ijourneyafrica

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Introduction

This is my photo diary of the 9 months I spent in Uganda. I took a hiatus from medical school to embark on a journey of self-reflection and expand my knowledge in the area of translational research in global health. There I worked with the Infectious Disease Research Collaboration (IDRC) conducting a nationwide survey to assess bed-net ownership, access, and use, as well as parasitemia and anemia. The study covered the east and western regions of the country which allowed me to see a large part of Uganda’s beautiful countryside.

In most places it didn’t feel appropriate to have my phone out taking pictures, but I tried to capture the most striking and magical things about Uganda.

Whenever I had time, I would go on little getaways and try to see more of Africa. I ended up seeing 7 countries in total: Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.

On my journey I met many lovely people. One of whom is Andy, who will be a life-long friend. He taught me how to ride a motorcycle and traveled with me and the study team around the country. His hobby is photographing birds. He graciously shared with me some of the photos he took while in Uganda. I’ve included them in this blog.

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey with you,

Sheila Rugnao

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August 2017 

First night in Uganda. I arrived around 10pm at night.  The bed and breakfast I booked had arranged a driver to pick me from the airport. I wasn’t sure of his name and didn’t have the name or the number to the place I was going. When I landed my phone wasn’t working- no service. Some man came up to me and in the most broken english conveyed to me that he was my taxi. Mostly by saying Taxi and grabbing my things. I followed him and prayed for the best. As I got in the car, it smelled of gasoline. The road was pitch black and the headlights on the car hardly worked. I pulled out my phone and started writing my good byes. I figured that if I was going to die, at least the GPS on my phone would mark where I was when it happened. I described the guy, the car, and the little i knew about where I was going and made sure to include, “I love you Mom & Dad”. Just as I was finishing my note, we pulled up to a black metal gate where we were welcomed by the ferocious barking of what sounded like rabid canines and Claire, the lovely woman who owns the house came to the gate to welcome me. I spent my first night at African Roots Guest House in Manyago, Entebbe. The property had a lovely back yard and charming, but underwhelming breakfast. =\ 

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My first day in Uganda, 8/11/17. The traffic is terrifying but the scenery is actually to die for. 

This video captures the tea fields on Jijna road, the road that goes from Kampala the capital city and largest city in Uganda to Jinja town, where I spent the first few months. 

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My first week in Uganda. I settled into Basecamp, the hostel which became my home. The picture on the bottom left is of my room. The rooms are made of concrete and to cool them the vents are always open. This is one of the reasons why sleeping under a bed-net (bottom right) is important- stave off the malaria. 

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August 2017

in the field with the study team in Bududa

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Birds of Jinja, compliments of Andy

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August 2017

The magical town of Jinja. Where I spent the first two months in Uganda. I would come down to bourbon bar on the river and swim across and back for exercise sometimes. 

This is The Deli, my second “office” in Jinja

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August 2017

The motorcycles you see are called, “bodas”. The name was originally “border-border” and then got shortened to “boda-boda” and then just “boda”. They were used to take people across the borders, as it was cheap, and they could sneak across. In Uganda this is not only the mainstay of transportation but also the most commonly used taxi. It would cost about 30¢ to go into town on a boda, and about 20$ to go 60 miles. 

Boda guys are typically very nice. After I learned how to ride, I rented bodas often for about 4$/day. 

The plat of food pictured costs about $1.38 USD. 

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September 2017

Weekend trip to Sipi Falls, outside Mbale in the Eastern part of Uganda

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September 2017 

Kampala, largest city in Uganda, and where the main IDRC office was located.  Only 52 miles from Jinja, but on average a 3-4 hour journey one way, given the traffic

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October 2017 

Chigungu, a fishing village outside Entebbe.  

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October 2017 

photos in Masaka, from Andy

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October 2017

A weekend trip to Mwanza in Tanzania where I kayaked in Lake Victoria (pictured above) and nearly died. The winds picked up and the kayak flipped, less than a second later the kayak was sinking to the bottom of the lake and I was trying to swim to shore. Crocodiles are common in that part of the lake, but there was no time to think about that as I was choking and trying to stay afloat. I looked to the shore which was about 300 meters away. Fight or flight kicked in and I went into survival mode. I kept telling myself, “you’re a good, swimmer, you’re not going to die here, you’re choking-which means your moving oxygen, which means you’re not drowning, just make it to shore”. I mantra’d myself to shore where there was no friendly sands to welcome me. The coast was lined with large boulders, but luckily I found one that had a crack in it. The crack was the width of my foot. I waited for a wave to push me up the slippery rock and climbed to safety. About 20 min later a boat came around the corner looking for us.  We had been gone longer than the hour allotted for the kayak rental. Thankfully someone was keeping time, not a common occurrence in Africa

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October 2017

On the bus in Ntungamo, on the way to Kable, where I would take a taxi to meet a boda man, who then drove me to the lake where I got in a dug-out canoe and rowed myself to my final destination at Booya Amagara on Lake Bunyoni

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October 2017

Lake Bunyoni was by far the most beautiful place in Uganda. We had to row ourselves out 45 min in a dug out canoe, to the island of Booya Amagarra where we stayed. The water was very cold, but I swam in it anyway. The hostel didn’t have electricity but the sound of the birds in the morning made a delightful alarm clock. 

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October 2017

These are the mountains where the Gorillas live. It is a 16k ride outside of Kisoro on the worst road in existence. The road is all rocks and boulders. It rained when we got to the mountain and we had to sit there for hours waiting for the rain to stop. On the way back down many places along the road were flooded and washed away, which meant riding our motorcycles downhill through about 2 feet of water and not knowing what was beneath you. 

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November 2017 

on the weekend i took a boat out on Lake Mutanda