‘I saw Uganda in only one hour’

Oct 29, 2004

CAN you imagine visiting Uganda’s thrilling tourist attractions in one day, one place and peace of mind?

CAN you imagine visiting Uganda’s thrilling tourist attractions in one day, one place and peace of mind? Esther Agwang did it and now gives us a feel of what it was

LAST Sunday, I had a thrilling experience of touring the whole of Uganda in just one and half hours.
For many of us who have never and probably will never travel far and wide in our country, this was an opportunity not to be missed.

My first stop is the Uganda Tourist Board, where we get information on Uganda and how to use the help of tour and travel agents. As it is just about books, leaflets etc, we dash to the next stop, all decorated in green. It is Uganda Wildlife Authority. They present a captivating documentary about the country’s beautiful fauna and flora.
Here we find a miniature version of the 4,321m Mount Elgon. The guide lead us through. After paying our fares, the trail which, starts at Budadiri trailhead, 20km from Mbale town. Three to four days of walking, driving and climbing give us a spectacular scenery of monkeys, buffalos, elephants, hot springs and caves, Sipi falls and finally Wagagai, the loftiest peak, with a crater lake.

Then drums near Mweya Safari Lodge interrupt our adventure. It’s the Kiganda traditional dance and we must get a glimpse. So, we hurriedly say farewell to our guide and pay attention to the throbbing of drums and happy dancers. But it’s not ending. Yet we must move on — to the craft village opposite. We check out the African sandals, cloth and jewellery. My friend, Abigail Lubliner, a tourist from Israel, buys a necklace.

The next stop over is the Serena Hotels. Watching their glamourous hotel rooms, beaches from the video clips. Wow, I must get there some day. But we can’t do much apart from admiring. And next to them is Hotel Africana in sky blue and white. A very impressive picture!

Opposite Hotel Africana is some fellow climbing a tree. What! Yes, that’s Rwenzori Mountaineering Services for you. They have a demonstration of tree climbing on tough ropes. With these ropes, you can pause, take a break and then proceed with the climbing. When you reach your limit, you can slide down safely. And looking at the tree branch from where the demonstration is conducted, I fear it would easily give way to the man’s mass for it looked like an old tree trunk. But there is no need to fear, because these are experienced climbers, with the skill of scouting the safest trees.

Tree climbing and swinging done, the desire to visit the Mountains of the Moon cannot be resisted. The journey takes between 10-12 days, depending on where you want to visit. But first, hire ice shoes at sh10,000, climbing boots another sh10,000, gloves sh3,000 or simply pay $567 (about sh 1,130,000) for everything. The guides are ready for the demonstration. Four of them in a row, with ropes tied about 3m from each other are doing the trek.

Then, suddenly one falls and screams. The narrator tells us he has been injured, something that occurs to tourists during the trek. The fellow is wriggling on the ground uttering some sounds in a language we cannot tell. The narrator explains, “We get so many tourists, whose languages are like tongues of angels.” But no need for alarm because right behind is the rescue team that travels with the trekkers.

And like super man, they are right on the scene. the fallen man has injured his leg and his friends are equally baffled. But the lifesavers are confident and soon, the situation is handled. The injured man is carefully tied up on the sleeping bag (his injured leg already given first aid) and then placed on a portable stretcher. The man is still groaning and he looks like a mummy ready for the pyramid. And off goes the rescue team and thus ends our demonstration. The spectator has every reason to go mountaineering, not after such a spectacular presentation.

Then our attention shifts to the rattling sounds of metal and calabashes. It’s the famous Acholi traditional dance, which we must watch. The boys nod their heads and hit the calabashes. The girls wriggle their waists and ululate.

What more can Larakaraka give than this captivating beat of northern uganda! But the drizzle takes us to tents. Yet we can’t stop craning our necks till the dance is done.

Another top-up of out adventure is white water rafting by Adrift. Their equipment set and with the help of video clips, makes us feel we are on Nile waters. Apparently, the Nile is the best place for the white water rafting in the world because unlike other places that are cold, the the Nile is warm. The rapids are also convenient for either mild or wild adventurers. What’s more is that you can take a simple family float of only five kilometres or even find yourself in Egypt with stops-overs on the river islands!

Alternatively, you could go bungee jumping or simply enjoy the spectacular scenery. Now, that is the Nile for you.

We move on to more craft shops, coffee shops, African studios, gorilla tracking in Bwindi and Mgahinga, bird watching etc.

What more can I say about Uganda. After moving from stall to stall, our hands are heavy with business cards and brochures.

And we are satisfied with the one-day tour of Uganda in an exhibition.

This fantastic journey was made at a tourism exhibition organised by Africa Travel Association at Nile Hotel.

The exhibition showcased Uganda as a country with various attractions. It was also purposed to market Uganda’s tourist sites and tour companies.

The guest of honour was Hon. Edward Rugumayo, the minister for Tourism, Trade and Industry.

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