8 Things I WONT Miss About Uganda

Taking the bad with the good

j taliaferro
4 min readFeb 18, 2022

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Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

After ten years in Uganda, I will miss many things about the Pearl of Africa. But there are also some things that I will be happy to bid farewell to. The good greatly outweighs the bad, but it would be dishonest of me to not address the things that I will most certainly not miss.

Blinker Confusion: Figuring out what blinkers mean in Uganda requires a Master’s degree. For example, a right turn signal could mean, “I’m turning right,” “You shouldn’t pass because there is a car coming,” or “stay in your lane, bozo.” Then there are left blinkers, caution lights, and headlight flashes, all having 10+ different meanings. After 10 years in Uganda, I’m still never 100% sure what they are trying to communicate.

Staring Into The Sun: Normal polite rules for driving do not exist here. For some reason, Big Trucks, Busses, and public transport find it necessary to drive with their bright lights on from sundown until sunrise. I’m reasonably sure that with every oil change, the technician readjusts the headlights of every big rig to ensure that it has maximum blinding capacity. I’ll never understand this.

Unexpected Altitude Detours: Potholes in Uganda are special. In most countries, potholes will jar your suspension and rattle your brain loose a little, but in Uganda, some…

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j taliaferro

Storyteller, Author & Disciple of Jesus Christ. Lover of family, sushi & world travel. I hate cotton candy, bats and the Kansas City Chiefs.