Ugandan traffic...not for the faint of heart!

I know some of you have heard us talk about the traffic before and a few of our friends have seen it for themselves, but many of you are curious. While we were out and about yesterday, I took some photos from the backseat to help you get a visual of the traffic here.

You can see that there are many motorcycles (called boda bodas or just bodas for short)

The boda with the yellow box just pulled in front of us out of nowhere. And notice the pedestrian passing behind the big truck.

Another pic showing the many bodas and yet another man just walking across the street. 

Another example. We're all making left hand turns but who knows where the actual lanes are, and another pedestrian to make things complete. I'm telling you they just walk out in even the worst traffic. 

At one point, a little boy came by the car selling these little packs of gum. He was literally walking between the cars in this crazy traffic. Robert bought two packs. He gave us a piece to try and it wasn't bad. Another boy came begging and Robert gave him a coin. He told us that they have made a law that anyone giving money to the street folks will be arrested. The theory is that those who help are the ones that keep the people on the street. Sound familiar?

I am not sure that I'll ever get used to how close vehicles get to each other. Sometimes it is literally just an inch or two between two cars. The boda drivers weave through traffic without a second thought. They will even drive down the road between two rows of cars just honking their horns to warn people that they are flying by. The taxi drivers also just drive wherever they can fit, but the taxis are not cars, they are extra large vans (or small buses).

Often times, you'll have multiple vehicles trying to squeeze into the same pathway and they slam on their brakes at just the last moment before colliding. Like I said, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it. Eventually I will drive out in the village, but I don't know that I'll ever drive in the city. Floyd has done an excellent job so far, and he is learning his way around while also learning to drive a manual on the left side of the road and to dodge bodas and pedestrians. Whew! I'm just glad it is not me!