Leaving Mombasa on a dark, busy evening at 21:00 we had our day long bus journey awaiting us all the way from the East Coast of Africa to Jinja, Uganda on the shores of Lake Victoria, at the source of the River Nile, some 1000 kms of Kenyan and Ugandan roads.

Well, the bus left on time, we had tickets we booked on line for 1st Class seats, which roughly translates to seats that recline and are a bit wider than others. Occasional stops throughout the journey for 10 mins at a time and a 1 hour wait in Nairobi the next morning makes the journey a little more bearable.

A good book, some music and definitely sleep before we hit the border town of Busa and the chaotic border crossing.

We had our passports checked, rechecked and checked again then 1 km down the road a customs official boarded the bus and demanded passports again….one can’t help but smile.

Immigration don’t ask tricky questions, like what address are staying and where is your proof of anything, they seemed more concerned with getting the $100 visa fee off each of us…! Yes $100 an increase from $50 in July. They actually sounded more concerned about if I was going to Rwanda afterwards, probably expecting me to be visiting gorillas in the mist.

Anyhow, 19:45 we arrived in Jinja on a dark lit road waiting for our lift to our home stay……a bit weary and ready for a bucket shower! Yippee! That can wait until the morning….bed first!

Modern Coast Bus