Cross posted from Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

Zambian grocery stores are filled with processed foods from around the world, from crackers made in Argentina and soy milk from China to popular U.S. breakfast cereals. In addition to these foreign foods, however, are also variety of locally made and processed products, including indigenous varieties of organic rice, all-natural peanut butter and honey from the It’s Wild brand.

It’s Wild was started by the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) over 30 years ago to preserve and protect wildlife. But the organization soon learned that in order to protect wildlife, it would need to address the lack of income sources for local communities that were sometimes forced to resort to poaching elephants or other wildlife in order to earn enough to feed their families.

To do this, COMACO organizes farmers into producer groups, encouraging them to diversify their skills by raising livestock and bees, growing organic rice, using improved irrigation and fisheries management and other practices. The organization supports the creation of regional processing centers and trading depots to make it easier for farmers to process and transport their crops. Their products are then sold under the It’s Wild brand in supermarket chains in Zambia, such as ShopRite, Checkers and Spar. And the organization tries to do as much of the product distribution as possible so that the money stays with the farmers, not middlemen, improving local livelihoods and preserving local wildlife. (See also: Peanut Butter and Progress)

And all across sub-Saharan Africa, other organizations are providing farmers with the processing skills and materials they need to improve their incomes and support their families—and that can produce unexpected benefits, including wildlife, reducing food-born health risks, and improving access to education.

In Kenya, the Mazingira Institute is working to create awareness about climate change, human rights, and urban agriculture. And they’re also training communities to learn better skills to increase income generation and well-being—including training in how to process foods to preserve them longer and make them more appealing to consumers.

Mazingira, for example, helped Esther Mjoki Maifa, an entrepreneur in Nairobi, capitalize on a growing interest among Kenyans for natural healthy products by training her to process groundnuts without any preserves or chemicals. It takes her about one day to produce 50 kilograms of groundnuts and she sells jars from 200-300 shillings each. Eventually, Ms. Maifa is hoping to make enough money from her products to purchase her own nut grinding machine. (See also: Mazingira Institute and NESALF: Training a New Breed of Farmers)

In Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project is helping livestock farmers to improve the processing and preservation of milk in order to produce better tasting and longer lasting dairy products which are also safer for the consumer. EADD encourages farmers to join cooperatives (See Innovation of the Week: Farmers Groups and Cooperatives), giving them access to group owned and run refrigerated milk collection centers, significantly reducing the financial burden of the process. The milk is then transported to a milk processing facility and sent to market where the processed milk will receive a higher price than unpasteurized milk. It also stays good longer and reduces the risk of food borne illness. (See also: Improving Incomes with Milk Processing)

In Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria, the World Cocoa Foundation is providing cocoa farmers with hands-on training on production, pest and disease management and post-harvest techniques. The region accounts for nearly 70 percent of the world’s cocoa production, 90 percent of which is grown on nearly 2 million small family farms. Almost 16 million people depend on this crop as their main source of income and being able to properly process cocoa can make a big difference in income for a family. One farmer in Côte d’Ivoire, Ekra Marceline, was able to more than quadruple her cocoa harvest after receiving training from a Farmer Field School supported by WCF. She was able to build a solar dryer to produce higher quality beans and the additional income she earns enabled her to send her children to school and build a new home for her family. (See also: Improving African Women’s Access to Agriculture Training Programs)

To read more about how training in processing techniques can improve incomes and provide other benefits, see also: Women Entrepreneurs: Adding Value, Reducing Food Waste, Investing in Better Food Storage in Africa, and Protecting Wildlife While Improving Food Security, Health, and Livelihoods.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy our diary every day we invite you to get involved:
1. Comment on our daily posts-we check comments everyday and look forward to a regular ongoing discussion with you.
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Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.

In the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, there is no silver bullet.

And as we travel throughout sub-Saharan Africa we are seeing dozens of innovative ways that organizations, governments, and individuals are working to fight the disease.

One of the organizations that stands out, thanks to their variety of innovative strategies and approaches to combating the spread of the disease, is the Solidarity Center , an AFL-CIO affiliated non-profit organization that assists workers around the world who are struggling to build democratic and independent trade unions.

We want to share with you three different ways they are making an impact on the ground as we visit projects across the continent.

1) Changing Behavior with Worksite Education and Testing

Johnson Matthey in Germiston , South Africa , just outside of Johannesburg , sees 600 workers pass through its doors every day, heading to work on an assembly lines to make catalytic converters that are inserted in cars to reduce pollution, complying with South Africa ‘s auto environmental emissions standards.

As we arrived there last January, Percy Nhlapo, a trainer with the Solidarity Center , was leading a discussion with a group of workers, correcting misconceptions about contracting HIV and urging participants to get tested. The Solidarity Center is working in partnership with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA), an industrial affiliate of the country’s largest union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), to provide free HIV/AIDS education and HIV counseling and testing to several thousand manufacturing workers a year (literally going from plant to plant providing trainings).

Following the HIV/AIDS education session, more than 200 workers voluntarily agreed to be tested. At the testing area, we spoke with registered nurse Dorothy Majola, who said that before workers are tested they are given private counseling, and then she administers two separate tests – both with 99.99 percent accuracy – to ensure correct results.

Within ten minutes of being tested, workers receive their results. The companies work in coordination with NUMSA and the Solidarity Center , agreeing to host the HIV/AIDS outreach, allowing workers to attend and get tested at the beginning and end of their work shifts. Before each outreach, shop stewards mobilize their co-workers to participate in the HIV/AIDS activities at their workplace.

2) Curbing the Spread of AIDS Along Transportation Routes

When we arrived at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center in Katuna , Uganda , about 20 long-haul truck drivers were sitting on chairs and intently watching a match between Manchester United and Chelsea on a small television while they waited for their vehicles to be cleared by customs before entering Rwanda .

But just eight months ago, instead of television, billiards, and camaraderie among workers, the easiest diversion for truckers was sex. Katuna is one of many towns along what is known as the Northern Transport Corridor-a span of highway that stretches from Mombasa , Kenya through Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and all the way to Djibouti .

In the past, the truckers were often delayed for days on the border, giving them little to do. Boredom–and drinking–often led to unsafe sex with commercial sex workers at the truck stops along the highway. As a result, truck drivers have one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa . Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t stop with them, and is often spread to their spouses.

Now, thanks to the work of the Solidarity Center and Uganda ‘s Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), the amount of time truckers spend on the border has been reduced from days to just hours. The union has worked with the government to reduce the amount of time it takes their paperwork to go through, which reduced the amount of free time they have on the border. When they don’t have as much free time waiting for clearance, they’re not as likely to engage in unsafe sex.

Additionally, the Katuna resource center, like many others dotted along the transport corridor, offers HIV/AIDS education, and free testing to truck drivers and local community members (directly impacting more than 150,000 workers so far). The Solidarity Center has similar programs in Kenya , Tanzania , Rwanda and Burundi .

3) Helping Orphans who Lost Their Parents to AIDS, by Putting Them Through School

Outside of Harare, Zimbabwe, we visited an orphanage for children whose parents died of AIDS-related illnesses that the Solidarity Center ’s partner, the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA), an associate of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), is helping to support.

In addition to providing HIV/AIDS education and HIV counseling and testing to workers, ZCIEA is also providing a way to immediately help the children of parents who’ve died from the disease.

As we arrived, a hundred children were singing, clapping, and rushing to offer us hugs and high fives. The orphanage provides them not only with a place to learn and go to school, but also gives them a family in a nurturing environment. More than providing meals and a roof, the orphanage is built around the community, and the children are well-supported.

The teachers and caretakers who work there are mostly volunteers from local communities and you can see that they share a deep commitment and passion for the future of these kids. None of this would be possible without the support and efforts of the Zimbabwean labor movement in providing funding and helping to secure outside funding through grants.

Music Without Borders: Senegal
This is a weekly series where we recommend an artist, song, or compilation of songs, from a country in Africa, brought to you by our awesome friends at Awesome Tapes From Africa. Today’s selection is from Senegal:

Mbalax is a local musical genre in Senegal; most people have heard of Youssou N’Dour, who is a major artist in that world. Here is another mbalax great, Thione Seck.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy our diary every day we invite you to get involved:
1. Comment on our daily posts — we check for comments everyday and want to have a regular ongoing discussion with you.
2. Receive regular updates–Join the weekly BorderJumpers newsletter by clicking here.
3. Help keep our research going—-If you know of any great projects or contacts in West Africa please connect us connect us by emailing, commenting or sending us a message on facebook.

We are going to try to write the article we wish we had been able to read before attempting to bus our way across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda (December 2009). Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.

First things first: this will be one of the most worthwhile experiences of your life. Start by flying into Nairobi, Kenya (huge and somewhat affordable airport hub for international flights). More than 30 airlines service flights into Nairobi Embakasi Airport including British Airways, EgyptAir, Emirates, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and tons of others.

Take your time to enjoy Kenya. People will put the fear of god into you that you are unsafe in Nairobi (they call it "Nairobbery")—but just ignore the hype and check out this amazing city full of incredible food, nightlife, and energy. We traveled all over the country but an especially worthy stop is El Doret (it is on route to Kampala, Uganda) where tea is produced in fields that stretch as far as they eye can see.

We took Kampala Coaches from Nairobi to Arusha, Tanzania. We hated the bus company so much that we wrote a blog about them. Not much competition, even Scandinavia Express discontinued this international route. A spin-off from Kamapala Coaches was in the works and might be a good option, but if Kampala Coaches is your only choice, don’t take it all the way to Dar es Salaam. We suggest you go halfway to Arusha and switch companies.

Arusha is a tourist trap. You will be harassed from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. With that said it is a great place to launch a 4-day trek at Mt. Kilimanjaro with loads of Safari providers. Make sure you stop by The Patisserie (near the clock tower) for the best chocolate croissants on the continent and hi-speed wi-fi. For budget hotel options we recommend "the Tourist Hotel" (pretty central, $30 USD/night for a double with TV, and a affordable restaurant and bar in the lobby—especially good for vegetarians). Skip the Arusha Naaz hotel, despite what Lonely Planet says.

To get from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam use the bus company "Dar Express" which provides a safe, reliable, air-conditioned bus service. Just a warning: on the buses we took they played Christian videos the entire way, but feeling confident your bags are traveling with you makes up for the attempted "conversion"

When you are in Dar es Salaam, stay at the Jambo Inn Hotel (about 30USD a night for a double with air-con, hot water, and cable TV). The hotel is in a safe, functional area with lots of restaurants, internet cafes, and local shopping.

From Dar Es Salaam you can head to Zanzibar. It is a truly magical place . Stay in Stone Town and pay 12pp for the terrific value "spice tour". Just ask a taxi to take you to the public beaches, no need to shell out for a tour. We spent 20USD night and stayed at the Jambo Guest House, a very basic but clean hotel in walking distances to everything. Tip on the ferry to Zanzibar— it is worth it to pay a little extra for the VIP tickets—especially for those who might get sea-sick. The ride is only ninety minutes, but felt like a lot more. Don’t let this deter you, the ocean and sunsets are well-worth the bumpy boat ride

Best way to travel by bus (and the only way) to Kampala, Uganda is via Nairobi. You can take the Dar Express to Arusha and find a bus company that heads to Kampala via Nairobi. Try to arrive in Nairobi during daylight hours. Alternatively, Precision Air flies cheap from Kilamanjaro (an hour bus from Arusha) to Kampala and might be worth the splurge. Precision Air has an office by the clock tower in Arusha.

Kampala is a terrific place. We recommend staying at the Aponye Hotel at approx 30 USD per night with great showers, air-conditioning, and a great central location (you can walk to restaurants, markets, etc). Ironically some of the best Indian food we’ve ever had was at a restaurant in the Kampala mall. If you go white-water rafting at the source of the Nile, Adrift is a reliable, safe company. While expensive (we had to give it a pass), everyone we met that went Gorilla trekking and said that it was worth every penny.

In terms of busing from Kampala to Kigali, Rwanda, it is extremely safe. The best company we found was Starways and the service is reliable, reasonably clean, safe, and air-conditioned. Many other companies use this route, again, try to avoid Kampala Coaches.

When you get to Kigali, spend a day at the Genocide Museum. It will be an unforgettable experience. You can sometimes catch an affordable flight from there to Nairobi. Keep in mind that Rwanda and Kenya are more expensive than Tanzania and Uganda. Kigali has few solid budget hotel accommodations (and none that we can personally recommend). If using Lonely Planet’s Africa book, add approx 50 percent to all listed prices for Kigali.

So, are you ready to rock Eastern Africa by land, air, and sea?! People will think you are crazy but the experience is fun, rugged, and totally unforgettable!

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy our diary every day we invite you to get involved:
1. Comment on our daily posts — we check for comments everyday and want to have a regular ongoing discussion with you.
2. Receive regular updates–Join the weekly BorderJumpers newsletter by clicking here.
3. Help keep our research going—-If you know of any great projects or contacts in West Africa please connect us connect us by emailing, commenting or sending us a message on facebook.

Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.

When we arrived by bus at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center in Katuna, Uganda (the border between Rwanda and Uganda), twenty men were intently watching a match between Manchester United and Chelsea on a small television. Along with the pool table, board games, and additional television downstairs, soccer games provide a much needed distraction for the long-distance truckers who have to wait for their vehicles to be cleared by customs before entering Rwanda.

But just eight months ago, instead of television and camaraderie among workers, the easiest diversion for truckers was sex. Katuna is one of many towns along what is known as the Northern Transport Corridor—a span of highway that stretches from Mombasa, Kenya through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and all the way to Djibouti.

In the past, the truckers were often delayed for days on the border, giving them little to do. Boredom—and drinking—often led to unsafe sex with prostitutes at the truck stops along the highway. As a result, truck drivers have one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa. Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t stop with them, and is often spread to their spouses.

Now, thanks to the work of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit launched by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organziations (AFL-CIO) to empower workers around the world by helping them form unions, and Uganda’s Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), which has about 3,500 members in

Uganda, the amount of time truckers spend on the border has been reduced from days to just hours. The union has worked through bargaining with the government to reduce the amount of time it takes their paper to go through which reduced the amount of free time they have on the border.  When they don’t have as much free time, they’re not as likely to engage in unsafe sex. 

The Katuna resource center, like many others dotted along the transport corridor, offers training and education to truckers and sex workers, and provides reading materials like pocket guides explaining sexually transmitted infections and the dangers of letting them go untreated. More than 150,000 truck drivers and community members have received prevention services, care and support information through one-on-one or community group outreach. The Center also provides free testing for truck drivers, already more than 5,000 of them to date.

As we continued along into Kampala, you can’t help but immediately feel the pulse and energy of the bustling city. In fact, we love this country so much we have no doubt we’ll be back sometime in the future.

People here are also very laid back — We’ve even gone three days without a cup of coffee here and didn’t seem to mind.

You hear the words "Hakuna Matata" everywhere. Literally.

Internet services down nationwide all day? Hakuna Matata…

Flights cancelled? Hakuna Matata…

Two hours in wall-to-wall rush hours in Kampala? Hakuna Matata…

We spent a lot of time letting go and reversing any stereotypical American traveler latte-induced behavior…

Right after arriving, we visited the Mukono District, about an hour outside of Kampala, Uganda, where we met up with Edward Mukiibi and Roger Serunjogi, coordinators of the Developing Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC) project. Edward, 23, and Roger, 22 started the project in 2006 as a way to improve nutrition, environmental awareness, and food traditions and culture in Mukono by establishing school gardens at 15 preschool, day and boarding schools. And over the last year, DISC has received global attention for its work—DISC is now partly funded by Slow Food International.

They started with Sunrise School, a preschool taking care of children between the ages of 3 and 6. By teaching these kids early about growing, preparing, and eating food they hope to cultivate the next generation of farmers and eaters who can preserve Uganda’s culinary traditions. In addition to teaching the children about planting indigenous and traditional vegetables and fruit trees, DISC puts a big emphasis on food preparation and processing. “If a person doesn’t know how to cook or prepare food, they don’t know how to eat,” says Edward. The kids at Sunrise—and the other schools working with DISC—know how to grow, how to prepare, and how to eat food, as well as its nutritional content.

As a result, these students grow up with more respect—and excitement—about farming. At Sirapollo Kaggwass Secondary School, we met 19 year-old Mary Naku, who is learning farming skills from DISC. This was her school’s first year with the project and Mary has gained leadership and farming skills. “As youth we have learned to grow fruits and vegetables,” she says, “to support our lives.”

Thanks to DISC, students no longer see agriculture as an option of last resort, but rather as a way to make money, help their communities, and preserve biodiversity.

We were so impressed with project DISC and urge you to check out this opinion-editorial we wrote about them for the Des Moines Register.

With 1,000 words nearly coming to an end…

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Uganda, like most of the countries in Africa, is full of contradictions.

While everyone we met in Uganda was friendly and helpful, going out of their way to assist us when we needed directions, a Wifi hotspot, or a place to find vegetarian food, the country also has some of the most restrictive laws against human rights on the continent. While we were there, the "Bahati Bill" was introduced in parliament.  The Bahati called for life in prison — and in some case the death penalty — for people found “guilty” of homosexual activity.

As gay marriage laws are passed around the world, including most recently in Mexico City, it’s hard to believe that lawmakers would punish people for being gay or having HIV/AIDS. The Bahati bill also punishes anyone who fails to report a homosexual act committed by others with up to three years in jail, and a prison sentence of up to seven years for anyone who defends the rights of gays and lesbians.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, due to mounting pressure from governments such as the United States, across Europe, and in Canada, said that he opposes the measure, and would attempt to try and soften the bill. Yet, even the possibility that a watered-down version of the proposed law could be passed, is an alarming sign of a dangerous trend of prejudice all over Africa. In Blantyre, Malawi, for example, a gay couple was arrested a few months ago after having a traditional engagement ceremony. Homosexuality is punishable by 14 years in jail in Malawi.

Other things we want to quickly note

Where we stayed: overall, the Aponye Hotel in Kampala, Uganda is a very good budget option in the heart of the bustling city center. It is in walking distance from restaurants, markets, ATMs, the bus station and more. Approximately $35/night, the room was very simple, clean, with air-conditioning and hot showers, and Wifi in the lobby.

The veg options were great: We ate fresh avocado, a local staple called posho (or maize flower), matooke (or banana), rice, and cassava. Served with the meal was a dipping sauce made of ground nuts and tomatoes cooked in a covered box sauce pan. Most of the vegetarian food is served in Uganda is steamed — usually using banana leaves on the bottom.

A must do: Go whitewater rafting at the base of the Nile (just a short ride from Kampala). Don’t worry it’s safe and you will have a lot of fun.

Another must do: Go swimming in Lake Victoria — no need for a fancy hotel, most will let you on the property to swim and use their facilities for a nominal fee.

The overland bus company we recommend: Starways (and trust us — because we traveled on all of them)

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy our diary every day we invite you to get involved:

1. Comment on our daily posts — we check for comments everyday and want to have a regular ongoing discussion with you.
2. Receive regular updates–Join the weekly BorderJumpers newsletter by clicking here.
3. Help keep our research going—-If you know of any great projects or contacts in West Africa please connect us connect us by emailing, commenting or sending us a message on facebook.

I’ve had the opportunity to try some traditional—and tasty—local foods while I’ve been traveling in Africa, including amaranth, breadfruit, matooke (mashed banana), posho (maize flour), groundnut sauce, spider weed, sukuma wiki (a leafy green), and a whole lot of other vegetables and fruits with names that I can neither remember nor pronounce.

One thing I haven’t tried yet is found all over Africa and, in addition to being a food source, it is also considered a pest—grasshoppers. As I was walking through a market in Kampala, Uganda I noticed women “shelling” what I thought were beans, but upon closer inspection the baskets sitting between their legs were full of wriggling grasshoppers. As they sat, chatting with one another and the curious American, they were de-winging the insects so that they could be either sold “raw” or fried for customers.

Despite the yuck factor many of you reading this might have for eating insects, grasshoppers, crickets, termites, and other “bugs” can be a nutritious source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. According to the results from a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization workshop in 2008, caterpillars are an important source of food for many people in Central Africa, providing not only protein, but also potassium and iron.

Collecting and selling insects can also be an important source of income, especially for women in Africa. And as climate change increases the prevalence of certain insects, they become an even more important source of food in the future.

Crossposted from www.BorderJumpers.org.

We’ve taken some long bus rides in Africa. We spent 8 bumpy hours on a bus from Nairobi to Arusha; another 8 from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam. The longest so far, though, has been between Kigali, Rwanda and Kampala, Uganda. I am usually looking out the window, admiring the crops growing by the side of the road, desperately trying not to think about how I have to pee, and trying not to panic about how fast our bus driver is maneuvering between other buses, cattle, and street vendors hawking roasted corn, bananas, and pineapples on the side of the road. Bernie, on the other hand, has a different strategy for coping–sleep.

During that 12 hour bus ride, here are the things he slept through: a commercial bus going 80 miles an hour on a one lane highway (even getting stopped for a speeding ticket, which is tough to accomplish on these roads), crying babies (including the seat next to us), the driver flirting via text message on his cell phone and turning backwards (sometimes for as long as ten seconds) to make conversation with the bus company staffer, blasting American hip-hop accompanied by pirated music videos on the television screen, and so much more…

I love him, but the man can sleep through anything..

Uganda, like most of the countries in Africa, is full of contradictions.

As gay marriage laws are passed around the world, including most recently in Mexico City, it’s hard to believe that lawmakers would punish people for being gay or having HIV/AIDS. The Bahati bill also punishes anyone who fails to report a homosexual act committed by others with up to three years in jail, and a prison sentence of up to seven years for anyone who defends the rights of gays and lesbians.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, due to mounting pressure from governments such as the United States, across Europe, and in Canada, said that he opposes the measure, and would attempt to try and soften the bill. According to a recent story in Reuters, “the president has been quoted in local media saying homosexuality is a Western import, joining continental religious leaders who believe it is un-African.” With a national election looming in 2012, politicians seem to be using hatred against gays as a scapegoat for rising corruption and the weakening of civil liberties and freedom of the press.

Yet, even the possibility that a watered-down version of the proposed law could be passed, is an alarming sign of a dangerous trend of prejudice all over Africa. In Blantyre, Malawi, for example, a gay couple was arrested last week after having a traditional engagement ceremony. Homosexuality is punishable by 14 years in jail in Malawi

However, human rights advocates continue to fight. In Latin America, they hope that the success of legalized marriage in Mexico City will spread to Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, and other places. Uruguay permits gay parents to adopt and Columbia grants social security rights to same sex couples.

In the United States, gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender rights is one of the most import civil and human rights battles we currently face. Despite recent setbacks in California, New York, and Maine — recent success in places like Iowa, DC, and New Hampshire — means that during next decade the battlefield for LGBT rights is not only in Africa but also right here at home.

The streets in Kampala, Uganda are never empty. Check out the video below to hear Danielle’s thoughts on the city (and it’s constant activity) and meet a young man named Brian we talked to who is eager for you all to come out and see all the commotion for yourselves!

Ready for a math nightmare — every US Dollar is 1,800 Ugandan Shillings! Here’s a test for you: if something costs 51,450 shillings — what is that in US dollars? (No cheating with a calculator…)

Aside from mental mathematics, Uganda is much more affordable than the other countries in East Africa. With the exception of taxis (petrol is a fortune for drivers), everything here is a bit less expensive than Uganda’s neighbors: Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. That’s of course if you don’t go Gorilla Tracking (at least $USD200 per person) or whitewater rafting at the source of the Nile ($USD125 per person). Looks like our schedule will prevent us from the first and bad weather kept us from the latter. But we love this country so much we have no doubt we’ll be back sometime in the future and we’ll try to do both!

People here are also very laid back — I’ve even gone three days without a cup of coffee here and didn’t seem to mind.

You hear the words "Hakuna Matata" everywhere. Literally.

Internet services down nationwide all day? Hakuna Matata…

Flights cancelled? Hakuna Matata…

Two hours in wall-to-wall rush hours in Kampala? Hakuna Matata…

I am just trying to let go and not be that stereotypical American traveler who can’t go with the flow….(and sometimes failing miserably at it)…

We like the money here, no former or current presidents or war generals, just birds and mammals on the bills. And they are all different colors–very pretty.

We also tried the local beer — called Club — which reminded me of Budweiser (no offense to to Dani’s home state of Missouri).They have a darker local beer aptly called "Nile" which we will try before leaving. Oh, and for some reason Smirnoff is not only the vodka of choice — but those little Smirnoff Ice wine coolers are ubiquitous in local hands…

I can’t complain about the toilets (mostly clean, toilet seats almost everywhere in Kampala, but almost nowhere outside the city) — mostly because Uganda offered me my first hot shower since landing in Ethiopia!

Follow us as we visit toilets, drink beer, and spend money across East Africa ;-). Check out Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Crossposted from Border Jumpers blog.