Buses!
We will be traveling a lot of kilometers by bus. In fact at this point the rough estimate is about 3000 km or about 1800 miles. At times the rides will be on the major bus lines that cross East Africa, at other times we will be taking smaller taxi vans called Matatus in much of the region.
The bus rides are always adventuresome. It's important to arrive early and make sure you choose the right section of the bus. If you sit too close to the front, often the commotion will keep you up during the whole trip (1 tape of 1980's music on repeat for 9 hours!). The back of the bus though is definitely the worst spot. The back seat - behind the back tires - enhances all the bumps and it ends up being more of an amusement park ride.
On the last trip we took a bus from Jinja, Uganda to Nairobi, Kenya. About 1 hour into the trip the bus stopped suddenly. We found out that we had run out of diesel! The passengers quickly disembarked and we hung around for a couple hours before someone got a ride into town to pick up some more juice to get moving. Already late in our trip, our driver tried to make up for the lost time, and he decided to take a shortcut near Nakuru.
The passengers, at 3 AM began to rouse and a small mutiny ensued as they all claimed he was lost. The road got smaller and smaller until we finally had to turn around.
The great thing about that last trip was that we were able to meet Timothy Bata, a cool young Ugandan friend who is now helping the Amazing Grace Orphanage record their music this week.
The main reason to choose the bus method for travel is the cost. A short plane flight from Entebbe to Adjumani is $200 round trip. That same trip costs about $9 by bus. So really if there is time and patience to enjoy some diversion adventures, the bus option is great!
We will be traveling a lot of kilometers by bus. In fact at this point the rough estimate is about 3000 km or about 1800 miles. At times the rides will be on the major bus lines that cross East Africa, at other times we will be taking smaller taxi vans called Matatus in much of the region.
The bus rides are always adventuresome. It's important to arrive early and make sure you choose the right section of the bus. If you sit too close to the front, often the commotion will keep you up during the whole trip (1 tape of 1980's music on repeat for 9 hours!). The back of the bus though is definitely the worst spot. The back seat - behind the back tires - enhances all the bumps and it ends up being more of an amusement park ride.On the last trip we took a bus from Jinja, Uganda to Nairobi, Kenya. About 1 hour into the trip the bus stopped suddenly. We found out that we had run out of diesel! The passengers quickly disembarked and we hung around for a couple hours before someone got a ride into town to pick up some more juice to get moving. Already late in our trip, our driver tried to make up for the lost time, and he decided to take a shortcut near Nakuru.
The passengers, at 3 AM began to rouse and a small mutiny ensued as they all claimed he was lost. The road got smaller and smaller until we finally had to turn around.
The great thing about that last trip was that we were able to meet Timothy Bata, a cool young Ugandan friend who is now helping the Amazing Grace Orphanage record their music this week.
The main reason to choose the bus method for travel is the cost. A short plane flight from Entebbe to Adjumani is $200 round trip. That same trip costs about $9 by bus. So really if there is time and patience to enjoy some diversion adventures, the bus option is great!
posted by Dan Holcomb - Lahash at 11:24 PM
3 Comments:
Love that mass transit.
There is nothing like being lulled to sleep by the bumpy road and a synthesizer soundtrack.
Note to self: pack earplugs.
You guys...just think of all the long/good conversations that could happen! It's great how you can walk on a bus, sit down, and almost automatically build a relationship with the person next to you...beautiful:)
I once sat in the very back seat of one of these buses after drinking a huge bottle of Sprite. Bad idea. After about 90 minutes of bumpy road I had to yell to the front of the bus for the driver to pull over. Bad idea. This particular bus had fold down seats that took up the aisle way of the bus, requiring every passager to disembark the vehicle so I could get out to "use the facilities." Bad idea. I then had created a captive audience who watched without mercy as I ran madly into the bush to seek privacy.
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