To all my fervent followers, I take this opportunity to welcome you into the new year. Happy New Year – however trite that might sound, I know. It is the first time I am writing in 2015. I could have written earlier… but for my hectic travel schedule recently.
By the first week of January, this last one, I had racked up close to 2500 kilometers on the road.
I have loved every second of the journeys for they have been eye opening in many ways. If I were to sum up 2015 (Eh, not this early in the year!) I would surely pick on two or three things:
Music
I have never been an ardent follower of music and my choice of the same has always been, to say the least, horrible. Arguments have often ensued amongst close friends over my taste of music. I still think Congolese music of the nineties is more interesting and “deeper” than the cocktail we are being served by local artistes today. I think Elly Wamala, John Kahwa (Oh, that crooner! Know him?), and Maddox Ssematimba are some of the greatest talents Uganda has produced. Afrigo band is great. And that all these tribes of animals; Chameleons, Weasles, Tigers, Elephants, etc are no where close to the previous list. Yes, I said that.
On the long trip from Nairobi to Mombasa (damn! 14 hours on four wheels will leave every each of your body tired, run-down and…well, tired!) I would chance on two songs that brought back memories.
Tide is High – Atomic Kitten
Originally written in 1967, the song was popularized in 2002 by British girl group Atomic Kitten. I should have listened to it, first, in 2004 or thereabouts. The lyrics are about a girl who is determined to keep “holding on” even in the high tide. Now that was me; after 12 hours of a treacherous journey from Kampala to Nairobi, getting ready for another 14 hours on the road. I shall return to the trip later.
Barbie girl – Aqua
The year is 2001(?). All the kids are sitted awaiting what was, then, Uganda’s pre-cursor to the now ubiquitous soaps – The Ebonies’ TV drama. Ekitoobero Ala Carte on UTV. And this song, released in 1997 Danish-Norwegian pop group Aqua, was playing. Up to now I can’t tell what drew me to the song. It must have been the opening line “Hi Barbie/Hi Ken/Do you wanna go.for a ride/ Sure Ken/ Jump in” that playful, fantasy-ish manner in which the two look at life. They then jump into a car and sing together… My younger self would imagine how life must be easy for teenagers and 20-somethings – fancy cars, partying and fun. Unfortunately, it is not.
Mombasa
In both my lower and higher invertebrate biology classes at University, we encountered interesting organisms (Sea urchins, crabs, polyps, fishes, brittle stars, etc) which, unfortunately, we had never got chance to see in real life. Of course we had samples of these preserved in the museum but there were not great to look at. There’s a huge difference between lab preserved specimens and the real thing, every biologist will tell you.
Considering this, and after another class on Marine biology in third year, the Zoology department would announce that we shall be having a field trip to Mombasa. You can only guess the excitement that filled the class – of seven – that day.
When we arrived in the coastal city last week, a friend would remark – in reference to Atomic Kitten’s The tide is High single, “The tide in Mombasa is high, so are our spirits!”
Mombasa’s cuisine, great scenery and marine life did not disappoint either. Too soon our over 1000 kilometer treacherous journey (and the fatigue it came with) were forgotten. Space had to be made for life on the roaring shores, in the pool and coral garden gathering samples.
In the evenings we would take to walks on the shores, some riding bicycles or buying memorabilia from locals who were “strategically” positioned next to our hotel.
It is no wonder Mombasa is a top-notch tourist destination in East Africa. During our brief stay I would encounter hordes of tourists walking in the city. Speaking of which, the city’s unique architectural style in contrast to Nairobi or Kampala is another sight to behold. However, all is not rosy in Mombasa; security concern is high with groups like the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a separatist movement, kidnapping tourists for ransom. A scheduled visit to the historic Fort Jesus would also be cancelled for the same reason.
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Since the British boy band craze of the nineties, with bands like Take that and Backstreet Boys, I had not taken keen interest in British music. Amy Winehouse nearly struck a chord, but she died too soon. Taio Cruz, Katty Perry and One Direction? Not quite.
And then came that 23 year-old sensation Ed Sheeran. His second studio album “x” has every music critic dumbfounded and suffering one eargasm after another. The boy is good. Looks aside. His “Thinking Out Loud” single raked up over 3 million views on YouTube in the first 24 hours and yours truly has been a significant contributor to that statistic – cannot remember how many times I have watched the video on YouTube.
Finally (and this, I hope, none of my Kenyan friends is reading), it is bad in Africa here to rejoice in a neighbor’s mischief or misery. Only witches do that. And so, at the risk of being called a witch, I ask Uganda to take advantage of the security concerns in Kenya that have hurt their tourism sector. Traveling around Kenya, you could see Uganda has nearly the same to offer in terms of wildlife (the big five, safari, camping, etc) as Kenya. In fact, in the 1960s Uganda was the prime safari destination in East Africa – beating Kenya and Tanzania. That was until we slipped into civil strife in the 70s and 80s. Here we have chance to revive our status as a tourist destination. Kenya benefitted from our mischief before – and made good of it. It is our turn to… err return the favour. I hope someone at UWA is reading.
To my Kenyan friend, I was only “thinking out loud”!
Some Ideas are "R-evolutionary"! 