Having successfully secured comfortable accommodation, it was time to eat. Carla, the one of the pair who did not mind talking to strangers, asked an elderly man who was shining shoes on the street, where they could get good food.
The old man directed them to a restaurant on the next street. The restaurant was busy, with people seated around large tables having meals, drinks and conversation. Carla and Absalom selected a table and looked at the menu that was on the wall. Absalom, the more mathematically inclined of the couple, did quick calculations to convert the listed menu item prices to Kenya Shillings. The prices seemed fair. The menu offered plenty of options- matoke, rice, posho, chapati, beef, goat, beans, chicken, fish, liver and so on.
After a restful night, Carla and her husband woke up to a fresh new day. The hotel’s restaurant was on the ground floor. The breakfast – a banana, tea, eggs and bread – was good, though the man behind the counter was generally unsmiling. Carla and Absalom soon discovered Ugandan waiters’ apparent eagerness to clear the table.
After breakfast, Absalom asked the nice lady at the hotel reception: “Are there any places that visitors go to see? Any sights?”
“Like dancing or a club?” The nice lady did not seem to understand.
“Any places to visit? maybe animals, parks”
“You mean for leisure time?” she asked, with that Ugandan accent.
Leisure time? Who says leisure time? Absalom asked himself
“Yes.” he responded with some amusement
“Maybe you can go to to the resort.” she suggested.
“Thanks.”
Absalom and his wife went into the street and decided to ask someone a motorcycle taxi operator.
“The resort,” came the reply.
Seeing that this resort was regarded as a tourist attraction, the couple hopped onto the motorcycle.
Their bags were inspected at the gate by an armed guard. Upon finding nothing of concern, they were let into the resort.
A paved walkway led through a well manicured and landscaped green gardens to some sort of gazebo, then further on to a three-storey building on the far side of the large serene compound. Well-trimmed hedge separated the walkway from the neat grass. It was indeed beautiful.
“This would be a nice place to come and relax” Carla said
“Yes. Then we could whisper to each other since the place is so quiet”
Since the couple did not intend to book a room, they got back onto the motorbike.
“Tupeleke pale kwa tourism,” Absalom directed and the motorcyclist complied.
Marilyn, the duo’s remote Ugandan guide, had mentioned that there were waterfalls around Mbale, and Carla and Absalom decide to find out about these.
The wildlife service official was friendly and helpful. There were options for a day trip to the falls or a trip that included a one night camp. Carla and Absalom thanked the lady and left. Not wanting to climb mountains with their backpacks and not being too keen on sleeping in the great outdoors in an unevaluated place, the pair decided they would make a day trip by themselves to the falls. They spent the remainder of the day seeing the small town, with its armed guards outside shops and banks.
There were election posters plastered at nearly every available space, although the elections themselves were still about five months away. In the evening, traders placed tables on the street onto which they placed loaves of bread for sale. Very many loaves of bread.
“Who eats all this bread?” Absalom wondered aloud. There were also people with buckets containing milk that they were selling.
The next day, the tourists set off early. They took a taxi from the place to which they had been directed and eventually the vehicle took off. They told the conductor to get them off at Sipi Falls. The conductor stopped the vehicle and addressed a young man who was passing by: Chunga hawa wageni. (1) The young man was apparently a self-styled tour guide and to the visitor’s delight, he spoke good English! He told the tourists that there were three falls and he could take them to all of them for a fee of 20,000/= Uganda Shillings. They agreed. He took them to a hill-top, from where they could view the lush greenery, with one of the falls in the distance. The couple did not pass up the photo opportunity.
Next was a descent down the grassy hill-side. For support, the guide gave Carla a stick that was about as tall as she was. They crossed a small rivulet on wooden footbridge that was about two feet wide and had a railing on only one side.
They approached a lodge ensconced in the hill-side. The guide said they needed to pay a fee to pass through there, and that he would handle it. Could they hand over the money? The couple did, and the guide disappeared into the lodge for a short while.
The trek continued. Up a winding path that ascended towards the waterfalls they had seen. When they reached, Carla and Absalom felt that it was surely worth the trip and the climb. They took in the sight and took photos. It was actually possible to get into a cave and thus behind the waterfalls. The guide claimed that long ago, people used to live there. Absalom wondered whether that was true or it was just a nice story that sounded good to tell tourists.
(1) Take care of these visitors
Baba Amor's Thoughts 
Really nice. Enjoyed that very much.