one of Red Rocks’ co-founders and Angel, one of Rwanda’s few women tour drivers.
Red Rocks Campsite and Red Rocks Initiatives, Musanze Rwanda
Red Rocks is a popular campsite with super friendly staff who make a point of greeting you with a big smile. I enjoyed chatting French with the chef. Quels petits déjeuners énormes! (The breakfasts were huge!)
Red Rocks is home to authentic community tourism and I was honoured to spend some time with Kamana Theophile, an environmentalist with a passion for community projects. In the Red Rocks Museum, he demonstrated how banana beer is made in a giant wooden canoe-type structure. (I tried some on a previous trip – it’s delicious!) Profits from Red Rocks Campsite fund the indigenous tree nursery and gardening demonstration plots. Kamana discussed in French (ooo la la) how the local community are given seedlings, learn gardening techniques and good environmental practices – all for free. Through Red Rocks Initiatives, local communities – and the environment – directly benefit from tourism. Every aspect is environmentally sound: the ‘raised bed’ kitchen garden is made of volcanic rock and tree seedlings are carried home in pots made of banana fibre (plastic bags are illegal in Rwanda and the ban is strictly enforced).
For a change of scene – we travel bloggers are rarely off-duty you know! – I was escorted to the new Classic Lodge where I did the full tour of the extensive buildings. The night before, over a thousand people had attended an event there. Had Musanze ever hosted such a large number of people?
Classic Lodge in Musanze is quite a set-up!
Here I was given a tour of the presidential suite (which President Kagame himself visited while it was under construction), a family cottage, suites, superior rooms and others. There are at least 40 different rooms and conference facilities.
Café Crema in Musanze is a cosy setup with charming and courteous staff. It’s the kind of place I love to hang out. The cappuccino was excellent, and I was happy to kill a few hours there (the first 30 minutes of WiFi are free).
Caffeine levels boosted, I dropped by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund exhibition. It was humbling to spend a few moments reconnecting with my first reason for travelling to Rwanda, that being to support gorilla conservation.
Next stop Kigali.
The advantage of having fluid plans is you can take up new opportunities as they present themselves. The downside is you occasionally get stuck without a place to sleep! Thanks to Moses Nezehose who booked me in at the Tea House, another great establishment which is walking distance from Remera, a part of the city that I’ve come to know a little over my years of visiting Kigali.
On my first trips to the capital, I would stay at hostels run by various convents. (You can’t argue with $10 a night, even if the shower is cold). Centre Christus Hostel in Remera is set in green, bird (and monkey)-filled gardens away from the main road and I’ve been happy to stay there on several occasions.
On the second leg of my trip in Kigali, I was spoiled rotten. I spent three nights at the fabulous Pili Pili Boutique Hotel. My – it was heaven – so much so that I didn’t leave the compound for three days! My heart skipped a beat when the beautiful breakfast tray arrived in my room.
The cosmopolitan bar and brilliant music at Pili Pili were quite a thrill for this girl from the village! I loved the fresh grilled Sambaza fish from Lake Tanganyika and enjoyed my chats with Rudy, Pili Pili’s owner. I was fascinated to hear about his former life running hotels and bars in Bujambura. I visited Burundi in 2012 and really fell for the place. J’adore l’Afrique francophone!
Pili Pili Bistro and Boutique Hotel, Kigali
Pre-booked visitors ousted me from my little pad – goddamit – meaning it was time to download Air BnB and try my luck getting a cheap room in the city. Within minutes I was booked in to stay with Josiane and her four young sons. It was hard to understand where she lived so she came to meet me midway on a moto. She couldn’t have been nicer. She almost fell off her chair when I told her that Uganda is the Source of the Nile. She was quite adamant that it is in Rwanda! The debate continues…
After the comforts of a luxury set-up, it was nice to spend time with a Rwandan family. They treated me well and the meals were huge. (As for the cockroaches, well I’m glad I didn’t see any on my first night there; the longer I stayed there, the bigger the cockroaches I saw!)
I happened to be in Kigali on a Sunday when roads are closed to allow city residents space to run and exercise. Groups were exercising at Amahoro Stadium that morning as I walked to Java House in Remera where I fell in love with rhinos! Did you know Rwanda has just successfully relocated five black rhinos from Europe to Rwanda? The transformation of Akagera National Park is sensational, as I have witnessed on my last two visits there.
On my last day in Kigali, I headed to the Rwanda Development Board offices, also in Remera. Tourism, conservation and many other departments are managed by RDB. Boy what an impressive setup. Did you know that it’s free to register a business in Rwanda? Did you know that it generally takes only six hours to do that? The ‘one stop shop’ at RDB really is that. You can make bank payments, get advice from copyright specialists and immigration officials and have someone sit with you and guide you through the whole process of setting up a company, from start to finish. Let’s not do comparisons with Uganda…
Upstairs, I was delighted to see Moses, one of our hosts at the brilliant Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony. Kwita Izina is the annual celebration of conservation and tourism in Rwanda and now lasts a whole week.
Lunchtime took me back to the famous Chez Lando for my final brochettes (grilled meat on skewers) of the trip. I do enjoy Rwandan food. Read How to eat like a Rwandan – 10 snacks (I bet you’ve never tried).
The final leg of my trip took me back to Kampala. Life is easy when you can jump in an Uber as soon as you hit the city outskirts! Boutique B&Bs were a bit of a theme on this trip and I was thrilled when Albert Ntambiko invited me to stay at the new Mahali Guesthouse in Makindye. Albert is also the owner of Coffee at Last. Mahali is housed in the new Coffee at Last building, just a few steps away from the original establishment.
Like I said, I seem to have this habit of leaving home for three days and returning after three weeks! Last year’s four day trip to Mombasa led to invitations to visit high-end hotels in Nyali, explore backpacker hostels and luxury beach resorts in Diani and attend Diani’s Five A Side International Beach Touch Rugby Tournament. (I arrived home three weeks later!)
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How to eat like a Rwandan – 10 snacks I bet you haven’t tried
An introduction to Rwandan foods – a snacking guide for hungry travellers!
Trying new foods is such an integral part of the travel experience.
As well as the regular packets of biscuits and bottles of sodas and water, the small bus park in Musanze (stop off point for tracking the gorillas in Rwanda) has an interesting selection of snacks for the traveller.
Rwanda seems remarkably free from the heavy, starchy snacks like chapatti, mandazi and ‘defenders’ (‘defender from hunger’ cakes), and even sambosas (samosas) that we have everywhere in Uganda.
In Rwanda, you might break up your bus journey by munching on:
- Hard-boiled eggs, served with hot akabanga chilli oil of course!
- Fresh groundnuts in their shells
- Cape gooseberries – in a plastic bag! – in Rwanda?
- Strings of bright orange tangerines
- Igikwanga (chewy snack made of cassava flour) pictured above. On its own igikwanga has little taste. Eat it with groundnuts and it’s rather interesting.
- Strings of sweet tree tomatoes (it’s rare to see these in Uganda)
I really enjoy Rwandan food and have been known to bring a few titbits back with me to Uganda. Some of the favourite items I’ve found so far are:
- Nyirangarama strawberry jam. I love strawberries and they are rare to find in Uganda. This strawberry jam is made in Rwanda. It’s delectable and full of fruit.
- Gishwati cheese. This mild flavoured Gouda-type cheese is very moorish and can withstand a two-day journey back to my village in western Uganda! It’s better priced than any such quality cheese in Uganda. Did you know Gishwati – Mukura is Rwanda’s newest National Park?
- At Red Rocks Initiatives in Musanze, I tasted potato wine and banana beer. My friend David loved the banana beer so much, he wrote a whole story about it.
- Rwanda is known for its good quality tea and coffee. Tourists that track the gorillas are given smart-looking presentation boxes of tea or coffee as a memento of their experience.
- Akagera ‘buffer honey’ is harvested from beehives near the boundary of Akagera National Park.
- Nyirangarama must be Rwanda’s most popular stopover – and the BEST place I’ve found in East Africa for enjoying baked (Irish) potatoes! I’m drooling just remembering them. They are big, cheap and always ready. They also sell chips. The shop next door sells whole Gishwati cheese, akabanga chilli oil, fresh bread, mandazi (donuts), strawberry yoghurt, Uganda Waragi, takeaway buffet and other snacks. (There’s a free – clean – toilet nearby too).
- If you’re staying at a tourist hotel, you can often get a packed lunch to take on your journey. The lunch box provided by the Kigali Serena Hotel is one of the smartest I’ve seen. I particularly like the local products.
- However, by far my favourite takeaway on my last trip to Rwanda was this fantastic sambaza (fish) and matooke chips lunch! Thank you and murakoze to Bethany Hotel on Lake Kivu for this filling and tasty lunch.
These are some of my favourite Rwandan snacks and foods – and I haven’t even mentioned brochettes and the excellent beers!
Trying local food is such an important part of my travels and so is taking public transport, but beware the ‘helpful porter’ at Musanze who grabs hold of your bag as you exit the bus and demands 500 Rwanda francs to haul it 100 metres!
“No way!” I told him. “I dragged my heavy bag for 20 minutes and no-one paid me!” I joked indignantly in a language he did not understand. I pulled a face and the price dropped to 100 RWF – for a service I didn’t really need.
Which are your favourite East African foods? If you are in Uganda, it may be the rolex! Mombasa street food is a favourite of mine too.
How to get around #Kampala (when you don’t have a helicopter)
How to travel around Kampala – Walk? Cycle? Boda boda? Drive? Taxis or special hire? Matatu? Bus or coach? Train? Helicopter?!
New expats frequently ask me where the best places are to live in Kampala and I always recommend trying to live the same side of town as you work. Scroll down and you’ll understand why. Kampala does not have a public transport system as such (it’s all privately owned) but there are many different ways of travelling to and around the city. Here’s the muzungu’s introduction to the different types of transport and a few personal recommendations.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know I’m always up for a new adventure so I’ve tried all the different methods of transport across Kampala.
⦁ Walking
⦁ Cycling
⦁ Boda boda motorbikes
⦁ Cars
⦁ Taxis and special hires
⦁ Matatus
⦁ Buses and coaches
⦁ Train
⦁ Helicopter!
Walking in Kampala
If you’re within walking distance of where you work, then lucky you! My organisation office was in the spare room of my home for my first few years in Uganda and I was saved the hassle of fighting through Kampala’s traffic. I had no idea how lucky I was!
Walking my dogs through the back roads of Bukasa and Muyenga were some of my happiest times in Uganda. Here’s a favourite walk of ours. Once you’re in town however, walking is an altogether different matter.
It’s only in the centre of town and around the central business district (CBD) that you will find decent pavements. In other parts of town, pavements may suddenly end without warning (if they exist). Drainage covers may be there today and gone tomorrow so always tread carefully. If you have kids, forget bringing the buggy to Kampala. You won’t be able to push it very far.
Cycling in Kampala
I know very few expats who dare to cycle on Kampala’s crazy streets. I used to cycle when I lived in London but here we have little awareness of cyclists or their safety. You wouldn’t find me cycling around Kampala unless it is down by Lake Victoria or on the quiet hills of Kololo or Nakasero. Save your biking for weekends in Lake Mburo or Fort Portal. (Did you know there is an annual mountain bike tour in Karamoja?)
Boda boda motorbikes
These are undoubtedly the quickest way of getting from A to B and the city couldn’t function without them. Boda boda drivers are our best friends, our Mr Fix It, frequently our saviours – just choose with discretion. They can be a real menace too. Read my blog How to ride a boda boda.
If you take a boda boda, do yourself a favour and wear a helmet. Don’t just accept a lift from random guys driving past either. Get to know riders from your local boda boda stage or download one of the ‘ride hailing apps’ such as SafeBoda or Uber app in Kampala. Their boda riders are registered and (Usually but not always) bring you a high quality helmet to wear.
Driving a car in Kampala
Lots of people prefer the comfort and privacy of having their own cars. I bought my car from expat friends and enjoyed the independence of it for many years. What I didn’t enjoy were the many hours sweating in traffic jams at Jinja Road. Neither did I appreciate being pulled over by the traffic police for some minor offence they had just cooked up when they spotted a loan muzungu. (They pick on Ugandans too, I know!)
The weirdest occasion was one Christmas Eve when I was driving through the industrial area. The traffic policeman ahead of me motioned me to pull over. “What have I done?” I asked him innocently. He walked around the car.
“I’m pulling you over for having a faulty rear brake light” he said.
“How could you see that when you were standing in front of me?” I asked him.
“For us, we have special powers” came the reply.
Driving in Kampala – not for the nervous is a popular post by a former expat.
Taxis and special hires
This is where it gets confusing!
Private cars are called ‘specials’ or special hires.
When a British person like me thinks of a taxi, this is what I see:
![Black London taxi cab. Jimmy Barrett [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/www.muzungubloguganda.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Black-London-taxi-cab.jpg?resize=512%2C383&ssl=1)
Matatus
In Kampala however, ask for a taxi (pronounced taxiiiiiii) and someone will point you to a matatu or minibus. The crowded old taxi park in downtown Kampala is an experience in itself! It can be pretty intense.
The 12 seater minibus taxis (generally white with turquoise ‘go faster’ stripes) are the cheapest way to get around but the routes can be annoying as you have to go into the centre of town to get out to the other side. People often walk a bit, take a matatu and then take the second one or jump on a boda boda for the last part of their journey.
Matatus are very cheap. There are no price lists, no receipts and no timetable. They have set prices but the conductor (who sits by the sliding door and takes your money) will frequently try and overcharge you if you’re a muzungu. It is inevitable but you will quickly get to know what’s a fair price. Most routes charge 1,000 shillings (equivalent to 20 British pence or 30 US cents). If you’re not sure how much to pay, fellow passengers will usually help you out (and scold the conductor at the same time!) Travel with loose change or small notes if you’re using a taxiiiiiii in Kampala.
Matatus are good if you are on a tight budget, have a good book to read and can go to work very early (or arrive home very late). Play with your expensive phone at your peril. Thieves are known to put their hand through taxi windows and snatch phones when you’re stuck in traffic.
The downside with matatus is that they frequently get stuck in traffic, especially around the taxi park and Clock Tower roundabout. It’s not uncommon to sit for one or two hours without moving. Their drivers are often aggressive. Also, you have to be careful of your belongings on these crowded minibuses as there are lots of cunning pickpockets. One friend was relieved of her laptop in a matatu. She had no idea she was being robbed until she got out of the taxi and opened her bag to see her laptop had been replaced by bricks!
If you are using a taxi upcountry, expect to fit a lot more than 12 people in!
Note: Uganda’s matatus are twelve-seater minibuses, slightly different from Nairobi’s matatus which are buses, coaches or ‘coasters’ (slightly smaller than a bus).
Buses and coaches
Within Kampala city, Pioneer are the only bus company that I know of. Their buses are new, well-maintained with fixed routes, fixed prices and even tickets! Oh how I wish the city had more of these.
MAY 2022 I saw this same photo of me circulating on WhatsApp after a fatal bus crash. This driver was at the wheel and perished 😪😪😪 so did many others
If you want to travel outside Kampala, upcountry or across one of Uganda’s borders, buses are safer than matatus, which have a particularly poor safety record. Bus companies I have used regularly are Mash, Link and Jaguar Executive Coaches. Other people also recommend Oxygen, Coast and Modern Coaches. After the latest crash I am not recommending any of them! (But the reality is we don’t always have a choice).
Train
If you are lucky enough to live in Kireka or Namanve, you can even get the train into town! The downside is that the service is infrequent although it does have a daily timetable and it’s very cheap. Click on the image to read more about Kampala’s commuter train service.
I simply love trains. Read about my train travels across East Africa:
- On the right track – my first Ugandan train ride
- More ‘lunatic’ than express – an epic adventure on Kenya’s (in)famous train to Mombasa
- Of romance and railways. A guide to booking Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway train and a comparison between the train journey and the bus between Nairobi and Mombasa.
Helicopter
I once crossed Jinja Road by helicopter!
When I was a volunteer, I got to know the pilot of the helicopter stationed at International Hospital Muyenga. I begged him for a ride (not thinking there was any likelihood of it).
One morning he called me. “Can you get to the hospital in fifteen minutes? I have to transfer the helicopter to the grounds of the Serena Hotel to pick up a private client. You can hop in if you want to?”
God I was excited – but no sooner had the helicopter lifted off the ground than we were landing again… and that sums up my travel experiences in helicopter!
What’s the muzungu’s preferred way of travelling around Kampala?
These days I’m a regular user of one of the ride hailing apps. I use them regularly when I’m in Kampala – but the cars all cost more than they used to.
Although Uber and Bolt aren’t Kampala’s only ride hailing app, they do offer the most flexibility and for tourists and new expats, they are recognised brands that you may already have on your phone. The system works exactly the same way as it does ‘back home’ but cash is always preferred by drivers. Few of them accept credit cards. Very few shops in Uganda accept credit cards – we just aren’t there yet.
What’s great about Uber’s service in Kampala is that they have both cars and boda bodas. However, SafeBoda has 100s of bodas now and Uber doesn’t.
What are your tips for travelling around Kampala? If you’re coming to live in Uganda for the first time, read Uganda for beginners – an introduction for new expats.
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Oranges and Ebola – a night crossing at the Uganda Rwanda border
Oranges and Ebola – a night crossing at the Uganda Rwanda border
Tonight we’re listening to rumba. It’s a pleasant change from the constant hawking and violent spitting of last week’s driver. Packing my earplugs in the hold – far away from me – was a very bad idea.
Kampala traffic is intense. It takes us half an hour to exit Namirembe Road where we alight, and two hours before we are on the main road out of the city. The driver is clearly stressed and puts his foot down at every opportunity, beeping loudly for other vehicles to get out of his way.
The VIP night bus looks brand-new. The seats are very comfy and the seatbelt works. Regular readers may recall my frequent cross-border trips. “No hurry in Africa” is a favourite.
On the small TV monitor next to the driver, Bukedde bursts into life. My heart sinks. This popular show is the bane of my life (and I don’t even have a telly). In each episode, a foreign film plays, with subtitles displayed underneath. Over this is a commentary in Luganda. Ugandans LOVE this show and, at a certain time of day, far and wide across the country, Bukedde blasts out from shopfronts, bars – and buses. It’s always played very loud. It does my head in so it’s the last thing I want to hear when I plan to sleep for a few hours en route to Kigali. Today’s Bukedde is a Chinese movie, played on a Chinese screen in a Chinese bus!
With the continued punishing sounds of spitting emanating from the driver’s mouth, I’m amazed that he is allowing the passengers to break for five minutes.
“Short call,” he growls, as we pull into a petrol station near Mbarara.
The muzungu is first to jump off the bus and head for the women’s toilets. As I exit the toilets, I hear the word muzungu and murmurs in Luganda. My crime? I can only guess that in my rush to have a short call, I have forgotten to pick up a jerry can and sluice the toilet behind me, not that there is any trace that I have even been in there. Still, I allow the ladies their moment of disapproval. (The funny thing is, wouldn’t you take the time to explain the error if it really mattered?)
Back on the bus, tiredness gets the better of me. I wake up at the border.
Crossing between Uganda and Rwanda is a lot easier now we have a computerised immigration system. Gone are the days when groups of men would clutch handfuls of biros to sell to help us fill out immigration forms. On a good day, it now only takes ten minutes to exit one country and ten minutes to enter another.
No man’s land – the border crossing at Katuna (Uganda) and Gatuna (Rwanda)
Regardless of how quickly I disembark at the border crossings, I always find myself at the end of the line. I put that down to my misplaced British sense of fairness (as a nation, we are obsessed with queuing) that allows people to push past me. There’s little point in complaining.
The woman at Uganda immigration gives me a dirty look and throws my passport back at me with contempt. Why? I’ll never know.
I walk through the mist that rises from the river; the natural feature makes the perfect border delineation but No Man’s land is a desolate place at four in the morning. I feel safe however. I’ve walked across here many times.
Six men approach me, wanting to exchange currency. They’re harmless, but annoying nonetheless. They see white skin and swarm. I dodge them as best I can but one of them is insistent (or bored). He thinks it’s funny to jump out at me.
“Fuck off!” I shout (for only the third time in Uganda). He doesn’t care. In fact, he laughs. I’m usually nice – but I have my limits.
A few paces further through the gloom, I pass the barrier that marks Rwanda. Without warning, out of the surrounding darkness a skinny man shines a torch straight into my eyes. “Ebola” he says. (Is that supposed to reassure me?)
Thermoflash Ebola testing Rwanda Uganda border
A few paces further on, the Rwandan immigration officials sit laughing in their office. It cheers me up, a lovely antidote to the negative attitude I’ve received in Uganda a few minutes before.
Customs order our bus to be emptied and searched. I smell fresh oranges.
I recall my first road trip to Rwanda a few years ago and how the bus was emptied out for a search. Are they looking for bombs or weapons? I had asked myself. I was gobsmacked when border staff wanted to confiscate a cavera carrier bag! I know the routine now (and you can expect the same routine when you enter Tanzania after June 1 2019).
Hauling a sack of (green) oranges is a two-man job. One of the sacks splits and oranges roll in every direction. Immigration formalities behind us, the passengers stand around watching. There is nothing for us to do but talk football, of course
The bus conductor comes over to say hello and asks where I’m from. As soon as I say I’m British, he excitedly chats Premier League. “We Africans love England because you have given a chance for Africans to play.” “As for the World Cup…” he hesitates, looks me directly in the eye and says “… you let us down.”
Each passenger gets on the bus clasping an orange.
This week’s travel travel tip (courtesy of my friend Julia): if you can’t afford the airfare and have to take the bus, splash out and purchase two seats next to each other! You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes.
This is about a journey I took in September 2018. Ebola checks continue at East African borders. At the point of writing, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya are Ebola-free. For the latest information on Ebola, I follow World Health Organization (WHO) Uganda on Twitter.
Bumming around in Nyabugogo bus park
Waiting for the bus to depart: Nyabugogo bus park, Kigali
I can’t believe my luck. My allocated seat – number 11 – happens to be the window seat near the front of the bus. I couldn’t have chosen a better position. (Luckily it’s not so near the front that I can see danger looming! Jaguar Executive Coaches block off the driver’s cabin from the rest of the passengers, which suits me just fine). I always travel between Rwanda and Uganda’s capital cities with Jaguar, as regular blog readers may recall.
Just don’t sit on the back seat – you will feel every hump and bump! On the bus from Kampala to Kigali
From my window seat, I kill time watching a man cleaning and repairing shoes. The shoeshine man has set up his makeshift shop in one of the bright yellow bus shelters. On a blue painted wooden bench sit eight pairs of clean shoes, their wet tongues hanging out to dry.
A man wearing dark green overalls stops at the shoeshine man’s bus shelter to remove one of his baseball boots. (What is the fashion with cutting the huge hole in the backside of your overalls? Is it general wear and tear? Is it for quick access at the local latrine? I don’t mean to stare at the guy’s bum, but… my eyes are drawn to it by the gaping hole!)
The shoeshine man retrieves a pair of blue flip-flops for the customer. The new arrival removes his threadbare “peephole” socks (to match his “peephole” overalls) and wipes the dirt from between his toes. He folds his socks away into a small ball. He puts the ball of socks in his pocket and leaves his boots with the shoeshine man before he walks off in the temporary footwear.
In the meantime, a smart-looking gentleman removes one of his black office shoes. The shoeshine man picks out a pair of black sandals from his canvas sack and hands them to the new customer. The man who arrived wearing black office shoes rolls up the bottom of his trousers, puts on the black flip-flops and disappears into the Nyabugogo bus park crowd.
His customers temporarily gone – replaced by their shoes – the shoeshine man gets to work, scrubbing another pair of black leather shoes. He scrubs them with a green plastic brush, as he bends over a red plastic basin of water. He looks around for something, and pulls an old T-shirt from his white canvas sack. He dries the shoe thoroughly with the T-shirt.
A tall man in a white baseball cap sits on the yellow plastic bench of the bus shelter, grabs a brush and starts to brush his black boots. No money exchanges hands.
Customer number four is given bright pink plastic sandals to wear. They look rather like a lady’s house slippers to me. The man sits gazing into the distance, chewing on a toothpick. Another guy in long green overalls comes to stand under the bus shelter. He looks over at the Muzungu in the bus and flashes me a big grin. I’m trying not to stare – but he has this huge gaping hole in the back of his overalls too – and he’s rather handsome… from the front and from the back too!
A boy selling newspapers stops in front of the bus shelter. He grabs a brush, gives his shoes a quick scuff and moves on through the crowd.
As people come and go, one thing is constant: the shoeshine man works and works, hardly passing the time of day to chat or to look up from his work. The ‘man in pink sandals’ walks off contentedly – transformed into ‘the man in brown polished brogues’.
A young man walks by, with an empty milk churn hanging off one arm. A paper tissue drops out of his pocket onto the ground. A minute later, a woman in a headscarf and red batik wrap approaches, equipped with a traditional broom and a red plastic shopping bag containing a battered old cardboard box and miscellaneous rubbish. She leans down to pick up an empty crisp packet and the tissue. The shoeshine man hands her some of his rubbish. They do not acknowledge each other. I sense the rhythm of a regular routine. It’s a relaxing way to wile away a few minutes before the bus pulls out of Nyabugogo bus park for Kampala.
Carrying a heavy load – these guys are strong! Selling biscuits, sodas and water to the bus driver in Musanze bus park
Read How to eat like a Rwandan (10 snacks I bet you’ve never tried) inspired by traveling through Musanze bus park.
Hard-boiled eggs, roasted ground nuts (and akabanga chilli oil of course!) on sale in Musanze bus park
Those are some nice-looking rolex! A food vendor jumped on the bus to sell us breakfast
If you enjoy the muzungu’s occasional cross-border bus journeys, read:
‘No hurry in Africa’ – bus from Kampala to Kigali
This guy should have been on the stage: the traveling salesman who literally travels as he travels, walking up and down the aisle of the bus from Kampala to Kigali, working the crowd, proffering samples and chucking out sweets to an enrapt audience of hecklers. How I wished I understood Luganda at that moment!
MASH-tastic! The muzungu’s bus tips from Kampala to Nairobi
Julia complained that she hardly slept for the whole journey. She only fell asleep for the most interesting part: passing through a private wildlife reserve, where I spotted zebra and antelope from my window seat. “You snooze, you lose!” As she likes to tell me…
The real ‘boda boda’ – Nagawa travels sidesaddle into Kenya’
We drove from the coach park straight into heavy evening traffic – and the side of a car. After ten minutes of arguing and arm waving, the consensus was that the car was the one-size-fits-all Ugandan term: “stubborn.”
“No hurry in Africa” – journey by bus from Kampala to Kigali
No hurry in Africa: on board the bus Kampala to Kigali
I didn’t understand much but the salesman’s words “Tsunami in the vagina” and aggressive pelvic thrusting into the bus seat next to him somehow caught my attention.
This guy should have been on the stage: the traveling salesman who literally travels as he travels, walking up and down the aisle of the bus from Kampala to Kigali, working the crowd, proffering samples and chucking out sweets to an enrapt audience of hecklers. How I wished I understood Luganda at that moment!
I remember him on my previous bus from Kampala to Kigali (en route to Kinigi, home of Rwanda’s mountain gorillas): the man who insisted we keep the bus windows open all night – and later proceeded to sell us cold remedies! [Note dear reader: this time he was promoting Chinese Royal Jelly – though I can’t confirm its libido effects!]
Just don’t sit on the back seat! Bus from Kampala to Kigali. Jaguar Executive Coaches
Blink or you’ll miss it…. without warning, the bus pulls over for a rare and impromptu stop for a ‘short call’. I choose my bush carefully. As I get comfy, a girl appears to sit down 10 feet away from me. So much for privacy. There’s a bump, bump, bump to my left as a man pedals downhill towards us, empty green jerry cans banging his bicycle seat as he passes over the bumpy path. (Did I say something about privacy?)
Show over, we return to the bus, and a pair of crutches emerges from the bushes, followed by a young girl. I’ll come to see a lot of people on crutches over my next few days in Rwanda and Burundi. I wonder at their stories, but daren’t ask.
A vicar in a pale blue shirt climbs on the bus, surrounded by men brandishing sticks of greasy meat ‘muchomo.’
“They wanted to drive without you” the girl next to me says as I squeeze myself back into my seat. (I’m sure the legroom has shrunk while I was behind that bush).
Back on the bus from Kampala to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, we wind through the lush green hills and villages up to the border. I gaze out of the window. Matooke, matooke, matooke, as far as the eye can see. A young child in pink gum boots plays with a long stick in the mud. Two women walk across a field, bundles of babies tied around their middles, little feet sticking out either side of their waist. Too cute!
We slow to negotiate the slippery marram dirt roads and here – in the middle of nowhere and then a bit – a traffic jam! Bored, I jump out of the bus to stretch my legs, not realising the disaster that lies ahead of us. I march down towards the crowd by the river and 200 people turn around to me. I approach, camera in hand.
200 people turn to stare at the Muzungu. I will never be embarrassed at people staring at me again
“Are you the photographer?” everyone asks as the Muzungu surveys the scene: a flooded river and an overturned truck, blocking the road to Rwanda. International Super Highway? Judge for yourself.
The main road between Uganda and Rwanda was blocked by an overturned truck. It had attempted to drive across a flooded bridge
An employment opportunity presents itself: “Muzungu, I carry you for 1000 shillings!”
No mate, you have to pay ME for that particular public humiliation. (The thought of all those people laughing at the Muzungu being carried across the river, I don’t think so!) Oh what a spoilsport the Muzungu is, denying the villagers a good laugh…
They want me to believe how easy it will be to get a boda boda to the border a few kilometres away then jump on another bus at the border. I’m not rushing; I’m here to watch how this one unfolds.
We hang around eating huge chunks of fresh jackfruit (only 200 shillings in this part of the world!) as men unload the useless sodden bags of cement from the overturned lorry. “At least they can’t steal it!” Someone says.
I prepare for a night on the bus. Many people have abandoned ship and opted for the 1000 shilling piggyback ride but I stretch out on three seats. I’ve had three hours sleep the night before, sharing a single bed with a visiting onion farmer, and now it’s time for a zizz (sleep). Who cares if we’ll be eaten alive overnight by mosquitoes if we stay here next to the swamp? For now I’m in luxury!
No hurry in Africa… killing time before we get back on the bus from Kampala to Kigali
To lose three hours in Africa is nothing, and I’m surprised (disappointed?) when from my slumber I hear a huge cheer as the lorry is winched back upright.
Time to move.
As we approach the border, a few minutes later, a man next to me opens a photo album of identity cards and ponders: “Tonight Matthew I’m going to be…” (a joke for the Brits, sorry…)
A man in an ill-fitting suit carries just one possession, his Kinyarwanda English dictionary.
At immigration, I ingratiate myself with every staff member, regardless of their nationality, in the hope they’ll remember my smiling Muzungu face upon my return.
I panic when I hear the revving of a bus engine. Perhaps the bus driver really does mean to leave me behind this time? And I recognise our luggage, strewn under a tree, bags being searched – not for bombs – but for cavera (plastic bags), illegal in Rwanda. I’m very nicely ordered to jettison mine, ready for the next adventure: Rwanda!
For more dramatic photos of the scene that greeted us, see the Diary of a Muzungu Facebook album.
Here are a few of my travel tips for bus travel from Kampala to Kigali:
- – I don’t trust the driving skills of a man who puts all his faith in God, sorry. ‘Inshallah’ written in huge letters on the front window just doesn’t cut it with me. Check out the driver before you get into any vehicle. If he stinks of booze, get out!
- – Use Jaguar Executive Coaches, they have a good reputation. The bus from Kampala to Kigali is just 40,000 Uganda shillings (£10 / $15). Buy the day before or just before departure. Early booking means you can choose your seat (recommended!) Call +256 (0)414 251855 or (0)782 811 128 for information. Visit Jaguar Executive Coach’s Facebook page for directions to their coach park in Namirembe Road, Rubaga, Kampala.
- – On my return bus trip from Kigali to Kampala, I used Baby Coach, and even paid the same price paid, in Uganda shillings (ask to be taken to the little office in the back streets of Nyabugogo bus park, Kigali).
- – Where to sit in the bus: don’t even think of sitting over the back wheels. The Muzungu has endured this experience so you don’t have to! Read ‘Kampala to Nairobi by bus: 14 hours of speed humps’ for the reasons why.
- – Does the bus have curtains? If not, you might want to sit on the side away from the sun or you’ll get burned, or at least uncomfortably hot.
- – Always take mosquito repellent – you never know when you might need it.
- – Always bring more water than you need – you never know where you’re going to end up!
- – Bring water but try not to drink it! Drink maximum one small bottle I’d say. Apart from the unplanned stop and the border, we only stopped very briefly twice in eight plus hours of travel.
- – Bring that horrible disinfectant hand gel stuff. If you’re lucky enough to find any real toilets en route, they are grim / have no running water.
- – Take ear plugs and/or music. You might enjoy the person behind you singing loudly to their radio? I don’t.
For more of the Muzungu moaning about fellow travelers, read A short-tempered muzungu flies to Istanbul
Do you have any bus travel tips to share? I’d love to hear them!
Kampala to Nairobi by bus – 14 hours of speed bumps!
Travel by bus between Uganda and Kenya – with tips and links to some of my favourite travel stories!
It was a terrible night’s ‘sleep’ – a 14-hour bus journey from Kampala to Nairobi: the speed bumps shuddered us awake every few minutes. I swear I woke a hundred times. I awoke cold, shivering and aching.
A few glasses of Waragi – it was my birthday after all – would have knocked me out, but I daren’t drink too much when I know (from the equally long bus ride to Kigali in Rwanda) that the bus drivers have bladders like camels and only stop once, twice if you’re lucky, on the whole journey.
Cowhides for sale along the road to Nairobi from the Uganda border
As night became day, I heard Chinese say “Nagawa, look!” and she pointed to a beautiful caldera (volcano), tinted pale brown, with a pale blue sky and mist in the distance. What a magical sight.
An hour before reaching Nairobi, I watched people walking to work: a man carried enormous lidded baskets over his shoulder, donkeys trailed box carts, a man lay on the ground inspecting his bicycle. Stalls sold cowhides displayed at the roadside.
The bus sped past the ‘Master Kitchen Hotel’ and ‘Hotel Paradise’, two-room shacks painted in bright vertical stripes. Despite their simplicity, I enjoyed the variety of the architecture, in contrast to the uniformity of Uganda.
As we passed tree plantations, I thought of Professor Wangari Maathai founder of the Green Belt Movement and wondered whether they were her work? She died just a few days before we travelled. Since 1977, the Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees in Kenya, and thousands of women have been empowered to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. In 2004, Wangari Maathai became the first environmentalist and African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I’d been thinking about her all week and what an incredible role model she was so it was quite moving to be racing through Kenya and seeing plantations of young trees.
In Nairobi, street sweepers’ brooms have handles! – unlike the back-breaking work in Kampala where the ladies are bent double, laboriously sweeping the roads by hand, as rush hour traffic speeds past inches away from them.
Despite the grubbiness of downtown Nairobi (why do bus stations always take you to the shittiest parts of town?) I had to smile at the wonderfully named shops ‘Recovery Pharmacist’ ‘Arise and Shine Fashions’ and ‘Best Care House Girls.’
Our group stumbled, bleary-eyed, out of the bus and jumped in a matatu (slightly less battered than the Kampala ones!) and headed to our hotel in a leafy part of town. I couldn’t believe it when we pulled up next door to the HQ of the Green Belt Movement! The Hashers made for the bar; I made my way to the condolences book and paid my humble respects, alongside tributes from governments and politicians from across the world. I couldn’t believe the timing – I confess I’d only recently known of Professor Maathai’s work and here I was staying a few metres from the base of this fantastic operation, during the week of condolences.
Paying respects – condolences book. late Professor Wangari Maathai
This cross-border bus journey marked the start of the epic Nairobi to Naivasha Relay which Kampala Hash House Harriers have emulated with our equally awesome Kampala to Jinja Relay!
I love the Hash – together we have travelled all corners of East Africa – and beyond – to Hoima, Kigali, Addis Ababa, Malindi and even to the border with South Sudan (where some silly muzungu got rather lost!)
If you enjoy my cross-border bus journeys, read The real ‘boda boda’ – Nagawa travels sidesaddle into Kenya and MASH-tastic the muzungu’s bus tips from Kampala to Nairobi.
