On the road...

Before launching into exact traffic practices in Uganda, I think it would be illuminating to describe the various ways that people get around.

• Walking: Free and a great way to see things.
• Bicycles: Less popular in Kampala, but used both as human transporters and freight vehicles in the countryside. I've see people carrying bushels of corn, desks, and multiple mattresses on various bikes, in addition to the most common freight - 80 Liters of water.
• Boda Bodas: Pretty much motorcycle taxis. One of the more fun (and dangerous) ways to get around, they carry one or two passengers, plus the driver. The drivers are known to weave through heavy traffic and hop onto sidewalks occasionally.
• Special Hires: What Americans call a taxi. More expensive than Bodas, but cost competitive if you fit 5 passengers in. I guess you're paying for the beauty that is a steel roll cage.
• Minibuses: What Ugandas call a taxi. 14 passenger vans that drive predetermined routes, both inside of cities and between them. The cheapest way to travel, but also the least comfortable, especially outside of Kampala, where they squeeze 19 people in and there's a 50/50 chance that you'll be riding with a chicken that someone has brought along.
• Freight Trucks: There is almost no rail infrastructure in Uganda, so all freight travels over land. In addition to huge trucks carrying freight and oil around, there are also smaller trucks full of sand, bricks, bananas, chickens, and more.
• Private vehicles: As anywhere, some people in Uganda own cars, motorcycles, trucks, etc.

While I'm sure that there are the standard set of traffic laws in Uganda, they don't seem to be heavily enforced; instead, right of way seems to be determined by the size of your vehicle, although a group of small vehicles can occasionally win against a larger one (for instance, five of us walking together can probably intimidate a Boda Boda, but no promises).

The horn isn't used just to express frustration and hatred here. Instead, it's a way of announcing your presence to everyone in the area, and a notice to smaller vehicles that they should get out of your way.

Main roads between towns and a good part of city roads are paved, but everything else is dirt. Potholes, ruts, rocks, and bumps happen, but drivers compensate pretty well by using as much of the road as possible ("drive on the left" only applies when there's another vehicle using that part of the road).

Speed bumps are plentiful here, and they aren't the little bumps that I'm used to. Either they put 4 bumps next to each other, each about half the size of an American speed bump, or the bump is two or three times larger, and called a "Speed Hump."

My favorite Uganda trip was on top of a truck carrying a load of sand and firewood. As I was walking along the road toward home from our biogas site, a truck passed me, then stopped, and an arm out the window pointed to the top of truck, where two people were already sitting. I made the split second "why not?" decision, and climbed up. Aside from two low-hang branches, riding about 4 meters in the air is a bunch of fun - there's a great view, and being jostled around keeps it exciting. At one point, we stopped to unload the firewood, so I helped, and then we took pictures and exchanged contact information. I've promised to e-mail Eria (the driver) pictures after I get home. Ugandans are friendly.

Travel, itself, is an adventure.