Kampala Flights

Ever seen the movie 'Raid on Entebbe?'

At a corner of the airport in Entebbe, you can see the Boeing 707 that was involved in the actual terrorist incident originating in Israel in '76.

The most cost and time effective way to get around Kampala is to get a private hire. You can stand on any street hold your hand out and one will show up in seconds. Negiate a price before going and off you go. It is a bit higher than the Matatu's ( vans that run like city buses) BUT you don't have to wait and wait for one to where you are going and possible switch matatus 2 or 3 times to get there. PRIVATE HIRES take you to your doorstep and we get one that will wait for us while you exchange $$, shop or whatever. Depends on what you want. Get one to town do your thing and then hire a different to get back. Very convenient as Kampala is a BIG, bustling city and if you have lots of shopping to do it is nice to have a private hire espeically if you really don't have too much time. All I have had are friendly, efficient guys trying to earn a decent living so I usually tip them too. I am putting on a picture of the taxi park to show you why it is nicer to take a private higher. That place is a mess!! You sit and wait until the van is full before leaving it gets real hot and uncomfortable. Very time consuming too.

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To get around Kampala, you have to take a "taxi", and I use the word loosely, because a taxi in Kampala is a shared 14 passenger bus called a Matatu that bounces up and down bumpy roads spewing diesel exhaust. And by 14 passenger van, I mean one actually holding 20 people. Once in the bus you brave the Kampala traffic, where there are many cars and literally no stop signs, signals, or anything else resembling order. Just to get to the fun, you have to go through two roundabouts at a snails pace. On the plus side, a matatu is much safer than a boda boda, which is a motorcycle with an extra seat squeezed on... in other words you're now going through the Kampala craziness without even a semblance of protection surrounding you.

If you can afford it, and enjoy your life and limbs, you might want to spring for a special hire, which is what we would normally call a taxi. These are expensive comparitively but why put a price on your safety.

Joking aside, matatus can be an effective way to get around if you're a brave soul, but unless you're the savviest of traveler you'll want to have a local or someone whose been in Kampala longer than you show you the ropes the first time, because figuring out which Matatu is going where and when to tell them to stop can be pretty confusing.

The Matatus I took went about 5 miles and cost 800 shillings for tourists, and 600 for locals. If you want to make a stink you can get the local price, but it might not be worth the hassle when you realize the difference is only about 10 cents.

If I remember right, it cost me about $15 US to go the same distance in a special hire. I never braved a boda boda. And I have both my arms to show for it.

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To get around Kampala, you have to take a "taxi", and I use the word loosely, because a taxi in Kampala is a shared 14 passenger bus called a Matatu that bounces up and down bumpy roads spewing diesel exhaust. And by 14 passenger van, I mean one actually holding 20 people. Once in the bus you brave the Kampala traffic, where there are many cars and literally no stop signs, signals, or anything else resembling order. Just to get to the fun, you have to go through two roundabouts at a snails pace. On the plus side, a matatu is much safer than a boda boda, which is a motorcycle with an extra seat squeezed on... in other words you're now going through the Kampala craziness without even a semblance of protection surrounding you.

If you can afford it, and enjoy your life and limbs, you might want to spring for a special hire, which is what we would normally call a taxi. These are expensive comparitively but why put a price on your safety.

Joking aside, matatus can be an effective way to get around if you're a brave soul, but unless you're the savviest of traveler you'll want to have a local or someone whose been in Kampala longer than you show you the ropes the first time, because figuring out which Matatu is going where and when to tell them to stop can be pretty confusing.

The Matatus I took went about 5 miles and cost 800 shillings for tourists, and 600 for locals. If you want to make a stink you can get the local price, but it might not be worth the hassle when you realize the difference is only about 10 cents.

If I remember right, it cost me about $15 US to go the same distance in a special hire. I never braved a boda boda. And I have both my arms to show for it.

Minibuses ply the route into the city centre every day, the cost is very little, you really should try and have the correct change - just hold on tight! If they see that you are uncomfortable hanging out of the door then they will ask someone move so you get a seat!

Just shout when you want them to stop and they will - its all very easy.

One of my fondest memories of Uganda was sitting on a minibus travelling into Kampala city with a young Ugandan girl singing westlife songs at the top of her voice! Haha...I listen to them at home and here she is in Africa singing the same words I do all those miles away - and she sang so beautifully bless her.

If you are backpacking to Uganda, then taking the $25 taxi from the airport to Kampala is an absolute rip-off. The cheapest, but slightly time-consuming way to do it is to take a taxi to the matatu stand, which is cost around USh 5000. If you share the cab with someone, then the price is obviously cheaper. The matatu that takes you to Kampala will cost USh 1000. Once in Kampala, take a motorcycle or bicycle boda-boda to your hotel/venue. If the venue is within the city, then the motorcycle boda-boda should not charge you more than USh 1000.

This trip could be time-consuming because the matatu waits till it is full to depart from Entebbe to Kampala. I was the last customer, and they immediately took off after boarding. So, I do not know what the standard waiting period is.

NOTE: There is an forex counter in the airport, and I did this trip with a lady there. She was very helpful, but I forgot her name. Maybe she can tell you what the waiting period at the matatu stand is.

A cheap way to do the return trip to the airport is the boda-boda. The trip from Backpackers to Entebbe cost me around USh5000. (less than USD 5)

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Matatus and boda-bodas are the easiest and cheapest ways to travel around Kampala is you are not constrained by time. Many talk about how dangerous/inconvenient it is to travel by matatu and boda-boda. While there is a certain element of truth in it, the fact remains that it provides the best bang for the buck, which is real good news for backpackers. Many of the backpackers in Uganda rely on these modes of transport. Basically, you get what you pay for.

Someone told me that boda-bodas started while providing transportation across the no-man's land in the borders of the East African countries. The walking distance across no-man's land is about a few hundred meters, and some people started using bicycles to transport good from one border to another border, hence the name boda-boda. This eventually spread to the cities, and one can see bicycle and motorcycle boda-bodas all over Uganda. Basically, you sit behind the motorcycle or bicycle driver while he drives you to your destination.

Matatus are mini-vans with four rows of seat, including the one for the driver. Each row can take about 3 people, but an additional foldable seat is welded in the passageway on to increase the seating. If a person in the back wants to get down, the people sitting on the passageway-seats have to get down first. In some cases, customers also sit in the narrow alley way between the door and the seat. While this could be quite unnerving to a European or American, remember that this is a developing country with no government-run public transport system. Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans travel by matatu every month. More dangerous than the in-city matatus are the inter-city matatus that race along the highways. Bus or shared taxi would be a better mode of transportation in such cases.

If you have the money, and/or are not looking for adventure travel, then you can definitely go for a private hire (what they call "special taxis") or do the shared taxi thing.

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If you stay in Naalya, like I did, which is situated in the outskirts of Kampala, sooner or later you'll have to use boda-boda. Boda-boda is motorcycle transport, available around the clock. This boys are permanently on the roads vaiting for a clients.
I had to used it one sunday night, around 11:00 am, because at that time and that day neither matatus or taxis were available. To tell the truth, it wasn't comfortable and I was scared like never before because the night was very dark (power was off) and the road conditions were very poor. This part of the road, from Naalya to nearby Ntinda where I could get a taxi, is full of holes but boda-boda boys don't care much about, they just drive as the road in a perfect conditions. Fortunatelly, I was lucky and reached Ntinda in one piece.