Hi all! Well, today’s post is about the capital of Uganda, Kampala. As usual, I will run through the sights that I saw, which wasn’t really that many. But first I will give you a few thoughts of the city.

Kampala is a sprawling capital of somewhere between 4.5 and 6.7 million people in its greater area depending on where you consider the outer boundary to be. The city proper is around 1.7 million however during the day that number increase to something like 4.5 million as people come in for work etc.

I arrived late-ish, around 830pm and then had a devil of a time getting to my accommodation, the hostel ‘Red Chilli Hideaway’ by ‘boda boda’ – the common form of transport in the city where you sit on the back of a motorbike. Red Chilli is no where near the centre, a good thirty minutes away but my driver did not know where it was and got quite lost, I ended up directing him through Google Maps on the back of my bike.

Red Chilli Hideaway is pretty decent, but it is a hostel and on one day there was a big loud group of kids who kept some of us oldies up. I had my own ‘family’ room for $50USD a night (I think it was that). I was comfortable enough. The weather was mid to high 20s, and it was humid, but air conditioning was not needed or indeed supplied! The place is on a big hill, has awesome staff, a pool, a pizza night, great restaurant so it’s ideal except for the fact that it’s out of town but that is not all bad. Dorm beds are obviously cheaper and it’s great for the younger crowd. One downside – dreadfully slow WiFi. But I never found decent WiFi in Uganda. That must have just been me because in Kenya it was fast wherever I ended up.

The city is really full of motorbikes, markets, churches and mosques. It’s not really most people’s favourite city but it’s not too bad except for one thing – the traffic! It’s so slow! I don’t think there is a lot to occupy you as a tourist in the capital, but you do get the chance to learn a bit of history about the country you’re in, for example – there’s a King.

Mostly ceremonial but very important, the King of Buganda currently is Kabaka Ronald Mwenda Mutebi II. Two important sights in Kampala are the Kabaka (means King) Palace and the Kasubi Tombs – which is at the site of the former Kabaka’s Palace. Now you may have noticed he is the King (Kabaka) of Buganda, this is a region of Uganda around Lake Victoria in the mid-south.

The city is not flat, there are a few hills and from a distance it’s not unattractive, although it’s neither as hilly not pretty as Kigali. I engaged a boda-boda for the day to take me to the places I wanted to visit. It’s not a bad idea, I can’t remember how much I paid but it was well overs I think. So, here is what I visited.

Independence Monument

A statue dedicated to the breaking free of colonial rule and Uganda becoming its own country, free of the United Kingdom. It’s a nice statue, if nothing amazing, and was a good place to start my sight seeing. Right next to it was a giant yellow billboard with the face of the President in a giant white hat, Museveni. It was the build up to the elections when I was there and billboards were aplenty. Museveni, now in his mid-eighties, won another term this year.

Shiva (Hindu) Temple

I moved on to the Shiva Temple, not too far from the monument. I had to have my legs covered (yes, I’m Australian and we travel everywhere in shorts!) before entering. It’s not amazingly old or anything, but it is rather a nice temple and well worth the stop.

Kabaka’s Palace and Idi Amin’s Bunker

We stopped outside an administrative Bulange Building Mengo. I was led to believe it’s the parliament but it isn’t, however this was one end of the ‘Kampala Golden Mile’, and an impressive building. The road that is the mile is lined with animal statues and has a number of grand statues and round abouts on its way to the Kabaka’s Palace.

The Kabaka’s Palace was opened in 1885 and replaced the former palace which is now the Kasubi Tombs. The Kabaka had been in residency so going inside was not allowed, but there was still tours going on and I had my own guide, Fred, which it turns out is a popular name in Uganda as it was the name of one of their more popular Kings.

Fred gave me so much information, I don’t know what to share and keep this post under control. Basically the King was driven out of the country in the 1970s as Idi Amin took over, and invited back (now his son I think) in the 1990s by Museveni as a populist move, restoring the monarchy.

The grounds are interesting and feature blown out cars and other artefacts from the 1970s, and there is a bunker that was used to housed munitions that came from Israel. Idi Amin then turned the bunker into a place of imprisonment, torture and ultimately death. You’ll find a little more detail in my vlog from Kampala.

Churches

I visited two churches on the day I checked out Kampala. I wanted to check out the grand mosque but the driver just went right past it – it was a Friday and it was busy and I’m not sure if I would have been allowed in anyways, but I wouldn’t say I had the greatest driver around Kampala and so this was a bit lost.

The first church was the Nariembe Church, on top of a hill and the biggest Church of England Church in the country I think, also the head of the church in Uganda. It’s over a hundred years old but still feels kinda of modern. I had a guide here with a lot of facts but probably too many to be fair.

I also went to the Catholic St Mary’s Rubaga (a suburb) where there was a mass being held, so I didn’t explore the church. I don’t really think either would be worth a special trip to find them but the Nariembe Church had some nice views and was big and well located.

I also passed a market on my way through the town that was large and bustling, and Kampala has a few markets so that’s something to check out too.

Kasubi Tombs

These tombs, well, they are the old Kabaka’s Palace, made in the traditional African way – huge and impressively made huts, in contrast to the European inspired 1885 Kabaka’s Palace. I had another guide here, she was really knowledgeable which was great. The main palace is the main piece here.

Today there are I think four Kabaka’s buried in this structure, when you go inside you see memorials to all four however there is a sort of wall and the graves are physically located behind them. Outside it are several structures to each side where the Kabaka’s many wives lived back in the day. There is a graveyard attached too. It’s definitely worth going here and to the Kabaka’s Palace, you will learn a little of the history and culture of Buganda and these are the two I most highly recommend.

Well folks, thanks for popping by. I had a few days in Kampala but only ventured into town the once. I had a day trip another day to Jinja – that’s coming up, and made a visit on another to the family of a friend here in Melbourne, and I also took time to relax a bit and solve a few issues I was dealing with at the time.

Certainly, the city is ok, safety wise I never felt uneasy there and the locals regard it as much safer than the capital of neighbouring Kenya. But, there is a bit of Ugandan bias there! But I suspect they may be right! Thanks again, take care wherever you are in the world right now and… May the Journey Never End!