Riding Bodas, Ugandan style (or not)

In Uganda, both bicycles and motorcycles are referred to as bodas (pronounced boh-duhs).  They, along with taxis (or what are referred to in Kenya as matatus—see earlier posts for a description) are the most common means of public transportation around here.

Man on the back of a motorcycle boda

Usually I only take bodas when I have somewhere to go that is too far to walk or when it’s nighttime and I need to get somewhere by myself (which is a rarity). A bicycle boda from town back to my house is about 500 Ugandan shillings (or the equivalent of about 20 cents). A motorcycle boda is around 1,000-1,500 shillings, depending on how far you’re going.

For a motorcycle boda, you just ride on the passenger portion of the motorcycle. A bicycle boda consists of a bicycle (similar in style to a 10-speed, but lacking all of the fancy gears) with a padded seat for the passenger that is situated on the back behind the bicycle seat.  The seat for the rider is about 1 and a half feet wide and maybe 2-3 feet long, and about 1-2 inches thick.  There are (of course) no helmets or other safety gear provided. 

Man on bicycle boda

You don’t really see a lot of mzungus on the back of bodas around here. I think it’s because the handful of Peace Corps volunteers who live in Soroti aren’t allowed to ride on motorcycles (for obvious safety reasons).  And I believe many of them have their own bicycles (since unlike myself, they are in the same location for an extended period of time—27 months, to be exact), so they don’t need to ride on the back of someone else’s bike.  Plus, the town is small enough that you can usually walk to a lot of the places you want to go. 

Bodas galore going through town

So the sight of me on the back of a boda in Soroti seems to garner a bit of attention.  I even get catcalls while on the bodas. So whenever I do take one, I now typically act as if the shouted comments are meant for the driver, rather than me.  For example, while riding on the back of a motorcycle to go to a wedding one day, a man yelled at me “I love you!” I told the driver, “Wow, he must really like you!” which he thought was pretty funny.

Women in Uganda, when riding on the back of a bicycle or motorcycle boda, typically sit sideways. In fact, they frown upon women straddling the motorcycle or bicycle seat as being unladylike.  They also don’t typically hold on with their hands in any way.  I, on the other hand, don’t care what it looks like--riding sideways seems incredibly unsafe. So I straddle the boda like a man; and if it’s a motorcycle, I hang on to the driver, or at times, the bar that is on the back of the motorbike.  And when on the bicycle, I hang onto the underside of the padded seat that I’m sitting on, so my hands are pretty much right between my knees--I know, not helping to blend in that way, but I’d rather look ridiculous than fly off the back of the bike when we hit one of the road’s many potholes.  Plus, who am I kidding? I could ride sideways without hanging on while casually holding an infant in my lap (as is often seen), and I still wouldn’t blend in.  So I figure I may as well play it safe. :)

Woman riding sideways on motorcycle boda (not hanging on, of course)