Kampala part 2:

I think one place that truly represents Kampala is Al-Zawadi's a restaurant/bar/disco. I was there one Wednesday night and I could not believe how many people had decided to congregate in a place which obviously could not support all of them. This didn't stop them- the dancing and drinking merely spilled out onto the street. The whole thing just symbolized the almost dizzying energy Kampala has and how people are determined to have a good time. I think as a fun-loving city, it's pretty hard to beat and I wish Kigali had the energy- or indeed the places- that kampala did. I could easily become a party animal if I lived in Kampala and I'm not entirely sure if that would be a good thing. I could even get used to sitting in a traffic jam which never happens in Kigali and nearly running over boda boda guys. Ezra nearly did so, and he stuck his head out of the window and shouted out an obscenity I cannot reprint here. The bodaboda guy, slowed down and turned around outraged. Unfortunately what could have been a cool comeback was somewhat ruined by the fact that he shouted back the same obscenity Ezra had hurled at him. Surely he could have thought of something original? What he should have done was ride away thanking his lucky stars that he was not being scraped off our car adn refered to in past tense.
However the introduction of breathalyzers has complicated things. Did I say complicated? That's a bit of an understatement. It has been a kick in the nuts to Kampala's nightlife. Now drinking and driving has become a matter of weighing the costs and benefits of drinking vis-a-vis spending the night in jail trying to make friends with Sematovu. Everyone has had to make some very tough decisions.
Which is how- a few days before I left- I found myself zooming over Kampala's famous potholes at about 100 km/hr being driven by a less-than-sober friend called Barigye. I was sitting in the back but I put on my seat-belt and held it tighter than my true love. Sobriety can be so annoying- If I was drunk I would actually have enjoyed it. I also discovered that you can avoid the effects of potholes simply by pretending they are not there and driving on the road as if you have signed up for a formula one race. It works.