If you want to travel Uganda on your own you have to be willing to put some serious time and effort into uncovering, understanding and overcoming the unique challenges involved. Currently, these issues chiefly involve currency, fuel, roads and catering.
Social media has got a lot of options for you that will give out information on this and that, but will it be the exact details down on the ground. The challenge in trying to solve these issues by the time you come down on ground it will be either corrected or worse.
The good thing with that is that at least you will have a very clear picture on what is going on in and around Uganda for safaris and visitation holidays.
Here are some of the Faqs on self drive in uganda:
Is it safe to travel to Uganda?
Safety is the biggest issue for mostly first time visitors in not only Uganda but the whole of Africa the short answer is: Uganda is very safe, simply because it does not have the same violent crime problem that some of her neighbors do.
A lot of theft I will call it petty theft is very common. Things like stealing phones, cash, laptops that just their lying around. You will see a lot of police and military enforcers on the road, which is why hijackings and gun violence are very rare. Uganda’s intentional homicide rate is roughly in line with the global average.
What about police roadblocks?
The police in Uganda are just doing their job basically, though sometimes it may be too much of them on the road. Regulations are set and have to be followed at all times that’s why these low enforcers are always on the road to do so.
They help in directing traffic and giving public transport drivers a hard time about their un-roadworthy vehicles and reckless driving. Taking bribes is prohibited in Uganda and comes with heavily fines including imprisonment, though is so, it has not stopped these officers once in a while to ask for something.
Are the locals friendly?
Uganda is ranked among the friendliest countries in the whole world first thing to note down. They will hive you all the unexpected reactions on your Uganda safaris right from the airport to the lodges and even our wild animals are very friendly.
We are relationship-oriented and place a lot of emphasis on greetings and exchanging pleasantries before getting down to any business. Relax, you’re on holiday, enjoy the local stories and eats soon you will find your self-blending in slowly.
Yes we are among the poorest countries in the world, but very rich at heart and we actually enjoy our lives with little here.
What about inflation?
I do not think that if am coming on holiday I have to get to know how a country is doing financially, but yes people do ask us a lot about this inflation thing. We have been in lock down for about 2 year not working or earning anything at all, what do you expect.
Uganda’s economic challenges are complex and ever-evolving and will keep economists busy for decades to come. Yes there is some inflation here and their basically due to the economy being down for quite some time. Though when traveling we recommend using dollars because the prices in this rate are some how stable.
What currency should I bring to Uganda?
Of course you will come with your euros, dollars and pounds. These are the mostly accepted foreign currencies in Uganda; however those currencies will work in the major city of Kampala and national parks plus lodges.
In Uganda we use Ugandan shillings and it’s the major currency everywhere, we recommend changing some 200 dollars to shillings just in case of anything. Credit cards are very much acceptable in shopping mall around the city as well as lodges in and around Uganda.
If you plan ahead correctly, your Uganda shillings expenses may be kept very low, limited to only food and fuel. VISA/MasterCard, will effectively only be changing your home currency into local currency, as and when required.
ATM’s work perfectly and are limited to about 2 million UGX, they may not be able to give you dollars yet for now.
What ever your goals are for traveling to Uganda, either for a self drive safari, Uganda car rental, guided safaris or even business travels, you will definitely get a car rental for all the types of business your into.
Plan ahead and consult your car rental agency all will be good.
