Driving Without Traffic Lights

Remember that red light you got stuck at in the busy intersection, and how upset you were about having to wait for the green light?  Well, come on over to Kampala where there are only around 8 traffic lights in the entire city and no one follows them anyways!  Driving here simply put is absolutely crazy.  No stop signs or traffic lights might seem pretty nice until you get to a busy intersection and realize that everyone is coming from different ways and wants to go in different directions.  To make it more fun, the roads are almost constantly busy and are filled with boda-bodas (motorcycle drivers) and matatus (minivan taxis).

Matatus will randomly pull over to the side to pick up passengers and then will inch their way back into traffic at the most inopportune times.  They, for the most part, are also very against giving way to allow other cars into their lane, even if they are trying to get over into your lane.  Bodas on the other hand just drive wherever they want.  They will zip by on either side of you as you drive down your lane (narrowly missing the cars in the other lanes), and will also sneak through cars sitting in traffic.  If they can fit (and even if they can’t) they will attempt to make their way through.  And would only normal size cars be driving on these roads?  Of course not!  Semi-trucks and huge buses will be driving down the narrowest roads to cause even more havoc.  To top this off, you must also constantly be on the lookout for the random person that decided to play Frogger with their life, by walking in front of moving traffic or behind cars that are trying to back up.

Boda-bodas driving down the "middle lane."

All of this leads to extremely crowded streets and traffic jams that come up unexpectedly and can make a 15-minute drive into an hour plus.  To help with making traffic worse are the occasional traffic constables, whose primary job is to wave their arms at cars.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the waving, just the ability to wave their arms seems like qualification enough for the job.

Roads are paved but there are a fair amount of potholes and a lot of unpaved ones depending on where you are trying to get too.  Not only are some unpaved, they are basically off-roading quality and for some reason will have speed bumps on them.  You can’t really go fast on these roads anyways, so the speed bumps are just overkill.  Of course, the roads that are like off-roading have to be ones we use often.

She was having fun making faces at us (we made faces back of course).

A road that looks like it should be two lanes will quickly become a three or four lane road depending on the mood of the day and how traffic is flowing.  Lines in the road, when there are some, seem to be more of a suggestion.  Cars always speed around you then quickly dart back into the lane or just stay in the middle lane that they just created.  Your lane really isn’t your lane if another driver wants it bad enough.

All that said, I’m actually getting used to driving here.  I thought having the steering wheel on the right side of the car and driving on the left would be the hardest part, but it’s actually been pretty easy.  Having an automatic car helps too.  You just follow the car in front of you and keep traffic to your side when making a turn.  Turning at intersections is always challenging, but everyone is usually going so slow that you just start inching your way in, cutting everyone else off until you are where you want to be.  The bits of off-roading can be fun, though it would be nice if I didn’t have to drive on them all of the time.  I am, of course, also guilty of creating a middle lane to drive around someone.  Though I am not crazy enough like other drivers to stay in the newly created middle lane and drive for a long time.

After driving in Kampala, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to drive just about anywhere in the world.

(On a side note, I’m watching the Flyers play the Capitals on TV right now!  It’s nice to have some American TV even if it is behind.)

Kasubi Tombs

It’s been an exciting first two weeks in our household.  With the holiday weekend, we decided to take advantage of having an extra day and headed off to go see the Kasubi Tombs, part of the Buganda Kingdom and on the UNESCO World Heritage list.  Unfortunately, in order to get there, you have to cut right through the center of Kampala.  As we’ve previously mentioned, Kampala has some of the craziest and worst drivers you will ever see in your life.  Not only is the driving bad, but there are basically no street signs, traffic lights, stop signs, lines in the street, sidewalks, basically anything and everything we’re used to back home.  We’ve also found that no two maps are the same and seem to have different street names for the same street, making driving all the more difficult when you’re unfamiliar with the area.  Needless to say, our drive getting there and home was rather eventful and full of lots of traffic.  Pretty sure a snail passed us as we waited to move an inch at a time.  I never thought that two cars could get so close to each other without touching.  It’s a different feeling when you white knuckle the car’s “oh crap” bars at 5 mph!

It was only when we finally arrived, that we realized someone had stolen the reflectors off our car while we were sitting in the unrelenting traffic.  We knew that someone kept coming up to and bumping into our car, but weren’t really sure what was going on.  For safety reasons we’ve been told to just keep our windows up and doors locked while driving, so we basically just had to let it happen.  We’ve since been told that there is a big market for replacement parts, and things get stolen from cars all of the time.  There are even stories of people going to buy replacement car mirrors, only to be sold their mirrors back to them.  Basically, it’s the saying, “This is Africa,” so it just is what it is.  Needless to say, we won’t be buying reflectors for our car anytime soon.

The original rings in the Bujjabukula, the traditional reception hut.

Our guide showing us how the homes are made.

The cemetery where the family members of the King's families are buried.

We were the only tourists at the tombs and we had our own guide who provided us with a wealth of knowledge on all the different Kings, how marriage between tribes worked, the people who still live in the homes surrounding the palace, and some of the natural habitat in the area.  Unfortunately, in March 2010 the main palace was burned down, and since a lot of the work will be done by hand and we’re on Africa time, it is very slowly being rebuilt.  For the price and significance, I still recommend seeing it even if part of it’s closed, it was under $10 US for the two of us.  We also got a beautiful painting of the Grey-Crowned Crane, Uganda’s national bird, painted on a type of tree bark found at the tombs.

Our tree-bark Grey-Crowned Crane.

Here are my other 2 purchases from the Valentines Bazaar, a ceramic pot & a hand carved Ankole cattle horn (hard to tell from the photo, but baby elephants design).

On our way out, Greg asked about what the Ugandans drank before beer and wine were introduced.  Our guide told us that it was a drink made out of bananas, and took us across the street to buy some from little kids selling it on the side of the road.  Greg opted for one of the smaller sizes, which was in a little mountain dew bottle.  It has a cloudy color to it, possibly some dirt in it, but you can definitely smell the alcohol.  It cost less than $1 US and we were told that was more expensive than normal.  We have yet to try it, but I have a feeling that will have to wait until a weekend in case it makes us sick.  Might run it through a coffee filter first to get some Mother Nature out of it.

I’m not sure either of us knew what we were signing up for when we took this job, but so far it is proving to be the adventure we hoped for.  We’re looking forward to many more experiences and a lot more exploring in this exciting new country and culture!

We have arrived!

Baked for us by the Ambassador's kitchen.

We made it safely to Uganda and arrived with no issues.  Our sponsor left us at our new home a little before 1 AM Friday morning and as we were getting ready for some much-needed sleep, the house alarm started going off (we didn’t set it, there were no issues, it just felt like going off).  Unfortunately, after a lot of back and forth, we were told we would just have to sleep with the alarm blaring all night long until the alarm techs could come in the morning.  We somehow managed to get some sleep, and woke up to our friendly alarm still wailing.  Things got better when we realized our clock somehow got an hour behind and our sponsors showed up to take Greg to work just as we were getting up.  Hearing the alarm continuing to go off, they understood that we didn’t get much sleep and set up a driver to get us about an hour later instead.  Luckily this worked out because the alarm team finally came by to shut off the alarm (though the beeping continues to haunt our dreams) and gave us a lesson on the system.  This also allowed us to both go to the Embassy and be given a full tour.  After some much talked about fish tacos in the cafeteria and a stop by the Friday food market (in the parking lot), we finally went back home to rest and relax.

Even with the hiccups, everything is going well and we really think we will enjoy being here.  We are particularly happy about relaxing in shorts and t-shirts as we hear on the news the Northeast U.S.A. continues to get hit with more snow.  Everyone at the Embassy is super nice and very welcoming.  Our sponsors stocked up our fridge and drove us around town.  They also took us shopping over the weekend to get some much-needed essentials, got us invited to a game night, and hosted a BBQ Sunday night for us.  They have been beyond amazing at getting us settled.

Our next big feat will be learning how to drive over here.  The craziest drivers you’ll probably ever see is an understatement.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

After months of researching, planning, packing, and saying our goodbyes we’re about to board a plane to head halfway around the world to start our lives together in Uganda.  Standing in the airport this time around feels different than any other trip we’ve taken together.  Normally our months of planning are for a jam-packed two weeks of adventures in the country we’re about to be vacationing in.  While this is no vacation, it also doesn’t feel like everything we own has been packed up and about to be shipped over by boat and plane.

The last calls home are the hardest, but fortunately, I’ve got my best friend by my side and once we board the plane there’s no turning back.  We’re welcomed by an almost empty plane and international flights mean free booze.  With plenty of decent movies, free food, and alcohol, our trip to London goes smoothly.

Our next flight was slightly more crowded but we’re so sleep deprived at this point we sleep on and off most of the trip.  After months of researching, planning, packing, and traveling, we’re so close to our new home and yet it still hasn’t sunk in yet.