Tag: Kabale /Uganda/
altitude: 1,863 m/ 6,115 ft
estimated population: 50,000
Kabale Town is the biggest urban centre of the Ugandan Gorilla Highlands, nestled in impressive green hills at 1,863 m/6,115 ft above sea level, close to Lake Bunyonyi. Among the people from other parts of Uganda, Kabale has a reputation as a very cold place. Elders can tell you how they couldn’t write at school in winter (June–July) since their hands were shaking too much. The temperatures today are higher, but not much above 20°C/68°F during the day or 10°C/50°F at night.
A challenging 9-hole golf course can be found above the town. About 8 km/5 mi from Kabale in a small muddy grove on the road to Rwanda are some hot springs. Do not expect too much—but it can be fun to share with local people, especially for them.
Our Stories:
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New Era — Double So (Kabale 2004)
This is the fourth instalment of a weekly series that marks 20 years of Edirisa and 10 years of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative. Click here for Part I. The year was 2004 and a completely new era was underway, not only in terms of Edirisa’s adventures but for me personally, for it became clear that…
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Ancient MasterCard
70 mm, f5.0, 1/160s, ISO800 When I first started travelling, traveller’s cheques were still a thing (though I don’t think I ever made much use of them). So was bringing cash — usually USD back in those days — to be turned into local currency at dodgy foreign exchange counters, or expensive hotels. I remember…
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A Night Out with My Wife … or $100 Spent Changing a Life?
The wind and wonder of discovery engulfed me as I held on to my motorcycle taxi driver, Kacumbe, the consensus king of boda boda drivers in the Kabale square where I had travelled in southwestern Uganda. We were on our way to Lake Bunyonyi, a mystical highland lake that would capture a decade of my life with its people…
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Rough and Tough People of the Hills
The Gorilla Highlands Initiative was born 10 years ago in the land of the Bakiga (pronunciation: “Bachiga”; singular: Mukiga; language: Rukiga), the tribe from southwestern Uganda. This is a little peek into their history … The term Bakiga was first used by the British authorities in the 20th century to refer to independent clans who had…
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How a Musical Trailblazer Realised He Had Ambitions
Hello everyone! My name is Joe Kahiri, I am a musician and you first saw me on the Gorilla Highlands Experts platform when I was performing at the second Online Picnic. I am the founder of the Afro-Fusion band Qwela and I organise Qwela Junction, where I host different artists who would otherwise not have…
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Tribute to Omugurusi Karwemera, the Icon of Western Uganda
UPDATE, DECEMBER 2024: Karwemera’s Bakiga museum in Kabale town is no more. We hope to bring it back one day. Festo Karwemera was a teacher right to the end of his remarkable life… People would come to his home on the outskirts of Kabale in Uganda’s Gorilla Highlands region to learn about culture, history, life.…
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A Story I Couldn’t Write
I had a decision to make … a life-altering decision, as a new life would begin.
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Bakiga Are Tough but Not Rough
You ask any typical Ugandan about the Bakiga people and the first thing they will tell you is that the Bakiga are rough and strong by nature. Some will even say that it’s a proven fact that the Bakiga women beat up their husbands. True to some extent, but not entirely because depending on the situation…
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Difficult Ugandan
Enya’s experience with the police made me think… Why do I behave like that really? 1. Because I feel Ugandan. When you are just a visitor, you tend to keep your head down and let locals do their things the local way. This is my country and I want it to be a great country.…
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