Accra, Ghana

Like any human being, I am reasonably jealousy of my reputation.

That is why I blog about my smelly feet and socks and the things that I do. Someone asked me why I down rate myself. Do I? I think of it like seeing my true self, rather than being dazzled by the things that I can do. Of course there are things that I excel at. And there are those that I do not. So does every human being.

I try not to be a Uriah Heep in my humility. (Long time since I read David Copperfield, but the image was so strong I remember!). I am what I am, and proud to be, a fallible common man.


The fragility of life’s a tightrope;
balancing act I walk daily-
every precious second of life.


So, as to my bragging. Prepare to be bored.

Just realized today is the 7th of Jan. Barely a week since the new year started.

I have been on, and off the African Continent. And surprisingly, for a guy who does love the city of Kampala, within the next few days I may be on two other continents.

Where am I at the moment?

Ghana. The Gold Coast, as it was called a long time ago. As it is still called by those who love to remember old things. Like me.

And if in Ghana, where else to be but Accra, the capital.

A stewardess at Dubai airport asked me where Accra was. I was struck with amazement. I told her it was in Ghana (my geography has always been good, though I must swear I did not know the particular point on the map where the world famous Dubai was.) Why was she asking? Accra, it has a nice sound to it. That was her explanation.

I gave my world famous grin and rushed not to miss the plane.

What am I doing on the gold coast? Well, not much gold to take, if I knew where it was. But there are other things. The country has beautiful men, and women, most likely. And a beautiful weather, warm, in the 30s most of the time, till late in the night, and even then the temperatures do not drop too much.

Staying in a beach hotel, and the beach itself? Amazing, breathtaking. Lake Victoria is beautiful in its own right. But a true beach of sand, stretching for miles out of sight, with a sea surging at tide, a horizon curving to touch the skies- that has a beauty all of itself.
I have spent most of the time ensconced in a conference room. Talking with others, listening, being chilled by the air conditioning system. If there is a worse way to spend time, I will have to look it up.

Maybe it was worth the while.

Entering Ghana, at the airport customs, there was this board.

“Welcome to Accra, Ghana. Ghana welcomes everybody. Beware pedophiles and those of deviant sexual behavior. Ghana has strict laws to deal with you. You are not welcome.”
I am no pedophile. (Some people do confuse homosexual and pedophile). But I had no reason to doubt that I was one of the people with deviant sexual behavior that was being warned to stay clear of the holy soil of Ghana.

I did not feel welcome. Not at all.

Imagine, my surprise, and pleasure, when I discovered, on Saturday, that Accra had a very vibrant gay scene. Very vibrant!

The freedom that these guys and gals showed, the welcome with which they embraced me, the warmth and thawing, noting that I am home, in Africa. That was truly something to feel and write home about.

Yes, the gay social scene is more open, and vibrant, than it is in Kampala, Uganda. I will take some very fond memories away with me.

Yes, by the time you read this, I most likely will have left Accra, Ghana, and be off to more travels.

Have a great new year, and wait for more!

GayUganda

Unscripted

Hi friends. Wonder where I was for yesterday?

I had gone to look at the islands. The islands of the lake Uganda’s leading Muslim wants to exile me to. Me and my love, for I will not go without my love.

They are beautiful, those islands.

The lake. It is broad and wide, an expanse of fresh water in the middle of the continent. Not very deep. Not so deep that the edges are not seen. But deep, deep, for one like me more used to land than sea.

It is broad like a sea, but the water is fresh. It is wide like an ocean, but the water is less blue. It is green, a green of the fresh algae that is abundant. It is a deep living green. With the Nile perch there hiding, no sharks but crocodiles.

The islands. They are humps, right in the middle of the water. Green humps, well watered, deep soils, well clothed with leaves.

No. Not so well clothed. Man has come and raped the land. The green trees cut for charcoal, and the shrubs burnt to clear. But it is still beautiful, island humps green in the lake.

Its there that I will be exiled. With my lover, and my friends. Kuchu Island we shall call it. When the president agrees with the Mufti to exile us there. To rid the land of us homosexuals who pollute and defile the land.

Ishallah, the Mufti says, there we shall die. And Uganda shall not have any more gay men. Or gay women. Or trans people. Uganda will be a land of the pure and heterosexual straight.

Uganda. Beautiful Uganda.

How I love you. I cannot compare you to a woman, as is fitting for the straight man. I will compare you to my lover.

He is not tall, but not short. He is not wide, yet not narrow. He is a human being, warm, loving, touching, moving. He erupts like a volcano, sometimes. Is as cool as the waters of Lake Victoria, sometimes. He is as variable as the lakes waters, sometimes storm lashed, sometimes calm, sometimes the waves, sometimes the wind, but all times there. A human being. That I love and loves me.

Uganda. True, we have produced monsters. The Amins of old. Now a mufti who thinks a Hitler like concentration camp is what I deserve, with my lover. Marooned and left to die, on an island in the lake. No power, no water except the lakes, monkeys for companions, and other kuchus to tempt me always.

Yet our country is very human. As tough and unforgiving, as silly and stupid, as bright and inviting.

It is a beautiful break of day. The air is clear. A thunderstorm in the night removed the heat of yesterday and scrubbed the air clean. Birds are singing in the trees. And cocks have stopped crowing.

Enjoy today, because it is beautiful. Don’t think of the cares of tomorrow. Enjoy today. We have it, look at it, enjoy the drizzle, the sun, the moon, the friends.

Be happy.

GayUganda