Ecologically, Uganda is where the East African savannah meets the Central African Jungle. Located in the geographical heart of the African continent, Uganda is not your ordinary safari destination. It is not everyday, and certainly not anywhere, that you have the luxury of holiday weather.
The country’s inhabitants could be excused for taking that for a right. None expects the weather to be acting up and frustrating attempts to savour the breathtaking beauty ubiquitously available for optical plunder. As if in respect of a long sealed pact, the weather is happy to oblige. While it does, it frees flora and fauna alike to captivate the senses of visitors and locals in equal measure.
Then like a tireless servant, the same weather aids the bustle of the cosmopolitan Kampala City- Uganda’s Capital- a fairly modern city sprawled across seven hills that represents the good that has come to the country especially in the post civil war era that ushered in the current government and set the country on a new path, defined by an unprecedented level of political stability and unremitting economic growth. Little wonder Kampala is a city that is hard working by day, and party-hopping by night.
And it matters little that Kampala brings together such a diverse collection of people. Uganda has long been a cultural melting pot; witness the 30-plus different indigenous languages belonging to five distinct linguistic groups. That count includes the country’s most ancient inhabitants, the Batwa and Bambuli pygmies, remnants of the hunter-gathers who once occupied much of East Africa; a variety of Bantu tribes in Central and Western Uganda, and a Nilotic collection to the north.
Emphasizing Uganda’s cultural diversity are the Karimojong in the north east of the country, traditional pastrolists with a lifestyle and culture that leaves nothing between them and the Kenyan Maasai. Closer to the Karimajong are the Bagisu of the Mount Elgon region whose Imbalu (circumcision) ceremony is always a sight to behold.
But even though cast apart by the work of geography, Ugandan people are unified by a warmness that instantly affects the first time visitor. When you are thinking perfect weather, scenic beauty, a beautiful and warm people, you are thinking Uganda.
