A hidden gem in Uganda — Pearl Of Africa — The Ssese Islands
I knew there were many islands within the Ssese Island group in Lake Victoria.In fact there are 84 , the largest of which is Bugala Island which i found i could reach reasonably simply by ferry from the port of Nakiwago to Kalangala .
Nakiwago was a 20 minute motor bike ride from the Golf View Inn , i decided to leave my case at the inn and only take a small bag for the 3 day stay.
The ferry was very new then , a smallish roro which had been built in Denmark and reassembled on site .
Taking up to 100 passengers and 5 cars , it makes the crossing in 3 hours , leaving at 8am and arriving in Kalangala at 11am.
Bugala Island is a kept secret , known as a honeymoon destination for Ugandans or a weekend retreat from hectic and chaotic Kampala , it has yet to be discovered by international tourism and in some ways is all the better for that.
Sometimes your own research can be wrong , or at least the information found can be very misleading when you are faced with a reality that is totally different from the website.
On it, the small lake side resort and camp site had looked basic but perfectly OK , the small cottage room comfortable enough for a short stay of 3 nights.
It had been raining heavily the two nights before my arrival .It looked a simple enough half mile walk along the shore to where i thought my accommodation was. Truth be told, I was wading through foot deep water at one stage as the grass was marsh grass and sandy underfoot . I should have taken heed of what a lot of the locals were doing and walked up the gravel slope from the ferry terminal along the upper path behind the hotels and camp sites and back down the hill path again .
I saw the signage to the place i had booked , it looked deserted , more like a dump site than a camp site with huts on it , the owner was a old hippy type from Europe who had not moved on from that time in his dress or style , if he had walked straight into the day centre for addicts and homeless in Penang , he would not have looked out of place.
I decided however to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him show me the lake facing self contained cottage …think garden hut , reeking of mildew and damp , even the bedding smelled musty and un fresh . I took one look , walked out and told him his website was totally misleading and that I was not staying , i had booked in good faith by phone the previous evening. I was glad to forfeit my one night’s stay and go looking for a better and cleaner place to rest and relax .
It was such a pity that the place was not better kept as it was close to the ferry ,had a spectacular view over the lake and towards the hill and small town at the top.
In the near distance i noticed a much smarter looked place , with rooms set in a motel style , two story with balconies and a central restaurant /function suite area ..though it was the small rondavels nearest the shore that caught my attention .It was midweek and not at all busy so i spoke to the manager and got the single use rate down to 40usd a night inc breakfast , a bit more than i wanted to pay normally , so i said yes and decided that i would cut back on my accommodation costs elsewhere.
There are not many places on the Island with electricity and the resort only ran their generators in the evening time . The rondavel was ideal , big comfortable bed, fresh bedding , cold water shower ..though you could ask for hot water at any time and one of the boys would bring it to you within 15 minutes in a gerry can.
This was peace , perfect peace , watching the fishermen throw their nets into the lake , the sea eagles overhead and the lazy resort dog following behind me as i walked along the shoreline early the next morning before breakfast.
I had met a group of very friendly local Ugandan students who were returning to their Technical college in Kalangala after their weekend at home .A very optimistic bunch of youths aged between 18 and 25 and yes they had no time for the present government or for the mass corruption that envelops everything in Uganda .
They told me that they knew there were very few jobs available after they graduated with their diplomas and higher national certificates.So the way forward for them was to become self employed or a few may group together to form a new and dynamic start up company . Unfortunately one major component was missing to make their business equation work — the hard cash,the shillings and dollars,the start up money or loan, was almost impossible to find.
This is a problem facing many developing countries and especially those in Sub Saharan Africa where the population growth is massive , in East Africa over 50% of people are below 25 years of age.
There seems to be many NGO groups set up to help children through better health care , elementary education , building school classrooms,voluntary teachers,nurses etc but very few groups relatively speaking who are involved in getting young people into the work place with internships, apprenticeships or soft loans.
In my own view ,it is a catastrophe waiting to him . Millions of disenfranchised youths in Uganda , Kenya and Tanzania,with no jobs, no hope but with cheap access to social media . Their leaders can no longer lie and cover up as they had done in the past,it may take a little longer,perhaps another general election or two before the youth rise and literally challenge the establishment but it will happen and the scene may be very ugly indeed.
Just look at how youth have become militant in other countries nearby in the middle east and the levant,the warning signs are there to be seen . The fat cats may still be wearing their blinkers of power but for how long ?
It would seem much more logical to have governments providing small amounts of start up funds to youths with good business ideas than to have these people redundant and their talents wasted.
I love engaging in good conversation with younger people,those that are ambitious and have a vision,so i invited the youths to join me at the resort cafe for sodas that evening . Three came down we sat and chewed the fat for a few hours i said goodnight to them feeling hopeful for them .
Two more days to spend on this lovely island,so before i went to my room I asked if anyone knew of a good local guide that could show me around the nature and culture of the place the next morning . I was informed that Thomson would meet me at 8am after breakfast and we would spend till maybe 2pm or so exploring the local area on foot.
Thomson,was a really amiable guy,very fit tall and i guess at least 25 years younger than me . I was in no great hurry so we chatted over a cup of hot sweet chai about what we may see and visit . He asks me if i wish to meet the local fishermen and perhaps to try their local alcoholic brew,it is only 8.30 am . The village men go out into Lake Victoria to fish from small dugout canoes ,i guess their ancestors have done this for centuries past .The types of fish caught has changed dramatically since the 1950’s when Nile Perch and Tilapia were introduced before then the lake had over 500 endemic species although many were small and bony and not fit for human consumption.
They may stay quite a few days at a time and if they have a good catch it may earn them a few hundred USD,some if which will be spent on the local brew and on sex with local women who are often lured into the oldest profession through poverty and then addiction to alcohol or heroin.
The place of women in their society is not a good one. HIV rates are throughly twice the already high national average of 7.2%.
Thomson showed me around the Fishing Village , it was dirt poor . Even at 9am the men had started drinking the local brew , it is made from maize and is fermented in old buckets .It looks like gravel with a bit of water in it,2 or 3 men will be drinking through straws around each bucket of this highly alcoholic brew.Left the shore area and continued walking uphill through forested area and over small streams until we reached the hill top . There we were greeted by a group of local youngsters who had never seen a white man before, they were shy at first but Thomson told them I had come from a long way away ,to visit their Island and their Village . They asked me lots of questions about my home country,it was great fun.
Had local lunch of beans and rice before heading back down the tarmac road,a longer but easier journey to the hotel.
