At any given moment in Kampala, you can see at least a dozen bicycles and motorcycles called boda bodas. Back in the days of Edi Amin, these motorcycles were used extensively to smuggle goods from BORDER TO BORDER or BODA BODA. There are now over 10,000 bodas in the city and countless bicycles. You can catch a ride on either one, but taking a boda is much faster. 

 

Bodas are the number one choice of transportation here. Though more expensive than the taxi buses, a boda ride will cost you between 32 cents and 2 dollars Canadian, they are fast, efficient and readily available. Why do they get you to your destination so fast? Well, because they swerve in and out of traffic, go into the oncoming lanes to pass, squeeze down the shoulders one inch from the cars, go at excessive speeds and never follow any traffic regulations. We heard that there are 6 passenger or driver deaths daily. There is no helmet available for passengers unless you carry your own (haven’t seen one yet) but we have seen a handful of drivers with helmets lately, although the chin strap isn’t done up and the helmets range from hockey helmets to scuba masks. I’m serious!

 

 Surely the expats working here from all around the world don’t take their life into their hands on the bodas?? You bet they do, all of them! Tim rode them last time he was here, and I just had my first ride last week. A friend was with me and she taught me what to say to the drivers.  She said “Reduce, reduce” (their way of saying slow), “none of this” (showing them the swerving motion with her hands) and “be good to me Mukwano” (my friend). It worked, we survived our short little trip and it was actually really fun! Our families are probably panicking a little now, don’t worry, we won’t put the girls on them!

 

Men are supposed to ride them facing the front and woman are expected to ride side saddle or be accused of riding like a man. I’ll take the snickers for riding like a man, they already think we do strange things anyway, like when we kiss and talk baby talk to our puppies!

 

Besides transporting people (I’ve seen up to 5 at once on a small boda), bicycles and bodas are used to carry and deliver absolutely everything. We had so many clips for this topic that we will save some for a second video later on. One of our favourites that we didn’t have our camera ready for was a guy carrying a large inflated kiddie pool over his head on the back of a boda. He was about to be lifted up off the boda and into the sky like a kite. Click on the video to see our bicycle and boda boda clips.