Memories of Uganda
By Tara Anderson, WFUV Assistant Program Director
Trucks overloaded with stacks of mattresses and ten people sitting on top. Endless fields of bananas and tea, stretching out in an impossibly green carpet over the rolling hills. Elephants crossing the road right in front of our car, moving with regal slowness, as if in a dream. These are just a few of my memories from Uganda.
My husband, Alex Wright, just finished his internal medicine residency at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, and he had the opportunity to spend a month working at a regional hospital in southwestern Uganda. I joined him for the last week of his work, and then we had two weeks vacation to travel around the country. It was the first time in Africa for both of us, and neither of us knew quite what to expect.
Uganda is a small country in the eastern part of Africa, bordered by Tanzania and Kenya, Sudan, Congo, and Rwanda. It has a turbulent history, like much of post-colonial Africa, but the last 20 years have been relatively stable. Tourism in Uganda is becoming more common, although several people told us Uganda was far less crowded than Tanzania or Kenya. There is a long-running civil conflict in the northern part of the country, but (incredible as it may seem) it didn't really have an effect on our travels. We were warned not to go to certain areas of the country, and we took that advice seriously.
By the time I arrived, Alex had gotten in the swing of things, going to rounds every morning and taking care of patients in the university hospital. The most common illnesses were tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS-related conditions. We stayed at a small guesthouse, shared with a Canadian pediatrician and an English nephrologist, provided by our hosts at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology. The electricity was less than reliable, the bed was covered with a mosquito net to keep out the "malaria vultures," and the call to prayer from the nearby mosque woke us up at 5 am every morning. (Uganda is not primarily Muslim, but every mosque has a loudspeaker!) But it was a bustling little town, there was a good Internet cafe down the road, and we had lively potluck dinners each night with the other foreign doctors. And I discovered the wonders of Ugandan pineapple - the sweetest, most fragrant fruit I'd ever had.
After an ill-fated adventure with a Land Rover that conked out a mile outside of our home base of Mbarara (smoke coming from the gearbox is never a good sign), we struck out with another couple in a Toyota "Corona" to see a little more of the country. Most visitors to Uganda hire a local driver, but we decided to just drive ourselves, which got us more than a few strange looks from people on the side of the road - it's just not a common thing for a mzungu (white person) to do. My brave husband drove us over good roads and bad, dodging children blithely wandering in the street, herds of goats and insanely large trucks, all on the left-hand side of the road (Uganda used to be a British protectorate and still carries many British traditions - fish and chips, anyone?).
We spent several days visiting a couple of Uganda's stunning national parks, getting our fill of hippos and elephants and zebras (oh my!), and generally soaking in the beautiful atmosphere. Uganda has countryside that is like nothing I've ever seen before, and so many different environments - from the classic brown-grass savanna, to crater lakes with lush terraced hillsides, to thick jungles where chimpanzees skitter over the treetops. And the people of Uganda are truly amazing - the warmest, most open and friendly hosts imaginable. After all they've been through, they are eager to show off their country and they welcome visitors with brilliant smiles and gentle handshakes.
When our plane took off from Entebbe Airport for London, and then home to New York, I felt a real sense of sadness to be leaving Uganda. Of course, through Alex's work at the hospital, we got a feel for the problems facing the country, which are many and complex - but despite the difficulties of life there, we both felt a connection to the country and really enjoyed being there. I felt fortunate to have seen more than an ordinary tourist gets to see - it was one of the best traveling experiences of my life. Ever since we returned, I've been trying to figure out when I can go back, eat some more of the best pineapple in the world, and gaze at the African sunset over a field of rustling banana trees.
[For more of Tara's beautiful photos from Uganda, click here]
