Kampala is a rapidly
growing capital city, home to 5 million people, all feeding their new
found appetite for satellite TV, internet, banging music (turn it up
to eleven) and bright lights. However this love of all things
electronic has meant a strain on the traditional forms of electricity
generation. In 1954 a young Elizabeth the second came to Uganda and
christened the Owen Falls Dam in Jinja that was set to supply Kampala
and the surrounding region with enough power…but that was 66 years
ago and the country has changed dramatically in that time, some for
the better and some for the worse. Due to this growth in need of
witchcraft-generated-charge-my-mobile-juice, the government invited a
company to enter the country and bring some large and very heavy
diesel generators with them to try and bridge the gap and keep the
residents happy. However, with the rising price of the fuel, trucked
daily from Mombasa over 1,200 kilometres away, they have been
slipping with their payments and therefore asked the company to start
“load shedding.”
To your average man in
the street this means that; half the city has power one night while
the other doesn’t, and visa-versa throughout the week. So you’ve
worked hard all day and finally made it home after beating the crazy
matatu drivers at their own game in the traffic – “The Jam is
bad tonight Sebu, welcome to Africa!” – time to sit down,
relax, cook some food and watch televi_________and there goes the
power for the third time this week. As you scrabble around in the
dark to find your lantern and your matches, you try to sooth your
temper by trying to figure out which film to watch for the tenth time
on your laptop. Well stop. Here’s a list of ten alternatives to
help you avoid that early night in darkness;
1 – Pub
Quiz; the infamous, traditional Irish pub hosts a beer and
shot fuelled pub quiz every other Thursday night off Acacia Avenue.
The teams unlucky enough to tie a round are subjected to drink off,
while the overall winner is rewarded with a t-shirt (which I have yet
to receive) and the honour/horror of writing and presenting the
following fortnight’s quiz. Bon chance.
2 – The
National Theatre; if you can figure out what’s actually
happening when and where, the old colonial National Theatre opposite
the Parliament building in town is well worth a visit if only for the
Thursday comedy night. A mix of 50% Luguandan and 50% English, the
skits are strangely easy to follow and surprisingly funny. Eh! True?
3 – Monday
Rugby; a perfect anecdote for any continual groggy post
weekend feelings and Monday evening tiredness is a game of touch with
the members of the Kyadondo Rugby club. After the previous club
across the Jinja road sold out to developers this has become the only
rugby field in the main city and is home to three club teams and the
national team so don’t be surprised to see the Uganda Cranes
training in the dark as you enjoy your well-earned post game beer.
4 – Eating
out; with a huge growth in the middle class system within
Uganda over the last ten years, restaurants of all shapes, sizes and
tastes have sprung up around the city. For those feeling
particularly homesick however, why not indulge yourself with Japanese
Sushi or Moules-frites with ingredients flown in daily from the
Kenyan coast and Belgium respectively. Just forget that Uganda is a
landlocked country and make sure to leave you carbon-footprint
conscience at home.
5
– Cinema; the selection might be minimal – hope
you enjoy Scream 4 – and the operators skills might be limited, but
it’s good to know that there are two cinemas in close proximity of
one another and a third in the pipeline opposite. Forget that the
volume might be deafening at times, or that half the screen might be
out of focus for periods of the film, sit back in the deserted
theatre and enjoy the complementary drink for far less than the price
of a London cinema ticket.
6 – Live
Music; there are plenty of live bands working the various
bars during the week, playing a variety of local half descent stuff.
Catch the Sun is often a good place to go on a Tuesday night, and if
you’re lucky you might catch another decent band rehearsing at Al’s
bar…best avoid the warm up act though. Others, at the more
prestigious hotels, however are typically a dumbed down African
lounge music where the band has become popular locally and is forced
to play the type of songs the owner thinks his punters want to hear.
However it’s clear in their faces that they’d prefer not to be
murdering Frank Sinatra or Dolly Parton on a Friday night to laid
back Muzungus. One to look out for in particular is Navio;
7 – Scottish
Dancing; there's no use buying the ticket, getting dressed up
and gorging on haggis at the annual Scottish Society ball if you
can't dance the Gay Gordon or Strip the Willow. Every two weeks with
free pizza on hand there's the chance to escape the lack of
electricity to dance around like the strange bearded northerners and
practice your dance moves in tine for mid-November.
8 – Zimba
– run by a crazy Finnish woman (hardly unusual for the Finns), for
all those ladies looking for another odd way to work out, you can
join the others for a weekly hour of dancing like no ones watching at
Ambrosoli School, just watch out for the hoards of mosquitoes...and
don't expect your boyfriend to attend.
9 – Christmas
Panto – the highlight of the amateur dramatic season the
month before Christmas heralds the annual Christmas panto; frustrated
artists treading the 'hallowed' boards of the Ugandan National
Theatre in front of the Kampalan public for four sold out evenings.
This year keep a look out for a long lady playing a “man as a man,”
set to be a highlight.
10 – Drinking;
of cause, Kampala is anything but short on bars to find a cold beer
or two, so if none of the last nine take your fancy, you can choose
from everything from a five star hotel garden to a small, dark and
loud bottle store in the local trading centre to wet your whistle and
people watch the night away.
