Any Travels

Uganda is located in east-central Africa, situated north and northwest of Lake Victoria. It is a landlocked country bordered by Sudan on the North, Kenya on the east, Tanzania on the South, Rwanda on the southwest and Zaire on the northwest.

The greater part of Uganda consists of a plateau about 4,000 ft in height. Along the western border of the Ruwenzori Mountains reaching heights of over 16,000 ft, while on the eastern frontier Mount Elgon rises to 14,178 ft. By contrast, the Western Rift Valley, which runs from north to south through the western half of the country, is as low as 3,000 ft on the floor of Lake Edward and Lake George and 2,000 ft on the flow of Lake Albert. The White Nile River has its source in Lake Victoria.

Kampala
Kampala is just a few miles from Lake Victoria. The town is pleasant enough, although it was damaged in recent times. It has gotten back to its feet, and is alive and kicking again. Kampala has a few interesting sights, mainly the National Museum, Lake Victoria and Kabaka's Palace. See the section about sights for more details. These days, Kampala even has casinos, nightclubs and fancy restaurants. Ethnic restaurants are a new commodity in Kampala and now travellers can delight in cuisine such as thai, vietnamese, and ethiopian. There is a good selection of markets for african trinkets and traditional souveniers. Unlike many capital cities in Africa, Kampala is quite safe. It also serves as a major travel hub for the region, although many independent travelers are coming overland from Kenya.

A daytrip can be made to Entebbe which was not damaged in the wars, and has a good zoo.

Culture

Africans of three main ethnic groups--Bantu, Nilotic, and Nilo-Hamitic--constitute most of the population. The Bantu are the most numerous and include the Baganda, which, with 18% of the population, constitute the largest single ethnic group.

The people of the southwest comprise 30% of the population, divided into five major ethnic groups: the Banyankole and Bahima,10%; the Bakiga, 8%; the Banyarwanda, 6%; the Bunyoro, 3%; and the Batoro, 3%. Residents of the north, largely Nilotic, are the next largest group, including the Langi, 6%, and the Acholi, 4%. In the northwest are the Lugbara, 4%. The Karamojong, 2%, occupy the considerably drier, largely pastoral territory in the northeast. Europeans, Asians, and Arabs make up about 1% of the population with other groups accounting for the remainder.

Uganda's population is predominately rural, and its density population highest in the southern regions. Until 1972, Asians constituted the largest nonindigenous ethnic group in Uganda. In that year, the Idi Amin regime expelled 50,000 Asians, who had been engaged in trade, industry, and various professions. In the years since Amin's overthrow in 1979, Asians have slowly returned. About 3,000 Arabs of various national origins and small numbers of Asians live in Uganda. Other nonindigenous people in Uganda include several hundred Western missionaries and a few diplomats and businesspeople.

The Westernized elites are virtually the sole consumers and practitioners of the fine arts. Nevertheless, there is a small but active group of local artists?painters, sculptors, poets, and playwrights?who exhibit their works in local galleries and theatres. There is a wide audience for both Ugandan and foreign music. Uganda's well-known Afrigo Band, which combines traditional and popular musical elements, regularly tours abroad and has produced a number of recordings. Congolese music is extremely popular and represents a return of musicians from that country, a cultural exchange that previously had been active until the 1970s. There are many discos, pubs, and bars in most towns and trading centres, where live music is performed.

The staple diet in most of the south is a kind of plantain called matoke. Sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and cassava are consumed along with a variety of vegetables. The central market in Kampala?Nakasero?offers an extensive array of vegetables and fruits, some of which are imported from neighbouring countries. Most northerners eat millet, sorghum, cornmeal, and cassava together with local vegetables. The pastoralist communities tend to consume animal-derived products, especially butter, meat, and animal blood. Fish is eaten by a number of groups.

Cultural diversity has produced a wide variety of lifestyles and interests among Ugandans. While literacy is slowly increasing, especially in the urban centres, where there are numerous newspapers, oral traditions remain a popular form of entertainment. Uganda possesses a rich tradition of theatre, ranging from the very active National Theatre in Kampala to hundreds of small, local theatrical groups. Theatre has played an important role in educating and informing the public on a range of issues from gender relations to sexually transmitted diseases. Another popular and widespread form of entertainment is the many hundreds of small video booths spread throughout the towns and small rural trading centres. A video booth, which can operate on a vehicle battery, provides an opportunity?mainly for young people?to see a variety of films; but, more important, the booths also show occasional short informative films supplied by governmental agencies. Television is widely available in urban centres and in some smaller rural centres, where it is not uncommon to see a large group of people clustered in front of one set.