02.08.2011 Kampala
Yesterday after bungee jumping we grabbed a bus to leave for Kampala. We were going to do a city tour today. It was sad leaving the Nile and leaving Brian, but we had a big city to see! We arrived in Kampala around 1900 yesterday evening, and took a tax to the Red Chille. We grabbed dinner, got a couple Nile Specials, and had a low-key girls night. We watched the monkeys play on our picnic table and run up and down the trees. They were so close, and it was so normal for me. The zoo is never going to be the same.
We woke at about 0900 this morning. Moses picked us up. Driving through Kampala was more kichaa (crazy) than driving through Arusha. More cars, more botas, more dalas, more people, more chaos. You have to trust the driver though, or you’ll cause yourself to have an aneurism.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala
Kampala is a large city that has its major buildings built on hills. From one hill, you could look down and see the dirty streets, with beautiful buildings up on other hills behind. The first place we went was a catholic church. People were inside praying. Taking our tour made me feel like I was intruding. It was a beautiful building though, with beautiful paintings. These paintings, however, were different from what I’ve seen in the museums at home. The characters were black.
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| Librini Palace |
Next we went to the Palace. It looked run down. No royalty has lived there for the last decade, but the family of the staff still did. There were shacks put up on the border of the grounds also. We didn't go inside the palace itself, but we did go inside the dungeons.
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| The dungeon. |
This picture was taken from the entry of the dungeon. The rooms are to the left, on a platform. The lower hallway-like area was filled with water. When somebody was on the verge of death, or gave the guards too much trouble, they would be thrown into the water and then electrocuted. The king sent his guards out to find anyone who was intelligent, strong, good looking, or educated. These were the men who died. 900,000 people were murdered between 1971-1979.
So many people would be crowded into these rooms that people died from suffocation. These are the foot and hand prints of some of the prisoners who died.
The Kasubi Tombs
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| The inner architecture of the tomb's roofing. |
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| Vandals burnt down the large tomb. Reconstruction is under way. |
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| The burial sight. Many kings were laid to rest here. |
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| Each of the king's wifes had a house for her and her family. To this day, a female descendant of each wife still resides in each hut. |
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The original structures lacked cement walls.
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Gadaffi Masque
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We were required to cover our hair and legs before entry.
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Standing in front of the arch, overlooking the capital.
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| The Koran |
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The floor for women's prayers.
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