Recently I was lucky to be part of a group of journalists and tour operators from the East African region and beyond, who were chosen to sample the beauties of Uganda and share the stories with the rest of the world. We toured the Ziwa Rhino sanctuary, went chimp tracking in Budongo forest and savoured the beauty of Murchison Falls National Park. 

Our next stop on our marathon adventure was Kidepo Valley National Park located in the North Eastern tip of Uganda in the Karamoja region with the South Sudan and Kenya borders close by. Here we stayed at the luxurious Apoka Safari Lodge where each one had a whole canvas-walled cottage to themselves. This park is so remote if you stay any longer you may forget what city life is like. 

While here you cannot even remember the last stupid thing Donald Trump may have said or how many people liked your photo on Instagram. The rooms do not have TVs and internet access only happened briefly near the main reception area that has wifi that we could only use if the generator was switched on and we were nearby. I guess the message was clear, relax and enjoy the jungle.

The cottages allow you to sit on the patio and gaze at the beautiful landscape and watch animals like warthogs, buffaloes and antelopes grazing freely in front of you. At night the cottages seem further than usual with every sound evoking wild thoughts of a lion, leopard or cheetah roaming close by in search of a quick bite. And by the way each cottage has an outdoor stone bathtub!

Kidepo Valley is rich with wildlife with arguably the largest herds of buffaloes and hundreds of bird species for the bird lovers. The famed tree climbing lions could be seen perched on top of rocks in typical style of the king of the jungle occupying a rocky throne. We enjoyed game drives, sundowners and breakfast out in the open savannah.

The only depressing bit was the old Land Cruisers that kept breaking down in the middle of the park. Not cool if you ask me. 

Before flying from Kidepo to Entebbe, we visited a Karamojong community in the village of Lorukul where we learnt about the ways of the people in this region of Uganda. They do share a lot with other East Africans like the Pokot, Turnkana and Maasai. On our last night in Apoka we enjoyed some tasty nyama choma washed down with some drinks around a fire place.

Jinja town and its adventures

Uganda’s tourism circuit is incomplete with a trip to Jinja town. Here you not only have the Source of the Nile but also a rich range of options for those who love adrenaline-filled adventure excursions. We had to choose between quad-biking, white water rafting and bungee jumping. 

I settled for quad-biking and I had so much fun riding around wet-dirt tracks often waving to curious children along the way. There is a reason why we were given helmets as some of our colleagues fell of the bikes when they failed to negotiate sharp corners. Quad-biking is certainly something I will be doing again and again. 

At the bungee jumping sight, I opted to settle for a cold drink instead of jumping into the Nile with a rope tied to my legs. You can call me a coward all you want but I don’t really care. By the time we were heading back to Kampala the fatigue was kicking in with many dosing off as our cars made way through the traffic. 

As if to cool down from a week of adventure we spent the following day inspecting some of the finest hotels in Uganda, with breakfast at Speke Resort Munyonyo and a late lunch at picturesque Lake Victoria Serena before retiring to a Ugandan cultural gala at Ndere Centre.

Cultural night at Ndere Centre 

The event at Ndere centre was aimed at showcasing the cultural diversity of Uganda a country with over 56 different ethnic groups. We were thus welcomed by a medley of dances from the Banyarwanda, Karamojong and Baganda communities all dancing to the captivating Kirundi drums. A journalist colleague from Burundi could not hide his joy for long so he put his Nikon camera aside and joined in the drumming. 

Ndere troupe entertained us for the whole night with energetic performances of dances from all the corners of Uganda including the famous Intore dance from Rwanda. The troupe leader, Stephen Rwangyezi made it a point to introduce each dance with a brief but quite hilarious history of the dance, instruments and ethnic group known for a given dance. 

The dances were briefly interrupted to allow us enjoy a sumptuous meal of local food as the drinks continued to flow. For a country where every 80 kilometres introduces you to a new language, the night was never really enough. But at slightly past midnight we all needed to get some rest. 

Eventually, the tourism expo was opened at the Kampala Serena gardens by Uganda’s Vice President Edward Ssekandi with exhibitors from all over the East African region as well as South Africa and Zimbabwe. The main attraction was the mobile zoo set up by the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre allowing people to see a huge python, a lion, a cheetah, and an ostrich. The Rwandans (Rwanda Development Board) won the award for the best exhibitor. 

Later that night exhibitors and other guests were treated to Uganda’s finest band, Afrigo band with their signature tunes at a time when they are marking 40 years in the music industry. Many got to their feet and danced the night away. Kampala’s night life was also showcased with the visiting tour operators hosted to nights at Guvnor Discotheque and Pyramids Casino as well as a boat cruise on Lake Victoria. 

All the above VIP treatment was meant to give the different tour operators and journalist a hint of what Uganda as a tourism destination has to offer. It has become very important to boost intra and inter regional tourism in East Africa. It is good to see East Africans taking part in events like Rwanda’s Kwita Izina- Gorilla Naming, Kenya’s Magical Kenya Travel Expo and Uganda’s Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo. 

For tourism to prosper in East Africa, we East Africans must be part of the target market by partaking in domestic and regional tourism. We have to acknowledge the potential the region has and market it first to ourselves and then to other regions. With more harmonisation of standards, open borders and better transport connectivity the sky is limit. I can’t wait to visit other East African beauty spots.