Overpowered by Saaka’s seductive calm scenery
Nov 08, 2002
AFTER visiting Saaka, the crater lake, and its environs, you stop wondering why people of all walks of life and across generations have fallen for this place in Fort Portal.
By Gerald Businge
AFTER visiting Saaka, the crater lake, and its environs, you stop wondering why people of all walks of life and across generations have fallen for this place in Fort Portal.
Saaka’s scenery and tranquillity are overpowering. For nature lovers, this is a place with an abundance of chaste nature in its different forms.
Have you been to a place that gives you a feeling of great discovery? Well that is what filled me one Thursday afternoon when I visited Saaka.
I have always known Fort Portal as a very beautiful place –– the people, the scenery and the fact that it is the epitome of our internationally envied tropical climate.
Added to those striking mountains of the moon –– the Rwenzoris viewable from every corner of the town and the mostly green hills surrounding it, and you have a deserving place that has always proved irresistible to foreign visitors.
When I was studying at St. Leo’s College, Kyegobe, friends used to tell me that I had not witnessed the real beauty of Fort Portal, since I had not visited the “really†beautiful places.
They always mentioned “Saaka†Omubijongo (craters), where the white men (Holy Cross Fathers) got hooked, founded a permanent abode and got themselves Empako (pet names) and speak excellent Rutooro, better than some natives.
I had never got a chance to see the place firsthand. This time, however, I decided to see for myself what Saaka had, that had tantalised many people.
I found a boda boda motor cyclist, who knew the place properly. The route to Saaka is a hilly road. We made several turns, sometimes passing the high green hills near their base.
As we approached the place, we noticed there were no signs of human settlement. It was only five kilometres from the town centre, but it were as if we were travelling to another country, or a place barely inhabited.
Travelling without no end had began to worry me but the boda boda man assured me that he knew the place.
When we made the final turn to the place, I realised the road was barely a path, or at least it was rarely used. I almost felt we were trespassing. Then I saw a signpost that read: “Brothers of St. Joseph the Worker, SAAKA NOVITIATE.â€
And later we saw Saaka’s beautiful structures.
The waters and the natural green surroundings were overly captivating. We first stopped over at the hostel to inquire whether we were free to go down to the water. “No problem,†answers a man with a beard reminiscent of Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al-Queda terrorist group.
Not even human activity has had a noticeable impact on the serenity of the place. In fact, everything here just seemed to be a contributing factor to its peaceful aura.
The tree and banana plantations, the little grass thatched houses, the hostel, all enhanced the beauty and calm elegance of the place which is ideal for a holiday or quiet outing.
The cattle grazing nearby seemed to acknowledge this. They chewed their grass in peace and moved with grace and dignity.
The crater lake was small. On either side was greenery, some natural and some planted. But the major attraction was the nearby mountain (or hill) where the contours and separated green fields ‘notified’ me that farming was being carried out in the area.
But the more comfortable stretch, with protected rest stands, is on the side where the White Fathers accessed the lake. I was told I could not go there since the Rev. Father who was conversant with the place was absent. So no one can explain to me about the hostel facility and other services.
There was a canoe, which was used for fishing in the lake. Muhammad Najib, the heavily bearded ‘chief fisher’ said the lake was under the Department of Fisheries.
He said the government contracted the lake to a businessman Yasim Abdul (his boss) but only for fishing.
“We competed for the contract and won,†Najib said.
They were happy about the place and happier if one bought their fish.
Najib says they harvest the fish species from Lake Albert and put them in Saaka lake. They are under surveillance to use accepted fishing methods and appropriate fishing nets.
The late John Babiiha, former vice-president in the Milton Obote 1 government, started the idea of fishing on the lake in 1967.
Yasim says the lake has Nile perch and tilapia, which are in plenty.
I was told that farming on the overlooking hill was the work of prisoners from Katojo Prison –– the old buildings I had passed and mistaken for a well-situated but neglected institute.
On the other side were two hills on which Muhote Barracks was built. The barracks is one of the biggest in the country.
While the visitors come here to enjoy viewing the scenery, others got acquainted and decided to stay in the area by force (the prisoners), while the soldiers are less concerned about it as a beautiful place than a headquarter of their tactical operations. Even those beautiful Rwenzori Mountain ranges are to them battle areas from where they have just defeated the ADF.
AFTER visiting Saaka, the crater lake, and its environs, you stop wondering why people of all walks of life and across generations have fallen for this place in Fort Portal.
Saaka’s scenery and tranquillity are overpowering. For nature lovers, this is a place with an abundance of chaste nature in its different forms.
Have you been to a place that gives you a feeling of great discovery? Well that is what filled me one Thursday afternoon when I visited Saaka.
I have always known Fort Portal as a very beautiful place –– the people, the scenery and the fact that it is the epitome of our internationally envied tropical climate.
Added to those striking mountains of the moon –– the Rwenzoris viewable from every corner of the town and the mostly green hills surrounding it, and you have a deserving place that has always proved irresistible to foreign visitors.
When I was studying at St. Leo’s College, Kyegobe, friends used to tell me that I had not witnessed the real beauty of Fort Portal, since I had not visited the “really†beautiful places.
They always mentioned “Saaka†Omubijongo (craters), where the white men (Holy Cross Fathers) got hooked, founded a permanent abode and got themselves Empako (pet names) and speak excellent Rutooro, better than some natives.
I had never got a chance to see the place firsthand. This time, however, I decided to see for myself what Saaka had, that had tantalised many people.
I found a boda boda motor cyclist, who knew the place properly. The route to Saaka is a hilly road. We made several turns, sometimes passing the high green hills near their base.
As we approached the place, we noticed there were no signs of human settlement. It was only five kilometres from the town centre, but it were as if we were travelling to another country, or a place barely inhabited.
Travelling without no end had began to worry me but the boda boda man assured me that he knew the place.
When we made the final turn to the place, I realised the road was barely a path, or at least it was rarely used. I almost felt we were trespassing. Then I saw a signpost that read: “Brothers of St. Joseph the Worker, SAAKA NOVITIATE.â€
And later we saw Saaka’s beautiful structures.
The waters and the natural green surroundings were overly captivating. We first stopped over at the hostel to inquire whether we were free to go down to the water. “No problem,†answers a man with a beard reminiscent of Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al-Queda terrorist group.
Not even human activity has had a noticeable impact on the serenity of the place. In fact, everything here just seemed to be a contributing factor to its peaceful aura.
The tree and banana plantations, the little grass thatched houses, the hostel, all enhanced the beauty and calm elegance of the place which is ideal for a holiday or quiet outing.
The cattle grazing nearby seemed to acknowledge this. They chewed their grass in peace and moved with grace and dignity.
The crater lake was small. On either side was greenery, some natural and some planted. But the major attraction was the nearby mountain (or hill) where the contours and separated green fields ‘notified’ me that farming was being carried out in the area.
But the more comfortable stretch, with protected rest stands, is on the side where the White Fathers accessed the lake. I was told I could not go there since the Rev. Father who was conversant with the place was absent. So no one can explain to me about the hostel facility and other services.
There was a canoe, which was used for fishing in the lake. Muhammad Najib, the heavily bearded ‘chief fisher’ said the lake was under the Department of Fisheries.
He said the government contracted the lake to a businessman Yasim Abdul (his boss) but only for fishing.
“We competed for the contract and won,†Najib said.
They were happy about the place and happier if one bought their fish.
Najib says they harvest the fish species from Lake Albert and put them in Saaka lake. They are under surveillance to use accepted fishing methods and appropriate fishing nets.
The late John Babiiha, former vice-president in the Milton Obote 1 government, started the idea of fishing on the lake in 1967.
Yasim says the lake has Nile perch and tilapia, which are in plenty.
I was told that farming on the overlooking hill was the work of prisoners from Katojo Prison –– the old buildings I had passed and mistaken for a well-situated but neglected institute.
On the other side were two hills on which Muhote Barracks was built. The barracks is one of the biggest in the country.
While the visitors come here to enjoy viewing the scenery, others got acquainted and decided to stay in the area by force (the prisoners), while the soldiers are less concerned about it as a beautiful place than a headquarter of their tactical operations. Even those beautiful Rwenzori Mountain ranges are to them battle areas from where they have just defeated the ADF.