My friend Jodie was literally attacked by a baboon a few days ago in a taxi, and while I've never had anything that dramatic happen to me, I thought it might be nice for you all to get a little glimpse at what riding in a Ugandan taxi is like.
A lil background: There are three types of car/bus/van vehicles you can choose from to get around in in Uganda. Busses and taxi vans are used for long trips, and taxi cars are used for shorter trips. In cars as many people as possible will be shoved in (I'm talking like double to seat amount), but for longer trips you usually have a seat to yourself.
Oh the things you will see...
Chickens: There are chickens everywhere! Sadly this also mean that chickens travel in taxis and buses too. On the floor, on the roof, on a lap, they are really just everywhere.
Vomit: I don't know why people vomit in taxis and buses so often, but they do. Usually they are super polite about it and throw up into whatever container they have with them: purse, briefcase, shopping bag etc.
Goats: Not as common as chickens, but they are still there every once in a while.
Street vendors: When taking a long trip you will inevitably stop somewhere, and once you stop the street food vendors will descend upon your vehicle like flies. Selling anything from street meat to yogurt in a bag these people will literally shove food in your face trying to get you to buy it. They might also ask to buy your ipod.
Boobs: Women breastfeed on taxis and buses a lot. They never cover up, and half of the time things are just left hangin out.
Speed bumps: Don't know why, but Uganda decided to put speed bumps on all of their major highways. On the highways people! Can you imagine going down the interstate and all of the sudden there are patches of speed bumps? Yeah, well it's not fun.
Waits: You will wait until your vehicle fills with people, may it be ten minutes, or two hours, a Ugandan taxi will not leave unless it is completely full.
All in all it is probably the least comfortable way to travel. Public transportation in Uganda does have one huge upside though, it is SUPER cheap, ergo the reason myself and almost everyone I know takes it, you can suffer through a whole lot if you only have to pay $9.60 to take a 200 mile trip.
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