Road Trip Shopping

PRE AND POST ROAD TRIP SHOPPING BOTH IN KAMPALA AND UPCOUNTRY, FOREIGN VS LOCAL CURRENCY 

One of the unavoidable things during a visit or stay in a foreign country is shopping. Every country has its own unique life demands thereby the need to shop some items to better suit the lifestyle. More so, travellers find attractive items in the foreign destinations which would be great souvenirs back at their home.

Therefore, shopping is something you cannot do away with on your drive around Kampala and on a road trip upcountry in Uganda. Below are the shopping tips in Kampala and upcountry pre and post the road trip.

1. When you touch down in Uganda, change some of your money into local currency (Uganda Shilling). Forex bureaus are at Entebbe airport and a mammoth of them are in Kampala. Almost all of the shopping malls and stores accept only Uganda shilling if making payment by cash.

2. As you get to exchange the cash into Uganda shilling, you’re advised to deposit some of it to the mobile money account on your local Simi card (MTN or Airtel). Mobile money services have become the most popular and convenient way of making payments and transferring cash from one person to another in Uganda. make full use of it to avoid moving with a lot of cash which could attract thieves.

3. Visa or credit card should also come in handy. Hotels, Tour and travel agents and some franchised supermarkets around Uganda are okay with electronic payment. The electronic card also helps the traveller to move with less cash hence being at less risk of being robbed.

4. While in Kampala, do your shopping in supermarkets. The supermarkets have fresh and genuine products, especially groceries. The supermarkets also have enough security for travellers since they have security guards, cameras and are less crowded.

5. On the contrary, when on a road trip in the countryside of Uganda, do your shopping from the local markets as a way of supporting them and benefiting from tourism indirectly. The local people normally have stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Enjoy fruits like pineapples, mangoes and jackfruits from the local people as you also improve their livelihood. The local people have craft shops where you can buy different items to acts as souvenirs.

6. Bargaining is advised while buying something from the local people. it is a norm in Uganda to haggle for a reduction in the price of a commodity but this must be done in a lenient and considerable way.