The first night in Kampala doesn’t really count. We only got in after midnight and then there was the long ride – with quick stop when the driver nearly broke the car going over a ditch – to the backpackers. We sat on the roof for a while, meeting each other for the first time, feeling the group out. Then bed. That awkward moment with a new group of deciding who sleeps where. It’s not a big issue but everyone is a little weary to make a decision in case it offends anyone else. Tiredness wins over and we all sleep.

I’m last up in the morning. It’s been such a crazy few weeks; it’s left me tired. I sleep late. Eventually we’re all up and we start to make a move. We’re staying at a different place tonight, New City Annex, which is closer to the bus station. We take a taxi.

The drive through Kampala is the first I get to see of the city. I love that moment of discovery, walking or driving through a city, really seeing the place. Kampala feels strange, foreign. Different to the other African cities I’ve visited. I suppose, in retrospect, it feels less South African.

We pass a giant Hindu Temple in the process of construction. There is more religious diversity in this city than I expected – churches of all types and sizes, mosques, including the giant, showy, Gaddafi mosque, this temple.

But it feels as if they’ve poured their money into constructing religious symbols instead of into building the city. Kampala should be more developed than Lusaka. I’m sure it’s bigger. It should definitely feel more developed than Gabs. It doesn’t. It feels dusty and run down – but without any of the run-down charm of Maputo. It seems haphazard. It doesn’t feel like an aid agency capital. It doesn’t feel like a business capital either. There is a strange tension to the city I can’t put my finger on but it’s uncomfortable. The city doesn’t feel relaxed.

The day passes in a blur. There is shopping. There is walking.  There is currency converting. There is buying sim-cards and getting connected. There is glorious, wonderful heat. We eat at the Hari Krishna restaurant near the National Theatre. Chilli Paneer – delicious, especially when seasoned with hunger. Then first crazy boda boda ride.

The evening is gentle. We sit on the balcony and watch the moon rise over the city. We meet some friends of one of our group and taste, for the first time, cold Ugandan beer. It is a beautiful night. We sit in the evening, the first of many, and share the space quietly as each person reads and dozes and journals. It has been a busy day and tomorrow the journey north begins.