Years ago, the western Uganda district of Kabale was simply a normal border town. A home to the native Bakiga tribe known mostly for their energy and hard work, it has also been a source of really good Irish potatoes.
Kabale is a place surrounded by beauty. Its numerous hills are decorated with terraced gardens and its weather full of rain that gives misty mornings and nights. It is also home to Lake Bunyonyi, the deepest lake in Uganda.
The town is also a gateway to the Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Parks that host the country’s Mountain Gorilla population, possibly Uganda’s biggest tourist attraction.
As the country’s tourism sector begins to explode rapidly to the point that it is now the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner, Kabale is one of the towns greatly benefiting from the sector, given its location. The town is fast becoming a favoured stopover for tourists, especially those continuing to do gorilla tracking, given its sprouting accommodation facilities, fancy nightlife, and an evolving activity list.
Tour operators confirm that several tourists would want to stay in Kabale, where prices for food and accommodation are slightly lower than in Bwindi or Mgahinga. These opt to instead drive there, do gorilla tracking and then return to Kabale town.
Night Life
The town’s night life has become one of its main attractions even though it is cold and misty. Travellers to and from neighbouring Rwanda are rarely willing to go past this place at night.
Before Rwanda closed its Gatuna border with Uganda, several Rwandans were crossing the border every weekend to party.
“There were always more buses coming from Rwanda on Friday, and although some were heading to Kampala, several people remained here to party and went back on Sunday,” Andrew Mugisha, a local tour guide, says.
Tourists, too, now prefer to have the place’s nightlife on their menu instead of spending nights in the jungle of Bwindi or Mgahinga, something that was not common.
Mugisha says that even Kampala residents, especially natives of Kabale, now tend to retreat to the town over the weekends.
Kabale nights are typical of the real Uganda nightlife, albeit the energy is different. Here, people dance and drink with more energy, like it is their last day to live.
Everyone is happy, and many are generous enough to buy a neighbour a second round of beer.
Most of the hangout places play mainly Ugandan music, some bit of Rwandan, Kenyan and Tanzanian. On a good day, one can land on a hangout with a Congolese night theme.
Accommodation
The town has a sprouting accommodation with many of its business people deciding to invest in building resorts, lodges and recreation centres to tap into the ever-growing numbers of visitors, Mugisha says.
Some of these lodges are around the lake Bunyonyi area, which offers some of the town’s most scenic views.
These include Arcadia lodges, Birdnest resort and Lake Bunyonyi Overland. Lower budget ones include Kansiime backpackers’ resort and several other motels in the town.
The prices here range from around $70 to $300, which is cheaper than neighbouring tourist centres whose prices can go up above $500 a night.
With the coming up of both budget and high-end accommodation facilities, the prices have gone down, making the town even more affordable.
Activities
Kabale is not just a stopover with scenic views, but one can do several activities here.
A boat ride to the punishment island is as chilling as the story behind its name. Long ago, parents would abandon their pregnant unmarried daughters on this tiny island to die. Many indeed died, but some survived after being picked up by poor fishermen with no means of raising dowry who married them.
Then there is the Kyahugye Island, a newly established eco sanctuary where you can see zebras, antelopes, impalas, birds and monkeys that were ferried to the island.
There is also an island known as the leprosy island where, a long time ago, natives with leprosy were dumped. It is the only island out of the 29 here on Lake Bunyonyi that has schools. Children from jump into canoes every morning to-attend school here.
One can also do obstacle challenges like wall climbing and zip lining at the Lake Bunyonyi adventure park.Another fast-growing activity here is kayaking on the lake.Kayaking is the use of a kayak to move across water, and it is different from canoeing because of the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle.
Several islands here also offer bird-watching opportunities.
The town has a cultural centre that showcases the ancient culture of the native Bakiga tribe from the dressing, ways of life, and traditional dances.
Sheila Asiimwe has organized tours for mainly students around the country however, she says Kabale has become a favoured destination even to local visitors.
“In the past, it was places like Jinja and national parks that were popular among the locals, but now they want to come to Kabale because of several reasons like things to do and places to visit,” says the tour operator