UGANDA 2001-2003
Ok. so this forum is supposed to be about travel and
stories about travel. Well, where to start. in 2001 i volunteered to be a Marine
Security Guard Detachment Commander and after a grueling 2 1/2 month school at
Quantico I was assigned to the US Embassy in Kampala, Uganda East Africa. As
soon as my family found out that i was taking my wife and 2 young children to
the country where Idi Amin murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people they
kind of freaked out. Even the fact that he had been disposed of in the mid 80's
and was living in Saudi Arabia didn't seem to matter to them. Some how the
average American has a distorted view of Africa as a whole, so their reaction
didn't surprise me.
We traveled to Uganda on 10 October 2001. Even though it had only been a month
after 9/11 the pucker factor was not noticeable. We arrived at the airport in
Columbus, Ohio a full 4 hours early expecting to have to wait for ever for
security and other checks. As we presented our passports and tickets to the lady
at the counter she began to spill out the spiel about checks but then stopped
short and said that we were cleared to go straight to the boarding area via the
security gate, way to go DSS (Diplomatic Security Service), or whom ever
expedited our travel.
We arrive in Entebbe Uganda a full 24 hours later, my young daughter Madeline
had been great on the flights, no crying or anything. As soon as we get her into
the car seat on our mini bus for the ride to our house she turns the siren on,
for the whole hour trip to Kampala. My Marines who came to pick me up were
already on edge from the ripple effect that 9/11 left and the screaming child i
am sure frazzled their nerves a bit more, but they would never admit it to my
face.
Ok, fast forward past the whole "acclimation" period to almost a week into our
stay. I was vehicle-less and depending on the Marine Vehicle, which of course i
either had to work my schedule around or make them wait for the vehicle,
something that never sat well with me. A co-worker of mine approached me with a
rather sweet deal. He had just imported a newish Land Cruiser from Japan and
didn't need his 91 3 door V8i Discovery any more.
Score! A few grand later my first Land Rover. Well he let me drive it home, it
was the first time i had driven in Uganda, and being a former British colony
they drive on the wrong side of the road, that and the fact that my new Disco
was LHD from Saudi Arabia made things interesting. A young Captain was in town
performing an Semi Annual Inspection of the Detachment I had just taken command
of so it made for an interesting event as i left the embassy compound and tested
the 3.9L's acceleration via the 5 speed tranny. Although not a hot rod by any
means, it easily out accelerated the mainly diesel, and poorly maintained at
that, SUV's and small Japanese cars that make up the majority of the traffic in
Kampala.
The Disco became my daily driver, although i some times rode with the Marines to
work to change up my routine. My wife, who now by the way is my ex-wife, started
to use the Disco for trips to the markets after she got used to the life in
Kampala. This in turn made it hard for me to get the Disco, the argument "well
why don't you just ride with the Marines" usually came up. So, seeing that she
did have a semi valid point by getting groceries and shopping, i gave up primary
ownership to her. That didn't stop me from making a few improvements to it
though. Finally found the extensions for the roof rack, if you look at the pics
of it, the rack is actually from a Nissan Patrol with home made extensions to
fit the Discos roof. Edelbrock IAS Performer shocks were next, and a K&N filter.
I took off the cover for the air cleaner, its the round type early Range Rovers
had for increased air flow and oddly enough it made an evil howl when you gunned
the accelerator which worked better than a horn when coming into a crowded
pedestrian area. The Ugandans didn't like the howl much, usually tripping over
themselves to get away from the truck. I didn't need to do too much more to it,
with the exception of a nice stereo and some Kicker 10" box's in the back for a
little more boom when blasting 'System of a Down' on the odd occasion i did get
to drive it.
Kampala had about 3 working stop lights and many more that were not operational,
their main traffic control device is called a "round-a-bout" , essentially a
traffic circle. Those in the circle have right of way, those entering give way,
or are supposed to. Well in Uganda the main mode of public transportation is
called a Matatu. It is essentially a Toyota or Nissan mini buss or van. These
guys are straight out of the bush and have no idea or respect for the traffic
laws, using aggressive tactics to get in to the round-a-bouts. Well, i am kind
of a stickler for the law and i wasn't afraid to show it to the Matatu drivers.
On several occasion, i stopped counting at around 25, i would push the Matatus
out of my way if i was in the circle and they tried to wedge their way in with
the bull bar that was affixed to the front of the Disco. Literally, if you left
2 feet between you and the car in front of you a Matatu driver would shove his
way in and this in turn would open the flood gates of other Matatu's as they
seemed to be joined like a train. They say "rubbins racing" so i guess i was
racing then, at 5 mph.
Since my ex-wife had the Disco i wanted something to play with. i had my eye on
a Defender and i wanted to take it back to the USA with me. After looking into
the laws on importation, and my limited SSgt budget, i decided on an older
Series. I looked at a few, and most were in crappy condition. The Ugandans tend
to work their equipment with out maintenance and then when it breaks they either
do with out or buy something else. I ended up finding a rather decent 1977 SIII
88 that was brought to Uganda by a lady who was assigned to the British High
Commission, the Brit Embassy.
She then sold it to a German, who then sold it to an American who worked at a
coffee distribution company. After purchasing it i began the process of
spending, i mean adding and improving it. Off came the original springs,
replaced by a nice set of Parabolics from Rocky Mountain, completely rebuilt all
the brakes with new components, new seats, OME shocks, BFG Track Edge tires,
carpet set, Hella halogen headlights, new trany shifter after i broke the
original off at the ball, new alternator, new knobs and boots, and a few other
things. Luckily enough some of the parts were available locally and the labor
was cheap. Even better is that the parts that i couldn't source locally i was
able to order from the US via Internet and have shipped to me with shipping to
DC and not Uganda! That saved a lot of cash!
Trips. We took several trips/Safaris to Murchison Falls National Park,
Queen Elizabeth NP,
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP,
Sipi Falls,
Jinja/Bujigalli falls, those are huge fruit bats in the b-ground
and all around the Kampala area. We always took the Disco as it had rear seats
for the kids, and a much better radio than the SIII.
We took several trips to a few of the local National Parks in Uganda and out of
the thousands of miles i only had 1 break down. The clutch slave cylinder went
south on me while at Queen Elizabeth NP near the boarder of the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Tried several times to bleed it in case it was air in the
lines, but nope, it was toast. It would work sometimes, but never when you
needed it to. Lucky we hit town when there was little traffic and we made it
home ok.
I left Uganda in July 2003, just after President G. W. Bush came to visit
Uganda. I left the Disco for my ex wife to sell and had the SIII shipped to
Zimbabwe where i was posted for my second tour as a Detachment Commander. I will
start that thread later.
Hope you enjoyed it, a bit long winded but hopefully a decent read. I have
something like 3000 photos from Uganda and Zimbabwe, i can post others or give
you a link to my yahoo photos if you are interested in seeing more.
Thanks
_________________
Richard
Ex 91 3 door Disco "White Rhino"
77 SIII 88 ex MoD "Blue Dino"
86 4Runner "its a yota and doesn't rate a nick name"
"Life's hard if you're stupid"
|
