Everything (and everyone) here is fertile!

Monday, August 22
We drove back across Uganda, a distance that the guide book said was an “easy” 350 km from Fort Portal to Jinja. We were reminded of the different opinions of honesty that exist in this world. Along the road, of course, we saw more than our fare share of overloaded motorcycles (boda- bodas) and stuffed taxis. We knew we were passing some wealthier communities when the daily count of tractors shot up from 0 to 12.
We also saw children, small, ragged, and usually dirty. Sarah reminded us that over 50% of the population is under 14. Makes sense when you realize that the birthrate is still 7 babies per woman. Sarah says that everything in Uganda is fertile, from the seed- full oranges and watermelons, to the land, to the people. For example, there are three planting seasons a year, and it only takes 3 years for a Eucalyptus tree to go from seedling to maturity, for pine trees, it is 24 years.
The effects of the population growth were increasingly evident as we neared Kampala-- almost every square inch was being farmed, brick kilns and construction sites were numerous, and both forests and wetlands were being eaten away by human activity. After crossing the sprawling outskirts of Kampala and the beginning of the Nile, we reached our destination.
Historic Jinja town, built in the early 20th century has the oldest (and most European) buildings Sarah had seen for a while, as well as a thriving tourist market. Dinner proved more treacherous than the day's potholes-- after finding our first and second choices of eating holes closed, we dined at our guest house. Here, we thoroughly and repeatedly explained to our server that we wanted one pizza, with cheese, vegetables, and sausage (it was a pizzeria, after all). In about 20 minutes, he reappeared, with not one, not two, put three pizzas-- one cheese, one sausage, and one vegetables. We had the courage to refuse one and found the appetite for the other two (genuine sacrifice).