Bunabumali (S Fort portal ) western Uganda
Five a.m. boda-boda ride to the bus station – black sky, no stars (city smog), and no traffic until we’re at the bus station where early morning chaos had already broken between truck drivers, bus drivers, boda-boda drivers, taxi drivers and ticket-sellers.
I sit in the bus next to a man half-asleep, head nodding occasionally in slumber, the bus driver bumping my hand fist-to-fist in greeting and a few “Hey, mzungu!” before falling asleep on the grey window pane.
The first hour of the ride is bumpy and uncomfortable, but by sunrise we hit smooth cement all the way to Fort Portal. A brief stop for breakfast and my seat neighbor spends a few minutes leaning on my lap while buying chapatti wrapped in blue and red lined school paper and mango juice in a water bottle.
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