Lexus in Uganda

[kenc]

Hi Guys & Gals. I'm in Uganda for a few weeks. This is a third world East African country where a schoolteacher or police officer would earn around £65 per month. So, you think you wouldn't expect to see many Lexus vehicles? As it is, there are literally thousands of them on the road. I would guess there are at least 5-10 times as many as in the UK.

 

Apart from a few IS200 vehicles, the vast majority are from the RX range. I haven't seen any RX450h but the RX400h is quite common. But, the RX300 is literally everywhere. They are about as common here as Ford Fiestas in the U.K.

 

There are also a huge number of the RX300's predecessor, the Toyota Harrier, which is effectively an RX300 with a different badge. They're probably nearly 20 years old but still going strong.

 

Traffic in Kampala, the capital, is like nothing you have ever seen before. If the roads are gridlocked - which is the norm, it is commonplace for vehicles to mount the pavement with all four wheels and use that as an extra lane. Pedestrians have to leap aside for their lives. Yesterday, I saw a number of SUVs mount the flower beds in the centre of the roundabout and cut straight across the middle to avoid the congestion ahead. It's utter chaos.

 

[SLACKBLADDER]

The UK in 25 yrs 

[C Mclean]

Yup, plenty of cars imported from Japan that are pretty well recognisable except for the model names. As you say, the traffic is nuts out there, but not quite as bad as Damascus or Cairo.