Some Things Unexpected

We arrived in Entebbe on Wednesday at 12:30AM.  Robert Sembuya, head of Ankole Living Uganda (ALU) and Godfrey, drove us into Kampala on the new fancy traffic-free highway.  After a good rest, we woke up to tropical birds singing, breakfast fruit and African Tea on the veranda with Cathy Cliff, a dear friend and lovely Irish lady who’s lived her whole life in Uganda.  We took a tour of the new ALU office & workshop - there is a business office and break room, 2 storage areas, an outdoor working area, a living area, and a partially enclosed shop where all the equipment is kept and the products are cut and polished.  Ellen and Anna Louise tasted their first “Rolex” (Chapati and egg roll) on the street while I met with Carol, the ALU office manager. Then our gorgeous friend, Vivian Awill joined us for an afternoon shopping adventure, downtown finding fabric for our new Ankole clothing line.  The massive amount of people going here and there is always an experience - it’s very congested. We stumbled upon a good supplier of a linen/cotton mix with Ankole colors in stock. Snatched up the material and after a few stops, we made it across town to Vivian’s sewing studio where we met her master seamstress and colleagues near Prayer Mountain.  

The next day, we ventured out of town toward Queen Elizabeth National Park, but just before Lake Mburu we drove into the luscious Bush, past pigs and a farmer, and saw monkeys in the trees!  Marcia’s leather workshop is open air and very “Out of Africa” looking. She buys her leather from Kenya then stains it herself. Marcia is Dutch but she trains and employs Ugandans in the area.  She is meticulous. She and her crew make our safari trunks and all our leather products. We sat around a large table, ate pasta with cabbage, and talked about life in the Bush. Another thing, we thought we would have WiFi and my Africa phone to communicate with, but neither worked anywhere all week.  

Be on the lookout for more information on our website in the Spring!