I am experiencing raw, unabridged, in-your-face Africa here in Uganda - country number 120! No comfortable hotels or guides to smooth out logistical challenges! I am living alongside my friend Dave and his Ugandan girlfriend Grace. No excursions, museums or archeological sites, temples or pagodas! Seen Kampala and Entebbe. Both are frenetic and chaotic. Stayed at Grace's friend's house in the middle of nowhere and then Dave drove to Jinja (twin town with Barnet in Hertfordshire) where Grace lives. Driving here is an hair-raising experience! Undertake and overtake at your peril! Contend with pot-holes, slow-moving lorries, unnecessary speed-humps, vehicles coming at you from all directions! At night doubly hair-raising with inadequate vehicular lighting!

Grace is an amazing and formidable lady, she has so much energy! She runs a property business here which seems to have many problems, with unreliable workers, helpers and tenants, building maintenance and repairs seem to be a constant challenge. Then she found time to prepare a fabulous barbecue for us last night and left to go for a day's business in Kampala at 7am!

Having seen the convergence of the blue and white Niles in Khartoum, today I visited the source of the white Nile in Jinja. Nothing much to see however except interestingly it is where some of the ashes of Mahatma Ghandi are scattered (he wanted them shared at the sources of the great rivers of the world).

Spent two days chilling in Jinja. A very relaxed and easy-paced town. Like in London parking is a problem but in Jinja it's possible to defer a ticket and fine in exchange for a hand of bananas! Staying at Grace's gated house protected by two docile dogs! People here are very friendly, welcoming and engaging. There are some quite delightful bars just outside the centre with a great ambiance, good food (but not really African) and of course Ugandan beer. Strangely all the waiters ask you if you want your beer cold or warm? Wholeheartedly, who would willingly want warm beer ?

A trip to Kenya proved a significant challenge. Taxis and buses are very dodgy, slow and you just can't find out when they leave, how long it takes etc. So took the hire car to Busia, the Ugandan / Kenyan border which was fine until bits started to fall off the car and had to be reattached using an improvised plastic bag. Resourceful lady is Grace who managed the repairs. Busia chaotic and probably one of the worst towns I have ever visited, with no redeeming features even for a border town. We eventually got through and arrived safely in Kenya so now on country 121)). Took the bus from hell (Busia again) to Kisumu, 4 hours stopping in every village at least 3 or 4 times. Had a variety of sputniks (travel companions) ranging from a begging priest to a nonagenarian lady to a breast feeding mama and associated offspring! Stayed at the Jumuia hotel where it was necessary to awaken the security guard to gain access to the complex.

Spent a pleasant evening in a Kisumu restaurant. Bizarrely the restaurant was on the ground floor and dinner drinks were served from the bar on the 6th floor - with no lift! So the poor waiter had to traverse 12 flights of stairs each time drinks were ordered to satiate our copious alcoholic appetite.

Kisumu is a pleasant enough place on the largest lake in Africa, lake Victoria. Dave has directed us to admire views from a beauty spot that the guide book states there is actually nothing to do or see. There is such good opportunities to develop this place to attract a few visitors without over commercialisation. Grace could manage this in her stride!

Highlight of Kisumu so far has been a tuk-tuk tour of all the bus stations to try and find a direct bus back to Uganda and mitigate a repeat of yesterday's frustrating journey. Today's journey was very fast and the driver was driving aggressively, speeding, tailgating and dangerously overtaking and we arrived back at the border in half the time. An exhilarating adventure - beats getting the 275 bus to Woodford station everyday! Witnessed a border-town street fight in Busia egged on by a huge baying crowd. Dave and I took refuge in a local cafe (accessed only by the fire escape)until we were rescued by Grace.

The hot African sun has bleached my hair grey and white! So I decided to have a local haircut and pigmentation restoration treatment. Beads, weaving, spirals, dreadlocks and hair extensions were soon ruled out and the colouring options were gold or black! Getting one's haircut abroad is always a step into the unknown, as you never know whether your instructions have been fully understood, or if they have all the necessary tools to hand. So the outcome to say the least can be uncertain and unpredictable and this time was no exception. Tried this before in Indonesia, Jordan(!) and Burma with variable outcomes. Grace observed that I now have an African haircut and wisecracking Dave chipped in and called it a Jinja "barnet"!

The trip back from Jinja to Entebbe airport was not uneventful! Horrendous traffic jams and Grace's significant navigational skills were called upon to ensure a prompt arrival. This included driving the wrong way down a one-way street to hoots of derision from the locals chanting "mzungu" (white man), diversions along narrow, pot-holed and dusty local roads and a visit to probably the poshest country club in Kampala where our visit happened to coincide with the staff Christmas party and therefore the level of service offered to esteemed guests was non-existent. After one hour of waiting we left - clearly the staff here have never been schooled to "delight your customer" and we adjourned to a nearby Japanese restaurant which was a first for me - Japanese in Africa - and was very tasty!

Next trip planned is Greenland at Easter! Husky dog trails, glacial helicopter rides, sub-zero temperatures and thermals beckon! Entebbe temperature today + 27°c, Nuuk in Greenland -10°c!

Last updated: 17th April 2016