Even if you only have a few free hours in Kampala, take the time to enjoy the excellent fishing facilities outside the city, says Audrea Joseph.

Many of the travellers passing through Entebbe airport each month are in Uganda on a mission, not of the religious variety, but the secular sort business, diplomatic, or international assistance. Too many of these harried travellers never leave Kampala. This is certainly a great shame, for to appreciate Uganda after only visiting Kampala is like describing the whole of England after a stop-over in London.

Fortunately for those on a tight schedule, it does not take much to leave town Many Kampala conferences and conventions even plan a free half-day so attendees can visit Jinja town, an hour's drive away, to see Bujagali Falls - the source of the Nile - and Owens Falls Dam, Uganda's sole source of electricity.

But while these trips are pleasant, one is still in cars, in towns, and in a rush.

The odds are, most passengers who arrive in Entebbe grab a taxi at the airport and speed into Kampala some 40 kilometres away. Most never see Entebbe again until they speed back to catch their departing flight. Big mistake. When Kampala's pace makes business life seem too much like work, or when the pace slows down to the point where all one's manoeuvres cannot bring anything to completion, Entebbe offers a great escape "Gone Fishing", a euphemism for checking out of the rat race, an escape that promises the return of sanity. A mere half-hour's drive from Kampala, you can climb aboard a well equipped fishing boat, jet away on twin 60 horsepower engines, and be in another Uganda in minutes.

Lake Victoria nurtures some of the biggest Nile Perch in the world. Fifty kilo perch are not impossible .

Paul has been taking anglers out on the Lake since 1997, and could not imagine a better job. Our boat ideal for a single angler, while the larger boat comfortably holds parties of four for fishing, or more passengers to simply visit Lake Victoria's many islands of escape. Strict protocol dictates that Paul must refrain from his first beer of the day until a fish is caught. Fortunately for the guests aboard, the rule dues not apply to them.

So skilful is his boat handling that, despite the dozen times I managed to snag the bottom, or "Mother Africa" as Paul affectionately describes it, I never lost a lure. Though the Lake's floor was all I managed to snag that day, I was the only person in the boat who did not catch a fish. Paul says October through March is the best time of year to catch the really big devils, but as they cannot migrate to another part of the world off-season, Nile Perch can be caught in Entebbe all year round.

Of course some must be satisfied with "the one that got away" stories, like the Briton who could not find fishing floats and used inflated condoms instead Perhaps he was a consultant on some public health project, and though his innovation paid off, he fell short of his hoped-for world record, Then there was the time during Bill Clinton's visit to Uganda when Paul nearly became the big catch of the day for police - he unknowingly violated a boat blockade near the hotel where the American President was meeting a dozen African leaders.

So when the World Bankers are tired of debating Africa's financial fate, or the international business executives have closed their big deals, or the myriad aid workers have finally plotted the continent's course of development, there's no better way to leave the real world behind than to hail a taxi, grab a beer, climb aboard a boat and hang out the sign "Gone Fishing".