Places I Visited in Kampala

With the mindset, “I would always have time to do sightseeing in Kampala, I would never had chances to explore some touristic sites in the capital of Uganda. Until a day, when my notebook was accidentally dead and many of files were still there and not transferred yet to my external hard disk. That disaster happened after my visit in Jinja, when I had transferred all photos from camera to my notebook, and sucesfully deleted all photos from the memory card. So, you could imagine how dissappointed I was to think that I would lost all those photos.

An hour after realizing that I have lost important files, I called Henry to take me to Kampala, hoped that the best IT there could heal my notebook and save important files. Well, their answer did not satisfied me at all. It requires the whole day to get the datas back and they’re still not sure whether it could still be saved. I had no choice but waiting. To kill the time, Henry suggested me to go to Equator line which can be reached easily from Kampala by car. It took us around one hour to get the place.

The Uganda equator is one of the most famous landmark in Uganda. It’s located 72 km from Kampala, the equator allowed me to stand with one feet in the Southern part of the world, meanwhile other feet stepped in the Northern part. I found that this was an amazing experiences to stand at both sides of the world in the same time. While we were there, an Ugandan man showed us the water experiment on how the water flow in different part of hemispheres. In the north side, the water flows clockwise while in the south, it flows into opposite direction. There were some souvenirs shops around the equator. Yet, due to blue feeling I had, I was not interested to check any of them.

In the afternoon, we came back to the computer shop. And I got the bad news. They couldn’t save my files and my hard disk was totally damaged due to the virus. I was brokenhearted. Loosing files in my computer was like loosing a boyfriend (seriously. Hahaha). The IT man suggested me to return tomorrow morning since the new installation would require some hours.

The next following morning, Henry and I returned to the shop. And, Voila, they gave me a good news. One of their technicians tried to save my files for the last moment. And he got the files back. Hurrraaay. So, I got my Jinja files back. So, if you’re curious about my experience in Jinja, where the Nile river starts to flow, you can check through this link.

Well, my hard disk still couldn’t be used afterwards but, well I didn’t really care since all my files were saved. So, we need to wait another hours to have all programs installed in my notebook. Therefore, I asked Henry to take me to another tourist sites in Kampala. So, here they are:

Lubiri Palace. Uganda used to be a kingdom. Lubiri Palace was built in 1922 by Buganda Kingdom. After Idi Amin took a power, the building was converted into army barracks. Not far from the palace, there’s small chamber known as one of the darkest tourism sites in Uganda. Idi Amin’s chamber of torture that had witnessed horrors during the regime of Amin. A mile away with direct position, Bulange parliament building stands up, a place where ministers sit on.

Uganda Museum.The biggest and the oldest museum in Uganda. It has various sections, such as traditional music section, archeology, ethnography, paleontology, science and national history. Outside of museum, the displays of Ugandan traditional houses that represent the lives of Uganda in the old time. That’s worth visit when you are in Kampala.

Gaddafi National Mosque. As its name, the mosque was built by the former leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi. Situated in the old Kampala, exactly on Kampala Hill, the mosque accommodating 15 000 worshippers for praying. The mosque was built as a gift to Uganda and gives the benefits for Muslim population there. What I like the most from the mosque is its entrance gate decorated by huge Hal-circle statue. Even though Islam is not a dominant religion in Uganda, but we can find many mosques in the country. However, this mosque is the best one. There’s entry fee, around 5 USD, if I am not mistaken, and visitors will be accompanied with one guide. Women and men should cover themselves when entering the mosque. Head scarf and long skirts are available at the entry gate.

Kibuli Mosque. Another mosque that I visited in Kampala. It’s one of the old landmarks that still stand in Kampala, and also one of the oldest mosques in Uganda. In the same time, it also has the root history of Islam development in Uganda that was started in 1844. I did not take so many photos while I was there.

Namirembe Cathedral . When we drove around the city, we passed this beautiful cathedral. I didn’t miss chance to get the photo.

Since I wanted to buy some souvenirs for myself, we took the time to visit African Crafts Village in Kampala. It’s known as the best place to buy crafts in Kampala. Here, visitors will be spoiled with thousands of souvenirs, such as hand made drums, paintings, clothes, weapons, accessories, and many more. You need to bargain to get the good price. If it’s possible, it’s better to take your Ugandan friends with you.

Forest Cottages. Apparently, I visited this hotel in different occasion. I would take an exam, therefore I need a quite place to study and relax in the same time. I found this hotel by chance while I did browsing through hotel provides in internet. Its location which is closed with my exam venue made me not thinking twice while I decided to stay in this hotel. The hotel is so lovely. Surrounded by big trees made you feel staying I the jungle instead of in the capital city. There are some options for the type of the room, and I got the cottage one for myself. My room is equipped with double bed with attached bathroom, living room that is attached with dinning room and pantry enabling me to cook some simps food for my self. If you need a peace and quite environment but you still want to get closed to city center, this hotel is recommended.