Rough and Ready

Kisoro, Uganda

July 12, 2024

The land border from Rwanda to Uganda was curiously hassle-free. An open-fronted building with two rooms is the immigration for both countries. I stepped into one room to be stamped out and trooped into the next to be stamped in. The haggling over changing money completed, I bounced on the back of a moto taxi for a short eight kilometers to Kisoro.

As border towns go, Kisoro is pretty chill albeit rough at the edges. The single main road running through the town is tarred and the rest are dirt. Open drains grace the sides of the roads laid over with wooden boards to the shops.

The shops themselves are mostly kiosks for SIM cards, hardware shops, shops for shoes and backpacks and rows of clothing in the small market.

A couple of barbecues grills skewers of meat. Some smoked tilapia lies on a slab. A look at the prep area and even my cast-iron stomach decides to pass on them.

Wandering aimlessly, I see a truck filled to the brim with plantains, the huge bunches being unloaded. And then I look up and see not just one or two but several of these trucks. The phrase Banana Republic pops into my mind unbidden.

Oh, but this is not only bananas! I see a huge area that is transformed into a market. But this is no ordinary market. It is the weekly one where farmers from near and far come to sell their produce. It is packed! Not a place to buy one or two kilos or a single tomato or fruit, this is wholesale. It is a place to buy giant sacks of potatoes, several kilos of tomatoes, three dozen cabbages, a mountain of pumpkins and sacks of onions are for sale. Shopkeepers buy the produce here to sell in their own shops.

There are plenty buying, women mostly. It chaotic, the babble of bargaining and selecting, boda bodas, the moto taxis as they are called here, loading and unloading create a constant hum. I delight in wandering, have a chat or two and click away.

But this is not just for food. There are cobblers repairing shoes and tailors at their sewing machines. Next to a big pile of old tires, I see sandals laid out – big and small, the patterns sport a couple of different designs. And I see a man making them out of cut up tires. How wonderful is that for recycling!