Red Chilli Hostel

Red dirt, mosquito nets, great breakfasts, bohemian culture, goats, dogs, geckos in the showers and early wake up calls from a million exotic birds… That is the Red Chili. It was a good touch-down for the first couple of nights, in Kampala!

It didn’t start out so hot, though… 25 hours of air travel and an exciting drive through the city in the middle of the night will do more than prepare a group of 30-something travelers for sleep. It might just get them a little cranky. So it’s no surprise that our first thought was something like “You’ve got to be kidding me,” when we find out that they didn’t have enough rooms for us upon our arrival.

Suzy and Shawn were troopers but none-too-happy about taking a couple of beds in a dorm with a bunch of traveling girls already asleep in the room. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t take care of, though. They gave us another room in the morning, which Shawn shared with Joseph (more on him later). Suzy shacked up in Suzanne’s room on night two.

Among other things, I’ll remember the Red Chilli as the place I discovered Ugandan pancakes, our morning staple for the remainder of the week. I introduced them to our boys this morning. I think they will become a permanent part of our breakfast repertoire in the Carson house…

I’ll also remember Red Chilli as the place I first saw a Jack Fruit. I haven’t yet had one, but I’m told they taste like Pineapple, but not as sweet and with seeds. They look pretty funky on the tree – kind of like giant green knobby warts, often growing right near the trunk and larger branches…