Choking through the potholes of Kampala
Oct 9, 10
7,347 views

flooded street Lake Bukoto Kampala

Traffic around Kampala is notorious and getting worse.

PHOTO: Enormous craters along this road have given it the nickname ‘The Mountains of the Moon’ – a reference to the Rwenzori Mountains between Uganda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). After the rains this 200 metre unnavigable stretch of road (even in a 4X4) becomes known as ‘Lake Bukoto.’

It’s quite common to turn your engine off as you sit still for 10 minutes or more. Yesterday it took us an hour and a half to drive 3 kilometres / 2 miles, bumper to bumper, in and out of the potholes of Kampala’s Industrial Area, choking on the black diesel fumes from lorries we disposed of in the West 30 years ago. A Nature Uganda speaker this week told us how air pollution is a major contributor to heart disease in places like Uganda: road pollution, burning rubbish (including plastics and batteries), cooking over a charcoal stove, kerosene lamps and more.

door to door salesman Kampala

door to door salesman Kampala

I walked most of the journey home, covering my mouth with my T shirt when another filthy lorry chugged past me. Just what you need in a traffic jam: a heavy good lorry breaks down and tries a hill start on the slightest of inclines. As darkness fell I jumped on a boda boda for the last stretch of the journey home to wash off the grime.
stuck in traffic boda boda Kampala Road

Stuck in traffic on a boda boda  crossing Kampala Road. This day was pretty calm. Often the streets are PACKED with bodas

5 thoughts on “Choking through the potholes of Kampala”

  1. lizziema says:

    Looks oh so familiar. Remember trying to get into Kampala at the end of our epic 11 hour travel day back from the bush. Complete with freshly (5 seconds earlier) slaughtered cattle on the road. As you have said, the infrastructure needs tweaking!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.