Ssezibwa Falls

Yesterday we felt the need to escape from Kampala for a  few hours and headed out with another volunteer to the Ssezibwa Falls. This waterfall is 30 km from Kampala on the way to Jinja but with the traffic getting out of Kampala it took us over an hour to get there. Jinja is the second largest town in Uganda and is a major tourist attraction as it is at the source of the Nile. The Jinja road is the main route between Kampala and Nairobi, especially now there are no passenger trains running through Uganda, so it is understandable that it is the busiest road in Uganda.

It was hard to believe the beautiful Ssezibwa Falls were only 30 km from the hustle and bustle of Kampala and only a few minutes from such a busy main routeway. By the time we got there it was lunchtime so first stop was the cafe set in a classic Ugandan banda - an open sided area with a thatched roof. We were given an extensive menu and were just thinking about what we would like to eat when our companion had the presence of mind to ask if anything on the menu was not available. This is so common in Uganda that when I go out with my Ugandan work colleagues they don't even look at the menu just ask what there is. And sure enough it turned out that they only had pork chops and chips or pork stir fry and chips! We had pork chops and they were lovely, coated in a lovely spice mixture with crispy chips.

Suitably refreshed we headed up the hill and around to the top of the waterfall. After clambering over a typical Ugandan rickety bridge we went on a short circular walk and ended up back at the foot of the waterfall. After taking a few photos we headed back to Kampala and an iced coffee in a local cafe.

Finally we finished the day doing our weekly shop in Shoprite and headed home just as it was getting dark. As we went past the VSO office we bought a fresh pineapple from the man with a wooden wheelbarrow full of beautiful fresh seasonal fruit. He is usually there all day every day. Supper was fresh pineapple sat on the balcony watching the sunset.