Pizza?! Cheese??? That’s disgusting! — such would be the reaction of any traditional dweller of Lake Bunyonyi, including our storied Tom Karemire. But for foreign taste buds it doesn’t take long before the craving for something beyond beans, cabbage, potatoes, and groundnuts sets in.
We’re happy to report that we’ve just tested the brand-new pizza oven at Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi, and it works beautifully! It adds a whole extra dimension to our end-of-trekking buffets.
With the new facilities standing outside the kitchen, we’ve been able to remove the old “island”, freeing up much-needed space. This will be especially handy when we host the huge Greek/Cypriot volunteer groups sent by Wheeling2help.
Volunteering at Edirisa has a rich history spanning decades. In fact, back in 2006, volunteers Tom Gal (Israel) and David Šimenc (Slovenia) built the very first pizza oven, digging it into the hillside next to the team canteen.
Their grandmother of all Edirisa pizzas may not have looked as refined as our 2025 creations, but to the international team, weary of too much local food, it tasted like heaven.
All in all, whether you visit Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi as a hiker, an overnight guest, or a volunteer, we guarantee great food — and fun in abundance: for more information click here.
📸 photography by:
Brenda Katusiime is the excellent self-taught chef who ran Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi from 2019 to 2021. She returned in 2024 and still considers it home in Bufuka, Uganda. [bio updated: 2026-03]
🖋️ text and 📸 photography by:
ML Rwebandira — formerly known as Miha Logar — is an adventure and cultural tourism expert, writer and multimedia producer who co-founded Gorilla Highlands Experts. His most recent publication is the Pocket Treasure. A national of both Uganda and Slovenia, ML resides with his son Lan in Musanze, Rwanda. Click for his personality-infused quarterly newsletters. [bio updated: 2026-05]