Six things nobody tells you before they hand over the keys.
You drive on the left, and speed bumps are the real hazard
Unmarked, unpainted and often at the entry to every village. They punish speed far more reliably than any camera. Slow into towns and you have solved most of Ugandan driving.
Never drive after dark between towns
Our routes are timed so you arrive before 6pm — every single day, with slack built in. It is the one rule we ask you to keep, and the reason our incident rate is what it is.
Police checkpoints are routine and boring
Slow down, wind the window down, smile, show the papers in the folder we give you. You do not pay anything at the roadside — ever. Call us and hand over the phone if a conversation gets strange.
Murram roads are fine — until it rains
Red-earth roads turn slick within minutes. The answer is to stop for twenty minutes rather than push through. We show you how to read a wet surface, and we call you when a storm is heading for your route.
Fuel is not everywhere, so we mark where it is
Your offline map carries our own verified fuel stops — not the ones that closed in 2019. In Karamoja we ask you to fill at half a tank, and we say so on the map.
Your licence works, your instinct for distance does not
Any valid national licence plus an international permit is enough. But 200 km can take five hours here — so we plan in hours, never kilometres, and we plan them conservatively.
One call. Then it is our problem, not yours.
You call the one number
It is printed on the dash, in your folder and saved in your phone. A person answers, day or night.
We see where you are
Tracking tells us your position before you have finished describing it. Half of all calls end here — it's a fuse or a tyre and we talk you through it.
A mechanic is dispatched
From our own workshop or a partner garage in the nearest town. Median arrival on our core routes is under twenty minutes.
A replacement vehicle comes to you
At our cost, with your luggage moved by our crew, and your lodges called ahead so nothing is lost.
Questions we get every week
Do I need an international driving permit?
Yes — carry it alongside your home licence. It takes a week to get and costs almost nothing. We remind you at booking.
Is it safe for two women travelling alone?
Yes, and it is a large share of our bookings. We adjust the route and the lodges accordingly and check in nightly if you want us to.
What if I get somewhere and hate the road?
Call. We reroute you and move the booking. It happens a few times a season and it costs you nothing.
Can I add a driver-guide partway through?
Yes — $55 a day, and we can get someone to you within a day almost anywhere in the country.
Is there phone signal on the routes?
Mostly yes, with real gaps in Kidepo and parts of Karamoja. Those days get a scheduled check-in so a silence is never ambiguous.
What happens if I damage the vehicle?
Cover is included with a $1,000 excess, reducible to $250. Scratches and mirrors are written off as the cost of African roads.
Still not sure? Call us before you book, not after.
Fifteen minutes with someone who has driven every one of these roads will tell you more than any page will.