EDMUND KAGIRE meets the moonlight movers on the road from Kampala to Kigali

Lately though, Kampala-Kigali commuters have discovered a penchant for night buses. Night buses have been around for a while long, but today it is more out of choice that one boards a bus at 10 p.m.

While in the past, night buses were for only those with urgent issues to address like a funeral, wedding, interviews and business people, today people just prefer to travel at night.

On several occasions, I tried to book into the Jaguar buses to Kigali and the cashier told me, only the 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. buses were available, the ones for 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. were fully booked.

Previously, the earliest bus used to leave Kampala at 4 a.m., but with the introduction of the Kampala- Kigali-Bujumbura route, Jaguar, Gaso and Amahoro buses introduced the 1 a.m. buses and the Kigali bound 3 a.m. buses.

I managed to get myself booked on a 1 a.m. bus after two days of trying. Passengers are asked to check in 30 minutes before departure time to get to their allocated seats because when it clocks 1 a.m., the bus leaves whether all passengers are on or not.

These guys are really time conscious and they enjoy it like a sport or game of sorts, well knowing how Africa and time keeping are two parallel planets.

As a matter of fact, a few opportunistic boda bodas and special hire taxis are strategically parked outside the yard, waiting for passengers who come when the bus has left and at breakneck speed, they chase the bus until they catch up with it.

It’s quite scary believe me. You part with a hefty Ush25,000 (Frw8,000) for the service whether they get the bus or not. This charge for poor time managers is Ush10,000 higher than the fare charged from Kampala to Kigali and people pay without hesitation since there is little time to bargain.

Mercy Recca, a Kenyan friend of mine, could not believe it when she unknowingly parted with a cool Ush50,000 for coming when the bus had already left.

After a successful chase, she gave the special hire guy the Ush50,000 note hoping to get the balance back, the fellow deliberately took his time looking for the balance.

Meanwhile the bus was accelerating away, not to risk another expensive chase; she hastily jumped onto the moving bus, painfully leaving her balance behind.

"I felt so cheated and regretted having not cancelled the whole journey,” recalls Mercy.

Myself, I got to the Jaguar yard at half past midnight as required by management. Not being acquainted with night journeys, I could not sleep due to anxiety.

I was surprised to find out that some people arrive at the yard as early as 7 p.m. They lay a piece of cloth on the ground and sleep. These are mostly traders and people moving with bulky luggage.

Other people who are not well versed with Kampala and fear being attacked by robbers in the night also opt to camp in the more secure parking yard until the bus leaves.

Others prefer sitting in the 24 hour restaurant in the yard and watching Nigerian movies. Tourists who seem to be excited by bustling night life in the yard share light moments, sipping on Uganda Waragi.

Activities are going on normally like it is midday. Women occasionally visit the bathrooms to change and those with kids wake them up by washing their faces. Boys drag the heavy cargo in the bus trunks.

Meanwhile a youthful group smokes away and like the adage goes ‘take one for the road’. They had seemingly checked into a club before rushing to the parking yard in time for the bus, ready to sleep on the road.

It’s actually common with traders, after a long days work, moving up and down Kampala, they book on the bus and then go to happening places up to the time they have to catch the bus. The day’s rest and sleep are reserved for the journey.

There is an abrupt heavy downpour just a few minutes before departure time. Those around panic, entering the bus as thunderstorms rattle through the now dark night (there’s a tendency of electricity outages when it rains heavily in Uganda).

The driver revs the engine ready to set off as more people enter the bus. The downpour ensures that several people are left behind, while the determined ones brave the rain. Soon the whole corridor of the bus is full of wet, dripping and shivering passengers trying to locate their seats.

Others accidentally poke their neighbors with umbrellas, in the process they wet those who entered earlier, creating a mess. Soon its 1 a.m. and we are setting off. The rainstorm is now quite heavy; all that can be heard was the heavy rattling of rain drops on the glass. The bus smoothly sails out of the yard onto the main road.

Unlike other buses, night buses are custom made to fit night conditions. The seats are more spacious and comfortable. The windows are lined with heavy curtains which cut off the outside world. You can tilt your seat to lie back and sleep.

After a short distance and the bus becomes a moving bedroom. Everybody seems to be sleeping; others go even further, snoring away as if in the comfort of their own bedrooms.

Being my first long night trip, I cannot sleep. At one moment, it was only me and driver who are awake. All I was thinking about were the dangers of driving when it’s raining at night.

Roads are slippery and the view ahead is not clear. I am told most heavy vehicles tend to travel at night especially trailers.

Having sat right behind the driver, I overhear him complain about careless drivers going in the opposite direction, who don’t dim their lights, almost blinding drivers of approaching vehicles. But I seem to be the only one concerned, the others were comfortably sleeping.

Being not well versed with night journeys, I hadn’t carried something to cover myself. Others are cosy beneath heavy jackets and even blankets, while I endure the coldness.

The good

Back in the day, night robbers were a major concern for travelers, but with improved security, robbers have abandoned the habit, so traveling at night has become quite safe.

Chances of traveling in a more relaxed mood are very high at night since at night the body is automatically tuned to resting.

Traveling at night can be quite good especially for those who suffer from motion sickness. The air is fresh and since it is dark outside, you cannot see moving objects outside which are usually responsible for psychologically triggering off the nausea.

Compared to day buses, passengers on the night don’t eat since eating stopovers like Lukaaya and Lyantonde are closed. So your neighbor will not be munching on the chicken which normally causes the vomiting. By dawn, the bus will be approaching the border where you won’t get anything to eat apart from biscuits.

Perhaps most importantly, traveling at night saves a lot of time and can be less exhausting than traveling during the day. You get ample time to do whatever is taking you to where you are going.

For those traveling for the first time, do it at night so that you can reach early and be able to locate your relatives or book into your favorite hotel.

The bad

Traveling at night has its down side. Apart from high chances of getting involved in accidents, travelers themselves can be a problem.

Next to me was my giant neighbor. He was so big that he occupied a reasonable part of my territory. Not only did he snore but occasionally he would rest his head on my shoulder.

There are high chances of sitting next to someone who will literally make you their pillow. Since I was in the middle, the other neighbor on my right was a woman, who also snored away.

When some passengers disembarked, I had a chance to relocate to another row and got the seat on the side. Much better!

The ugly

The poor lady in the middle of one row kept shaking uncomfortably until she could not take it anymore. She told the man the other end to keep his straying hands off or she would alert management.

Somehow this stranger thought he was in the confines of his bedroom back home and he tried to caress the girl. Sheila Mukamusoni was a victim of such errant passengers. Traveling from Kampala to Kigali, she sat next to a guy who molested her.

"I tried to shrug him off but, he couldn’t back off. He was all over me, telling me how beautiful I am and how he was going to marry me. He tried to touch me and he would lean on me occassionally, until I told him that I was going to scream. He shamefully backed off,” says Sheila.

Contact: kagire-eddie@yahoo.com