May 7, 05:43 PM
Adam Suit
Thursday evening we arrived by bus in Kampala. It had been 10 hours from Kigali rather than the expected 8, so with nightfall approaching and with the hopes of getting to the opening night of the Kampala International Film Festival, we headed for the hotel nearest to the bus stop.
The Classic Inn was not exactly the Waldorf. It had concrete floors, no screens on the windows, and a tiny bed. There also wasn’t a room with a bathroom attached. But it was cheap and clean, so we took it. We locked up all our stuff and hopped on moped taxis (called boda-bodas). Buzzing through thick traffic on the city’s busy streets and chaotic, uncontrolled intersections, we made it to the National Theater in time for the opening of the festival. (More on the festival in later posts.)
The next morning we debated whether to stay at the “Classic,” but our main concern was comfort (of which there was little) rather than safety or security, which we weren’t very worried about. Kampala has a reputation for being a safe city and we were always very careful. As we locked up our bags with a cable lock and our passports, camera, and cash in our portable safe, Jerri remarked that you’d have to be stupid to let something get stolen in East Africa.
“Don’t jinx us,” I replied.
That conversation was the first incident that would seem significant in retrospect.
On the door to our room we put the padlock that had been supplied, plus one additional one we own, and we went out for breakfast.
The Classic’s restaurant was not serving yet, so we walked down the street to a restaurant attached to another, equally mediocre hotel. Jerri thumbed through the Lonely Planet as we waited for our eggs and bread, and she read aloud about the phenomenon of “Adam Suiting.”
It seems that a common practice in Kampala, and one that might have something to do with the lower crime rate, is for vigilantes to strip thieves naked—down to their Adam Suits, that is.
Jerri’s reading about this in the guidebook was the second incident that would seem significant in retrospect.
The restaurant filled up, and we soon found the other two seats at our table occupied. We chatted a bit with the woman sitting next to us. She was a Tanzanian in town on work related to her environmental NGO. Since she was staying at it, we asked her if this hotel was nice. It was okay, she said, but not safe. A colleague’s laptop had been stolen.
This was the third and final incident that would seem significant in retrospect.
We stopped to look at another hotel on the way back to the Classic, and, if you’ve been paying attention to my foreshadowing, you won’t be surprised to learn that something was afoot. First, someone had to come to open the padlock on the compound gate. That seemed odd for 9:30 in the morning.
Then, as we walked down the stairs, we saw a completely naked guy looking scared and backing away from a group of men, one of whom was brandishing a whip-like stick.
We went back up the stairs and found the hotel receptionist, who told us, “That way’s not safe; pass through here.” She led us through the restaurant and down to our room. When we were almost there, she told us that the man we’d seen had broken into our room but that she’d discovered him and called for help just after he got in.
Then the hotel staff had Adam Suited him.
She told us to look through or stuff. Nothing was missing. We overheard her telling the story to her boss, and it turns out the guy had picked both padlocks while a friend distracted her by asking to buy airtime for his cellphone, which, as is not out of the ordinary here, they sold at the front desk.
As we were double checking that nothing was gone, we heard pained yelling coming from in the courtyard. I feared the vigilantism was being taken to another level, so I went out to see what was happening. Sure enough, a big guard was twisting the guy’s leg, which I think might have been crippled (I don’t mean that it was crippled from the twisting, but that it was already crippled.) This was not okay with me, even though the guy had tried to rob us. I told the hotel manager to call it off, and, thankfully, he did.
The manager explained that the same guy had successfully ripped off some stuff from a room last week. I agreed that that was awful, but I suggested he call the police and also get some better locks and better security. The police were actually on the way and they had arrested the thief before we left.
The good news for us is that it made up our indecisive minds to staying at a place with a little higher standards of security and service. So we ended up at the Speke Tourist Hotel. At $35 a night, it’s a splurge for us, but I think we deserved a little comfort.
We’re still locking up our stuff, though.
Hi Mark & Jerri, I must say that the Adam Suit blog was interesting, and while I also do not approve of the public beating, I hope that person is going to be alright. I have been catching up on your travels daily and they are like reading a novel about Africa, hey that wouldn’t be such a bad idea would it? Well I am out until next time, be safe and God Bless. Your Minneapolis connection “Sharon P”
— sharon pierson May 8, 06:30 PM #
— Nov 20, 03:19 AM #