Stranded in the savannah

The mountains of the Karamoja region

I traveled with some students and their instructors to Kitgum, some 120 kilometers north of Uganda, near the border of Sudan.  The natural beauty of the savannah and the cool winds gave signs of a pleasant trip.

Uganda's bad roads are legendary.  The road could be good when it was dry, but quite a challenge when it rains.

Bus stops for personal calls

On our way back, our chartered bus got stuck and we created a slight jam.  The cars behind us were practically manually lifted so that they were able to pass.  When attempts to move our bus were made, everyone in the bus was ordered to go down but I stubbornly refused - afraid of the mosquitoes and avoiding the mud that clings and sucks the soles like a vacuum cleaner.  The bus won't move an inch and as we waited for outside help, my previous experience as Chief Crisis Officer came in handy.  I managed the flow of information as we made calls to get us rescued in the middle of the night, attempted to do a headcount and unsuccessfully introduced the  buddy-system. 

We loved company until they were gone

It's a tractor.  Not the marines that I hoped for.

Finally, a tractor arrived and there was jubilation in the dark.  The tractor gave up - either because it did not have the horsepower to pull the bus or the crew was too intoxicated as they came from Uganda's independence day celebration.  I tried to doze off to accept our momentary helplessness when I heard a banging on the floor.

The bushes provided relief

With the light from my cell phone, I saw the driver trying to crash a big cassava so he could share it with the rest. Some people in the bus did not sleep hungry.  They had a small piece of the raw cassava. We spent the night in the bus, with too many mobile phones without airtime, no food, no drink.