DISCOVER UGANDA

Known as the pearl of Africa, Uganda is situated on the equator in East Africa and is roughly the size of Great Britain or the state of Oregon in the U.S. With its perfect equatorial location on the shore of Lake Victoria, surrounded by lush national parks and a capital city – Kampala - surrounded by seven hills, Uganda is a well-kept travel secret. Other smaller important towns include Entebbe where the main airport is located, and Jinja which is an industrial town.

Its neighbouring countries are Sudan to the North, Kenya to the East, Republic of Congo to the West, and Tanzania and Rwanda to the South. It is located at a height of 1200 meters above sea level and on the most fertile plateau of Africa. Uganda has many lakes which cover almost a third of the country and has been called the land of lakes. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa that dominates the southern part of the country.

 

Economy
Uganda’s economic growth has averaged 6% annually and the overall national poverty rate has reduced to 31% today from 56% in 1992. Visible changes within the city space are apparent in Kampala alone with the construction of five luxury hotels in the capital in the last year and a half. Uganda has become an attractive new tourism location, bringing in over 100,000 visitors every year.

Uganda is a politically safe and culturally strong country in with the promise of a great future. It enjoys rich natural resources, a flourishing economy, and an impressive number of prosperous middle-class African professionals, including business people, doctors, lawyers, and scientists.

Languages
The official language in Uganda is English but Swahili and Luganda is also widely spoken. There are 48 different tribes in Uganda. 80 percent of the population live in rural areas where the major activity is farming

Weather
Uganda's equatorial climate has got a cool breeze that comes in from mountains and the lush green vegetation which results into rainfall. The temperature, usually ranges from 21 to 25°C (70 to 77°F) and the country is known to be one that is sunny most of the year such that temperatures rarely rise above the 29°C mark.

Tourism in Uganda is not seasonal, and the road conditions and temperature are stable along the year. However the best period to visit Uganda are the dry seasons from December to March and from June to September. The two rain seasons in Uganda are around April to May and November to December. The sun rises between 6:30 and 7:00 and sets between 6:30 and 7:00 in the evening which gives 12 hours of day light every day for 12 Months.

Culture
Uganda is a nation combined of many small kingdoms and chiefdoms that were united. There is still a real sense of strong culture and heritage which is noticeable through over 40 languages, various traditional costumes, food, music and dance.

the Batwa and Bambuti Pygmies, located in the hilly southwest, are the country’s most ancient inhabitants. They are hunter-gatherer cultures that once occupied much of East Africa. They have left behind a rich legacy of rock paintings, some of which can be seen at the Nyero Rock Shelter near Kumi.

At the cultural core of modern-day Uganda lie the Bantu-speaking kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole and Toro, whose traditional monarchs – reinstated in the 1990s after having been abolished by President Milton Obote in 1967 – still serve as important cultural figureheads. According to oral tradition, these centuries-old kingdoms are offshoots of the mediaeval kingdoms of Batembuzi and Bacwezi, which lay in the vicinity of present-day Mubende and Ntusi, where archaeological evidence suggests that a strongly centralised polity had emerged by the 11th century. Three former kings of Buganda are buried in an impressive traditional thatched building at the Kasubi Tombs in Kampala.

Elsewhere, Uganda’s cultural diversity is boosted in the northeast by the presence of the Karimojong, traditional pastoralists whose lifestyle and culture is reminiscent of the renowned Maasai, and in the northwest by a patchwork of agricultural peoples whose Nilotic languages and cultures are rooted in what is now Sudan. The Rwenzori foothills are home to the hardy Bakonjo, whose hunting shrines are dedicated to a one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed pipe-smoking spirit known as Kalisa, while the Bagisu of the Mount Elgon region are known for their colourful Imbalu ceremony, an individual initiation of young boys to manhood that peaks in activity in and around August of every even numbered year.

Entertainment & Recreation
Kampala is a friendly and safe city.  It has excellent restaurants, bars and nightclubs, as well as theaters, cinemas, interesting markets and supermarkets.

There is an amazing variety of restaurants to choose from whilst including Italian (Mambo Point), Chinese (Fang Fang), Thai (Krua Thai), Greek (Andy the Greeks), Indian (Handi’s), Pizza (Dominoes/Speke Hotel), and so many more! For a comprehensive guide to other restaurants and other services in Kampala, pick up a copy of “The Eye” magazine.

 

 

‘Travel Information’ for everything you need before you travel to Uganda