As one of the shiny new fighter jets flies over my house, no doubt practising for this Tuesday’s independence day fly-past, I’m mulling over the week-end papers, full of stories about Uganda@50 and what the last 50 years of independence have meant to Uganda. Is the country better or worse off as an independent nation? What does the future hold? Will the celebrations be hijacked by anti-government protesters? Will there be tears before bedtime?
I’m no expert on Ugandan politics (although the muzungu is very proud of her politics degree from SOAS) – so let’s leave the analysis to the pundits and have some fun.
So, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence, I thought I’d share with you my top 50 reasons why I Love Uganda.
1. Airtime. Everywhere you go, every shop, bar or street corner can sell you mobile phone credit, for as little as 200 Uganda shillings (a few cents or pennies).
2. Boda boda. There are 100,000 of these motorbike taxis in Kampala. Huge fun but use with extreme caution. Don’t expect them to hang around if you have an accident. Read How to ride a boda boda.
3. Birds, birds birds. I LOVE BIRDS! And Uganda has over 1000 species: pretty, beautiful, stunning, huge, noisy, elegant, comical, graceful, they’re all here.
4. Bus Journeys. Hmmm am I crazy? Frankly, any bus journey could be your last but one of my favourite memories is taking a bus from Kasese down to Butogota. 10,000 shillings for a free Safari as we drove down through Maramagambo Forest sighting elephants. Ahh.
5. Cappuccino. I love Ugandan coffee, just don’t serve me Star coffee powder!
6. Chimps at Ngamba Island. I fell in love with the hilarious chimps.
7. Dancing. Africans invented dance! Try keeping me off the dancefloor.
8. Dogs – ‘the boys’ Baldrick and Percy. These recycled street dogs light up my day. Always happy to see me, following me around until I give them what they want – food and a chance to escape the compound and chase a goat.
9. Driving in Kampala. Yes the traffic is a nightmare, yes the potholes wreck your car, but there’s something quite liberating about driving through this city at times. Careering over the wrong side of the road to dodge potholes can be fun, let’s be honest!
10. Dung Beetles rock!
11. Elephants brought me to Uganda. (Yeah I know, most people would just get on a plane!)
12. Food menus. Guaranteed entertainment. A menu is simply a guide to what may possibly be available at one given point in time. It does not reflect what is actually in the kitchen.
13. Fruit and vegetables. Huge, fresh, tasty and cheap.
14. Gorillas. I enjoyed the trek through the rainforest as much as meeting Bwindi’s Gentle Giants.
15. Grasshoppers taste greasy and smoky (best dry fried in chilli I’m told).
16. Greetings! I love the time and care Ugandans take to greet each other properly.
17. The Grey Crowned Crane – previously known as the Crested Crane – is Uganda’s iconic national symbol. The Crested Crane may well be extinct in Uganda within just 20 years, if degradation of the wetlands is not stopped. NatureUganda is leading the campaign to Save the Crane.
18. Jane Bussman is a British comedy writer campaigning to have Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, caught. She’s on the ball and she’s hilarious.
19. Jinja, Source of the Nile, interesting colonial architecture, a market that is less congested than Kampala’s – and location for some memorable weekends at Nile River Camp.
20. Kampala Hash House Harriers have taken me to every bar, club – and slum! – across Kampala. The ‘drinking club with a running problem’ meets every Monday night.
21. Kibale Forest is where my friend Julia calls home, ideally at the top of a tree!
22. Lake Victoria. The world’s second largest freshwater lake – and the largest on the African continent – is where we taught our dogs to swim. Even as my feet crunched onto the tiny snails on the lake bed, I seem to have so far avoided Bilharzia! Can dogs catch it too?
23. Lions. Breathtaking – and a lot bigger in real life!
24. Mongooses experience in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
25. Mount Elgon. An unexpected wilderness experience, we climbed through seven habitats in four days and passed only two other groups of people. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I climb Margherita in the Rwenzori’s? One day maybe, but not without getting a LOT fitter first …
26. Muchomo roasted meat. No ‘gizzards’ (entrails) for me. I’m an occasional “chicken on a stick” woman.
27. Mighty Murchison Falls. Isn’t it annoying when you’ve heard the hype about a place then feel disappointed when you get there? GUARANTEE: I promise you won’t be disappointed when you reach the top of the Falls! Read Stirring up magic at the Devil’s Cauldron, Murchison Falls.
28. Music booming out from the church on Sunday morning can drive you to distraction. I love Ugandan music – but I have no idea what I’m singing along to! 😂
29. Namuwongo. Once maligned as a no-go area of Kampala (I found out after living there for a year), I love Namuwongo. Squashed between the industrial area and smarter Muyenga, it’s where I first fell in love with Uganda.
30. Owino market has everything you could ever want to buy, but it’s hard work.
31. Power cuts can drive you crazy. But the romance of candlelight has its moments!
32. River Nile. “Bring it on!” I screamed on my first Grade 5 white water rafting expedition. Second time around, I invited a friend to take my place; third time rafting, and I bailed out as the biggest rapids approached! Feeling nervous, learning to trust your guide, screaming with laughter as you successfully (or not!) negotiate the rapids, you’ll certainly never forget a day on the Nile.
33. Rolex or ‘rolled eggs’ – an omelette rolled up in a chapati – is my favourite street food. Bigger than a snack, although no self respecting Ugandan could possibly call a rolex a meal (since that should be served on a plate at a table). Rolex taste best at midnight in Kabalagala on the way home from a bar 😄
Trveor Noah gets his rolex fix (allegedly) in Wandegeya, Kampala
Read The rolex: celebrating Uganda’s uniqueness.
34. Safari. Every Safari is different. To say that you have “done X Park” when you visited for a day or two just doesn’t make sense. I can’t get enough game drives!
35. Sense of humour. Ugandans can charm the pants off you. Difficult situations tend to be dealt with humour (so refreshing after living in London where people quickly resort to shouting and swearing).
36. Simpson. My ‘Ugandan brother‘ has been with me through thick and thin (in fact he became very thin when he was a student, going without food so he could afford the fare to university). He’s my hero! I have a front seat at his graduation. I’m so proud of him.
37. Smoking. Oh yes. Cigarettes are cheap and we spend most of our time outside. No stuffy rules to worry us!
38. Snakes. Would I like to find one in my shower? No, but they do fascinate me.
39. Sunrise and Sunset. A reason to get up early – and later, a reason to have a drink in your hand 🍹
40. Tilapia. Best eaten whole, with your hands, on the lake edge at Ggaba.
41. Totems. Having the Ugandan name ‘Nagawa’ – thanks to my friend Rashid – has been a huge icebreaker. It’s given me hours of fun. This name makes me a member of the Nkima red tailed monkey clan. What an honour.
42. Uganda Conservation Foundation. Anti-poaching and human wildlife conflict – a.k.a. anything to do with elephants – is the mission of UCF, whom I volunteered with for nearly three years.
43. Uganda Museum. Dusty and under resourced, the Museum is still a gem. I’ve fallen for its charms.
44. Uganda souvenir photo map. This fun project keeps my creative heart thumping.
45. Uganda Waragi is a triple distilled ‘war gin.’ Handbag size bottles available ladies 😉
46. Uglish. Otherwise known as Ugandan English, this language gives us – expats and Ugandans alike – endless laughs. I tried to keep a straight face when Janero told me he had “pregnanted his girlfriend.” To read more funny examples, check out the superb Uglish Facebook page
47. UWEC Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (once Entebbe Zoo) has a cafe overlooking the beach. It’s quite a view! You can see virtually all of Uganda’s big mammals and reptiles at UWEC.
48. Vultures may be ugly but our health depends on them. Fascinating!
49. Weather. Even when it rains, the sun comes out a few minutes later.
50. Writing Diary of a Muzungu has kept me distracted (when Ugandan TV couldn’t) and kept me sane (kind of!) when life hasn’t gone to plan. Thank you so much to everyone who reads this. You make the late nights and the missed week-ends all worthwhile.
50 reasons why I love Uganda – and I could have found more! So tell me what would be in your top 50 things you love about Uganda?
– I know my Ugandan friends will scream MATOKE! (steamed green banana – compulsory eating for many!)
I have. been in uganda all my life damn didnt it had such beautiful sights …
Hi Jamie, Often we don’t know what we’re blessed with until someone shows it to us – I hope you get to see all of UG’s beautiful places one day 🙂
Don’t forget the awsome malls! 🙂
Which Kampala mall is your favourite? I’m not a mall fan generally (I prefer markets like Owino Market, downtown Kampala, Uganda and Nakawa) but I do like Acacia Mall, Kisementi and Village Mall in Bugolobi. Both have great cafes (I have a weakness for cappuccino!)
I love Uganda, especially the birds. Regards, Peter Oluoch, http://vc.uonbi.ac.ke
Thanks Peter, I’m a birder too 🙂
How about the plantain? Gonja!
The politics thats almost comical?
The millet porriage/bread and eshabwe from Ankole?
Roasted Gonja – yes! hot and sweet plantain, YUM, one of my favourite snacks too! Especially when you pick them from the roadside – my favourite place is the marketing centre before Mabira 🙂
Ugandan politics? OMG, do I really want to go there??! Certainly high entertainment value!
Now you got me tho … what is eshabwe?
The Muzungu (also known as Runyankore, allegedly because of the size of the KABINA!)
Eshabwe is a local stew for ankole people best served with kalo
For those who aren’t familiar with Uganda, Ankole is in western Uganda and best-known for the Ankole long-horned cattle. Westerners love drinking milk!
It’s probably for this reason that they love eshabwe a sauce made from unrefined ghee and salt.
Read more about eshabwe on The Monitor website.
One of my best friends is from Bushenyi (in Ankole) but I can’t actually eat eshabwe. Nor do I like kalo (millet bread).
But bampita Nagawa. Let me eat my matooke and my luwombo!
You forgot to add ” imbalu” bagisu traditional circumcision dance from eastern uganda and our favorite sauce “malewa” – bamboo shoots
Oh Stephen you are a true Mugisu! I never tried the bamboo shoots but I saw the boys collecting it from the park when I climbed Wagagai (Mt. Elgon).
As for the Imbalu, it seems I missed it again this year. Maybe you can invite me in 2014? I would really love to write a blog about it!
Malewa is delicious! I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it. You should really look out for an opportunity to try it. Great post, by the way! 🙂
Hi Biche, I know I will love Malewa – I must find a place in downtown Kampala to try it! Tx for the appreciation 🙂
We love your post! Thanks for spreading the good news about our beautiful country! Looking forward to seeing everyone #VisitUganda
Thanks Guide2Uganda 🙂 you know I find Uganda so inspiring I could have written more than 50 favourite things… thanks for making us visitors feel so at home 🙂
Now read this! Hilarious! ‘the wackiest 50 things about UG – (Uganda)!
http://www.sqoop.co.ug/201210/features-profiles/the-wackiest-fifty-things-about-ug.html
You forgot to mention the feel of bungee jumping at the source of the Nile. Its a good way to scare away the euphorbia for heights and is the only thing you can do and feel scared to death in the begin and yet enjoy at the end. !!!!!!
I haven’t been bungeejumping yet, so perhaps that’s why I didn’t include it? White water rafting can give you a similar feel tho can’t it? Terror followed by elation!
I think u r funny and comical yourself! just as you describe the ugandan politics! just to mention, the triple distilled ‘war gin’ known as Uganda Waragi is a favorite among drunkards here in Kigali. Thanks for the blog
Hello Paul, thanks for the appreciation! How is Kigali today? It seems a bit TOO organised to me – in comparison to Kampala!
I see that WAR GIN obviously travels well – I always take a few small bottles home to friends when I’m in the UK 🙂
Hahahahaha, this is quite a list..complete with a photo after eating nsenene. Great read
Thanks Kakoma…
The things I make myself eat just for a good photo! lol.(Not sure if you will find a photo of me eating enswa! Flying ants…)
This mzungu lady has really marketed Uganda. I love it totally. Regards, Peter Oluoch, http://vc.uonbi.ac.ke
Thanks Peter, I also promote travel to Kenya 🙂 See my Kenya page. How’s Nairobi? I loved my safari in Nairobi National Park. My favourite place to lose a few hours is the Murimbi Gallery at Point Zero.
Was fascinating to see the comments of a Muzungu. I left Uganda 42 years ago in 1972 following the expulsion and have not been back since then.
Hi Dhiraj, “thanks for the appreciation.” I wonder how you would find the country today? I’ve never written about the Indian community in Uganda, nor the expulsions of 1972. It would be fascinating to hear your story. If you ever plan a return visit, do get in touch!
Muzungu thanks for your list of 50. Apparently you missed fresh roasted maize. What about roasted pork?
Hi Diisi, thanks for the appreciation! Hmmm, I like roasted maize, but often I find it is too hard and I’m worried about breaking my teeth! In the UK, we usually boil it and serve it with butter. As for pork, “silya enyama” I don’t eat meat – although since coming to Uganda I do eat chicken. Now that I DO like 🙂
Hi Charlotte, I have just moved to Kampala this week – and reading your blog has definitely given me some ideas as to how to spend the year- thanks!! Am even tempted by the hash house harriers… although perhaps need to acclimatise first…!
Hi Yuheng, tx for commenting! I have loads of ideas on days out, activities and adventure in and around Kampala & Uganda generally. Feel free to inbox me any time… Or maybe I will see you at the Hash one Monday night? We run from 6 PM every Monday and have the occasional Saturday / w/e run too. We choose a different venue every week, so contact me or Google KH3 / Kampala Hash House Harriers for more info. Enjoy Kampala!
See ‘Mississippi Masala”–one of MIra Nair’s first movies, about the forced exodus (complete with scenes of Kampala at the beginning)–the first movie Denzel Washington was in.
What a great addition! Thank you!
Happy Independence Day Uganda!
This post continues to be one of my most popular ones.
51st reason I love Uganda: watching Ugandans jump all over “The Journey” monument on the Kololo Airstrip at the 2013 Marathon. It’s your monument after all, isn’t it? 🙂
Reason I love Uganda no. 52: to time with this year’s 52nd anniversary celebrations: I’m nominating Kampala City Festival. I attended for the first time this year (Sunday 5th October) – what a brilliant event! Possibly 1 million Ugandans were on the street partying. Woo you guys can DANCE! The Muzungu started shaking her kabina, to the deafening screams of some very appreciated teenage girls! Hilarious.
Check out the Kampala City Festival photo album on my Diary of a Muzungu Facebook page
Wow, Uganda sounds like a very interesting place. A country with an abundance of delicious fruits where you can see chimps, gorillas and elephants is my kind of country!
And I’m sure you could share lots of pineapple-growing tips 🙂
I love Uganda too! Can’t wait to get back for another visit dear Mzungu
Yes, come back to UG soon please. So many more wonderful places to show you 🙂
Hi there thank you for your interesting blog I go every year live in the slums with my African adopted family thinking of living there. they stole my heart, love helping and being with them. Feel so humbled I am a pensioner. But help all the time send parcels when possible. My dream is to open a house for abandonned babies before I die. Thank u keep up the good work. Xblessings
Dear Ann, Thanks very much for your positive comments.
My friends who work in adoption advise me to tread very carefully indeed. There is a lot of need, but many unscrupulous organisations – and many so-called orphans are not orphans at all but have extended family willing to take on and nurture these children as their own.
For more information, please have a look at the Facebook page Alternative Care Uganda
Another excellent organisation that I’m quite familiar with is Child’s I Childs I Foundation
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this piece.
It gave me great laughs and a yearning to explore my beautiful country.
Thank-you
Hi Maritah, Thanks for the appreciation – and thanks for making me feel so welcome in your wonderful country. I could so easily add another 50 reasons…
Litle fact about Ug, you never loved Ug while there but u will definitly feel like it world best place you have ever been in once you are out of Uganda.
Well that’s an interesting perspective.
I’m guessing that you mean if you’re Ugandan, you miss the country if you travel?
I rarely get homesick for the UK. It’s only when I travel back there that I realise I miss it!
I loved reading your diary! Respectful but with a great sense of humor in expressing the sometimes bizarre Ugandan culture and practice. You make me miss home sooooo much…..
Hello Mary, nice to read from you. Thanks for the appreciation … sorry if I make you feel homesick 🙁 Come back soon soon
Me too. This blog is my new found pass time and it makes me feel so home sick and the urge to get onto the next plane hooooome!
I am coming home soon Nagawa.
LOL Susan – kuli kayo!
Glad you are enjoying my blog:)
We have a lot of fun on the Diary of a Muzungu Facebook page as well
Hillarious blogs. This is our UG, where anything and everything happens at their own pace. We love you Mzungu & I also thank you for the experience you shared on Radio Sanyu 2 days ago. You had hooked yourself a Ugandan hunk, Sorry for his rastafarian ways….i cant finish this comment as i will end up in stitches 🙂
Hello Moses, Uganda certainly is unique! U for Uganda, U for UNIQUE! Referring to my rasta dating blog, like I always say, I have big respect for the genuine Rastafarians. It’s these fake ones that annoy me… (my gripe is with opportunists and conmen!)
Glad you enjoyed the radio show with Fat Boy and Nina. What a laugh. Hoping to get a recording of it which I will share on my Diary of a Muzungu Facebook page.
Hillarious! i cannot stop reading
LOL. Glad you enjoyed my 50 reasons – what have I missed?
Lately, I have grown to love the fact that we have a clear distinction between day and night. Well, it is undeniable that with the night comes craftiness and lots of pleasure. But for me who loves to strike the balance between work and rest. I get to sleep at night. Many countries that we admire work around the clock but Ugandans surely know how to take their rest when the sun goes down. I love Uganda because I don’t need to work around the clock.
Great and incredible!
Really helped with my research paper! Thx!
WOW! Am humbled 🙂
Let’s hope that industrialisation won’t tanish our scenaries. Uganda is indeed the African pearl even though some vultures are trying to end that. Through selling some places, waters and scenaries… .Am Ugandan And Proud
Industrialisation is already tarnishing Uganda’s environment: water pollution, soil degradation, air pollution, overfished Lake Victoria, serious encroachment of ancient forests, construction of buildings that conflict with natural environment … let me stop there.
Uganda is truly a magnificent Country..The pearl of Africa.
Lovely country, love their “matoke” bananas
uganda a blessed country with great poeple.I Love my African brothers and sisters.GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
Of course Janero did; Didn’t he?
LOL, let’s hope he was the one!
46!!!!
Made me remember my primary school teacher who could say “one,two,three,four both of you come here.. I’ll have to read each blog here.
“46. Uglish. Otherwise known as Ugandan English, this language gives us – expats and Ugandans alike – endless laughs.”
Read Do you speak Uglish? How English has evolved in Uganda
A book has attempted to an unlock ‘one of the funniest and strangest English varieties in the world’. The book is written by Bernard Sabiti.
Now check Uganda’s funniest Facebook page – Uglish!
Hi there, I haven’t seen your articles in the papers, are you gonna write some time?
Hi Jim, webale kusiima. I would love to have a regular column in one of the papers.
I write for various magazines and websites. I’ve also written a couple of guidebooks. You can read more here
wow thank u for praising our contry the Pearl of Africa LOL
I’m just saying it how I see it 🙂
Webale kusiima
Dear “Kabina-Talented” Mzungu: I dig your distilled snapshots of our country. You are a national asset already! Have you received our passport for dual citizenship?
Ambrose!
Webale kusiima!
I was scrolling looking for if “warm weather” is among them because its one reason why i love UG and Boom!! 49 there it is.
Absolutely! Uganda’s weather is the best, even global surveys put Ugandan weather in the top five!
It’s not only beautiful most of the time, it’s far more predictable than it is in other countries. I always say that I didn’t move to Uganda for the weather – but it’s a great reason to STAY!
How about Bwindi impenetrable forest in Mpungu subcounty Kanungu district after Butogota.
The different cultures in Uganda
Uganda’s various cultures demand several blogs…!
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is at no. 14 🙂
“14. Gorillas. I enjoyed the trek through the rainforest as much as meeting Bwindi’s Gentle Giants.”
Yes enjoy the times I have read through but do you now speak any ugandan language
I’m working on it mukwano 🙂
I just love my Uganda
What a country! 🙂
Hello,
what are lovely country to leave in!!
Uganda is an amazing country from top to bottom!
Its amazing reading about my beautiful country through someone else’s lenses. All to the dot
Webale kusiima. Uganda rocks ❤️
Are there any Ugandan in Germany? how are they treated?
Yes there are a number of Germans who live here. They love it here, just like I do 🙂 (I assume that means they are treated well). Some have been here many years and have Ugandan partners and children. They work in tourism, business or for development organisations. What’s your interest?
Read this Ten things that unite Uganda and Germany
Beautiful Uganda! So interesting and inspiring. Would live to read again and again.
Hey Felex, thanks for dropping by.
Can you believe this post is eight years old now? I need to start writing in anticipation of the 60th anniversary of Uganda’s independence!