Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. It is in the south central part of the Country close to the shores of Lake Victoria. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala central division, Kawempe division, Makindye division, Nakawa division and Lubaga division.

LOCATION

Kampala district lies within the kingdom of Buganda, in central Uganda. The district is bordered by wakiso district to the south, west and north by Kira municipality to the east. The co-ordinates of the district are:00 19N,32 35E.

POPULATION

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2015, the population of Kampala was 1,659,600.

SOME HISTORY

Mutesa l, the Kabaka(king)of Buganda, had chosen the area that was to become Kampala as one of his favorite hunting grounds, the area was made up of hills and wetlands. It was an ideal breeding ground for various game particularly a species of antelopes, the impala (aepyceros melampus).When the British arrived in the area they called one of the hills “the hill of the impala” due to the large presence of impala. The native Baganda used this reference in their local dialect (Luganda) –“akasozi k’empala” hence the name Kampala. It is worth noting that it is not usual for Luganda to adopt the soundings of English words into the language for example a car in Luganda is “emotoka” meaning a motor car.

ATTRACTIONS

• The Uganda Museum
• Kasubi tombs, where the remains of the kings of Buganda are buried were a major tourist site. However, these were extensively damaged by the fire in 2010 and currently being rebuilt.
• Nomma art gallery
• National theatre
• Cathedrals-Rubaga and Namirembe
• Gaddafi National Mosque (in old Kampala)
• Bahai temple, atop kikaya hill
• Kabaka’s(King’s) Palace.

Namirembe hill-Anglican/ protestant cathedral, Rubaga hill-catholic cathedral, Kibuli hill-Mosque although Gadaffi national mosque at Old Kampala is the current main mosque and seat of the supreme council are recomended for religious tours. Nakasero hill is the seat of government and thus the administrative area of Kampala and Uganda, Makerere hill encompasses the main university of Uganda while Mengo is the administrative seat of Buganda Kingdom.

A tour of the capital City of Uganda courtesy of outback adventure safaris will imprint on you life time memories of Uganda. Covering an area far larger than the” original” seven hills, your  tour with outback adventure safaris will let you interface with the daily life of Kampala city dwellers ranging from the markets like Owino and Nakasero where piles of matooke are on display, vendors, dealers and food brokers racing about, lots of different local food stuffs you have never seen awaiting your discovery. what a scene!

Kampala city is endowed with the national museum and art galleries like Nommo and Tulifanya, religious sites like Namugongo martyrs shrine and Munyonyo martyrs shrine.

A site visit to Ggaba landing site on the outskirts of Kampala.  Ggaba is a blend between a market having a semblence  of a port, but in this sense serving water traffic of  vessels from the surrounding islands on lake victoria. Women selling agricultural produce, fisher men preparing their nets for a catch, mongers deep frying piles of fish, vendors selling charcoal, boda bodas racing about and different sizes of boats docking and leaving, all in the periphery of Kampala city will reveal to you the typical life in an African fishing village. Still thinking? Want to try it out?Why not write to the outback adventure safaris team.