Acknowledging “African Time” as a Tourist

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I tend to shy away from generalisations and oversimplifications when writing about Africa. They’re typically not helpful and are sometimes offensive, depending on the topic.

After all, Africa is a diverse continent of 54 individual countries. Cape Town is as different from Cairo as Birmingham is from Beijing.

But on my travels throughout eastern and southern Africa (I’ve been to 12 different African countries so far!), one thing is fairly typical of each of the countries I have passed through – a concept known as African time.

I was listening to Michael Palin’s brilliant travelogue, Sahara, recently, and he mentioned that public transport in Mauritania (western Africa) also runs on African time. So, perhaps it’s a concept that truly unifies this diverse continent.

To prepare you for your upcoming visit to East Africa, I introduce you to the concept of African time in this article and explain why it’s important to acknowledge it ahead of your trip!

What does “African time” mean?

Depending on the context in which it is used, African time typically refers to people (or modes of transport) running late. The concept is rooted in the western perception of time, however, as being late is something that in itself is subjective.

Many western countries – the UK in particular – regard being on time as one of life’s most fundamental courtesies. If you’re due to start work at 9.00 am, arriving at 9.10 am is unacceptable.

If you agree to meet your friend for coffee at 3.00 pm and don’t show up until 3.30 pm, you’ll be lucky if they’re still sipping their latte when you finally arrive.

And if you head to Euston station to catch the 4.10 pm train to Birmingham New Street Station, expect the train to leave at 4.10 pm on the dot, unless a delay is indicated on the station’s departure screens.

Why is this important to African time? Well, at least in my opinion, African time only becomes an issue when you regard it within the western concept of being “on time.”

I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with my wife (who is Ugandan) about keeping time. If, for instance, we are planning to arrive at church “on time” for the 8.30 am service, my wife might start getting ready at 8.30 am. Or she might not.

To me – as someone who grew up in the UK – this is baffling, and sometimes frustrating.

I’ll give you another example.

We arranged to go out for lunch last weekend and agreed in the morning that we would sit down to eat at 1 pm (I wanted to be home to watch the football that was starting at 3.30 pm!). So, by 12.30 pm, my son and I had showered and were ready to go. My wife, on the other hand, was busy chatting to friends and had been working in the garden, so she needed to get washed and dressed before leaving. Turns out we left at 1.30 pm and I missed the start of the football.

Now – I’m not criticising my wife! I love her to bits, and she is a truly wonderful person. But when it comes to being “on time” for something, she fails every single time.

Before writing this article, I sat down and asked her about the concept of African time. She basically told me that her understanding of being “on time” is completely different to mine.

For instance, she didn’t think she was late for lunch last week. We agreed a time and she got ready at (roughly) that time, and we enjoyed a lovely lunch. What difference does it make that we arrived a bit later than we had planned?

And in that, I came to terms with the most important thing about African time – it’s totally subjective and open to interpretation.

Let me explain.

Acknowledging “African time” as a tourist

Just like the minor issues that my wife and I experience with our different understanding of what it means to be “on time,” you’re likely to encounter issues with so-called African time during your vacation.

If, for instance, you’re planning to travel on public transport, it might be difficult for you to accept that your bus won’t necessarily leave at a specific time.

While the conductor might tell you that the night bus will leave at 7.00 pm, you might still be sitting in the bus park at 9.00 pm, waiting for the bus to fill up.

I’ve experienced this precise issue in Uganda, Kenya, and Malawi when traveling on public transport – buses, in particular, usually leave when they’re full!

This can be difficult to process as a tourist used to western travel schedules, where public transport leaves at a specific time each day. But as a visitor to Africa, you just need to accept it.

If you’re planning a journey ahead of your international flight home, you need to prepare for the fact that the bus might not deliver you to your destination on the schedule that you have planned for.

Therefore, as a rule of thumb, I always give myself one extra day when traveling on public transport in East Africa. If I’m traveling across country on a bus to get a Saturday morning flight, I will travel on Thursday, not Friday.

There are countless other examples where African time might impact your trip in some way. Your safari driver might agree to pick you up for a game drive at 6.45 am and arrive at 7.15 am. Or the new friend that you meet for dinner might arrive an hour late without texting or calling you in advance.

However you experience African time, remember not to get annoyed or frustrated. You’re a visitor in Africa and it’s not your place to change things.

Also – lots of things (and people) run perfectly on time in Africa!! This is so important to acknowledge. I genuinely can’t remember ever experiencing a flight delay in Uganda or Kenya, for example.

And although my wife isn’t particularly punctual, many of my friends are much timelier, and if we agree to meet at a specific time, there’s no issue.

The bottom line: African time

The purpose of this blog post was simply to make you aware of the concept of African time and to acknowledge it ahead of your trip.

I now live in Uganda, and I have tried really hard to change the way I look at time, as the people in my life don’t necessarily agree with my time-keeping priorities!

So, when you arrive in East Africa for your upcoming vacation, be mindful that African time is a thing – as the legendary Michael Palin points out in Sahara – and don’t let it stress you out.