Introduction to Uganda

Having crossed the border from Tanzania into Uganda our first stop was going to be Masaka for lunch. Reaching the outskirts of Masaka we were introduced to the most popular form of public transport in Uganda. The boda-boda motorcycles are literally everywhere you look. Neither the drivers or passengers have helmets; the drivers don’t follow any rules of the road nor do they even have a license or know in which direction you should drive around a traffic circle…

Unfortunately for us, we found out about all of this at first hand. We were indicating to turn to the right, waiting for the oncoming traffic to pass, when a boda-boda driver decided to overtake us from the right. He calculated a bit too finely though and he ended up clipping the bull-bar of our Rock Rabbit. The driver and the passenger slid from the bike into the ditch next to the road, but were not hurt beyond a few scrapes.

Chris and I got the fright of our lives, not having even seen the motorbike. We immediately pulled off the road, Chris grabbed his medic pack and made sure that both driver and passenger were not seriously injured and treated the scrapes and bruises that they did receive.

In the meantime I tried to figure out what was going on in the background. We had already drawn quite a crowd and about 15 other boda-boda drivers were trying to convince the policeman on sight that it had been our fault. Luckily for us the accident occurred right in front of the High Court of Masaka and the policeman on duty at the gate witnessed the accident and refused to be influenced negatively towards us. We were incredibly relieved, as we had expected to be accused of causing the accident or at least to have to pay a “fine” to make the troubles go away.

As we had to head to the police station around the corner to make our statements, Chris suggested that the limping driver of the boda-boda get into the passenger seat of our car and I drive us to the police station while the passenger and he walk there. We were about to head off when the Chief of Police arrived to find out what had happened. Chris and the police on duty explained the situation again, while the driver and I waited in the car. It was an extremely hot day and the shocked driver got out to sit in the shade.

When the Chief of Police walked up to the car to interview the driver we discovered that he had disappeared, along with his motorbike and all other boda-boda drivers. The Chief of Police just laughed and said: “He knows his mistake and ran away”.

So we headed to the station where we made our statements. The last sentence on my statement was that the boda-boda driver had “escaped” 🙂

Throughout the entire time the police were extremely efficient, honest, helpful and friendly. We were never once asked to “make the problem go away” or any of the expected difficulties.

Totally exhausted, we ended the day with a few cold beers and a Cheeseburger or two at Masaka Backpackers; pleasantly surprised at the outcome of our first accident on our trip. What a day!