East African Business Week (Kampala)
Aggrey Nshekanabo
31 October 2009
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It is not that I had not known the simple fact that Bunyaruguru County, 350km west of Kampala and north of Bushenyi town on the edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to 52 crater lakes.
I had taken it for granted. I had grown up in the area and lived in the beauty. But now, twenty years away from the area, I looked at the Bunyaruguru with new eyes and I was blown away by the beauty I had experienced yet left the story untold.
After a west-bound five hour drive from Kampala city, through the tea estates on the outskirts of Bushenyi town, you begin to ascend the Nkombe hill. On your left, below you, the imposing Imaramagambo Forest canopy waves at you with its thick hand and you reckon if you threw a rock it would bounce right back. It bellows at you and you see puffs of thick smoke like mist coming from it's nostrils.
As you sail by the alluring jungle, the rugged green of Bunyaruguru beckons in the fore and middle ground with Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) forming its enchanted horizon. If I were a to paint this view from the top of Nkombe hill and paint off a million dollar piece on canvas and the world would know). Well, I hope an impressionist artist is reading.
Beyond the green of Bunyaruguru is the brown land of Bwera (now QENP) and the Rwenzori Mountain ranges give wave like signature on the canvas with its clouded snow cap waving invitingly. In middle ground, the QENP is cut into two by the amazing Kazinga Channel connecting Lakes George on the East and Edward on the west. As you cast your eyes close by below you at the Nkombe's Kalinzhu View Point, is the Africa Shaped crater lake; the Rutoto which the people of the area refer to as Nkugute.
I have never seen so much green around me than what I took in the week I was in Bunyaruguru. It is; I think the centre of the Western Albertine Rift Valley where all beauty and soil fertility is concentrated thanks to God's artistry.
According to Zacharia Kambugu, a resident of the area, anything and everything grows in this area as long as it gets in touch with the soil. The levels of fertility are way up in the clouds. After all, the area is seen and regarded as the food basket of the district.
"We have the most diverse ecosystem in this area ranging from lakes to the Kyambura geographical escarpments, to the expansive savannah, swamps, hills and valleys and a complete range of the animal kingdom," Kambugu says.
Along the main road (tarmac) towards the National Park, you will have opportunity to see at least 6 crater lakes along the winding road. Lake Rutoto is just at the same level with the road. If you had a longer arm, you would extend it and scoop some water out of the lake as you drive by. As you wind down the various corners towards Kichwamba Trading Centre, the Queen Elizabeth National Park is just below you.
Many investors have taken advantage of the spectacular view that this place offers. At least 10 luxury lodges have been put up and prominent among the many are King Fisher Lodge run by a German national and Kataara Lodge.
All the lodges are on the hedge of the great QENP and they offer some of the best views that anyone can take in at a time. On the extreme left, the imposing Imaramagambo forest finds its way again into the savannah expanse half skirting around Lake Edward (known as Rwitanzigye in the local language) which means killer of locusts. It is said that back in the days, locusts attempted to cross the lake towards the DR Congo and ended up drowning in the massive lake and they have never been seen again.
On the Eastern side is the Lake George whose various arms (extensions) get swallowed up underneath the hills and skirting around the Kyambura Game Reserve. The game reserve is home to the pink feathered flamingos on Lake Nshengi which is replenished by a natural mineral water spring!
Is a scoop and drink thing from the source of the spring and it never runs dry. You should partake of this natural fresh mineral based spring and you will never touch imitations of bottled mineral water!
If you plan a good itinerary with your travel agent, you would get an opportunity to watch all times of game as you drive to the eastern tip of Lake George at Kashaka landing site.
You will find animals ranging rom warthogs, to African elephants and the rare lions and a host of other animal and bird species as you drive along the Kazinga Channel or around Lake Kibwera. Not forgetting the butterfly and snake species.
You can only access the game reserve through a community road which offers you an opportunity to see the community as it goes about daily chores.
You can cap your travel with a drive in the QENP.
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