carrying what... local brew? paint? water? petrol?
my money is on the brew :)it must have been a huge revolution when bicycles first reached tororo (around 1980 by some local accounts). it is difficult enough for me to imagine this area without the now ubiquitous motorcycles, but without bicycles? it would be an almost unrecognizable place. a significant portion of uganda's population gets around on two wheels these days; you can find bicycles, motorcycles, and their taxi incarnations (bodas) in even the smallest village trading centers.
a common means of generating income - the bicycle taxi(note: a real bicycle taxi has a colorful, padded back seat...with tassels)in addition to their drivers, bicycles and motorcycles are often seen carrying a mind-boggling variety of cargo, including: humans (several times, i've seen
six people on one motorcycle), crates of soda and beer bottles (both full and empty), jerrycans of pretty much anything, enormous sacks of grain or charcoal, numerous bunches of green bananas, firewood, live animals (snorting pigs, wailing goats, clucking chickens, stupid turkeys who defecate on my veranda), less road-worthy bicycles on their way to be repaired, bed frames, couches, coffins, even a merchant's entire inventory displayed in a flimsy, ten-foot-high, plywood kiosk. it's rather incredible; if something needs to be transported, odds are good that it can be moved on two wheels. personally, i have been adventurous enough to strap my backpack, my guitar, and a jerrycan to my bike. but that's child's play here.
a shoe merchant transports his wares through mukono
(how does this work?!?!)
(note the driver's winter attire...it's 85 degrees!)
despite all these fancy, two-wheeled options, when it comes to moving around in uganda, nothing is cheaper or more readily available than your own two feet. this is how people got around for centuries; the adoption of wheels as a daily means of transportation for the masses has been a surprisingly recent development. even today you will find people walking prodigious distances to and from the nearest town, health center, a burial, or a workshop, simply because it is a free and reliable means of transport. and as with most things here, time is not often a big concern. maybe someday, as western influences and transport options permeate ugandan culture, the notion of "african time" may lose some of its authority. but this much is clear: for the slowly growing number of people with a little disposable income and/or a busy schedule, the quicker, two-wheeled alternatives are gradually becoming "the new feet."
carrying what... local brew? paint? water? petrol?
a common means of generating income - the bicycle taxi
a shoe merchant transports his wares through mukono
despite all these fancy, two-wheeled options, when it comes to moving around in uganda, nothing is cheaper or more readily available than your own two feet. this is how people got around for centuries; the adoption of wheels as a daily means of transportation for the masses has been a surprisingly recent development. even today you will find people walking prodigious distances to and from the nearest town, health center, a burial, or a workshop, simply because it is a free and reliable means of transport. and as with most things here, time is not often a big concern. maybe someday, as western influences and transport options permeate ugandan culture, the notion of "african time" may lose some of its authority. but this much is clear: for the slowly growing number of people with a little disposable income and/or a busy schedule, the quicker, two-wheeled alternatives are gradually becoming "the new feet."
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