IMPORTANT POINTS TO PONDER
There are various parameters that one should know and put into consideration and get thoroughly acquainted with before coming for especially a self-drive vacation in Uganda. These facts will help you to have a safe and uninterrupted vacation. Such important points include;
-Always plan your trip in advance such that whatever is needed to be booked in advance is done at the right time such that you get saved from the last hour bookings. There are things like the vehicle and accommodations that need to be booked prior. This early booking saves a lot of dime as you always get discounts on early booking and for the vehicle this gives the car hire agency to reserve you one of their best wheels unlike on short notice where you will be highly priced and on top of that have the remaining ones that are always old and second feudal.
-Before coming and driving in East Africa, firsts know on which side of the road does a certain country you are intending to be driving in does drive on. It should be noted that most of the former British colonies drive on the left hand side of the road and former Fresh colonies do drive on the right hand side of the road. So for the case of East Africa, all former British colonies like Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have their steering wheels on the right hand side and do drive on the left hand side of the road. For the case of French colonies like Rwanda, they have their steering wheels on the left hand side and do drive on the right hand side of the road. When you grasp this, you will save yourself from getting unwanted accidents arising from failure to know the right side of the road to drive from.
-Always make sure that you have a valid national driving licence on you before trying to drive in Uganda. In Uganda any person holding a valid driving license from any foreign country is allowed to drive on Ugandan roads for a maximum of 3 months of which after this is advised to get the Ugandan driving license. Holding an international driving license is just an added advantage but not a pre-liquisite for qualification to drive here.The same case to all other East African countries.
-For those contemplating to drive in more than one country, there are some things that you must take into consideration since at Omega car rental Uganda we do hire out vehicles to clients that want to drive to other East African countries. So make sure that we give you all the necessary documents concerning the vehicle you are driving to another country like authorisation letter to cross the border signed by the company director, a national ID copy of that director as well as the log book of the vehicle. In the vehicle there must be a car jerk, wheel spanner, first aid kit, fire extinguisher and the florescent triangle.
However, you must buy COMESA(a document that is purchased at the border that allows East African vehicles to cross from one country to another).This document costs not more than $40 USD.
-Always make sure that you know almost all the important road signs. This will save you as African roads are not the best coupled with the undulating topography where most of these roads pass. So failure to acknowledge an impending corner a few metres ahead or the possibility of cattle crossing the road may lead to a fierce accident.
-Uganda has several fuel stations situated less than 100metres apart especially in Kampala-capital city. However, these fuel stations begin reducing in number and their proximity goes on reducing as you go away from the capital city. So it is always better to have enough fuel in towns since the more you go down in villages, the chances are high of not finding petrol there. The cost of fuel in Uganda is currently roughly $2 USD and the fuel consumption rate of our vehicles is very good as 1litre takes you over 8KM.