Kampala to Masaka - Day 302

Date: June 16th, 2010
Distance: 84km (Plus cheating by truck.)
Country: Uganda
Song of the Day: Shine - Ben Lee

I had thought of staying on for another day to rest, but when I got up it seemed like a better idea to leave. I really didn't have much to do in Kampala. So I packed up and got ready for the road. I did make a mistake in trying to eat breakfast at the hostel. I could have gotten food down the road, but I figured it would be faster to eat where I was. It took over an hour. How hard is french toast and a scrambled egg? Anyway, I didn't get out until just before noon.

The route out of Kampala was pretty rough. Ugandan drivers really are the worst. There were a few incidents where a truck or a bus would pass only inches away. This happens even if there is not car in the other lane. They just don't move over. Worse yet, I had a taxi driver run me off the road. He hopped into my lane to pass another car in a section with no shoulder. I kept signaling for him to move over but he just kept honking at me to get of MY LANE! We were playing chicken forcing me to ride my bike off into the grass and bushes on the side of the road. Frustrating. I wasn't hurt though, so you take what you can.

The road itself is pretty hilly. So I spent all day on that roller coaster. It wasn't bad until halfway through the day when the road was undergoing construction. So I did quite a bit over bumpy dirt roads.

The one bright spot of the day was crossing the equator though. I have done that once before on a flight to Australia. Zooming over an invisible line in the ocean at 41,000 feet isn't quite the same. It feels much better to conquer it by land. You can stop and get a picture of it. Yay.

I was hoping to make it to Masaka before it got dark, but because of the late breakfast that didn't happen. I also thought there would be another town along the road, but there wasn't. So as the sun set I was on a bumpy dirt road with crazy drivers zipping by. It was made worst by all the dust they kicked up. I could hardly see anything, even with the lights I doubted they could see me. Fortunately one of the trucks heading by stopped and I could get a lift. I had to sit in the back with the chickens though. They dropped me in Masaka and I got a hotel room and went to bed.

-Dravis