A party in the jungle

Friday morning started on a rainy note - like many other mornings, but this time it was actually quite cool as well.

As the day progressed though, it got warmer and warmer and I decided to take a break from work and finally go for a swim.

The complex I was staying at has a gorgeous swimming pool, really nice and cold, so I did a few laps to cool and calm down.

After my swim I walked around and saw all the other great amenities the complex has to offer, as well as watching the yellow-billed hawks fluttering around in the trees above me.

When I got back to work, the day passed by super quickly and as the evening approached Marlon returned from Jinja.

After a quick game of golf, (Marlon, not me), Marlon and I decided to go for a drink or two so that he could show me Kololo’s nightlife.

We did go out quite early, 9pm, so when we first arrived at the one bar - “H20” it was quite empty - but we sat down, got a drink and watched DJFikTing do his ‘ting’.

The music they played was quite fun, old 90/2000s hiphop/pop - so it was a bit of a throwback.

Another cool thing was that they do video Dj’ing here, so instead of just mixing up tunes - the DJ mixes music videos, which are presented on a screen in front of his booth, so the crowd can watch the music videos too.

After having a drink and watching some music videos and local Ugandans dressing to impress at H20, we decided to mission to “Bubbles O’Leary’s” - an Irish pub/club down the road.

On the way, I saw a lady sitting on the side of the road at a little “stall” you could call it - an upside down cardboard box with a basket of goodies for sale.

Some pocket size bottles of vodka, rum, and who knows what, some cigarettes, some gum, some bananas.

The midnight ‘corner shops’ of Kampala, I guess.

When we arrived at Bubbles o’ Leary’s, there was a St. Patrick’s day festival, so it was all set up for a jol.

Since Marlon and I weren’t planning on having a late night, and planned to just check out the scene a little, we had another drink and played some pool.

I lost.

Then, it started getting busier.

As the night got later, we had another drink, and another, and enjoyed people watching - an interesting crowd.

At this Irish place, there were a lot more foreigners than the previous place, and the music was golden oldies, mixed with some interesting others such as Freshly Ground, taking us home to SA, and even some Stromae, taking me back to France.

We observed the different styles of the people, some totally casual (like us), and some totally, totally dressed up - high heels, tight dresses, hair done.. the works.

It was an interesting guessing game - there were so many little clusters of people, a group of foreigners with a token local or two.

Do they live here and it’s just a friend of theirs?

Are they tourists and it’s their guide?

Are they rich and she’s just looking for a ‘good time’?

An interesting mix.

A party in the jungle, outside, under trees lit up by strobe lights and smoke machines, a cat crawling in the bushes, shadows of branches dancing on the walls.

It turned out to be a slightly later and dizzier night than expected, and on the walk home I realised just how dangerous it actually is to drink and walk here…

Potholes in the dark are no fun.