Hundreds of tourism enthusiasts, who included babes with big nyash in skimpy clothing, visited some of Busoga’s tourism attraction sites in a campaign dubbed Explore Busoga.

The six-day Explore Busoga adventure started on February 13 and ended on Sunday, February 18.

It was organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities in partnership with Busoga Kingdom’s Ministry of Tourism led by Princess Hellen Namutamba.

On Friday, the State Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Martin Mugarra Bahinduka, who also spearheaded the campaign, was joined by Busoga Kingdom Prime Minister Dr. Joseph Muvawala, former Uganda Tourism Board chairman Daudi Migereko and Namutamba to flag off the Explore Busoga campaign at Java House in Jinja.

Local and international tourists, who were aboard buses, vans and private cars, were led by a Police truck in a convoy up to Kagulu Hill, where they went on a climbing challenge of the 3600ft rock.

While talking to New Vision after participating in the Kagulu climbing challenge, Minister Bahinduka was mesmerised by the beauty of Busoga after viewing it at the top of Kagulu rock.

“This was my second time climbing Kagulu rock and the first is when I climbed with the Kyabazinga of Busoga last year. It is fun while climbing. When you get to the top, you find it's flat and suitable for picnics in case one comes with his/her family and the one can see the beautiful scenery of Lake Kyoga and River Nile,” he said.      

Bahinduka stated that there has been a mentality that travel is expensive, but it is not.

He, therefore, urged Ugandans to promote domestic tourism by visiting tourism attraction sites in their regions and also promote them by posting their visits on social media.

“Most tourism destinations like parks are full of Ugandans, almost 86% of the visitors are Ugandans and if you go to a park, over 60% are East Africans with Ugandans being the majority. We do these campaigns because we want to encourage Ugandans to travel so that we can have a more sustainable tourism sector and also increase the number of tourists,” Bahinduka said.

He added that the tourism sector employs about 1.5 million Ugandans, contributing about 8% of GDP.

When asked about future plans for developing Kagulu site, Bahinduka revealed that the Government has plans of constructing a modern restaurant, modern toilets, do proper landscaping of the area and also create good parking facilities.

“We have a few issues concerning land ownership around Kagulu rock and we are trying to solve it through stakeholders like Busoga Kingdom and Buyende district local government and once this is done, we shall kick start the development works,” the minister said.

He added that the Government is also committed to developing other tourism sites in Busoga.

Artist Joseph Mayanja aka Jose Chameleone, who climbed the Kagulu rock up to the top said it was a good experience for him adding that climbing the rock was like doing exercise.

“I want to urge fellow Ugandans to visit this place and do a challenge at Kagulu rock, I have enjoyed climbing with my Ugandan flag on my shoulders, it is really breathtaking as you get closer to the top,” Chameleone said.

Busoga kingdom’s minister for tourism Hellen Namutamba, commended the central government for the various developments done at Kagulu rock which include construction of the statue of Namutukula the founder of Busoga, stairs and resting facilities where one can rest as he/she climbs the rock.

Climbers who climbed to the top of Kagulu and back were given medals that show that they conquered Kagulu rock and these included Minister Bahinduka, artist John Blaq, Jose Chameleon and Moses Golola.  

On Saturday, they toured Itanda falls, Busowoko falls and performed activities which included water tubing, rafting and quad biking.

They also visited the bungee jumping site and enjoyed the experience of jumping until one kisses the waters of River Nile.

The Explore Busoga campaign also featured a variety of Ugandan celebrities, influencers, bloggers and journalists to help promote the new National brand.

On Sunday, February 18, tourism enthusiasts visited Kakira Sugar Works.