catchup

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. We're now in Kampala, taking a break for a day while we do last minute shopping, doctor visits and a bit of nothing before the last two long days of driving to return to Bunia.

I was frankly amazed that I made it through yesterday's drive as well as I did, as long as it was. We got on the road before 8am, and arrived at the MAF guesthouse here at 7:30pm. That was no stop for lunch (brought bread and cheese), and a brief stop to buy some sausages for dinner. And a few potty stops, of course, but mostly lots of driving, on the open road, and behind trucks.

I was amazed by the number of trucks we passed. On the road, but especially at the border. The entire length between Kenya customs and Uganda customs (not a small distance at Malaba) had a line of trucks, presumably waiting for processing. We zipped by them, and had our own lines to wait in.

Like the "Red Cross tent," which we were told in immigration we had to do first. So I went back there, and filled out essentially all same info, except for "I packed my own bags, no one has touched them since I packed them, and no one has given me anything to take with me" Or was it "no cough, fever, or runny nose"? Weird medical check. No question of WHO cards, or yellow fever vaccinations, so apparently the swine flu must be a big PR thing.

Then the car. To get into Uganda, we need a temporary import document, so we won't have to pay duties. It costs under $25 for 14 days, which is cheap compared to what duty would be. But the first building, which was unoccupied last time we came through, was actually where I was supposed to apply this time. So I went back there, only the guy wasn't actually there. So I went back to other building to finish the process, after paying at the bank, which required additional bank fees (apparently they have outsourced their cashier). So to get the documents, I dealt with at least five people, the work which was done by one person in Goli, when we entered Uganda from the Congo border (only one person, and significantly less time…)

So, with only two hours, we made it through both border checks, and both customs checks, and we were on our way again. No other police checks stopped us for the rest of the day, either, which was nice.

Hopefully the boys will get to see trouble monkey today...