Saturday is Wedding Day

Saturdays in Kampala are wedding days. Weddings in Uganda are very big and normally takes place on a Saturday. Their weddings are pretty much the same as South African weddings, except that they invite about 500 people and that every guest contributes. Meaning everyone helps to pay for the wedding and still brings gifts. Pretty cool! The weddings are quite extravagant, the brides have about 7 bridesmaids and a few flower girls and are all dolled up to the max. There must be a couple of serious tailors and material shops in and around Kampala. While we were whizzing around town, rushing from meeting to meeting we came across 11 weddings! So much so that wedding parties had to que to have their photo's taken.

We took to the streets in the morning and walked across to the Sheraton hotel and viewed the Speke hotel across the road. There is a tiny Indian restaurant next to the hotel that apparently serves very good food, but lacks atmosphere. Our next stop was the Ugandan National Bookshop where I found a really cool Ugandan cookbook. The book explains all the local cuisine and how to prepare pots for steaming with banana leaves. Guess what the first recipe in the book was? Matooke :)

Lunch was at Fang Fang's, a Chinese Restaurant. We ordered chicken fried rise and tried the local gin, Maragi. The food was good except that there was hardly any chicken in it (sometimes I really miss Asia) and the gin was different as well. It's slightly sweeter and apparently comparable to the gin in Malawi. After the waiter served our food, we got a box of tissues. Still wondering what that was for as we both had proper material napkins.

We did a couple of inspections in the afternoon and then headed out to the Speke Resort in the South. Gaddafi apparently stayed there and refused to stay in their rooms. He always pitched his own tent on the lawns. Weird.

Frederick, a friend of mine, was in Kampala the day we arrive. Unfortunately I missed him, cause we were tied up with work all day. He stayed at The Cassia Lodge. On our way back from the Speke Resort, we stopped at Cassia Lodge to check it out. The lodge is located on a hill and has the most amazing view of the city and its surrounding areas. It overlooks lake Victoria, the source of the Nile. We had a delicious steak and tried a local beer called Moonberg. We've tried a couple of local beers and they have all been really good. If you ever get to that side of the world, you have to try Bell, Club, Nile Special, Nile Gold and Moonberg. If and when I come across another one, I'll let you know.

There are a couple of other nice hotels in Kampala. The Metropole, Protea and Emin Pasha are a few to check out. Emin Pasha is on of the few that has a spa :)

The end the day we stopped at an Italian Restaurant for dessert. I had ice cream drowned in Amarula and Bonny had chocolate mousse. I thought I was getting a Dom Pedro, but ended up literally getting ice cream drowning in Amarula. Delish!