Uganda

Thanks to Unindicted Co-conspirator #1 for today’s post.

One of my early trips to Africa was with a Canadian Trade Mission, sponsored by the federal government to promote international business development.  The trip took us through Kenya, Uganda and South Africa and in each country we met with various businessmen to look for opportunities to promote our products. 

My product was the first commercial cellular telephone system operating in the 800 Mhz band using “Advanced Mobile Phone System” (AMPS) technology.  It was developed and marketed by NovAtel Communications Ltd, based in Calgary, Alberta .

While we were there, the Canadian Consulate contacted us and invited us on a mandatory trip to visit a reforestation project sponsored by the Canadian government.  We were treated to a wonderful presentation by children from the local school.  The singing, dancing and costumes were all amazing.

One of the more notable events of the trip included a 9 hour delay leaving Kenya for Uganda.  We were never told what the problem was, but I believe the plane was delayed because the “wing falling off” light was on in the cockpit and they had to do an extensive check of the airplane (thank you, Mike Neun^[2], for that line).

We finally boarded the plane, flew across the equator and landed in Uganda at Entebbe where we met the Canadian High Commissioner^[1].

In case you are wondering, a High Commissioner is what we Canadians call an Ambassador who is assigned to a Commonwealth country.

We had to go wandering around the airport for some reason and along the way, we passed by the abandoned plane (photo attached) that was used in the 1976 hijacking of the Tel Aviv to Paris flight by PLO terrorists.  The plane was abandoned because Ida Amin, the dictator of Uganda at the time was a PLO supporter and wouldn’t agree to give it back.

We also saw some of the bulletholes in the building where the captives were held (sorry, no photo). 

After a few days of meetings, we flew to South Africa.  In the baggage collection area we were treated to the wonderful aroma of rotting fish.  It seems that one of the passengers had packed a box full of freshly caught fish and sent it as checked baggage.  By the time it arrived in the baggage area, it was pretty ripe.

I highly recommend Uganda as a destination.  It is a beautiful country with really wonderful and friendly people. 

The highway from the airport to Kampala at that time was a bit hair-raising, narrow and with steep cliffs in several spots, usually with rusting vehicles lying at the bottom.  Kampala was a lovely place, safe and friendly.  There was a lot of construction going on because companies that had lost their properties after the Ida Amin coup had been given the chance to take them back, as long as they continued the development that had been abandoned.  GDP growth in Uganda was the highest in the world at that time.

One of the things I discovered was that the people in all three countries really responded positively when you said something in their language.  All you had to do was greet them with “hujambo” and you would get a big smile and about 2 minutes of untranslatable Swahili before they realized you had just spoken the only word you knew in their language.  But it didn’t matter, you used their language so you were ok.

Buffets and Dining

I have never been to the Kati Kati Africa Restaurant in Kampala, but it is highly rated.

I have been to an excellent restaurant in Nairobi.  The Carnivore is well named.  The first thing you learn is that there is a little flag by your plate and as long as it is up, they keep serving you.  And if you are there with veterans, you learn to avoid the first round of meats.  They serve beef and lamb and chicken and pork in an attempt to fill you up with the cheap stuff.  But if you wave off all of those, then they bring out the warthog and crocodile and springbok and other good stuff.

Don’t be fooled by the menu.  You can’t actually order a child or adult.

– UC#1

Destination Uganda

Distance from Edmonton, Alberta: 13,130 km
Distance from Austin, Texas: 8, 487 miles
Distance from Santa Barbara, California: 9,363 miles
WLBOTT Status: Approved
Will there be a Buffet? Bring your appetite.

Editor’s notes:
^[1] UC#1 assures the staff that any correlation between High Commissioner and weed being legal in Canada is purely coincidental.
[2]

WLBOTT Word-of-the-Day: Hujambo

Semi-sequitur: The Good Guys – Love in Action

Love in Action has long been a friend of WLBOTT. An NGO started by Alan and Beryl Went, Love in Action provides education and support for the children of Uganda.

Will there be a Buffet?

Turns out, The Carnivore is a big deal, with over 5,000 Trip Advisor reviews and 2,400 photos.

Semi-sequitur: 1st Lesson in Getting Your Pilot’s License

It is important to be situationally aware. Does your plane have the required number of wings? Quora to the rescue.

Semi-sequitur: The Nile Perch / Darwin’s Nighmare

UC#1’s reference to fish-as-cargo reminded us of a fascinating documentary, Darwin’s Nightmare, on the introduction of the Nile Perch to Lake Victoria (45% of the lake’s coast is bordered by Uganda).

It is hard to underscore how truly disturbing and weird the subject matter of this documentary is.

Some images are from The Internet Movie Plane Database (https://impdb.org/index.php?title=Darwin%27s_Nightmare)