Shopping in Kampala

I had a dilemma. I have three sponsored children for which to shop, Lauren has a broken foot, Gabriel was occupied by another project, shopping in Kawuku netted zero results, and I’m “not allowed” to go anywhere alone. Thank goodness for Ronnie, a friend introduced to me by Gabriel while I was here in June.

After admonishing him not to leave me behind and not to allow me to carry anything, Gabriel approved Ronnie as a guide to take me to Kampala for the few errands. He came half the distance out of his way to pick me up at the gate rather than my meeting him at the road, so as to fulfill his directives from Gabriel. After learning my list of shopping needs, Ronnie and I took an overstuffed taxi into Kampala.

After getting more MTN internet time, we headed for the market. The market in Kampala is indescribable. Tin sheets protected the marketers from the sun. Wood plank walls of questionable construction framed…no lined…the outer and some inner boundaries. No air moved in this giant maze of a marketplace. Vendors lined the narrow dirt aisles and grabbed at my arms while calling out “mzungu” or “hello madam, how are you” in their best English. The space was so congested and confusing I didn’t dare take out my camera. I wondered what this place would be like in the rain.

Ronnie knew right where to go to find shoes for the two boys, but as soon as the vendors saw me the price doubled. After negotiating at several different vendors, we got the shoes we needed and went in search of sandals. A street vendor offered some Crock sandals for 2,500 UGX ($1.25 USD) and was “singing out the price” which apparently means the price is not negotiable. We needed a storage box for one of the boys and again Ronnie knew right where to find them among the blocks-wide marketplace. The problem with getting to this next location was that we had to squish ourselves down a tiny path through the food part of the market along with hundreds of other people doing the same thing. It was tough to keep up with Ronnie because so many people wanted to squeeze in between us, but I managed…for the most part…calling out his name when more than one person separated us.

Whew, we found our way back to the taxi park and waited for our ride home. I know I’ve said I don’t like shopping before and I’m sure if I had to shop this way every time I’d really hate it…but today was a fun cultural experience. I’m pretty sure I’ll never want to shop in Kampala alone. Ronnie was a great guide, we got everything we needed for tomorrow’s sponsorship updates, and I was safely delivered back to the gate just after dark.