UGANDA DIARIES

This is the story of a family of samosas that made its way from the sleepy Ugandan town of Entebbe, 115 kms north east to Jinja, the source of the mighty river Nile.

What’s wrong with this woman?’you might be wondering at this point. To that I say, you can take Indians out of India but you can’t take India out of Indians. Read on to know more.

Yesterday, Day 2 of the #UgandanDiaries, we booked two SUVs for a trip to Jinja. We were a group of 9, my parents, le husband, me, my aunt, my mom’s cousin and her family. Desi travel guide point 1- Travel with as many people as possible- check.

We were supposed to start at 7 am but since we are all still running on IST-Indian Slow Time- we were an hour late. (My father claims I am the reason everything was delayed, but I beg to differ). The drive to Jinja was bumpy, dusty, and slow. We made our first pit stop at Cafe Javas in Kampala. Kampala is the capital of Uganda and its largest city. Here I fell in love. No offense to my husband, but I realise I met my soul mate only now. My soul mate is a fruit bowl. Yes, a bowl of the freshest fruits, swimming in creamy yogurt, drizzled with sweet golden honey, and topped with crunchy toasted nuts. My tongue sighed in submission as it tasted this bowl of pure, unadulterated, goodness. I can’t go an as I might cry. Let me just say that I have found my purpose in life.

We started driving again and at one point my dad stopped the car to buy caps from a roadside vendor. If you have been reading me for some time, you would know that my dad is fascinated with caps and hats and head gears of all type. He loves them, he collects them, he cherishes them. And my mom absolutely resents them and tries to get rid of them when he is not looking. I have a feeling he buys caps to irritate my mom. So he went ahead and bought a velvety black beret and a camouflage cap.This time though my mom bit her tongue and accepted my dad’s questionable fashion choices.

After the cap detour we were in Jinja in two hours. The source of Nile requires entry tickets. Funnily, you can apparently bargain the rates with the guard. We asked for the entry rates and he was like ‘How much you wanna pay?’ Interesting…wish we could do that everywhere. We finally paid 95,000 Ugandan Shillings for our group. I am still not able to wrap my head around the currency here. 1 INR is 55 shilling and 1 USD is 3590 shilling. Which means we are carrying millions of this currency in our wallets and I am paranoid all the time.

Once inside we had to bargain again with the tour operators for a guided boat tour up to the exact source of the Nile. It cost us 120,000 shillings for a hour trip. The river Nile’s source is in the Lake Victoria, which is the largest lake in Africa and is the world’s second largest fresh water lake. The Nile is the only outlet of this lake and drains it from its northern bank in Jinja.

The boat gently sailed over the lake and our guide, Ismail, showed us the various sites. The lake is dotted with various small islands. Some of them have enough space for only a couple of trees and rocks. Others are lush and green. We spotted trees full of black Egrets and some Kingfisher birds too. At one point my mom called out to me from the other side of the boat and said ‘Look at that Egret or later you will Regret.’ Clearly in my family we have ‘Mom Jokes’ instead of the usual ‘Dad Jokes.’

On one of the Islands we noticed that the biggest tree on it had white leaves and the surrounding area was fully white. It looked eery. We looked up and the mystery was solved. On the branches rested dozens of birds and the white leaves were the result of exposure to constant bird shit. Even the monitor lizard lazily crawling over the rocks below seemed to be covered in that.

Mid way through our ride Ismail took us to a long, narrow ‘Island’ on the lake. On it was a small craft shop made of mud and straw, with a bridge that led to the source of Nile. On the other side was a long stretch of grass and pebbles. As we neared the land we noticed a bunch of bearded men, some in white vests and others in traditional pakistani salwar-kameez, huddled over some pans. We got off the boat and greeted them and they informed us that they had come all the way from Pakistan as part of a ‘tabligh jaamaat.’ They were washing meat for a barbecue and we left them to do their thing.

We made our way to the source of Nile, gingerly treading on the creaky wooden boards below which was gushing water that was being pumped up from 65 ft below. Yes, the source of the Nile is a gushing spring that is 65 ft deep. Imagine the force of the water to come up like that.

In 1862 a British explorer, John H. Speke, had apparently traced the Nile from North all the way to this point and thus ‘Discovered’ the source of this river that travels all the way to Egypt, in North of Africa. The water from this source travels over 6400 km. It takes 3 months for the water from the source to complete its journey and reach the mediterranean sea. Now all this is fascinating information, but you know what is more fascinating? What the source of Nile got to witness when we went to visit it.

Over thousands of centuries, this place has witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties, kingdoms, and empires, It has seen explorers come seeking it, it has endured noisy travellers from around the world. What it hasn’t seen though- a family that came armed with a tiffin full of samosas and cutlets to see the source of a river on which flourished so many mighty civilisations. It was then only natural that we honoured the formidable African river by posing with the mighty Asian snack- samosa.

We goofed around near the source of river sign for some time and the made our way back to the boat. This time the Pakistani men invited us to join their barbecue party but we were in a hurry and had to turn down the offer. Instead we requested they lend us their space to offer our afternoon prayers. Now this is easily my favourite part of the day. We made our ablution with the cool water of the Nile. The water was fresh and refreshing and seemed to wash away all the tiredness from the long drive earlier in the day. Then we all prayed in a congregation. There’s something to be said about praying out in the open, in the midst of nature. Nothing connects you to the Lord more than worshipping him as you are surrounded by His creation. There was a gentle breeze that caressed our wet faces (one of the most calming sensation) and the sound of birds calling out to each other punctuated the soothing music that is playful waves gently lapping the shores and rocks and retreating again. This experience was a much needed gift for my soul.

After the prayers we shared some more pleasantries with the men, gave them some of our rotis we packed from home (of course we had rotis), and headed back to the boat. One of the older men in the group came running towards us and handed us a plate full of dates and candied sesame with the biggest of smiles. We waved him goodbye and headed back to the mainland.

By now we were getting hungry ( I am beginning to think that Indians exist in only two states- hungry. And very hungry) So my mom brought out the tupperware full of rotis, and handed out paper plates. Then she whipped out from her desi Mary Poppins’ bag some yogurt and a jar of Mother’s Mango Pickle. Thus we traversed the source of Nile, eating roti with yogurt and pickle. We even fed the boat guy some, probably making it a unique experience for him too. After the mini-meal my mom said she only wished there was a mat she could spread on the floor of the boat and take a nap on…You guys now know why I am like this.

Our ride ended after one hour and we made our way back to the car. All that food wasn’t enough so we headed to the nearest cafe and ordered some more. I of course had the fruit bowl, among other things.

The journey back was quite long and tiring. At signals we’d see hawkers on roller skates selling ripe yellow bananas,grilled chicken thighs on wooden skewers (which I like to call ‘meat lollipops’) and small packets of peanuts. Some of them would hold on to the back of our car so they can gain speed.

We finally reached home late in the night and of course ended it with food by going to Javas the fourth time in two days. I think we have a food problem. But I am not gonna ask for help any time soon!