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We visited a lot around Kampala for our first day in Uganda. First of the day was Ba’hai temple. It had a pretty garden and the building itself had a simple style. All of the interior pillars are taller than one story, drawing your eye upwards to the inner dome. As we huffed and puffed our way up towards the temple, I noted that seemingly all cultures put temples on high hills- likely because the sweet relief of being able to breathe once you finally reach the top is divine.
We then went to the Uganda National Museum. It provided a lot of information on the natural and cultural history of the country. This was a great orientation for our next month here, as well as some fun parts. I like the honey beer and banana beer but the most interesting to me were the instruments. The guides played and some danced. It was great. Pretty sure I stood there with a stupid grin on my face the whole time. I provided a link below for the museum through the Travel Kampala site.
Lunch was local, traditional foods. There was a sweet potato, rice and more served with a fish stew. This was also our first chance to try matoke. This is the staple food of Uganda and it’s made from bananas. It was really good; I wish I had been able to eat more of it, but it was VERY filling.
After lunch, we made an impromptu visit to the Sanyu Babies Home. They had said that most of the children there are boys due to the perception that girls are easier to raise and that is isn’t necessary to spend the money on an education. I enjoyed this visit much, much more than I had thought I would. As we toured the facility, we were each handed a baby to carry with us. I was surprised at how comfortable the children seemed with strangers. It was explained that one possible reason for this is that children in these homes form attachments quickly, sometimes too quickly. While the children were cute, the situation was not and gave me a lot to think about as we climbed onto the bus for the next location, Kabaka’s Palace. I was able to learn more about Ugandan history, as well as the roles of the king and president.
All in all, the day was a great and necessary introduction to our home for the next five weeks.
troduction to our home for the next five weeks.