TravelWorld International Magazine Summer 2024

A Muzungu Wanders in Uganda
Story and Photos by Dennis Garrels
“Uganda is truly the Pearl of Africa. The Kingdom is a fairy tale. The scenery is different, the climate is different,
and most of all, the people are different from anything elsewhere to be seen in the whole range of Africa.”
Winston Churchill, November 1907
There are dozens
of ramshackle
shacks selling
cell phones to
meat to tailormade
dresses.
Motorcycles
often carry two
people plus the
driver. Often, the
load includes
baggage.
hen I saw her, she was looking at me.
My left hand went out questioningly, and
I held my camera out similarly. Her nod
was almost imperceptible. Click. Another
slight nod. It only took one shot to capture
the noble essence of that African woman
with red clay etched into her feet. I’ve photographed
Queen Elizabeth II and Mother Teresa. Now I have a
queen, a would-be saint, and a pearl in my portfolio.
What does it take to be such an emblem of serenity? There
are dozens of ramshackle stands surrounding her. Everything
from cell phones to meat to tailor-made dresses are for sale
in those shacks. She must block out the cacophony of noise
made by hundreds of sellers and shoppers. And the buzz of the
motorcycles darting around people and cars.
I walk past bagayi (men) surrounded by those ubiquitous
motorcycles. They watch and wait for the muzungu (me) to get
hit by a motorcycle carrying three people. Muzungu? Roughly
translated, it means “white wanderer.” Suits me.
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Just as generations before them
have done, two women and a
girl carry items on their heads.
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