On my first trip to Uganda, I set off from Nairobi in the early evening. I was going to Mbarara town, about 230km from Kampala. The town lies in the west of Uganda, bordering the DRC and Rwanda, and is the home of the Ankole people.

The road to Mbarara is one of the main roads to the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.

I travelled with my family and friends, and we expected to get to Kampala by dawn; however, it was not to be.

The ride from Nairobi to the border town of Busia was smooth; the road has been rebuilt between the towns of Nakuru on the floor of the Rift Valley to Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria.

We reached Busia, around 450km from Nairobi at 3am, only to find a long queue of trucks waiting to be cleared. We drove past the trucks to the Customs area.

Part of our group had obtained temporary travelling documents from Nairobi that cost about $3. Others opted to use just their ID cards.

We needed to clear our van to cross the border, and “clearing agents and brokers” came over to help. Our driver had to apply for a month’s Comesa insurance that costs $43, and the Ugandan road user levy of $22.

To travel with our Kenyan registered car, we were required to leave the original logbook with the Kenyan Customs and carry copies and the clearance form into Uganda.

While the van was being cleared, we headed to the immigration department where we confirmed that you can cross into Uganda with your national ID only.

On the Ugandan side, we provided our details to the immigration officer and we were all cleared and ready to go. But alas! We could not proceed. The customs officer insisted that the road use money could only be paid through a bank.

As it was just past 3am, and Ugandan banks open at 8am, we decided to spend the time changing our currency and have some breakfast at a café that offered katogo (boiled bananas served with beans).

By daybreak, there was a beehive of activity at the border town. Scores of bicycles and motorcycles, commonly known as boda bodas, were looking for customers; 14-seater vans, known as taxis in Uganda, were calling out for commuters going to Tororo and Kampala.

Later that morning, we set off. At the edge of Mabira forest, just before Kampala, we came across people selling roast chicken, and bananas and other refreshments.

With chicken drumsticks and other portions pegged on a stick, the hawkers come up to the window of the cars, vans, buses and trucks plying this route. For Ush1,000 ($0.3), I got five pieces of roast bananas.

It’s about 200km to Kampala from Busia, a journey that should take three hours. In our van, fitted with a speed governor that ensured the driver could not exceed 80km per hour, we made it in five hours.

We drove along the edges of Kampala, past Mandela National Stadium. We took the road heading to Fort Portal, and turned right towards Masaka, a few kilometres from Kampala.

The road to Masaka is lined with bananas, the staple food of most Ugandans. Past Masaka town, we had our first encounter with the Ugandan police when our driver tried to overtake across a continuous yellow line. We were pulled over and the officers asked the driver for his licence as they spelt out his crime.

One of the passengers explained that we had been travelling from Kenya since the previous day, and apologised on behalf of the driver.

“Are you all Kenyans?” inquired one officer.

“Yes,” she replied.

“You may proceed,” the officer said.

Ugandans are generally courteous, and address everyone politely. I often heard the words ssebo for sir and nyabo for lady in conversations.

I noticed many wetlands along the way, every few kilometres there were swamps covered by reeds and papyrus. The Ankole cows with their long beautiful horns making their way to sheds, a few others grazing by the roadside, added to the beauty of the countryside.

We finally arrived at Mbarara and found accommodation at the University Inn Hotel, within the precincts of Mbarara University town campus.

It is an old hotel inside a spacious compound with self-contained rooms, and huge grevillea robusta trees standing in the compound. Unfortunately, the hotel does not have reliable flowing water and the heating system did not seem to be working.

An hour later, we set off in search of food. Finding food in the night proved difficult. It took us several turns before we finally landed at Banguma Restaurant, and enjoyed a good meal.

The dishes served here are boiled fish, boiled chicken, rice, katogo, pumpkin, kaunga (ugali), sweet potatoes and karo. Karo is ugali made of both cassava and millet flour. It is served in a specially made tiny basket as an accompaniment to the main dish. It costs Ush9,000 ($3) for a serving of either fish or chicken with accompaniments.

“There is no food served here without karo and groundnut sauce,” our waiter Antarhauire Brendah informed us. “We have ensenene, but now they are out of season,” she added. Ensenene is fried green grasshoppers that are in abundance during the rainy season.

Banguma became my restaurant of choice for my few days in Mbarara, and I recommend it to all.