My first glimpse of Africa

A brief travel point before I start: It seems you should have contact information and a place to stay when you fill out a visa to enter a country. I found leaving things pretty well blank (because I had NO idea where I was going) and a crisp, NEW $50 US bill works good too. Was offered to buy a watch off the fellow from Orlando standing in the visa line with me, as he only had $12 cash on him.

My fears of spending the night in the Entebbe airport washed away as I left baggage claim with all my things and entered a sea of people right outside the door and spotted MY driver holding up a piece of notebook paper with ROBBIE ROGERS handwritten across it.

After loading up the car, I asked if I could ride up front, then spotted a steering wheel on what I thought was the passenger’s side. Yes, they drive on the OTHER side here and I was about to get a close view of night driving in Entebbe. We shot out of the airport and into the darkness. No streetlights. You can spot an occasional campfire and kerosene lights dotted along the way. Smoke fills the air, thick and the traffic darting in all directions. My driver is silent and I am afraid to ask any questions and break his concentration. The shoulders of the road, using that term pretty liberal, are crowded with parked buses, vans, cars, scooters, and people that have an affinity to dart out in front of passing cars as if testing their life insurance policies. It reminds me of Daytona Beach during Spring Break, with people out in all form and fashion, clogging the road. My driver has a habit of flicking his high beams on and off every three seconds like a nervous tick, yet he seems focused at the task at hand – avoid all the other vehicles while breaking laws of physics to get us down the road. We cut past car wrecks, parties, and the sights of Uganda I can barely see with all the smoke, darkness and velocity combined to cut my glimpses to blurs. Imagine ANY thrill ride you have been on, turn off all the lights, add a massive fog machine and hang on for 45 minutes. Three hours later and my heart is still racing.

The tiny bit of Africa I did see is indeed fascinating. And I can’t wait until morning to see what we drove past.