Travel Tips for solo travellers on self drive in uganda

Get ready to over come trouble before you travel
This should actually be part of your plans before leaving for your trip, make copies of your passport, visas, ATM card, credit cards, birth certificate, driver’s license and other important documents or ID cards. Leave one copy at home with your family or a close friend, and take another to hide somewhere in your bag, away from the originals. This will save you much trouble if anything gets lost or stolen

Always Keep your bag in front of you.
Stick it to your mind how you are alone, and just like any other country criminal minded people will always look out to the “seemingly”lonely people. For women, the answer is simple: bring a purse or bag where the strap crosses over your body and rests on your hip. These can be easily held against the front of your body. For men, I recommend wearing a backpack as a frontpack. It may sound silly, but I’ve had numerous friends have thieves open their backpack zippers and pull out money, cameras and phones without them even noticing. Always have your belongings in sight.

Always avoid Distraction.
Being one of the most common tactics thieves use to pickpocket travelers is distracting them with a chaotic or interesting situation. Some may simply engage you in conversation or have children surround you and starting high-fiving you, try as much as possible to avoid crowded streets as ther could be lots of distractions. And if you are on a self drive in Uganda, still avoid driving in crowded streets like of kampala, preferably put your windows up and use the air condition better way. In traffic jams, thieves will distract you and have your door opened.

Learn How To Defend Yourself
Seems akward but not seemingly akward for single travellers but taking a self-defense class is not only smart for solo travelers, but for everyone. Whether you’re on a trip or at home, violent attacks are possible. Learning how to defend yourself will not only give you skills to get out of dangerous situations, but will also make you a more confident solo traveler.

Avoid a lot of Alcohol Consumption
By being drunk people need to take care of you, you’re making yourself vulnerable to strange people. If you don’t know them and they aren’t genuine then your in for trouible. This is especially true if you’re traveling alone in a foreign country. At least if you’re at a bar you near home, you’ll have some familiar faces and nearby friends to lookout for you. When traveling solo, however, you need to be able to fully take care of yourself at all times. This doesn’t mean you can’t go out for drinks, just always make sure you drink responsibly and not foolishly.

Always Carry The Hotel’s Business Card
Immediately you check in to your hotel, make sure you keep a broncure, card or the hotels address with you at all times. The card idea is a great one because you won’t have to struggle to speak another language; simply hand the driver the business card and they’ll understand. Furthermore, in any case of theft or loss or robbery, it is a good starting point to report to police. Always endeavour to search for the tourism police contact as they will be the immediate institution to help you out in case of trouble.

Never Assume Your Hotel Room Is Safe
Being enclosed in a five star or cottage thing doesn’t give you the right to assume the hotel/lodge room is rilly very safe. Don’t leave your valuables lying around the hotel room, only to have money, passports and electronics go missing. Furthermore don’t always trust the front desk with your things, either. To keep your things safe, make use of in-room lockers and safes, where only you know the combination.

Avoid telling everyone you’re alone
Telling other backpackers/travellers in your hostels and guesthouses that your traveling alone when trying to put a group outing together, it’s something you try not to make obvious when exploring. If a stranger asks you who you’re traveling with, tell them your husband/wife/friend is in the bathroom and will be out in a minute, or he went out to buy something.

Avoid Bringing anything you wouldn’t mind losing
While you may love your wedding ring, designer purse and MacBook Pro, do you really need to bring these with you on your trip? My advice is to leave anything you would be devastated to lose at home. Forget about your expensive laptop and bring with you that cheap ipad, don’t bring any jewelry or any item with a designer label. The most valuable thing you bring is your point-and-shoot camera, and if need be, carry and protect it by keeping an eye on them.