A jolly ride around Washington DC in a 'duck'

By Gladys Kalibbala

Fancy a leisurely ride in a truck around town? . . . Oh yes! Fancy a thrilling ride around Washington DC in a unique ‘duck’ with a bunch of other jolly-good fellas? . . . Even better!

Well, I did fancy a ride like that on my recent trip to the US.

It was my fifth day in Washington DC and I was still struggling with the weather. It was mid-Spring and the cold was quite a work on my part. It wasn’t as severe as that in New York City where I had earlier been for one week, but I still took a beating from the elements. Oddly though, the sun would shine – only it baffled me where its heat disappeared to because I felt none of it.

But the news of a tour of DC in a vehicle that moved on both land and on water instantly warmed me up and made me forget about the weather.

I was in the US on an invitation by Participant Media – a leading media company – as a guest to different events in various parts of the country for a period of one month. They invited me for the premiere of their new feature film Misconception at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in April last year. The Lost and abandoned Children weekly page that I write in the Saturday Vision newspaper here in Uganda featured prominently in this film.

So Washington DC was part of my US experience.

I and my friend made our way to the Union Station from where we would set off together with a couple of other tourists for this unique tour of the capital of the United States.
 

The writer (right) went on a tour of Washington DC with a friend

The build of the six-wheeled vehicle was of a water vessel yet still had the features of a road vehicle. Coloured predominantly white and amber, it had the words DC DUCKS emblazoned on its sides in red and navy blue.

When I saw this vessel, I immediately anticipated a heck of an adventure!

One by one, we climbed onto the vehicle, in a pattern similar to the storybook ducklings following Mother Duck everywhere she went. The captain of the ‘ducks truck’ was kind enough to give each one of us a hand up the vehicle’s ladder as he welcomed us on board.

He wore a cheery bright smile on his face as he told us that the 90-minute road-water tour would take us through the city of Washington DC before eventually plunging into the Potomac River for a water experience. He then handed everyone a small yellow whistle, shaped like a duck's bill, which I slipped into my handbag thinking it was a souvenir.

And off we went!
 

From our starting point – the Union Station – we waddled down the Potomac Mall, enjoying views of monuments and fabulous Smithsonian museums. The tourist truck appeared the slowest item on the road as it wobbled around the city. It had a propeller and rudder attached for operation on water.

The captain kept the ride livelier with a series of jokes that cracked up his passengers.

He even couldn’t resist quipping that he held two driving licenses for both the road and water. He bragged of a 25-ton Merchant Mariner Masters’ license and a commercial driver’s license.

Trust me, we all were like little excited schoolchildren, especially whenever the captain would beckon us to blow our whistles and wave to the people on the streets. That’s when I realized the purpose of those little yellow objects given to us at the start of the tour.
 

Interestingly, the whistling sounded like ducks – and we all were like ducklings on a ride to ‘Duckland’. Many on the streets happily waved back at us and they appeared pretty much used to such a scene around their city.

The captain praised us for putting up a good show each time we had to blow our whistles and do the waving.

And then it was time for a splash. Bloop!
 

We eased into the Potomac River as the systems of the vehicle adjusted to the new surface. Once, the captain let me take the wheel as I steered the vessel for a couple of minutes. Luckily he didn’t ask if I had a license, because I didn’t.

Before the tour, I was told that these captains come from different professional backgrounds – some former radio DJs and sales managers, others military veterans while a couple were previously comedians. I guess the one who took us around had been a comedian!
 

Story behind the ‘ducks trucks’

Along the way, the captain told us that the ‘Ducks trucks’ were used by the US Army back in the day during wartime. They were used to land in the Mediterranean and Pacific conflicts during operations.

The vessels helped a lot in bringing supplies ashore for marine and naval commandos during those battles.

The feature of part of our tour – the Potomac River – is the fourth largest river along the Atlantic coast while it is the 21st largest in the United States.

The river flows into the Chesapeake Bay and runs over 383 miles from Fairfax Stone, West Virginia to Point Lookout, Maryland. It drains 14,670 square miles of land area from four states and Washington DC.


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